@uscusn this is really working out great! What glue did you use for the clear parts? - I have been using Tamiya extra this, and works fine on most kits, but also tried some Micro Kristal Klear in the past - easy to wipe off excess glue, but not nearly as strong.

Now time to start on the landing gear. 1st the tail wheel. Painted Vallejo steel, Tamiya Tire Black and Molotow Chrome marker for the oleo.

The Betty has a low stance compared to other twin engine aircraft it size. The tail wheel sits well within the wheel well.

The landing gear on the Betty is a similar design to the British twin engine fighter/bombers such as the Mosquito, Beaufighters. A dual arm retraction system with the wheel sandwiched between the struts. Makes it quite sturdy on rough fields that these aircraft operated out of. The main strut and retraction arm,

The main gear is a simple step of 2 pieces. The mains struts and retraction arm. Painted Mitsu Interior Green with black boots covering the oleos. Testors Rubber is used to paint these.

Each main gear are attached into main gear bays. Very strong point of contact and sturdy. These should last the life of the model.

Still working on the undersurface details. The lower antenna. Attached midway between the bomb bay and observation window.

So a quick view of the Betty with no wheels, you can see how low she sits on her gear. Even when the wheels are attached it stills sits quite low.

Next up, attach the wheels, work on the engine cowlings and props. more to follow

Now to work on the wheels. I could not find any resin sets anywhere on the web. So went ahead with the kits wheels.

I painted the wheels Vallejo steel for the hubs and airbrushed Tamiya Rubber Black for the tires.

Next was to attached them to the main gear. Snapped them in and they do roll. Even with the wheels now mounted. The Betty still maintains a low stance.

Now to work on the propellers. The back side of the props were airbrushed Gunze Mr Color Red Brown which dries semi gloss. The center hub is Vallejo Aluminum.

Early in the build of the Betty I had assembled the engines and cowlings separate from the nacelles moulded on the wings. Now Tamiya designed the process to assemble the engines and cowlings on the wings as one process. At the time I didn't know. By doing it my way I noticed that when test fitting the completed engine cowlings that the now did not fit flush against the nacelles, but had a huge gap from the back edge of the cowling to the nacelle. Horrors! To say the least. The solution to follow.

Working over the top of the air frame. I attached the loop, mast and radio antennas. And the canopy entry/escape hatch.

Another fear was that since I had built the engine cowlings separate when they should've been built along with the wings and attached in that step. But building them as separate units, the engine now sits a bit far back into the cowlings. So now I am thinking the prop blade shafts may not be long enough to push into the engine casing. They won't reach. But they do and still able to snug fit into the polycaps with in.

Next was to add the decals to the props.

Next up was the exhaust stacks attached on top of the engine nacelles. Nifty little things, painted Testors Burnt Metal.

The solution, here are the engine cowlings ready to be installed to the wings.

When building this step, first you slip the engine cowling ring first, then the engine back wall over the the cowling ring which is flushed against the nacelle. Then finally the cowling itself. But when I did not do that, but build the assembly separate. I did the natural thing and assemble the engine back wall to the cowling, which caused that ring to extend beyond where it is supposed to be. Which caused the whole unit to stick to far out away from the engine nacelle.

So out comes the Dremel (not exactly a dremel) and a sanding drum.

Now carefully I just trimmed down that inner ring enough to get the cowl to sit more flushed against the nacelles. It won't 100% but it will solve the problem.

Once done. I attach them to their place on the wings. And finally got this issue solved. Again not totally as they should be. But it was awful before the fix. Note...follow the instructions!

next up the final installment of this WIP...more to follow!

It looks like you about have this one wrapped up ... I'll be looking forward to seeing this one in the headlines section. Thanks for the heads up about the engines and nacelles. I'll be using this journal as a reference when I get around to building up mine.

Well done my friend.

George the extra work is self inflicted. If I had paid attention and built the engines and cowlings off of the nacelles instead off as sub assemblies, I would've avoided the issue of grinding down the back edge of the inside of the engine base. I could've still been able to remove them during the process if I had known.

Louis: just be aware of to follow what the instructions show. You will be ok. The kit is fine, the goof is mine.

Steve: another Tam kit engineered with the modeler in mind not an expert but even a novice can build it. And as you mentioned, the early P-38 being introduced by Tamiya is really great news. As more information comes to light in regard to Japanese aircraft from the WWII era, it's a whole new world for the modeler. More accurate color schemes not only for the exterior, but excellent info in regard to the cockpits and interiors of the various aircraft used by the Japanese as well. It's good times.

Congratulations on the linecrossing! - well done! I shall tune in on the UHU as well

Congrats on being done, this was a involved build. Looks great.