Usually on a Shelf of Doom rescue, I know what Group Build it was for at the very least. On this one, it’s a complete mystery. I present to you in all it’s dusty glory, HobbyBoss’s 1/72 P-38. Started sometime within the last six to seven years.
Before retiring for the evening, I decided to clean her up a bit. Used rubbing alcohol on a napkin to remove the dust.
Decided to get something accomplished so I attached the main landing gear doors. The instructions aren’t to clear about their orientation so I hope I got it right.
Hope to get her on her gear next. Unfortunately, I don’t think I put enough weight in her so she’ll probably be a tail sitter. Any ideas on how to paint the turbos on top of the booms?
Thanks Mississippivol! Had she been in the condition of Glacier Gal, she would’ve been scrapped long ago. She’s been one of those builds that resides in the back of my mind, quietly reminding me that I really should finish her. I think I’ve got a bottle of rust lying around here somewhere, thanks.
Made some progress before going to bed last night. Completed the props and spinnery, got the turbo superchargers painted and installed, and put down a gloss coat for the decals.
Started applying the decals this afternoon. Left side is done.
The dust was easy, just some rubbing alcohol and a napkin. Getting those tiny, individually printed kill markings somewhat evenly spaced and in somewhat of a straight line after I had sanded the needed panel line away was hard.
One of my longest running builds is now done. I present to you, for your viewing pleasure, Hobby Boss’s 1/72 P-38L. Markings are by Microscale and are for Capt. Joseph Myers of the 38th FS/55th FG.
A few words about the kit. If you’re looking for a relatively easy build, then this is your kit. The fuselage and booms are split along the horizontal axis, taking alignment issues out of the equation. The instructions are a little weak with paint call outs and parts location can be questionable. If I were to build this again, I would do the following. Use a canopy mask. I have masking canopies. Pop for an Eduard Zoom PE set. Unlike a P-51, everything is visible through the canopy and a pe set would make the pit pop. Get some resin wheels. The rims for the wheels were inconsistent to the point of actually disappearing, making masking impossible (I hand painted them, this would have been easier with a mask set). The mounting holes for the tires in booms were centered, but the engraved rims were not. I also would choose a different color for the turbo superchargers as Model Master Rust is way too bright and too brown. Thanks for watching.
Nice camouflaged Lightning. I just completed also a Hobby Boss 1/72 P-38L in NMF and found out it’s missing the bullet-like scoops for the supercharger on the side of the booms and also the antenna under the nose and have scratchbuilt them. The polished oval portion inboard on the engine nacelles are represented as rounded clear parts so puttied them off. But yes over all it was an easy build and finishes into an attractive Lightning.
Thanks. I didn’t know about the missing scoops or antenna. You did the right thing in puttying the clear pieces a over as I couldn’t get them to fit properly.
