NEW Tamiya 1/48 P-38 Lightning. Complete step-by-step build video. 

Howdy! Great build man! I work on the real White 33 this model was based off and thought I might give the model some history! White 33 was one of the first 4 P-38's in the pacific theater. She is the only P-38 flying to have real combat history! (as far as we can tell) The plane has 7 kills to her name, the last being a game of chicken with a Zero that resulted in the first 4 ft of her left wing being destroyed. After returning to base they decided she was to badly damage to take the time to repair. The plane was used as a parts plane until they eventually dug a hole at the end of the runway and pushed her and many other airplanes into it. She was recovered along with all the other aircraft in the pit in the 90's and was restored by Westpac Restoration in Colorado Springs, Colorado. White 33 is by far one of the most accurate representation of a P-38 flying today. The factory serial number and other factory decals and inspection stickers are in place including under the 33 on the nose. If you would like to see what the model looks like in real life she lives at the National Museum of World War II Aviation in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The museum also has a plethora of iconic and rare war-birds!

I just love watching people talk about hobby models. Especially Andy.

Gorgeous build. I built a 1/48 monogram P38 kit when I was a kid. One of my favourite WW II planes.

Great video and a fantastic looking kit! Looking forward to building this.

Good video. I pre-ordered this one from Andy's shop, so was waiting to see this build video on it. She's a beaut...looking forward to building it myself. This will be the first P-38 I have built since building the venerable Monogram 1/48 version that's been around in several incarnations since 1964, or an Aurora version. Good time to be a modeler, as lots of new kits from new molds from many manufacturers are being released. Most excellent! Thanks, Andy.

Tamiya has done it again with another one of their fantastic model kits and I sure can't wait until November gets here so I can buy their 1/48 P-38 F/G Lightning! Thanks again for posting another one of your excellent videos & model kits built by you, Andy!

Can’t wait to buy and build this kit, great vid as usual

@Andy's hobby headquarters. In a word Outstanding thanks Bruce

Finally!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Tamiya for finally engineering an easier P-38 Lightning kit. I'm especially thrilled about the wheel well doors. Thank goodness someone finally engineered an easier way to attach them without using the tiny attachment points method that easily break. I'm so glad Tamiya tackled this subject. The Hasegawa P-38 kit looks great when finished but it takes a true test of patients to get there.

Look forward to building this. Thank you for the step by step video 👍

it's great to have a kit that fits so well, makes building it so much easier.

Andy, if I may be so forward, You certainly seem like a modeling genius. I really enjoy your videos. Keep making them please.

Lol was just checking the channel to see if it was uploaded yet and got the notification for the video

Thank you so much for sharing the build, absolutely love job.

Andy, Being a member of the USAF Museums, all model companies has got the Lockheed early P-38's interior colors wrong! The cockpits are O.D. not Interior Green! The gear wells are not Interior Green either they are underside color either Neutral Gray (Light Haze Blue for Recee planes F-4's or F-5's) or Bare Metal. Any questions on any USAAF aircraft just drop me a line.

My God, i was dreaming of seeing this kit coming together. YOU MAKE MY DREAMS COME REAL

You did such a good job it looks like you just shrunk down a real P-38 Lightning good job👍

Very nice video, thank you. Awesome kit and awesome build. I also like it when the weathering is not too much, it often makes it more realistic according to the scale imo.

Merci pour l'excellence de cette vidéo et l'incroyable qualité de ce kit.

Very nice build. Turned out great.

ciao Andy and welcome back. another great build. I hope that the innovations introduced by Tamiya in building the molds for this aircraft will soon be used also for the other models, including tanks, so as to have an ever greater precision of construction and realism in the details. greetings from Italy. Alessandro

That plane is beautiful!

A big time tank guy here but,... really enjoyed the passion you had for this kit.

Astonishing craftmanship Andy. A joy to watch you build.

Always a great video, need to come by the shop and see what goodies you have this week!

