P-38H Lightning, Halinski 1:33

[smithdr]

Those flaps and super charges look sooooo nice! Well done, Erik!


Dan

[Michael Mash]

You are creating an inspiring piece of work.
Mike

[Erik Zwaan]

Thanks Dan and Mike! After all this delicate work on the flaps at last something more straight forward.

The model leaves you the option to either install fuel drop tanks or bombs. I chose to install the fuel tanks as they look more impressive, but more important, they provide the opportunity to add a bit of additional weight in the nose of each tank. Up so far the model just barely stayed on its nose wheel and with addition of the flaps the center of gravity shifted just a bit too much aft. The instructions don't give a clue about the weight to be added in the nose to prevent a tail sitter so I estimated this roughly in the beginning and thought it would be enough. But the model is bigger and heavier than I thought it would be. So be careful as a lessons learned: Take the opportunity to put a few screws in the nose, the engine sections and fuel tanks.

Building up the sections of each tank is straight-forward and I used a circle template to keep the proper shape of the petals while gluing them together and to install small scraps of paper on the inside. In reality there is a kind of longitudinal rim on the tanks and although I thought it would be nice to include, in the end I left this detail out (it's not part of the model).

Although I'm not going to use them it was fun to prepare the bombs in a similar way. They also have been sprayed with a satin (half matt/half glossy) varnish, which dampens glue stains and other irregularities. So, at least one part of the model is totally finished now .

Next will be the propellers and then the final details.


Cheers,
Erik

[Michael Mash]

Hi Erik,
I like watching your methods for making the bombs and other “conical” shapes.
You get very clean seams. Not easy.

[ReynoldsSlumber]

That's looking so good! Those details really liven up the model. Really in awe of this whole build, especially as the P-38 is a favorite.

Nice move on putting in additional weight ahead of the main gear wheels. By the way, if anyone ever gets really desperate to add some nose weight after a model is finished, I figured out a method of bending wire (ideally copper for its high density) into a spring-like spiral and then screwing it into a small hole in the fuselage.

[ricleite]

Sometimes, I also have somewhat nasty surprises regarding the CG on tricycle propeller driven aircraft. Well, paper engines are not as dense as the real ones, particularly if they are not modelled…

[birder]

Looks nice Erik, I added weight in the prop spinners to balance my old p38 it's surprisingly hard to balance those long tailbooms. Only some modelers like you and ricleite can really get the most out a Halinski design... we can all try our best.. it is nice to see what really careful work can achieve.

[Erik Zwaan]

Thank you Michael, ReynoldsSlumber (thanks for sharing your method), Ricardo and Glen (comparing me to Ricardo is a big compliment - thank you!).

Adding sufficient weight in the nose or other forward parts is really something to properly consider during the build. Adding weights later on in the nose wheel well is difficult, it's pretty tight all the way up front, and that's were adding a small weight would be the most effective. I can only say use some 40 grams in the nose, that should be sufficient and there's plenty of room for that.

Alright, getting towards completion. Propellers done, the four staggered machine guns and centered cannon in place (very tightly rolled up thin paper), the small deflector plates at the gun shell discharge openings and the pitot tube underneath the port wing.
The pitot tube has part number 138 and that is the last part to the model. I used thin metal wire to reinforce it, sticking into the wing internal structure for better "grip".

Also I applied a bit of weathering (soil color) to the landing gear, after all the aircraft operated from dirt strips in the South Pacific, and used a very thinned gray paint to wash/tone down the wiring colors in the main landing gear bays and wheels to for more realism. Just a bit.

Sneak preview for next time: Last night I started varnishing the model in stages, using satin finish (half matt/half shiny) but this is still work in progress. After that, the aerials to be glued in place and finally the opened cockpit upper part.

In any case, the engines run smoothly, so almost "ready for departure".

Cheers,
Erik

[Michael Mash]

We can hear those engines humming.
Beautiful.

[ricleite]

Almost ready to take off