OK, with the Phantoms badly stuck, still waiting for new Vampire canopies 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!



Magnus

I always feel sympathy for the poor radar operator. He had to sit hunchbacked on a small piece of padding glued to the wing surface. Legend has it that they deliberately selected the shortest men possible for this posting.

Magnus,

I wish you all the best with the model... reminiscent of another era, and therefore has its charm. "Molded in authentic color" really says it all Why are you afraid to do a NMF with such a great base? Jokes aside, I will follow your build closely!

All the best,
Entoni

Short was a bad thing to be in the Army during WWII. The shortest guy in the squad got the BAR, the heaviest gun in the squad. In bombers, he got the ball turret.

Hi Jessie

But who among us now probably wouldn't queue up now for the chance of a ride in that dickey seat? I know I would, uncomfortable, or not!

Looking forward to your build, Magnus. I built this one about Hmmf! years ago (read: far too many!), so it'll bring back many happy memories to see it done properly.

All the best

Rowan

Magnus,

That is still a model near and dear to my heart! Good hunting! Somewhere I have the old Koster vacuform kit to convert it to an F/G/H - pretty impressive gear well inserts.

Hee hee, I read an account by Bob DeHaven (IIRC) that he took a nurse he was dating for a ride in his P-38; over Wewak or Biak or somewhere he strafed a Japanese aerodrome; the nurse asked what 'those pretty sparkles were' and he told her, "They're shooting at us!"

I hope she was petite!

Magnus, what a great change of pace build to get your modeling juices flowing. Should be a great build, for old guys like me that remember that the kit at the time was cutting edge stuff. Will certainly be following along.

Joel

Friends! I didn't realise it was possible getting this popular just by building an almost 50 year old kit ! Thanks!

Ride in a P-38, no matter what model: yes please! But I doubt it would even be possible to squeeze in my 190 cm frame in it, even if it had a second cockpit. Maybe flying prone in the droop snoot ?


Is using pc to get better glueing surfaces considered cheating? I suppose sheet plastic was available in 1966 though...





Magnus

I've had to evacuate "the sty" for the time being to let in the painters for some remodelling. I've set up shop upstairs and now the project is rolling once again!


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...



Magnus

Paint it black? Haven't I heard that someplace else before???

Great tip on the "C" cuts, hadn't really contemplated it in the past.

Magnus, Nice modifications to the simple things like the boom radiator intakes, and the use of sheet plastic and black paint, make all the difference in the world. Keep the pictures coming with your updates.

Joel

Great post. Nice to see old sh#t being built. I have that one in the stash almost started (main parts off spruce and some sanding of the flash). My boxing has the pic of Maj. Bong's plane with one prop feathered being chased by a K-43 on the cover. I plan on doing that one.

Great tips you have.

Cheers

Im stalled out on my build, here are the pics if interested.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shawnmanny/sets/72157632102518741/

Mark! I'm glad that I can pass the C-trick along!

Joel! I'm working on it!

Robbie! Good luck with your's!

Shawn! I did look through your project documentation, that's quite some work invested into that one! I hope you feel like re-starting it sometime!


This is something I really ought not to flash in public: my figure painting "skills"... If I keep them under closed canopies I might just get away with them... Just...


This is at least something I know how to do: weighting the nacelles...



Magnus

Swanny, took a real good look at your build. Truly an outstanding effort to update & detail an old kit. The only issue I saw if you can call it one, is the seam between the two boom halves that form the top of the main wheel wells. Other then that, your detailing is really well done.

Take a little time off to get back into the building mode, and please get back to work.

Why not start a build blog here on Aeroscale so that we can follow along? Posting will help you keep your "juices" flowing, & with the give & take that often takes place in a given build blog, getting over a hump is usually much easier. Not to mention a lot more fun.

Joel

Nice work Magnus, if you need any 'M' parts of the kit I have them all as spares.
Im building a '32 scale A4F for a break, then back to the lightning.
I had a build log going on LSP and Swanny's for a while. I will pick back up when I go back to er.
The seams in the gear bays bug me as well however its still better then OOB in there lol.

Shawn, sounds like a plan to me. Just please give it a little thought to doing a build blog here. You could just copy and paste what you have already done.

Joel

Magnus
Following this.

However given I was born in 1966 does this also make me a nearly 50 year model??

Best of luck


Chris

Shawn! Thanks for your kind offer, I'll let you know if I manage to ruin something essential along the way!

Chris! I wouldn't say it like that. Let's say that I'm happy that you're substantially older than me (I was born in 72) !


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!



Magnus

Ah, transported back to the age of 15! Wonderful stuff, Magnus! Clever fixes to the kit's antique engineering, for sure. I feel a certain battered old box in my stash calling, faintly, to me.

[quote
...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!



Magnus[/quote]

Magnus, Sure brings back a flood of memories of how poorly all those doors and panels use to fit on their kits. It was like they were challenging you to close them, and make the model look good. Will be watching how you tackle this issue without loosing so much of that raised detail.

Joel

Chuck! Give it a go!

Joel! Leaving the covers open would solve a lot of the problems but probably also create a score of new ones...


This was in the post last Thursday! Really nice decals!


My way of tackling the fit problem: sanding with coarse sand paper, putty, and then even more sanding!


Final assembly! This is one big bird compared to what I usually do!



Magnus

Magnus, it's looking good. Are you planning on trying to re-rivet all that lost detail? I'm confess that I've never bought a riveting wheel, so what I destroy, is usually gone forever. And I'm truly handicapped when it comes to re-scribing.

Joel

I got to the SAME point and had to set it aside.
Between the crap fit of the gun doors and my nose job for the recce' gear it was a nightmare.

Joel! Restore? What's gone is gone ! There is no way of restoring this kind of detail that is practical so the only way out would be to rescribe the whole kit. And that I'm not going to do !

Shawn! I see you haven't gotten to the canopy yet...




Fit is generally rather bad around the clear parts...


...forcing me to do exactly what I didn't want to...



Magnus