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Here
is my attempt to build a model of Richard Ira "Dick" Bong’s
P-38J Lightning.
Richard
Bong was the US all-time leading fighter ace with 40 confirmed victories. He
scored his first victory on December 1942 and the last one on December 1944.
After his last victory, he was moved back to the US. Richard Bong died on
6 August 1945 at the age of 24 in a crash during the testing of the P-80
Shooting Star jet plane.
More
info about the
P-38J and
Richard Bong can be found on the web sites listed below in the References.
The
kit
The
kit is the 1/48 kit from from Hasegawa. The model was built basically OOB,
with only PE parts from Eduard being added to the cockpit and oil coolers.
Assembly
No
problems were encountered during assembly. All imperfections were solved
by a little amount of superglue and sanding. Only one thing was important
not to forget – to weigh down front part of the kit. I added a large
amount of small nails into the front of the center fuselage. Basically, I filled
all inner space and affixed them with glue and plasticine. After
this, the finished model stands on all three wheels.
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Painting
and Marking
For
a standard basic camouflage, I used Humbrol and Revell enamels. The
different shadows of the Aluminium were reached by adding a several drops
of the respective color – white, black, red and yellow. The colors were air
brushed after masking rest of the plane surface.
The
decals supplied with the kit were used for Bong’s
personal
markings.
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Weathering
All
weathering is brushed on with a very thinned mixture of matt Sand, Dark Earth
and Black enamel with the required ratio. Somewhere more brown, elsewhere more
black. Panel lines were highlighted by a pencil.
Taking
Photos
The
shots were taken in indirect sun light using digital Olympus camera and then
modified in the PC.
References
I hope
you enjoy seeing my model.
Misos
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