**** DONE: GB-38 1/48 Lockheed P-38J Lightning - Axis A/C

[mikewint]

Username : mikewint
First name : Mike
Category : Intermediate
Scale : 1/48
Manufacturer: Minicraft
Extras : LF Models Lightning over Rechlin decal sheet

The story is that this P-38 was stolen by American pilot Martin James Monti when he defected to the German side during WWII. Monti left his base in Karachi, Pakistan on October 13, 1944, hitched a ride aboard a Curtiss C-46 Commando to Cairo, and from there he traveled to Italy via Tripoli. He stole the plane from the 354th Air Service Squadron and flew it to Milan, where he surrendered it to the Germans and defected. Monti became a member of the SS, achieved the rank of lieutenant, and participated in radio propaganda broadcasts to the United States and to American troops in Europe under the pseudonym Captain Martin Wiethaupt. After the German surrender, he returned to Italy and turned himself in at the Fifth Army Headquarters, still wearing his SS uniform.

Monti was court-martialed and sentenced to 15 years in prison for stealing the plane and for desertion, but was pardoned after less than a year and allowed to rejoin the Army as a private. In 1948, having achieved the rank of sergeant, he was given a general discharge under honorable conditions, but was promptly arrested by the FBI, as his activities in Germany had become known. Ultimately, Monti was tried for treason and sentenced to 25 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He was paroled in 1960, and died in 2000.

 

[Crimea_River]

Good one Mike but can you post the standard introductory stats for the GB - kit to be used, aftermarket parts, etc....

 

[parsifal]

very interesting background mike

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[Capt. Vick]

Oh I'm looking forward to this one.

 

[mikewint]

can you post the standard introductory stats for the GB

I'zza gittin thar...Takes longer when your older....
The modification to the Revell P-38J to convert it to the F-5E were beyond my skill set so... On a trip to Springfield MO yesterday I spotted this old Minicraft kit still sealed and reduced in price to $17.00. Thus I is starting anew with an actual F-5E model.
As you can see I'm going to use the same brand of LF decals as Michael. Was going to go through the old decal pile and fish out some old German marking but thought this would be easier.
An interesting fact is that the decal sheet calls for the yellow to be Gunze Sangyo H034 which is Cream Yellow!!! There is not a matching RLM color that I'm aware of and I don't see the Germans getting special paint for the P-38. RLM 04 is just plain Gelb (an orangish Yellow to me) and RLM 27 Gelb (more of a bright yellow to me anyway) and RLM 79 Sandgelb (sand-yellow more brownish). So I find nothing in the range of Cream Yellow. Any opinions out there? The top color, Dark Green will be RLM 71 Dunkelgrun.

 

[Wurger]

Mike,

Andy wants you to edit the first post and add the "header" that is required for GB entries at its top . Please check on threads of other guys here.

 

[mikewint]

I finally got to that too...Es tut mir leid

 

[Wurger]

No problemo..

 

[Airframes]

Should be a good one Mike, bur some conversion work needed to 'back date' it to the 'E' model.

 

[mikewint]

Terry, doing some reconsidering and may have to change my original post story. That particular aircraft was an F-5F photo-recon bird and the pics I posted are/were armed and not F-5Fs. I can't find any details but the Germans seem to have captured several P-38s during the course of the war so I guess I'm going to be making a captured P-38J.

 

[le_steph40]

 

[Wurger]

Mike, you may switch to the one coded T9+MK... but that's the photo recce kite though

Also you may reconsider the Italian captured one..

the pic source: Guido Rossi e il P.38 "Fantasma" - Eventi Storici

 

[parsifal]

what are the visual difference between the "E" and the "J" subtypes?

 

[A4K]

Good subject Mike, whichever version you choose!

 

[N4521U]

Sweet, Mike!

 

[mikewint]

Michael, not even close to any definitive knowledge, the biggest difference (external) is in the "chin" under the props. The earlier "E" had a receding chin with two holes while the later "J" has a jutting chin with three openings. The are of course internal difference but they would not be visible. Others here could list many more.
I can not find a "list" of captured P-38s and can find no proof that a "J" was not captured at some point nor proof that one was never captured.
Anyone with more definitive knowledge please chime in

 

[mikewint]

Ok, I apparently I don't read OR understand the King's English very well. So let me try to straighten all this mess out.
The P-38 in my first post is/was an F-5E model which is the photorecon version. It is/was NOT a P-38E model. I've located the following information about the Photorecon F-5E:
F-5Es were not manufactured at the Lockheed factory in Burbank, California, but rather were converted from stock P-38J platforms at the modification depot in Dallas.

So it would seem that I can continue building the P-38J model from the Revell kit and be historically accurate EXCEPT it (Revell kit) does not contain the F-5E's photorecon nose. The Revell kit makes either the standard "J" or the Pathfinder or the Night Fighter two-seater versions but not the Photorecon F-5E.

 

[fubar57]

I used this kit when I did my captured Lightning

 

[mikewint]

Thanks, Geo, I am familiar with it BUT I'm trying to do this with what I have on hand and not have to purchase any thing extra