Just finished this 1/48 Academy Lightning as an OOB build. Very good fit and details for a very reasonably priced kit. I made some belts from wine bottle foil and buckles from thin wire but it’s barely visible thru the closed canopy.
The decals are from PrintScale and are extremely thin which means really good results and NO silvering. However, great care must be taken while sliding them on to position or they will fold under itself and are just about impossible to recover.
I love Alclad but I have several bottles of Floquil Old Silver and Platinum Mist so I used those over polished Tamiya primer. I then rubbed some SNJ aluminum powder and sealed it with Alclad Aqua Gloss, producing a slight oxidized metallic finish with subtle metallic shades. Unfortunately SNJ powders are out of production so I take care of my small bottle like powdered gold!
I did some research about the super chargers and the staining and read that their exhaust stains were either a light tan or a greysh color depending on how lean the mixture was to extend the range. The super chargers were painted with burnt metal MM metalizer and then were given a burnt sienna oil paint wash to get that heated metal rusty look. They were glued in place and thinned Testor’s flat brown with a drop or two of white was lightly airbrushed at 8 PSI to get the fading exhaust stain. Comments are welcomed and thanks for looking.
Beautiful PJ. I wish I stocked up on the Floquil silver’s as I do miss them. Great for drybrushing too. Tamiya Buff works good on the exhausts, especially on OD versions. Thanks for sharing. Joe
This Academy kit is real easy to assemble and the fit is good with great detail so I recommend it if you are looking for one. Do not attempt to use the kit’s decals as they are garbage.
That is a superb looking P-38 pj. The metal finish is really quite well done. All in all I’d say you nailed it. Nice to hear that the academy kit goes together nicely. I have the Eduard reboxing of that kit that includes some really nice Brassin and PE extras. Looks like it will be one fun build when I get to it. Thank you for sharing your tremendous Lightning.
Gosh, thanks guys for such nice comments from all of you. Really appreciate your input.
Aggieman
The boom to wing connection is excellent as the seam runs where the panel line is so that problem is solved.
Joe Rix
You have the Lightnings Over Europe Limited Edition that I’m always hunting for at shows. That is an awesome kit with the addition of the nice decals, all the resin and pe that screams tons of added detail. You will enjoy building it, I guarantee it.
Brandon
It was a pain to mask and next time I think I will go with the Eduard mask so I can save the little hair I have on my head!
That a very nice looking build PJ. I do like the NMF finish and the exhaust staining looks well done. And I don’t think many people would research the staining that much.
