Tamiya P-38F Lightning

[Peterpools]

TAMIYA P-38F LIGHTNING

1/48^th SCALE

 

Working on two ZM kits for months has finally wore me out, as my mojo had flown the coop. The 109 and the Skyraider were moving along at a nice clip but an endless stream of issues to deal with and it surely was time for a major break to recharge the batteries. The two kits sat on the bench and I had no enthusiasm to join them and keep going, for at least the present time being.

I needed to change gears, rejuvenate the juices and I turned to my to favorite kit company: Tamiya. My stash is at least 85% Tamiya, both 32nd and 48^th scale, so I had no problem where to head, just what to build. Decision made: 1/48 P-38F Lightning with a Quinta Cockpit set – I was off and running.

Yes, I’m a huge Tamiya Fan Boy and mighty proud of it. 

Instructions, pure Tamiya: easy to read, understand and follow, with no guessing needed.

As with most kits, construction started with the front office. I spent a good ten plus hours carefully constructing the office, preparing the parts for the Quinta decals, painting and then applying them. The office is done and one hundred percent enjoyment. Only cleanup needed was removing the sprue runners’ nubs and that’s it; no flash or injection pin marks at all. Precise fit, awesome engineering and care need to be taken to remove paint from mating surfaces as the tolerances are very tight.

I can feel the mojo returning for sure.

I broke my unwritten rule of macro images but the front office is mighty small, so out came the Nikon 105 Macro. I tried to keep the magnification down so the images would look as seen up close and personal.

Just test fitting, only the front office as parts glued in place. 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Peter, a straightforward kit that won't throw you any surprises is always a good stress reliever. I like Bandai kits as well as Tamiya for that reason. Some of the Bandai kits don't even need masking if you're painting them they've done such a great job with the parts breakdown. 

As for the P-38, I have their J in the stash and just need to find some different markings for it, maybe some with invasion stripes. 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Carl ... good to know. I needed a stress reliever and so far, the kit is brilliant - typical Tamiyas

[belugawhaleman]

I recently got the same kit as an unexpected gift.....It looks like a very well-designed kit. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of your build and building

mine. Watching with interest.

[Peterpools]

Thanks Phil

So far all Tamiya and a pleasure to work on.

 

 

[JohnB]

Cockpit looks great Peter. Tamiya is another way to spell "stress reliever". LOL

[PanzerWomble]

It's won a lot of plaudits I believe , been tempted myself as I've never done a "wrong" Lightning *😁  Gabelschwanz-Teufel !!

Pit looks great , I'm guessing this will be RFI very quickly !! I know what you mean about doing a well engineered Tamiya kit as a counterpoint to wrestling with something more complexing . The newer ones almost self assemble .

 

 

 

 

* not an English electric one 

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks John, those Quinta cockpits are amazing. Just took a while to get use to working 'smaller'.

You're so right and no stress at all.

 

[Peterpools]

PW

Working on the Lightning almost every day and she is a dream for sure. I've never 'bought' that a beautifully engineered Tamiya kit falls together all by themselves and believe me they don't. Lots to do and a lot of kit for the money. What Tamiya does do better then anyone else in my opinion, is correctly engineer a kit, so the builder doesn't have to correct all the mistakes and ill-fitting parts. Somehow fixing manufactures issues has become to be known as modeling but not to me. You get what you pay for and Tamiya kits cost what they do as they deliver everything the purchaser expects and wants.  

 

 

[JohnB]

45 minutes ago, Peterpools said:

PW

Working on the Lightning almost every day and she is a dream for sure. I've never 'bought' that a beautifully engineered Tamiya kit falls together all by themselves and believe me they don't. Lots to do and a lot of kit for the money. What Tamiya does do better then anyone else in my opinion, is correctly engineer a kit, so the builder doesn't have to correct all the mistakes and ill-fitting parts of other kits. Somehow fixing manufactures fit and detail issues has become to be known as modeling but not to me. You get what you pay for and Tamiya kits cost what they do and they deliver everything the purchaser expects and wants.  

Tamiya kits have a fantastic reputation for detail, fit and excellent instructions. I enjoy building and not fixing. 

 

Well said Peter! I agree 100%.

[Peterpools]

Thanks John, much appreciated

[KevinM]

Liking the looks thus far Peter any special markings or OOB?

[PanzerWomble]

Calm down fellas , that was a comment on the ease of assembly of their models , rarely need to file to fit or use filler , no endless fiddly PE etc , not some disparaging of your work . 

 

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Kev

Going with the kit decals; OOB. Like the way they look and Tamiya's newer decals seem to work well for me. Sure hope that doesn't put a jinx on the decals 🤞

 

[Peterpools]

PW

Just wish you would have expressed it that way. Let's just let it slide.

Peter 

 

[DocRob]

Who else could have managed to fabricate a well engineered, good fitting and well detailed P-38 than Tamiya. I was a bit surprised, to see you start this WIP, but now I understand. Stress relief is important, when the mojo is flowing less viscous with some demanding builds. At last we are building for fun, aren't we? 
I just finished the same kind of stress reliever with the fantastic SBS resin kit of the Caudron racer, but not knowing the company before, I was not prepared to see such a well designed product and having these amount s of fun with it.
Your pilots workplace looks great and the P-38 is one of my favorites, so I'm eager to see your progress Peter. I have two of these in stash, a -J and your -f and look forward to build them. Now I will have a nice template for doing so.

I have some more pics, if you like, I will have to look for them, but this as a teaser.

Cheers Rob

 

[Martinnfb]

Perfect choice of subject Peter and as always splendid work on the pit. I just wish that Tamiya would scale this baby up to 1/32.

Following with interest  

Cheers

 

M.

[Peterpools]

Rob

Much appreciated and I haven't enjoyed a build as much as I am with the P-38 in a long time. Hard to admit, but the P-38 is more enjoyable and satisfying then their Spitfire Mk.XVIe, I built last year. Just can't believe how eager I've now been to hit the bench and keep building. 

Any pics would absolutely be appreciated, especially of the gear and wheel wells, as the kit's is so well detailed and I want to detail paint them correctly.

Yup, your Caudron racer was a good deal part of the seed that pointed into the direction I'm now going. For me, the hobby now has been all about enjoyments and relaxation. The early years were all about competition and I', glad all that is behind me. 

 

 

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Martin, glad you're on board for the journey. My to favorites parts of any build: the front office and painting. 

Right with you on wishing Tamiya would upscale a number of their newer 4thy scale kits but not wanting to be a downer, I just don't think there is much of a chance of that happening. Just seems after the past few years, Tamiya days of producing any new 32nd scale kits, isn't in the cards.

 

 

[GazzaS]

All the work looks very nice, Peter.  I thought I commented yesterday...   but I must have stuffed it up.  My workdays just seem to take so much out of me.

[Peterpools]

Gaz

No worries, I do it all the time.  Gaz glad you're on board for the journey.

Just hang in there and work at the bench when time and energy permits.

 

 

[DocRob]

I browsed through my photos from a visit in Chino, California some years ago and found fewer pics than I thought, sorry Peter.

These are from a -J:

...and these are from a -L 

Cheers Rob

[Martinnfb]

 

Walkaround

[Peterpools]

Thanks Rob

Greatly appreciated and they will come in very handy. Downloading them now for my P-38 work folder.

 

[Peterpools]

Martin

As always - the Seventh Cavalry to the rescue and just what I was looking for.