OK, with the Phantoms badly stuck and a generally miserably low level of progress in the modelling sphere in general I felt that I could as well do something completely different...

I don't do 1/48 but a few friends have started a project to build those Monogram dream kits of our youth and I felt that I couldn't chicken out on that challenge! As far as I remember, the B-17 and the B-24 were on the top of the list for most of us, for me it was the P-38. A friend of mine got it from someone who had visited the US and I remember drooling over the instructions and the fascinating conversion tips where you, with some cutting required, could fit parts to build a score of different and cool variants.

For practical reasons (mainly availability of aftermarket decals and a desire NOT to do a NMF bird) I'll go for the Night Lightning. I've always liked its humpbacked appearance!

Boxing, from 1973!

Bits and pieces! A lot larger than I am used to. And I realised why Hasegawa were so popular when they released theirs in the 1990s. Before that one it was the Monogram kit that ruled, and even if it is well detailed and got its strengths, it's got a truckload of weaknesses too 🙂 ! Note rear cockpit separate part that will be fitted after cutting out the original cockpit from the upper wing. Exciting...

Pilots - in addition to not doing 1/48, I don't do pilots... But this time I've decided to give it a try, if for nothing else only to cover up the lack of interior furnishings in the rear cockpit!

I am not aiming for a "winner" this time, I will leave rivets and raised panel lines well alone and just build carefully, paint and weather it so that it will fill its space with pride in the Monogram Boyhood Dreams Line Up next spring!

See you around!

Regards

Magnus

Magnus...having built the P-38M a couple of times over the years, I remember that the model right out of the box did not have the right sit to it. The P-38 does not sit level, but has a distinctive dropped rear look. This is a simple easy fix and makes a world of difference to capture the P-38 look. Looks like you are off to a good start.

Magnus...I just increased the length of the nose gear and opened up the scissors a bit. It doesn't take much to tip the rear down, but it makes a quite difference on the sit of the model.
The P-38 is really a favorite of mine, and if I had been a pilot during WWII I would have wanted
the Lightning over any other fighter. I'm looking forward to seeing your finished model.

Jack! I'll adjust that nose gear!

George! I'm trying to keep the pressure on, hopefully you'll see it finished soon!

Modification of the boom radiators. Thinning the edges help a lot and then some plasticard to limit the amount of see-through!

Seen from the inner side: I use a mix of glue and putty to fix the pc. The "radiator" is no more than a lump of putty in the middle, painted black nobody will notice!

Modifications to the nacelle faces, I've filed away the "front teeth".

More anti-see-through measures!

A nifty trick I picked up in another online-build: open up the gear locations to a "C"-shape in order to be able to install the gear after assembly!

Paint it black...

Regards

Magnus

Crew has taken their seats and fuselage/wing unit safely glued.

As always when it comes to Monogram kits there is all kinds of exciting detail below the covers. However, with the crew on board it felt strange to leave them open...

...so I glued them shut, noticing (as always when it comes to Monogram) that they don't fit very well...

...I will probably have to fill and sand the whole nose area, loosing all that surface detail in the process!

Regards

Magnus

Coming along nicely. I will be looking forward to how you handle the all black scheme.

Jack! Me too 🙂 !

Martin! I'll do the top one in this decal sheet:

Regards Magnus

Hello Magnus. I just received about a dozen old kits when a friend cleaned his basement. Airfix, Revell and a couple of Tamiya. I am enjoying looking at your build of another old kit. I will have to deal with the same bad fit problems on mine and wondered what you will do to the surfaces that you puttied and sanded. Will you just leave the flat surface?