Roland Dressler Lockheed P-38 Lightning ultimate combat plane of WWII unique twin boom twin engine design aircraft military aviation

Lockheed P-38J Lightning

Revell kit # 4749

1/32 SCALE

LENGTH: 14 1/8 inches

This ultimate combat plane of WWII was piloted by U.S. Air Ace Major Thomas B. McGuire

Unique twin boom - Twin engine design

Armed with four .50 caliber nose mounted machine guns and one 20mm cannon

Molded in silver and clear plastic

Authentic Army Air Corps markings

The P-38 Lightning introduced a new dimension to American fighters - a second engine.

The multi-engine configuration reduced the Lightning loss-rate to anti-aircraft gunfire during ground attack missions.

Single-engine airplanes equipped with power plants cooled by pressurized liquid, such as the North American P-51 Mustang, were particularly vulnerable. Even a small nick in one coolant line could cause the engine to seize in a matter of minutes

ANOTHER REVELL OLD BEAST The P-38J is part of the Revell family of twin-engined fighter kits released during the seventies, and as such, these models are impressively large.

The P-38 was released in 1970 and reissued a number of times since then.

Although not as large as the Bf-110, this kit surely caused some excitement when it first appeared.

After more than thirty years later, it remains the only 1/32 injected kit on the market, and it can be easily converted to a P-38L.

Contrary to some previous Revell releases of that time, this one has no movable parts.

The shape and dimensions are good in general, and the surface is plagued by thousands of oversized rivets. A serious modeler will have to perform a formidable job to bring this model to competition standards.

The other choice is to partially sand off the rivets and go out-of-the-box with a good paint job.

Considering the size and the forms of this bird, I'm sure most will stop to take a second look at the model... The original 1970 kit came with Richard Bong's "Marge" P-38 artwork (do you remember that box?).

The Lockheed P-38J was the only American fighter in continuous production throughout America's involvement in the war with P-38J and P-38L-LO being the primary production variants.

While there were some teething problems for the aircraft the P-38 proved to be a very reliable fighter notable for its speed.

The P-38 was the aircraft of choice for America's two top aces of World War II Richard Bong and Thomas McGuire.

After the war P-38s were phased out of American military service and sold to the militaries of smaller nations and some were demilitarized and sold to civilian interests including a number of air racers who prized the P-38's speed.

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Roland Dressler

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