<-- **** DONE: 1/48 P-38J Lightning - Twin Engined Aircraft of WWII

Robert Porter · Dec 2, 2016

Crimea_River said:
I use CA glue and a rounded file for those. Much faster.

Never thought of CA that might be faster, will give it a try! Thanks! Going to try and find a pen or something I can wrap with sandpaper as I don't have a round or semi round file or sanding stick.

Robert Porter · Dec 2, 2016

JKim said:
I think it is a built-in kickstand for a tail-sitting model. Unless you put weights forward of the center of gravity, the model will sit on its tail due to the booms.

Cool they thought of that, but it looks weird! Going with the weights.

Wurger · Dec 2, 2016

You don't need anything for wrapping of the sandpaper. Just take a strip of that and roll it tight. Usually the rolled 10cm strip of sandpaer is enough to keep the round shape when keeping it with fingers.

Wurger · Dec 2, 2016

Rob, please check on the thread , it may come in handy too..

Simple and useful tool

fubar57 · Dec 2, 2016

I've built a few with the raised Trademarks and used the chisel blade that came in a hobby knife kit I bought years ago. I call that blade the "thumb gouger" but it works very nicely if you take your time

Robert Porter · Dec 2, 2016

fubar57 said:
I've built a few with the raised Trademarks and used the chisel blade that came in a hobby knife kit I bought years ago. I call that blade the "thumb gouger" but it works very nicely if you take your time

I have seen the chisels in lots of YouTube videos, and yep bet it would do a number on your thumb. It's on the list of too be acquired things.

Robert Porter · Dec 2, 2016

Wurger said:
Rob, please check on the thread , it may come in handy too..

Simple and useful tool

Love it! And I have all kinds of scrap wood just laying around! Hmm wonder if the wife would wake up if I fired up the circular saw?????

Airframes · Dec 2, 2016

I wouldn't worry too much about sanding the inside of the gun bay cover, as, from memory, it'll be unlikely that you can display the bay open, due to the amount of weight needed up front.

Wurger · Dec 3, 2016

Robert Porter said:
.. Hmm wonder if the wife would wake up if I fired up the circular saw?????

The strip of wood is of 10x5x4mm so I don't think you need to fire up the cilcular saw. Actually you may engage your wife for cutting. At least let she come in useful finally. :lol:

Robert Porter · Dec 3, 2016

Airframes said:
I wouldn't worry too much about sanding the inside of the gun bay cover, as, from memory, it'll be unlikely that you can display the bay open, due to the amount of weight needed up front.

True, forgot that!

Robert Porter · Dec 3, 2016

Wurger said:
The strip of wood is of 10x5x4mm so I don't think you need to fire up the cilcular saw. Actually you may engage your wife for cutting. At least let she come in useful finally.

How true! She actually does like to help, but I had to buy her a pair of safety glasses since I sprayed her with wood chips once. My mashed potatoes had a distinct sawdust flavor that night!

Robert Porter · Dec 3, 2016

Sorry to keep asking zillions of questions but...

New Canopies arrived, not that I am complaining but why do you get 2 of them? Its great in case I make a mistake but just curious. Pic below.

Also the tail ladder has no paint code or color in the instructions I also added a pic for that. Any suggestions on color for that?

And thanks all for the sanding suggestions, I made a small sanding stick and it worked, however I did loose a little detail that I can rescribe.

fubar57 · Dec 3, 2016

Squadron is great for adding the second canopy especially if you wanted to open the canopy up. This is what I could find during a quick search for ladders....

.....looks metal colored to me

Airframes · Dec 3, 2016

I've seen the ladder in what appears to be bare metal, and in zinc chromate. Either way, after folding into the sponson a number of times, and being stepped on, it'd probably end up mainly bare metal anyway.

Crimea_River · Dec 3, 2016

Two canopies as the chance of screwing one up is pretty high.

Wurger · Dec 3, 2016

The double canopies just like you said. Many manufacturers sell them two in a pack, just in case. Usually these vacu parts are of very thin walls what makes them fragile. Also the cutting out process may cause damages. But I also agree with Geo. The reason for packing two canopies because of making it open seems to be true as well.

As far as the ladder is concerned.. in most pics I saw the parts looks like being unpainted. But we can't exclude that it could have been of the interior colour or bare metal with coloured the bottom edge that was seen when retracted.

Wurger · Dec 3, 2016

And two images more I found via the net....

Robert Porter · Dec 3, 2016

Thanks all for the quick replies and pictures!!! Bare metal it is! I agree even if painted it probably wore pretty quickly. I loved the shot of it folded up because it showed the screws along each side which I can add!

I ordered some AK Interactive Metal Paints for this beast, the Vallego Aluminum does not look right to me. And the Model Master Aluminum both the Acrylic and the Enamel seem wrong as well. So I ordered Duraluminum, Dull Aluminum, and White Aluminum to try. I am speaking about the overall aircraft color here.

I also noticed in all the pictures you all have kindly supplied to me as well as what I could find on the net, the color was not consistent across the entire aircraft but typically varied panel to panel slightly with some looking very dull almost washed out, and others very bright.

Robert Porter · Dec 4, 2016

More progress. The last dry fit went together pretty well so I committed it to glue. The upper and lower wings and nacelle are now mated with the cockpit.

One or two gaps to mess with but over all not too bad! Working on the booms and landing gear now.