...but there’s also quite a bit of satisfaction in being able to look at models as a means to an end (i.e. acquiring a sample of an aircraft).

Big and beautiful!

Major seams are cleaned up, surface detail has been restored and the vertical stabilizers added.

I also added a left wing leading edge light. The kit comes with one on each wing molded in (no clear parts) but the actual aircraft only has one on the left wing. I cut it out, fitted a piece of acrylic rod, drilled a small indentation on the backside to simulate the bulb, painted it white, epoxied the acrylic rod in place and then sanded and shaped it the next day. Learned this trick from Rodney Williams about 25 years ago. Thanks Rodney.

The cowlings had the small scoops drilled out on both sides and the oil cooler scoops cut away. I'll be adding some mesh behind those as soon as I receive it. The kit has these weird clear parts to glue in the sides of the cowlings. I suspect the pattern maker thought the polished ovals on the real aircraft were windows (they're not). Weirder still, the clear parts are circular. Anyway, I glued them in and puttied over them.

Next up is to cut off the gun barrels on the nose and replace them with metal barrels made for the P-38M Night Lightning. I am probably a week or so away from painting depending on other things in my life and arrival of the mesh screens.

Good progress, Carl.
Those metal barrels will definitely look great.
A very nice solution for that leading light.
Another great trick, out of many I've seen, from Rodney.

Thanks Spiros, Erik, and John. Although it does have some faults, so far all of them have been correctible and it does build up quite easily. I especially like the quick satisfaction of having a Lightning appear with the simple upper and lower half assembly.

I think adding the little details are what help a model stand out more. I am still trying to get better control over my performing these changes, but eye sight is not what it was when I was younger. This model will be an interesting challenge when it comes time to paint as it is a black scheme.

I am planning on using multiple shades of black and dark grey and other techniques I can track down for black painted aircraft. I am also going to take some artistic license with the scheme. The actual aircraft were used very little, in fact I am not even sure they saw any combat. But I will be making mine a combat veteran so I can practice more weathering.

I have not heard anything from Rodney in a long time. I hope he's okay. He was an inspiration to me back in the 80's and 90's. We spent some time together not only at his home, but at the IPMS Nationals in Washington DC (although I cannot remember the year).

The night fighter P-38s never got closer to combat than Fresno Army Air Field, despite the many rumors and tall tales. You should do it with little weathering. While the airplanes were painted gloss black, giving the model a coat of satin clear will result in a more realistic finish in scale. Doing actual "gloss" makes it look like a toy.

Of course there is always the light grey "turbo stain" atop the booms aft of the turbos, which is about the only weathering you need to worry about.

You're doing very nice work with a kit that hasn't gotten a lot of love from people.

To me your skills are of high standard, Carl. @clipperboat
This can be clearly seen in the work that you put in these P38's.
Most important is that modelling gives you satisfaction and that you get the result you were aiming for.
Current progress looks great.

Thanks Tom, Spiros, John, Erik. I very much appreciate the attitude of everyone here in regards to what this site is all about. Its very refreshing compared to other places on the web. I appreciate the mixture of encouragement and critique without getting nasty or overally critical. Along with a few other things , this drove me from the hobby previously a decade ago.

As regards the build, I have decided that regardless of the fact that these aircraft had not seen combat or even extensive service use, I am going to build mine as a war veteran. I am doing this because I want to experiment with black finishes. So there's no worry about a glossy black P-38. Hopefully what I will get is something more like the P-61s, and night bombers of the RAF. A weathered multi-toned black finish. I'm mulling over a fictitious nose art as well so that I can experiment with a new Silhouette Portrait 3 making masks.

The Hobby Boss kit has mostly been without drama. It goes together well, fit is mostly good although the seams along the sides of the booms and nose will need a bit of filler. Perhaps with just a bit more care, the seams would line up just right, but as is, I had a very small amount of stepping that had to be taken care of.

Something else I wanted to touch on. I've had good luck using small amounts of Cyanoacrylate glue and zip kicker accelerator for small repairs. If the area is small and the accelerator is used and then clean up is performed within a short period afterwards, the CA sands out nicely. Not too hard. If you let it fully cure, then it becomes a chore to sand, but for quick fill ins of small areas, it's great.

For areas where there are seams and you either don't want to putty and sand or you want to maintain detail, Mr Surfacer 500 allowed to dry and cleaned up with alcohol and a cotton swab works great. I plan on using this approach for the boom radiator housings.

This photo of the rudder seam above the horizontal stabilizer is one of those areas treated in this fashion. The vertical stabilizer parts slide in from the rear on this kit and there is a bit of a gap, but after using the Mr Surfacer on it, it looks like a molded panel line.