Lockheed Model 22 USAAF P-38 Lightning

[Balsabasher]

It was boom time today for the P-38,so a suitable piece of scrap timber was found,an offcut from a DIY job some months ago,not the most ideal wood but it was all I could find and even then needed an additional piece glueing to make up the depth required on the side view.

Planning is important on twin boomers,the overhanging tailplane on the P-38 took some thinking about,do I slot the fins halfway,or do I cut the tailplane off at the tips and add those later ? well neither as a simple solution was found as shown here,halway of the extending tailplane remove,then simply slide the fins over the boom ends and lock into place,then just add the half way pieces later,easy when you give things some thought.

I planned out the fit into the wings opting to cut out a piece from the booms and adjust the required dihedral slot as shown with the blocks held flat against the bench,I kept and marked up the small pieces that were removed from the top of the boom slot where it accepts the wing,these will come in handy later on.

The next task is shaping the two identical booms and then making up the side air scoops and superchargers that sit on the upper face,those will be a challenge.

Barry.

[lastvautour]

Looking great Barry. Keep those pictures coming.

Lou

[Balsabasher]

Lets give some shape to those booms,a vintage spokeshave purchased at a car boot sale for 50 pence comes into use again,shavings and dust get saved for use on the model railway layout to make grass stained with acrylic paint.
Barry.

[lastvautour]

Radiators attached and wing being fitted to the booms.

Lou

[Balsabasher]

You have the rads spot on Lou,mine are still to make up.
Barry.

[lastvautour]

I cut out the side view from a wide piece of wood and then cut out each rad.

Lou

[Balsabasher]

Just blocked out the radiators and got the basic shape,will scoop them out next.
This model has been a lot of fun to do.
Barry.

[lastvautour]

It is a lot more fun when you have someone to build with. I see you have a spare rad. That is cautious approach that has served me well on a number of occasions. Moving along, I primed the boom and forgot to remove the stab when painting a silver T-33 Plastic model. Hence the silver. The fuselage and wing are ready to prime as soon as the T-33 is ready dry enough to remove from the paint booth.
Lou

[Balsabasher]

And once more Lou you learn a few things along the way as challenges appear and make themselves known,yes I often make additional small items to experiment with and nine times out of ten you get something wrong and can easily call upon the spare one.
Nothing done on the P-38 today as I just ran short of time,with several models on the go it is more interesting to flit around doing different jobs,a few are waiting for less humid weather to do the painting.
A great pity that we are thousands of miles apart otherwise I would be popping around to carve and chat with you ! but these cookups are ideal,solid models between nations !
Barry.

[Balsabasher]

Excellent clear detail picture for the P-38,a larger one is on file.
Barry.

[lastvautour]

I have not decided on a paint scheme yet. Probably early USAAF with the red centered circled star. I wasin a hurry do do other things so I snapped a photo just after spraying.

[Balsabasher]

Today I worked on the radiators,firstly I decided to semi hollow the front portions,to do this I took a half round chisel and boldly took a rubber mallet and holding the radiators upside down against a bench stop gave each a few wallops to scoop out the wood,it worked and all that was needed was a clean up with a round rasp.
I then glued them in place and added a tad of filler to blend them in,the spare radiator came in handy for experimenting with that hollowing operation and proved the concept of chiselling at 45 degrees without any splitting of the wood.
Barry.

[lastvautour]

They look great Barry.

Lou

[Balsabasher]

Time to line everything up and assemble the parts after a preliminary sanding with medium grit paper,rigging a twin boom aircraft needs great care especially the Lightning which has booms that lie parallel to the fuselage sides unlike some designs,the dihedral angle was already filed in a few days ago when I did several dry runs,remember the old adage 'check twice,glue once' well in this case check and check again until you are sure ! the tail must lie true as well and the stabiliser line up with the wings head on,minor adjustments are the key to assembly taking a slither off at a time,if you find that you have gone too far then the answer is to stop and make a tiny wedge to glue in place,allow to cure then start again,well worth the extra trouble taken,the bigger that your solid is then the bigger the error appears.
So it will be left for a few days to harden before some minor filling then the plugs made up for the top of the booms where the supercharger goes,thats it for a bit but it is looking more like a P-38 by the day.
Barry.

[lastvautour]

It is looking great Barry.

Lou