**** DONE: GB-56 1/48 P-38J-25 - Thunderbolts and Lightnings (1 Viewer)

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

Thanks again.

The canopy insatallation came next but before that, a dry fit of the windscreen showed that the back of the instrument panel can be seen so I added a few wires to the back of some of the instruments:

23020301.jpg


While I was at it, I went ahead and wired up the upward ID lights. I found out later that these fouled the slot in the bulkhead and so I had to cut them back a bit.

23020302.jpg


The gun sight on my aircarft would have carried the horizontal support bar rather than being bolted to the windscreen so I added that. The reflector glass is the moulded kit part filed down a bit thinner. I later added a bit of Future to the surface to make it clear.

23020303.jpg


Installed and painted. I had a mishap with the small bracket on the right side - I dropped it and it left a glue mark that I tried to hide with Future.

23020304.jpg


With that all done, the main canopy bits have been glued in place and masked. The armour plate behind the pilot's seat can still be installed through the gap so that will go in after the cockpit is masked off and the exterior paint applied.

23020305.jpg


Back Sunday - maybe.
 
Thanks gents. Exterior paint started today with masking the loose canopy bits and spraying on the cockpit green colours. Tamiya provides 2 sets of masks for the upper canopy section but they aren't identified to be used both on the outside and inside. I went ahead anyway and used the second set to mask the inside so I could paint the interior frames since these will be quite visible with the canopy open. I adjusted the cuts slightly to account for the shorter lenghts on the inside surfaces.

Damn, I hit POST before finsihing so here's the rest:

23020503.jpg
23020502.jpg


Next I stank up the house spraying a coat of Alclad II Duraluminum. The stuff was almost dry in the bottle so I added some lacquer thinner, mixed well and used it all up. There will be other shades yet to be done on the bare panels.

23020501.jpg


Pretty hard to tell what's silver and what's the kit grey but it will all become clearer tomorrow hopefully. Thanks again for following along and for the comments.
 
Last edited:
Thank-you gentlemen, and Terry.

Made a bit of headway today by finishing off the basic NMF. Only two colours used - Alclad II Duraluminum and Aluminum.

23020801.jpg


Not 100% happy though. I got some minor orange-peeling in spots so I may sand these down and reapply the Aluminum.

23020803.jpg


The nose is red and has what appears to be a black patch over the cannon panel. This was a lengthy masking job and I needed to touch up a couple of spots with a brush but the area turned out alright.

23020802.jpg


A shot from a bit farther away shows the nose area again. The period pics of this plane show a distinct lighter shade for the gun access doors and the wing fairing. I kinda got that with the paint but I think I will schmutz up the area a bit more.

23020804.jpg


Next up are the OD anti-glare panels. Thanks for tagging along.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back