P-38H Lightning, Halinski 1:33

[Abdullahsamir]

I was thinking the same thing how do these paper model desiners come up with shapes like that!!!!!

[Erik Zwaan]

Thank you very much Siwi, YankeeBoy, Mike, Don, Mike1158, Kurt, Ricardo, Petestein, Dan, CIUTTSO, David and Abdullahsamir!! It's good to have you all on board and I feel honored by your kind words.

@Dan: The Ju-88 is not forgotten, it's actually on the shortlist for continuation although after the Lightning is finished I intend to take a short break from complex and time-consuming models. A promise to my wife .

Studying pictures of the real thing is interesting and can bring you onto ideas for a bit of extra detailing. The landing gear bays are full of wiring and tubing and I decided to add a bit of this. Glued two strips of paper to each other and cut it into very thin "threads", painted black and aluminum. Started with the right bay and glued four of these threads into it. The left one will follow next time.

Then the bay doors. Quite labor-intensive with small internal formers and 5 fragile hinges per door. Each hinge consists of three tiny parts. Instead of continuing with the wiring and tubing in the left landing gear bay I chose to finalize the right one by installing the doors and the tie-rods to complete the retracting assemblies. The rods still need to be painted, some other details finalized and then a bit of weathering/dirt on the landing gears and wheels.

As I had some time to spare this Sunday for modeling, I already started with the nose gear door but that will be a separate subject.

So far so good and I'm actually pleased with the result up so far. Also included a few pictures to show that the model stands up straight, with an exactly horizontal elevator and a bit leaning backwards, which is so typical for the P38. The wheels have all been sanded flat underneath.

That's it for now,
Erik

[Siwi]

I have made very fragile thin parts on a model, and then some time later got to see the real thing close up and been suprised that the same parts are solid thick rods or something equally sturdy. Although great for detail, scales around 1:48-1:33 sometimes run into problems where the model gets too heavy for things like landing gear at scale without hidden reinforcement.

[Michael Mash]

Second photo is impressive.
I enjoyed reading about your addition of extra details . . . turning good work into great work.
Mike

[Gene K]

Originally Posted by Erik Zwaan

So far so good and I'm actually pleased with the result up so far.

Sorry I missed this thread earlier, Erik. A masterful build!

Gene K

[rifleman]

what a build only word that comes to mind .............AWESOME