Hello folks. I had some down time between scheduled builds and I felt the bug to give the heavenly Tamiya forked tail devil another shot. I also wanted more practice with the hairspray technique, so I figured a Pacific P-38 with the prominent wing wear, and perhaps other areas, would do the trick.
I wanted something different other than the kit options and perhaps a lesser known ace besides McGuire or Bong (nothing against these heroes of course). Once again inspired by aviation art, I went with John Loisel’s #161 “Screaming Kid” from the 475th FG. Loisel was an aggressive pilot who shot down 5 Japanese aircraft within 2 months of flying the P-38, that being two Ki-61s and three zeros. He would finish with 11 kills and be the 4th highest scoring pilot in the 475th. After seeing this Roy Grinnell painting, I was of course inspired.
Again, I wanted this to be another exercise in Pacific weathering, as I’m still trying to kick up my skills a notch or two. I started with an Alclad Aluminum base before several light coats of hair spray. After a preshade with black, I then fired down AK Real Colors Olive Drab which was lightened with XF-57 Buff at different intensities. I wet the surface in areas I wanted chipped and then used a stiff Testors brush to chip the paint. I used the technique on the boom fronts and props too. AK is sort of tough so it took a while to losen, but I’m starting to get the hang of it.
I initially had an Eduard Look dashboard in there but the windscreen canopy piece wouldn’t fit flush, so I had to rip it it out and use the kit part. Be warned. I was able to use the included PE seatbelts so it wasn’t a complete loss. I used DEF model weighted wheels and they were fantastic. I added some Quickboost guns which are better than the kit ones.
I hate the “coffee table” look of P-38 kits and the Tamiya kit is no exception. On this one, I lenghthened the front gear oleo strut about double to give it that characteristic backwards P-38 lean you see in pictures. Fortunately it’s lean wasn’t too much and it stayed on it’s front leg, but it’s close. Next time I’ll add some BBs in nose with the included weight. Scratchbuilt wires in the radio compartment and gear legs round out the additions. I just realized I forgot to add the boom oval mirror decals but will add them soon.
As mentioned, paints were AK Real Colors and the main markings were painted on with Maketar masks. Decals were from an old Cutting Edge sheet I had found (sheet has Perry Dahl’s machine too for later). They performed flawlessly. Weathering was with Ammo Mig enamels and Tamiya panel line wash.
I can’t wait for their J and or L. I wonder what they’re waiting for? That will have Robin Olds Scat III written all over it.
A few in progress pics…