P-38H Lightning, Halinski 1:33

[T haf]

Thank you for doing such a great job on my favorite ww2 plane. This looks fantastic

[YOAVHOZMI]

this is great

YOAV

[abhovi]

Perfect job Erik, as always.

[Erik Zwaan]

Thank you all guys for your reactions.... A tutorial on invisible seams? Well, I wouldn't mind setting something up in the near future. In any case, no special tricks or photoshopping, just a few "points of attention" .

Have a good weekend,
Erik

[Michael Mash]

That is dedication, experience and skill.
Mike

[Erik Zwaan]

Thanks Mike. For me, modeling is a way to wind down a long and intense working day. I'm not always in the right state of mind to cut and paste and lately time to spare has been very limited. In any case, herewith a small update.

The P38H was equipped with fowler flaps, that extended from underneath the inboard as well as outboard wings. I will build the flaps in extended position but that is still future work. At this point the flap bays are constructed. Quite labor intensive, with a lot of small parts to be cut out. Although I'm following the numerical order of the parts as much as possible, in hindsight it would have been easier had the small ribs been installed before closing the wing skin "envelope". Much better access. Well, I still have the opportunity to do so when building the outer wing panels.

So, next week a short break in the Swiss Alps and then continuing with the wings. The internal structure requires close attention and I made a few errors due to lack of concentration. Luckily up so far nothing serious and they could be corrected relatively simple....

Cheers,
Erik

[Styrian Spitfire]

Hi Erik ,

you will show us a very fine artwork !!!!!

Kind regards
Kurt

[outersketcher]

Good grief Eric. That is some amazing craftsmanship. Looking forward for more from this build

[Erik Zwaan]

Hello everyone, back again after a while and thank you Kurt and outersketcher!. Had a break in the Swiss Alps for a week, enjoyed the hikes and breathtaking views and picked up the build again with renewed energy. A bit slow though at the moment as other things in life require attention as well.

Have started with the outer wing panels. The internal structure is typically Halinski and quite elaborate. Although the iso views in the building instructions are clear, it takes a lot of attention to avoid making mistakes.... Somehow I managed to mix up the main spars and what was supposed to be left ended up right and the other way around. Not too detrimental and I could correct the parts easily where required.

Although the kit is very detailed, to my surprise the landing lights underneath the wings are simple. At least, I suppose they are landing lights as I couldn't find more information of them. A bit of an unusual location, underneath the wings rather than in the leading edge shining forward, so I'm working on adding a few details. Pictures of this next time. From the walk-around pictures I have it looks like that in later versions of the Lightning the landing light position changed to the wing leading edge.

Also, I'm reinforcing the wing skin by either filling up the spaces in between the structure with paper patches (wing bottom side) or glued to the inside of the wing skin (wing upper side). This requires continuous checking if each patch fits nicely, so it's a relatively time-consuming process. The result will be a firm wing skin, resistant to unwanted dents, so worth the effort.

That's it for now. More to come!

Erik

[ReynoldsSlumber]

Spectacularly meticulous work as always!

Did you already run across the diagram of the retractable landing lights that someone posted on britmodeller.com?

Pretty cool that a circa 1940 plane had "pop down headlights." Take that, 1962 Lotus Elan.