Steve Budd replicates the inhabitant of a Welsh beach with Academy’s 1/48 P-38F Lightning, creating his own interpretation of a famous aircraft wreck
With the upper and lower halves of the wings taped temporarily, the kit’s cockpit floor was positioned and extended forwards with thin plastic card, in two sections, to meet the nose cone. An Internet search for ‘P-38 gun bays’ threw up a wartime restored aircraft with clear views of the back of the nose cone and gun cradles. They were enough to help fashion loose interpretations of the structures in more plastic card, U-channel rod and sundry shapes, sufficient to look busy under environmental weathering. Photographs showed what looked like the mounting bulkhead for the instrument panel having presumably rotted and tilted forwards, so this was also created in plastic card.
The objective was to represent rather than replicate and to capture the look and essence of the real thing, rather than become mired in exacting detail. With the nose cone access door removed, the interior cross brace visible in images was added from plastic strip. A mini-blow torch used briefly and without direct contact allowed the port side of the cone and its two blast ports to be manipulated out of shape with a paintbrush handle. The rear of the cone had its wall added from plastic card and, with several other details added, the armament area was concluded.
Read the entire article at the link.
https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/academy-148-p-38f-maid-harlech-diorama
http://www.madu.org.uk/Page%204.28%20-%20Maid%20of%20Harlech%20-%202014.dwt