Hi Andy. I got this kit today. Looking forward to building it. Great video. I like the way you show us how to get the best out of a kit with your advice and tips.

Thanks for this video! Now i'm going to have to go out and get one of these P-38s; and I'm a Model Builder of mainly WW2 AXIS Aircraft - Naval & Armor subjects.

Fantastic looking P-38 Andy... lovely work mate. I have both the Hasegawa and Academy P-38 kits in the stash yet to be built.... but you've sold me on this kit. Well done!

One of the best looking models- and you have so many!

Note the small channels down the tops of the booms are supposed to be there. Andy sanded his out. There is a note on the top of step 30 explaining this. This kit is fantastic!

Had to keep pausing the video to clean drool off my screen 🤤 Cant wait to build this kit, thanks Andy 👍

They have a replica P-38 up at March Air Museum in Riverside CA that's wonderful to look at, and a great museum to visit if you are ever in the area. Great build!

Great work on a lovely kit Andy!

Sweet, the P38 is my most favorite plane ever!

Awesome built Andy...as usual! Thanks!...

Im cant wait to get this one love to see you do some more air craft some Japanese air craft

Double thumbs up Andy. Another fabulous build of what looks like the best kit ever. I'm right in the middle of building the latest Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Mk1 and I thought that was the best kit ever, this one looks even better. Love your videos.

Best P-38 model out there. If I was still building models I would definitely have this one as soon as I could get my hands on one. Tamiya makes the best plastic kits you can possibly buy and this is no exception. Great video, terrific looking model and thank you for posting it!

Thank you great build.

My P-38 arrived Monday {10-21} beautiful kit. The antenna wire {according to the "Great book of WWII Airplanes"} comes off of both vertical stabs forward{first panel line down from the top} to a "V" on the back of the aft section of the canopy about half way. But it looks just as good off, you do what makes you happy. Enjoyed the vid

Awesome job and Vid, Andy!👍🏻

The P 38 is a handsome plane. Fine looking build.

Thanks Andy, looks like another great kit from Tamiya expertly finished by yourself. Adverts are becoming a right pain in the butt but could listen to you all day long, cheers.

Hey Andy, a great video as usual...a fantastic looking kit that you make so easy to assemble, the end result is amazing! Looks like I have to head to town and try to get my hands on one of these kits..........almost like finding gold at the end of a rainbow me thinks! Keep up the great work. FYI I am trying to get my grandkids (6 and 9) into model making......I just need the 3 p's......patience, practice and persistence!

Great build!!! Thank you for sharing.

Andy your videos are amazing!

Awesome. Just like I thought.

Outstanding video and presentation.

Excellent video. Thank you.

Sweet build!!! Great kit!!! Awesome aircraft!!!

Looks great!

OMG I never thought to layer the paint so the interior paint in on the bottom for the canopy. That's brilliant.

Now I need one! I started to build one of the older kits about 15 years ago, but it was such a terrible fitting kit that I gave up on it. The P-38 has always been one of my absolute favorite war birds!

I've seen this Lightning at the Museum of WW2 Aviation in Colorado Springs. They have the museum, plus they do restorations, including White 33. The history of the plane is really neat, including the reunion of the plane with the former pilot just before he passed away.

You are good teacher for beginner.Thank you! Sir.

wow looks pretty good!

One thing that would make this extremely helpful for following this video to put one together, would be having all the colors and other things, like the mark fit listed in a way that someone could at least write down. Just would help when buying the model to have a list of other things I need. But, it's also simple enough to just watch the video, pause, and find the stuff as you say.

Andy, you are so awesome!!

Lovely job, Andy. 👍🏻

Great video once again Andy. Keep them coming.

Great build as always

Amazing kit! Need it in my stash;)

Outstanding Andy Great finish, thanks for sharing , could you consider 1/32 scale , maybe hasegawa Stuka G2 Canon Vogel or the Trumpter build , with Aftermarket barrels by RB for 3.7 cm. Just a thought. Your work is beautiful, right on!!

