Hasegawa 1/48 Lockheed P-38L Lightning 15th AF

December 13, 2019 · in Aviation · · 14 · 2.8K

Another contribution by my dad to our Airwar over Austria theme, built in 2015.
Hasegawa kit (Putt-Putt-Maru boxing), one of their weaker kits, with Kagero decals (miniTopcolors 33, Lightnings at War Pt.II)
Painted with Tamiya X-32 Titanium Silver for the NMF.

On the way from Italy to Austria over the Dolomites and Alps, the B-17s and B-24s of the "Thunder from the South" had four P-51 FGs and three FGS as little friends. Whereas the P-51 Checkertail Clan and the Tuskegee Airmen are well known and their models are often built and seen in the modeling world, the rest is a bit rare, at least in .

The model shows the aircraft of Lt. John J. Kane, serving with the 96th FS/82nd FG, stationed in Vincenzo/Italy in March 1945. The 82nd FG was the third-highest scoring fighter group of the USAAF and received three times a Distinguished Unit Citation.

Reader reactions:
12  Awesome

14 additional images. Click to enlarge.


14 responses

  1. Very sharp 38. This proves the Hasegawa kit can be made into a good looking model.

  2. Great build and finish.

  3. It may be a weak kit, but this isn't a weak result. In fact, it's very nice!

    I was privileged to know Dick Willis and Dick Andrews, the two pilots from this group who pulled off a "piggyback" rescue when Willis was shot up over a Romanian airfield they were strafing on their way to Russia on the first shuttle mission. Andrews, Willis' wingman, landed on the field, threw out his gear and Willis climbed in and sat on him. Closed the canopy and took off with Romanian soldiers shooting at them, went through the top of the tree at the end of the field, and then flew on for 2 hours to Piryatin. The next day when the AF wanted to take publicity photos, they couldn't cram themselves into the cockpit in 30 minutes of effort, though it had taken less than 30 seconds when they were under fire.

  4. Nice work! Didn't the Germans call the P-38 the forked tail devil?

  5. Well done. Great job on the natural finish which is hard to pull off.

  6. Some strong work in making a difficult model look easy. Getting the booms to align and the kit to sit with that P-38 look is not easy to do for some. Photographing a kit that doesn't look natural ...most viewers are accustom to looking at things with a right and left or a bilateral view. In nature you see two eyes, two hands,two feet etc,etc. Lockheed with its eye for two tails and two booms had to add a third element the nacelle for the pilot. Bugger the image and make life hard for the photographer. It all works here Reinhard.

    Two thumbs up.

    • Yes, one of Hasegawa´s more difficult kits...alignement of the booms didn´t turn out perfect, almost impossible to get them 100% right but it looks ok. Wonder how the new Tamiya P-38 builds up, maybe gonna convince my dad to give it a try someday 🙂

  7. Reinhard, @grimreaper

    Your Lightning looks very good, and it's always nice to see a Hasegawa kit built up. I have a few of these kits in my stash, and some Kagero decals for an upcoming Pacific Theater P-38 build. I have a quick question for you: Did the decals work out OK or did they give your Dad any problems ?

    Thanks for sharing this beauty with us.

  8. beautiful model and post

  9. un buen trabajo y un gran resultado

    SALUDOS

  10. Another beauty - love the yellow-tails markings. Well done.

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