Airflip 1/72 P-38F Lightning 1973

[PanzerWomble]

So my house move is a little more advanced, finally got time to set up my workspace properly ...well version 1 for sure. As ever it will develop . 

Six foot bench, an extra set of drawers over the previous house and great natural light from all four directions which should make photography easier. So thought I'd have a test run with some random model . 

 

I'm not a fan of Airfix....or 1/72 ....or Jurassic Plastic .....or even P-38s . But bought this last week ???? It's a first run from 1972 . A little warpage, and both booms and top wing were broken in antiquity , but no flash and the fit is similar to 2022 Airfix ....kinda OK ish . 

 

Repaired the booms , banged it together , even included Chuck the pilot ( another thing I don't do ..include pilots) It would have been quite advanced for it's day some neat ideas , position lights ( did them with Microclear instead of old sytrene) one piece wheel bays / cover doors - a nice idea at this scale saves mucking around ot get the alignment. Shows its age with the amount of filler ..old school fit...and huge 2" rivets 

So in one bit, primed , blasted with Tamiya AS16 as a chipping undercoat. Colours next ..and some plan for the 40 year old decals. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plenty of space for weight ...

 

 

More filling needed .......

And this is after I rubbed the rivets down ....

[Peterpools]

Love to see vintage and historic kits find their way onto the work bench. Certainly, your Airfix P-38 had more then it's share of 'Box damage' and some mighty nice work with all the repairs, which were close to monumental. Looking forward to the P-38 crossing the line.

 

[PanzerWomble]

As so finished this off...... 

..and reminds me why 1/72 isn't for me ...and also filling gaps in old kits etc ain't no fun . My 12 year old self would have been proud of this effort , to me today it's pretty "MEH.."

Plain Olive Drab makes for a boring subject. I more fancy doing Tamiyas 1/48 version but in NMF to add some colour. 

Silhouette cut some masks rather than muck around with the ancient decals.  14th FG in Algeria Nov 1942 ish . They had a high attrition rate mainly due to the desert conditions and were withdrawn in early 43 . 

So its done, won't get shelf space for any length of time , but was a quick way of doing my first "new house build ". 

Also a quick check on the lighting for photography - that'll need playing around with too . 

 

Laterz 

PW 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GazzaS]

The new work area looks wonderful.   Enviable.

[PanzerWomble]

1 hour ago, GazzaS said:

The new work area looks wonderful.   Enviable.

Thanks , it’ll take some time to optimise i reckon , finding out what works where n all that 

[Bomber_County]

This passed me by, welcome back after the move. Bench looks good and something built is even better. That P38 is an oldy but goldy……….My previous house took 14.5 years to renovate so that meant zero bench time so you are not doing to bad……..

[Peterpools]

Enjoy your new cave - looks perfect.

I can't agree, as I love the looks and sexy lines of the P-38. An ace maker for sure and even Gen Robin Olds favorite mount.

Completely agree about banging your head against the wall working on such an oldie - but still, very nicely done.