Andy, that is an amazing video and you have done an amazing job. Although I have been modelling on and off for 50 years or so, I am still not very good and certainly still learning. I can honestly say that I learned a huge amount from your film so thank you! On to Tamiya - just wow! I have never seen a model fit like that, the edges so crisp...do you think they may have changed their manufacturing process, or perhaps the type of plastic used?? When you attached the tail to the booms, the join lines literally disappeared! Amazing!!

engine nacelle. This is a GREAT VIDEO Sir. I've been watching your videos and learning how to airbrush so a huge thank you for sharing! I thought that all WWII era aircraft was either zinc chromate or olive drab color for the gear wells. So neat, I learned something new.

Great build (as always)! I've looked around on the net and can't find any pictures/clips of a P38 with radio aerials - I think your build is complete. You don't build enough planes (I know tanks are your first love), but the few videos I've seen of your planes are spectacular; I'd love to see you build another beauty from Ww2 - the de Haviland Mosquito, but whatever you do I know you'll keep up the good work!

Awesome build Andy. I wonder if the kit will come with some photo etch? I wish you had showed how to paint and weather the turbo super chargers. Lastly, I hope tamiya will make a 1/72 p-38 ad well.

She is a good looking bird 👍👍

my complements to Andy for his excellent video for the TAMIYA 61120, 1/48-Lockheed P-38 F/G Lightning

Nice model 😃

Can not wait for this to be on sale you certainly nailed this one Andy what a fantastic kit by tamiya just superb Steve 🇬🇧

Hey Andy, I just stepped by to tell you that I enjoy your channel very much. I love your enthusiasm and the way you explain evertything. You are a cool dude my dude! :)

Great job! That's my favorite airplane ever!

As usual good job cant wait till Nov thanks Andy

Love it, thanks.

Looks like a great kit. FYI, Tamiya have never precut their canopy masks. Thanks for posting

Woo hoo, I'm in the 1st thousand to view. Great build, it's on the to do list (pretty near the top tbh)

Incredible!

Always loved that aircraft

Nice job with detailing and beuitiful paint job!!

Can't wait to get my hands on this! Would you say it's as good or better than the 1/48 tomcat they produced? Cause that was the greatest kit I ever came across

It's glorious

Audio is way better for the intro. Thank you.

Awesome job on this great kit. Would you please build Tiran 4 Sharir from MiniArt? I know, It's quite big kit (1200 parts). But I just want to see how it fits together. Thanks for response.

I have one, this kit is the best in the business.

Hey Andy. Great work. Can’t wait for this kit to come out . Could you Please tel me how did you paint the superchargers . I really like how they came out

Gotta love Tamiya 👍😉

Hello Andy, your build was the reason to buy soon this P-38 from Tamiya, i think the first one what is perfect in all details. Greets from Germany, i was the one who asked you who was your idol when you start modelling, and what do you like more at modelling, asssembly the parts or painting and weathering, when you had been at MBK in Delmenhorst, Germany, thank you for your nice answers. Werner

Such a faboulus fit !!!

Outstanding! I’m buying one!

Magnifique!

Very nice 👍

Could you show us how you painted the turbos. Great build.

Nice! What kind of gloss and dull cote you use?

With a detailed engine that would be the cherry on top

That looks like a must-buy kit! Need to let my local shop owner know! 😀

Awesome.

You know with the way Tamiya has engineered their recent 1/48th aircraft is top notch. I can now dream of a new tooled 1/48th B-17F. Heard rumours years ago they were looking at it. Can almost see it in my minds eye. Who knows?

Most WWII aircraft interiors called for zinc chromate green. You use interior green. Are they the same? Interior green seems a little lighter, not as harsh.

Doesn't it feel good building such a formidable bird which will fly through the clouds in the sky instead of those muddy beasts that crawl on the ground? Joke. Greay work Andy. Love your channel