[TC15] Lockheed Martin P38 - White Lightnin'

[Rudivdk]

She is finished...:

Unfortunately I haven't been able to speed up the landing gear. But it works and she is perfectly balanced on her wheels now. I have tried to fill as many of the gaps in the body as possible, and I think the end result is pretty smooth.

Biggest win though is that I managed to put in a significant structural improvement. There is still some diagonal wobble, and she should not be lifted from the wing tips or any other extreme, but overall she is pretty robust.

So 1 week left for final photo's and video, should be OK. 

[steph77]

This build capture perfectly the spirit of this hystoric birds.

Well done!

 

ps. it's a great thing you managed to balance it in order to fit on it's Wheel.

[1gor]

Very very nice 

[Berthil]

Congratulations, very nice model! I have been following this with interest as one of my first self-made balsa flying models in my childhood was this model.
Looking forward to the pictures and video. It will certainly get my vote in the contest.

[Rudivdk]

Thanx all!!

@Berthil: creating pics and video is not my strong point, I hope I won't let you down there...

[Thirdwigg]

This turned out great. It's fun to see the development of the models as they move through towards completion. This is looking clean, and the little splash of color is great.

[Rudivdk]

Working hard on entry footage, with only a mobile phone camera and the light from my window...

Little teaser:

[1gor]

I know how it feels, I have digital camera but no PC...so I also depend on better weather and in my place there is no sun when I have time to take photos of my work...but teaser looks as it should 

Edited February 10, 2019 by I_Igor

[nigel1975]

I've been following this entry and enjoyed each update to the design.

The final result is really one of my favorites for this competition. Well done, looking forward to the final video.

[Rudivdk]

I had great fun building this model, and I wish every contestant all the best in the final voting.

Thanks to everyone who has been supporting and following me during development of this MOC, special thanx to @I_Igor for your close support and motivation!

Contest entry post:

==============

WHITE LIGHTNIN'

Lockheed Martin P-38 Lightning

When the design started in 1937, the twin-boomed P-38 was to be the most innovative plane of its day. On its official introduction in 1940, it found itself amongst the best performing fighters in the world. Its versatility and ruggedness became legendary. Before the end of WW2, it had been nicknamed "fork-tailed devil" by the Germans and for good reason. It was the best fighter plane in the WW2 skies, making short work of it's opponents: in the air, on the ground and in the waters. The Lightning’s legacy is unmatched, a total of more than 10,000 P-38s were manufactured.

One specific example of this beautiful airplane was the 1944 manufactured P­38L­5LD (SN #44‑53254), known as White Lightnin', which was seen at many airshows in the period after WW II. This specific version is the inspiration for my TC15 contest Entry.

(sources: lockheedmartin.com  wikipedia.org p38assn.org)

The build features:

• Characteristic twin-boom body
• Center nacelle with cockpit, holding a PF Lithium Battery
• White colorscheme with red details, mimicing real White Lightnin'

• PF powered twin propellers (counter rotating)
• Propeller blade pitch control
• Opening canopy giving access to the cockpit with:
  • Tri-axis yoke controlling ailerons, elevator and twin rudders
  • Up/down switch controlling PF powered flaps
  • Up/down switch controlling PF powered landing gear

Video:

More pictures:

Even more pics to be seen on my bricksafe page.

Edited February 17, 2019 by Rudivdk
changes to ensure historical accuracy

[1gor]

You will always be welcome. White lightning is real beauty 

[BrickbyBrickTechnic]

This plane is an absolute beauty both functionally and based on looks. Amazing job @Rudivdk and good luck in final voting!

[pagicence]

Good one. Those are a lot of PF functions to crump up in a small space.

[Rudivdk]

Working on some technical cut-outs in LDCad at the moment, to show what's going on underneath the white dress.

Let's see if I can get this embedded as a technical cut-out section in the video before contest close date, otherwise I will put them here in the MOC topic.

Preview:

Edited February 13, 2019 by Rudivdk
updated preview image

[brickhappy]

It is the X number times that I have looked that this picture and I am still drooling over this design.

[grum64]

Looks fantastic and functions really well. Great entry. I think this’ll do very well in what’s turning out to be a brilliant and very tough competition.

[1gor]

Looks really fantastic, but about speeds please check this out:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_airspeed_record

But indeed P-38 is something really special; the only thing that (perhaps) top it is XF-11

Regards

[Rudivdk]

53 minutes ago, I_Igor said:

check this out

Huh, so much for trusting a manufacterer on his own product...

Thanx for pointing it out, changed my description.

[1gor]

That is why we have this forum; do not worry about that. The most important thing is that your P-38 is beautiful so consider my previous post as a little help

[nigel1975]

Wow, I'm blown away with the final result. All the functions look to work really well in the video.

Well done, great entry.

[Rudivdk]

Long overdue, but as I promised about a year ago, I will create building instructions for this MOC. Work is in progress.

I finished the digital build with rough stepping sequence for the instructions. Now the fine tuning begins...

Here is the preliminary parts list (99,9% final): https://rebrickable.com/users/Rudivdk/lists/62367/. Part count is a little over 2000 parts, a few rare-ish parts but nothing too shocking. I used a PF rechargable battery box, but the PF AAA batterybox also fits, and I guess also a Buwizzz would fit (not that you need the remote control, but still...).

For the cover of the instructions, I have a nice surprise: when picking up the contest prize last year, I had some pictures taken by @Jim in the very same studio where all the magnificent review photo's are taken (WAAY better quality than I could ever dream of making myself):

And finally a glimpse of what the instructions are going to look like:

As it is a lot of work, I am considering asking a small fee (something between €3 to €5) for the instructions, please let me know what you think about that.

[Thirdwigg]

I think it's fair to charge a small fee. Making instructions is a lot of work, and for those who value building your MOC, it's fair to ask them to cover some of the work put into it.

[Jim]

I was happy to help, even though I am not very happy with the results of the pictures. White and red models are very hard to get right. But at least they are sharp and hi-res 

[Rudivdk]

2 hours ago, Thirdwigg said:

I think it's fair to charge a small fee. Making instructions is a lot of work, and for those who value building your MOC, it's fair to ask them to cover some of the work put into it.

Thanx, that was exactly my tought as well, but I was a bit unsure how well this would be received by the 'paying' end...

1 hour ago, Jim said:

I was happy to help, even though I am not very happy with the results of the pictures. White and red models are very hard to get right. But at least they are sharp and hi-res 

I know your feeling about the pics, but I am nowhere near your skill in photography, so I am really happy with the pics

[Rudivdk]

Progress is slow but steady (and again proves a lot more work than I estimated upfront. I should really re-calibrate my expectations ):

As I go along creating all the sub-steps and call-outs, some minor changes are made to individual parts or part colors. Therefore, I can only guarantee the final parts list once the instructions are done.