INTERMEDIATE BUILD
P-38J LIGHTNING
INTERMEDIATE BUILD
P-38J LIGHTNINGhttp://www.airfi xmodelworld.com 81Adding
the booms to
the wing assembly
provided a ‘pick your
poison’ moment, deciding where
the misalignment would be least
problematic. It was decided to
arrange the front of the nacelles
as best as possible to the wing. At
the rear, scraping of plastic with an
X-Acto #10 blade was necessary to
eliminate a step between the boom
and upper mainplane. Tamiya’s
Extra Thin Cement (www.hobbyco.
net) was used to join these items
and was given a full three days
to cure. It was at this point where
all the horror stories on the kit
became apparent, as nothing was
straight. The front of the engine
nacelles canted inwards at their
bases, the vertical stabilisers were
canted outwards and one boom
was higher than the other.
Although daunting and perhapsnot for the faint of heart, a solution
was at hand. The easy part was
correcting the canted engine
nacelles – sheet styrene was simply
inserted into the seam between the
boom and the lower inside wing.
This straightened the engines, plus
one of the vertical stabilisers (as
viewed from the front). However,
the remaining boom was still not
aligned correctly and the remedy
was a mug of hot water and a
leap of faith. The offending item
was placed in the hot water for
approximately two minutes to
soften the plastic. Removing the
model from the water, a gentle
twisting pressure was applied to
correct the vertical stabiliser’s
angle; this was then held until the
plastic cooled. After recovering
from hypoxia due to not breathing
during this process, it was noted
the fix met international ‘that looks
about right’ standards!
The horizontal stabiliser (PartL14) was then inserted and
overall the fit of the boom and
fuselage parts could best be
described as unimpressive. As a
result, the copious instances of
‘steps’ (between mating surfaces)
and mis-alignment between
components required considerable
time to fill, file and sand.It was also noted the windscreen
sat slightly proud of the fuselage,
which also required trimming with
a file for a better join. Although
Hasegawa provided the canopy
transparencies in five separate
pieces, it wasn’t designed to be
displayed open, so modifications
were needed to allow theINTERMEDIATE BUILD
P-38J LIGHTNINGAdding
the booms to
the wing assembly
provided a ‘pick your
poison’ moment, deciding where
the misalignment would be leastnot for the faint of heart, a solution
was at hand. The easy part was
correcting the canted engine
nacelles – sheet styrene was simply
inserted into the seam between the
boom and the lower inside wing. The wing/nacelle fit was less than ideal, and much work with filler and abrasive paper
was needed to smooth the joins. Eduard’s PE accessories included these useful intake screens for the front of each
nacelle and transformed their appearance. A soaking in hot (not boiling) water
for several minutes softened the plastic,
before the offending boom was twisted by
hand to straighten the vertical stabiliser.arrange the front of the nacelles
as best as possible to the wing. At
the rear, scraping of plastic with an
X-Acto #10 blade was necessary to
eliminate a step between the boom
and upper mainplane. Tamiya’s
Extra Thin Cement (www.hobbyco.
net) was used to join these items
and was given a full three days
to cure. It was at this point where
all the horror stories on the kit
became apparent, as nothing was
straight. The front of the engine
nacelles canted inwards at their
bases, the vertical stabilisers were
canted outwards and one boom
was higher than the other.
Although daunting and perhapsviewed from the front). However,
the remaining boom was still not
aligned correctly and the remedy
was a mug of hot water and a
leap of faith. The offending item
was placed in the hot water for
approximately two minutes to
soften the plastic. Removing the
model from the water, a gentle
twisting pressure was applied to
correct the vertical stabiliser’s
angle; this was then held until the
plastic cooled. After recovering
from hypoxia due to not breathing
during this process, it was noted
the fix met international ‘that looks
about right’ standards!
The horizontal stabiliser (Part Eduard’s PE accessories included these useful intake screens for the front of each
nacelle and transformed their appearance.