Fgmm p-38

[AndyC]

Scaled to 1/48. Thus far, hard to get all of the pieces aligned properly. I think this is an older hand-drawn kit. The tail booms were a nightmare.

Will have clear canopy, prop disks, guns in nose section..etc.(hopefully)

[wag]

This is one I'd like to try purely as a challenge. The Lightning is one of the most complex shapes ever made into an airplane. I'll be watching closely.
Wayne

[cjwalas]

I'm very curious to see how this one comes out. It has quite a reputation for fit issues, but it looks like you're whipping it into shape nicely!
Chris

[2Kamser]

it gave me the fits :D
i tried it on at normal print size, but had fitting problems here and there
i learned that the front end of the booms should be switched to make it fit better
i had problems getting the booms fit the wings right and at the same time get the rear wing to sit properly, so finally i scrapped it before i learned all this vital info
have reprinted again but not sure when i will do it again
so i'll too be watching this to learn

[AndyC]

This model is just a nightmare to build. It seems that every part is almost exactly 1/16 inch off from it's match. The booms are a giant headache from front to end. The cowel when finished is exactly 1/16th bigger in diameter than the boom forcing me to put two wraps of 67# cover around it to help keep it centered. If not, the wing holes will not line up..my thoughts are if I ever build this model again(doubtful), the booms should be cut into two sections, each section rolled/glued then put the boom together. Trying to roll and glue that entire boom as one section is nasty. The wings - the right wing is almost 1/16th inch longer than the left. The curve of the finished wing at the root doen not even come close to matching the curve on the center nacelle. Trying to cut the roots to match this is almost impossible.

I got as close as I could with the cutting and ended up with a huge piece of wing missing at the rear. I did some patching now, I'm stuck as to how to make it look decent...I still need to add silkspan to wing roots to seal the nasty gaps. I'm chalking this up to a learning experience. I wanted to try some new things with adding guns and canopy methods so this is now the model to try it on. It will be hanging in the closet-o-shame when it's finished. Very aggrevating.

[cjwalas]

Now I'm even more intrigued than before! I think models like this are the most rewarding, when and IF you can turn them into something decent. Don't give up! We're rooting for you!
Chris

[AndyC]

Oh, I'm not going to sh*t-can it. I'm going to finish it one way or another. I'm thinking of using some water color paints to stain the new sections to sorta match the blu-ish/silver color on the rest of the wings....we'll see. My son suggested lighting it on fire and calling it battle damage...lol

[AndyC]

Well, after some coloring and filling it's not terrible...not good but not terrible.

The center nacelle and wings with some coloring on the patches and the gaps filled with my super filler...( mix of white glue, baking soda and a few drops of water coler paint).



Dry-fitting the booms to see what kind of unholy gaps and mis-alignments I will end up with. I'm going to have to tweak the booms a bit to acount for the dihedral...lovely.



May not need the silkspan with the colored filler I used...need to let it completely dry to see.

[cjwalas]

Really coming together well, Andy. Better than I expected and I can't wait to see how it all turns out when it's finished.
Chris

[AndyC]

Thanks Chris. It should look a bit better after I add the missing panel lines and trim the rear ends of the wings. I'm cutting the canopy while the wings and nacelle dry.