**** DONE: 1/48 P-38J Lightning 44-23675 "Les Vin, Les Femmes, et Les Chansons"

[Catch22]

Very nice work!

 

[T Bolt]

Excellent work!

 

[rochie]

very nicely done mate

 

[Crimea_River]

Beautiful job Peter!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Hi Vic

I use nothing to thin, but I must say I am getting better gloss results with gloss enamel ( Humbrol Clear) , but that may be just me - and I may change next build!

I use the One go mixed with acrylic flat base for the final matt coats only after decals and weathering.

Thanks for the heads-up Pete and what a great job on the Lightning, looks bl**dy fantastic.

 

[ozhawk40]

Thank you Bruce, Wayne, Catch, T Bolt, Karl, CR and Vic!

Your encouragement and comments throughout this build are much appreciated - Cheers 8)

Peter

 

[kgambit]

Great job Peter.

 

[ozhawk40]

Thanks Dwight!

 

[ozhawk40]

Hi

I was pleasantly surprised about two weeks back when the granddaughter and daughter of Major Paul Sabo made contact with me through this forum and were able to add provide some more information about him as a father. It was really fantastic to hear from a relative and be able to hear their thoughts and impressions of the man himself.

Paul Sabo was husband to wife Shirley and father to five children. He did not take up a career in aviation after the war, although he certainly wanted to. His daughter described him as kind, considerate and responsible. The airlines felt he would be too reckless. I guess it would be that fighter pilot background.....

Very sadly, he has not been with us since 1986, but I'm sure he could have told some great stories if he were around.

Cheers

Peter

 

[Vic Balshaw]

What a great thrill that must have been for you Pete

 

[ozhawk40]

Certainly was Vic. I'm hoping I'll have a couple of newspaper clippings to post soon, fingers crossed.

Cheers

Peter

 

[Airframes]

That's fantastic Pete ! It's great when you get to know the personal side of the pilot/crew who's model you've built.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Wow Peter, that's just cool as hell!

 

[JP Vieira]

Good job

 

[Jabos]

Hello, I just found this thread and want to congratulate you on this model. What a great job you did Peter. I am very impressed with the background work you did. Thank you for buying my book. I'm happy you were able to use as a reference the photos I included. Major Sabo's P-38 has received more attention than any in the 370th. A plane starting to get some attention is Ian MacKenzie's Vivacious Virgin, with similar artwork to Sabo's Lightning. For whatever reason, my grandfather (in the 370th too) didn't paint up a 38 for himself. He did a 51 though, "Nancy Lee".

The video stills you posted are from that old documentary "Wings". The narrator says something about P-38s in Italy, but it is clearly 370th birds. After viewing tons of photos of the 370th pilots, and attending reunions to get to know the men personally, I can say I have no idea who that pilot is with Sabo's plane. Did the family confirm it is him? I never did think it looked like Sabo, but I don't recognize who it is. His kiss and pat of the nose art is pretty "cheesy" and is all staged. I have tried to find the source of that video and even spoke with the filmaker of that documentary, a man from Australia. He said he didn't note where he found that footage, but suspected there was much much more of the 370th that he used. I think it came from the National Archives. In his research he said a film might be marked B-26, but then after a few minutes of footage it would be something completely different. Perhaps someday I will go to D.C. and find that film.

Anyway, great job!

Jay Jones

 

[ozhawk40]

Thanks Jay

I've found lots of footage of p-38's at Florennes A-78 at this site:

CriticalPast.com: Historic Stock Footage and Archival Video Clips and Photo Images from the 1890s to the 1990s

Might just save you a trip to D.C.!

PM sent with more info.

Cheers

Peter