Dave Ward's HobbyBoss 1/48 P-38L 'Easy Assembly'

[Dave Ward]

Primed overall black - my favourite Stynylrez.

The underside sprayed AK Metal silver

This looks a bit bright at the moment - but it'll tone down with varnish oversprays.
The upper surfaces are Olive Drab - with a wavy hard demarcation line with the silver. I'm going to use masking fluid to protect the silver, before spraying the OD - I could brush paint it, I want to try the masking fluid over a large surface.
Dave

[rtfoe]

Looks like a real easy build Dave, look forward to the OD and waves. :thumb2:

Cheers,
Richard

[Dave Ward]

The assembly is very easy, just a little careful edge preparation needed - if I wasn't painting, it could be together in an hour!
Dave

[Dave Ward]

OK, that didn't go as well as I hoped.............................
I applied the masking fluid, with a brush, to the undersides, making a smooth line between olive drab & slilver. After letting the fluid dry for a couple of hours, I sprayed the uppersurfaces with Hataka A018 US Olive Drab - which went on nicely.

I let this dry for a few hours, then started to peel off the mask. Sadly, instead of leaving a smooth line, the masking took off small bits of the olive drab.................

I got the demarcation line in just about the right place, as you cant see ( much ) OD from below.


I think that the dried OD paint is a little flexible ( like a skin ), and the removal of the mask is just enough to take small bits off.
I'll have to resort to the hairy stick to clean up the edges.
It was an experiment, to see if the fluid would be an easier way to do the split, and it didn't really work. I should have gone with my first thought - brush painting the demarcation line, then filling in with the airbrush!
Using the masking fluid on small areas, like cockpit canopies, works, but with the acrylic paint, it's problematical!
Dave

[Fernando N]

Neat looking office Dave, too bad the masking experiment didn’t work out.
You can also use the Blue/white tack method for the demarcation lines, although that takes up some time.

[Guest]

I know my model experience is lacking but from a purely paint point of view I think you'd have been better removing the liquid mask much earlier.

Id suggest as soon as the paint feels touch dry. That way the acrylics haven't started to cross-link / polymerise or whatever you want to call it, and the masking is much more likely to leave a clean edge. Once it's started to cure the acrylic becomes a homogeneous layer that doesn't want to separate from itself.

At work I do it almost immediately, while the paint is still quite wet, but that's a bit risky on a 3d shape and a wrongly placed finger could spell disaster.

[Dave Ward]

Fernando,
I've never been a fan of the blue tack method - I find it very fiddly, and invariably I have to touch up a lot after removing the strips. I'm much happier using the old fashioned brush.
Looking at the Lightning, I'm going to have to feather the demarcation line & remove any loose bits. A sanding stick, or failing that, a fibre glass pen should smooth things out.
Andy,
yes, that probably is the cause - but these acrylics dry so quickly, it would be tricky to judge the right time to peel the mask off!
Dave

[rtfoe]

Hi Dave , for acrylics I would say to peel the masking off immediately. As for the blu-tac method I found an easy way to create the wavy lines just by doing this...



Basically roll a worm like thread, affix and using the end of a brush to tease the blu-tac into the shape you desire. Peel off right after you have sprayed. Thin down the edges of the blu-tac if you want the lines sharper.

Cheers,
Richard

[Guest]

Andy,
yes, that probably is the cause - but these acrylics dry so quickly, it would be tricky to judge the right time to peel the mask off!
Dave

Sooner rather than later I'd say.

As Richard says, immediately is probably best, but at the latest as soon as you can touch the paint (on the masking of course) and it doesn't transfer to your finger.

Like you say though, a few touch ups will see it right as rain.

[Dave Ward]

Touching up, here and there, the Lightning is now beginning to look the part

Canopy just dry fitted - I've still got the gunsight to add. Next will be an overall gloss spray, ready for the decals.............
Dave

[papa 695]

Some nice work Dave.

[Dave Ward]

Rapidly approaching a finish - still lacking main undercarriage doors & rockets

I've had more trouble assembling the rockets onto their 'chandelier' launch bracket than the rest of the model - I'm now in the third attempt - small location pins...........................
Despite all that weight I added, the P-38 is a marginal tail sitter! It will stand on all 3 legs, but if you push the tail down, it'll stay there. Weight in the front of the drop tanks would work, maybe adding the rockets will help.
After all the bits are added, then it's time to do some weathering..............
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Finished! Photos HERE
Thanks for dropping by
Dave