**** DONE: GB-56 1/72 P-38J - Thunderbolts and Lightnings

[Crimea_River]

Great references Wojtek. I think that the yellow undersides were there but it's certainly hard to tell where the demarcation was on the nose.

 

[Wurger]

Yes I agree. IMHO the central nacelle with the cockpit didn't have the yellow there at all or the demarcation line run in a different way. What is more the rudders and fins got the yellow coat overall or the colour was applied on the horizontal stabilizer and elevator undersides only.

 

[Crimea_River]

That's certainly possible.

 

[Airframes]

Demarcation appears to be as shown by the arrows below.

 

[Wurger]

Yes Terry. You are right. The demarcation line on the tail boom is clearly noticed. However the one on the "nose" may be the light effect because of the fuselage curvature there. Looking at the enlarged shot I would say there is no continuity of the line on the right behind the bulge..

However the enlarged pic grabbed from the footage suggests that there was the another coat applied because there is the same matt tone like on the side of the engine cowling.

But these two images don't show the line there ... just my opinion.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

More good stuff coming from this great bunch of guys.

 

[Bustedwing]

Thanks for the pictures every one.. I think Wojtek is on the right track. None of the pictures seem to show any demarcation line on the fuselage. Definitely looks painted on the under side. I also read somewhere that on the P-38 the wings were painted aluminum but the rest of the plane was bare aluminum. Is this correct ?

 

[Wurger]

If taking a closer look it can be noticed that there are still the orginal USA markings on the fuselage. The number on both sides of the nose and the cross. Perhaps the prop blade covers up the rest of the inscription that usually was next to the cross. It is quite interesting that the top part of the numbers there are darker than the rest of digits. If Germans overpainted it somehow it had to be a quite thin layer of the yellow coat.. Secondly I don't believe the German painter "begrudged" the colour and left 4cm ( or less ) at the top of the numbers unpainted. What is more the front cone of the "nose" still has the metalic reflection more down than the possible demarcation line could run. Additionally the tone of the fuselage is different from the one of the engine cowling and tail booms painted yellow.

Also I have noted in many pics of Lightnings that the numbers applied on the bare metal "nose" were worn away quite often. See the shots below.

 

[Wurger]

And finally I have found the image. Still can't see the yellow on the fuselage.

the source: Warbird Information Exchange • View topic - Prangs galore ...


And another note ... as I have guessed there was a small emblem between the number and the bulge with the camera window. In the image with the crashed Lightning posted on the previous page it is almost unnoticeable even if enlarged. And I wasn't sure. But the new shot shows that very well. Also the number seems to more readable. So the fuzzy effect could be due to the poor quality of the images above. Just thought, the number could have been not of the black but of the red colour for instance. Anyway, if the emblem was the orginal marking used during her service in the 354th Air Services Squadron, there couldn't be the yellow. And one more note ... the tails really looked like being of the yellow coat overall if compared to the paint tone of the tail booms.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

This is building up to be very interesting, if it was me (I'm a glutton for punishment), I'd be doing the whole US painting with decals then attack it with the Luftwaffe over paint and markings. Challenging job.

 

[Wurger]

Sounds good my friend. But I would say that the USA national markings were removed. There is no trace. Neither on the wings nor on the tail booms where these should be applied in front of the radiators. Unless these were on the coolers instead. Certainly on the wings these could be overpainted with the yellow on undersides but at the tops with the LW crosses.

To sum up ... the yellow on the tail booms and the engine cowlings with quite high demarcation line. The tails yellow overall like other captured kites ( eg. the Spitfire, P-51, P-47. A very good example is the P-38 coded T9+XB. The cockpt nacelle with black ( red ) numbers slightly worn or having traces of wiping . A small emblem on the port side between the numer and the bulge with the camera window. If the yellow there it had the low demarcation line (perhaps like the T9+XB or maybe a little bit lower). But the small cross ( US factory stencil ) seems to be the contradiction of that. The anti-glare panels on the tops and inner sides of the engine cowlings.

the source: the net.

 

[Wurger]

Here is a nice assembled model .... https://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal5/4701-4800/gal4725-P-38-Kormos/00.shtm

Although still not sure about the cockpit nacelle I could accept the way the yellow was applied. But still thinking the dispersed demarcation line should be lower if the yellow was there.
Also I'm not sure about the shape of the anti-glare panels. But generally, the entire rest of the painting looks correct and matches what I thought about that.

The anti-glare panel ... I have marked its shape in the enlarged shots.

Additionally I found a similar one applied on models and marked its shape as well. IMHO it should be like that ...

 

[Davecww1]

Found some images showing which parts were painted silver vs the natural metal areas.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Nice find.

 

[Bustedwing]

Well I got off to a start this past weekend. Cockpit is complete. I also came across some film footage of T9+MK and looking it appears to have been painted pretty much the same as T9+XB with yellow on the fuselage.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Good start.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Wayne Little]

Not bad at all....

 

[Gnomey]

Nicely done so far!

 

[fubar57]

Nifty looking cockpit

Found some images showing which parts were painted silver vs the natural metal areas.

Thanks