Official FlightLine RC 1600mm P-38 Lightning Thread

[SoLongSidekick]

Still planning on building a standard P-38L for this build, but have trimmed my livery down considerably. I saw the image I attached of a P-38 on Guadalcanal and I really like the cleanliness of it. So I'm going to repaint all the yellow and the silver on the nose back to the standard OD/tan theme, add shark mouths to the cowlings (I've seen some P-38s where they put it on the nose and holy crap does it look goofy), black rudder and maybe black spinner tips to balance it out. I haven't really decided if I'll keep the tail skull or not.

I realized how stupid it was to have anti-glare panels on an OD plane, and the whole reason I wanted them was so I could paint the nose cone black and have a seamless look. I wanted the nose cone black so the nose camera would blend in, but I'm not stressing on that so much anymore.

Holy crap, getting an FPV feed and recorded HD footage from a single camera just got a lot cheaper and smaller: https://www.getfpv.com/turbowing-cyc...lt-in-dvr.html

[rifleman_btx]

Hey I like that camera system. And leaving the OD is much better for sure

[rifleman_btx]

Wow this is actually my 10th P38 model I owned. Started with a gws model, then CMP model, then a couple of eflites, a model brand I can't remember, then 2 carson models, the fms model, and I had 2 of these. All of these flew great for me.

[SoLongSidekick]

Unfortunately no. In my studys and research of the P-38 they were overall top color OD (color and shades varied quite a bit) through 1944 then you started seeing non painted examples mainly the “L”. The only other scheme was the overall light blue of the “PR” versions F-4,F-5 versions. these are my observations of my studies. Having said that if you do find something else I’d love to see it.

As a side note Olive Drab (OD) did not have an official FS number during the war years. It could vary from dark/medium green through dark/medium brownish shades.

Its your model. You can paint it anyway you want. It’s not like you’re going to enter it in an IPMS or Top Gun scale competition. Paint it the way that makes you happy.

Haha smell my butt! Check it!

Can anyone chime in with the legality and the ethics on collectively putting together an image gallery of all the P-38 images we have in books we own? I'm starting to realize just how mandatory it is to buy P-38 books, and how I'll never be able to afford all the P-38 books I want. Now, obviously scanning in the entirety of a book would be wrong, but what about just the images? We wouldn't be using it in a commercial application. Thoughts?

Or maybe we should set up a book swap rental system?

[rifleman_btx]

Depends on if you credit the source. Only book I have is a copy of the pilot manual. I'll have to find it to get the number on it, but i think it was for up to the L model. Don't quote me on that as I haven't looked at it in about 5 years or so. I just know its somewhere on the bookshelf

[rifleman_btx]

And here it is.

[Beeg]

Haha smell my butt! Check it!

Can anyone chime in with the legality and the ethics on collectively putting together an image gallery of all the P-38 images we have in books we own? I'm starting to realize just how mandatory it is to buy P-38 books, and how I'll never be able to afford all the P-38 books I want. Now, obviously scanning in the entirety of a book would be wrong, but what about just the images? We wouldn't be using it in a commercial application. Thoughts?

Or maybe we should set up a book swap rental system?

Technically that's not a P-38. It's a P-322-1....technically.

Brief, simplified P-322 information.

The way I read it the French placed the first foreign order for the P-38 but wanted a simpler version for maintenance and supply. They wanted a version without turbo-superchargers, counter rotating propellers and the C- series Allison engine. Essentially a simplified version of the P-38.
With France falling to Germany in June 1940 they could no longer accept this order. The British stepped up to takeover Frances order for these simplified P-38’s, with a paint scheme change and they became Lightning Mk I’s of which Britain only took delivery of three examples. This is where the name “Lightning” was first used and became its name from then on much like the P-51 also being named “Mustang” by the British.

Anyway, back to the Lightning. After the British took over Frances order they specified they wanted the remaining 524 aircraft to have F-series engines, counter rotating engines and turbo-superchargers and these became the Lightning MkIIs. After a few flights of the first three Lightning MkI’s the British cancelled the orders altogether.

Enter the P-322. After the British cancelled their order the remaining 143 Lightning Mk Is were delivered to the USAAC retaining their British camouflage but with USAAC insignia roundals. Twenty-two of them were the simplified Lighning MkIs and these became P-322-I’s while the remaining 122 had the F-series engines without the turbo-superchargers and became P-322-II’s. These aircraft in the USAAC were primarily used for training and testing and none of them saw combat.

So, the P-322's were built for the French/British with their camouflage scheme but were retained by the USAAF in a non combat roll.

[SoLongSidekick]

Technically that's not a P-38. It's a P-322-1....technically.

Brief, simplified P-322 information.

The way I read it the French placed the first foreign order for the P-38 but wanted a simpler version for maintenance and supply. They wanted a version without turbo-superchargers, counter rotating propellers and the C- series Allison engine. Essentially a simplified version of the P-38.
With France falling to Germany in June 1940 they could no longer accept this order. The British stepped up to takeover Frances order for these simplified P-38’s, with a paint scheme change and they became Lightning Mk I’s of which Britain only took delivery of three examples. This is where the name “Lightning” was first used and became its name from then on much like the P-51 also being named “Mustang” by the British.

Anyway, back to the Lightning. After the British took over Frances order they specified they wanted the remaining 524 aircraft to have F-series engines, counter rotating engines and turbo-superchargers and these became the Lightning MkIIs. After a few flights of the first three Lightning MkI’s the British cancelled the orders altogether.

Enter the P-322. After the British cancelled their order the remaining 143 Lightning Mk Is were delivered to the USAAC retaining their British camouflage but with USAAC insignia roundals. Twenty-two of them were the simplified Lighning MkIs and these became P-322-I’s while the remaining 122 had the F-series engines without the turbo-superchargers and became P-322-II’s. These aircraft in the USAAC were primarily used for training and testing and none of them saw combat.

So, the P-322's were built for the French/British with their camouflage scheme but were retained by the USAAF in a non combat roll.

... I know.

But that's like trying to say the M4 Fireflies weren't Shermans because they had a different gun. Still a USAAF P-38 in camo coloring.

Hey I like that camera system. And leaving the OD is much better for sure

Right? I got so wrapped up in designing a custom scheme that I forgot just how beautiful the factory OD/gray is. Which Pudgy are you going to model?

[rifleman_btx]

I just did the stock kit that comes with the silver, Pudgy V

[SoLongSidekick]

Instead of asking questions about random P-38 variations that come to mind, let me ask this: what changes have you made to this model to make it your own? Anyone added yellow Operation Torch identification markings?

[rifleman_btx]

Nothing really, except my fpv setup that just barely fit with the 2 2700 packs.. otherwise it's just what you get in the box. At some point I might do the red wingtips like on Bongs plane Marge.

[SoLongSidekick]

So no luck getting any answers on kill markers from that book. It did have an unexpectedly high amount of P-38 photos though, which was cool.

One thing I did glean regarding at least that last scoreboard is those most likely are supposed to be bombs. Saw a lot of planes with bombs crossed like that to indicate a fighter/bomber sweep. That doesn't help us with Journey's End though, as those clearly aren't supposed to be bombs. Could they be rockets? Signify strafing somehow? Anyone see anything?

[SoLongSidekick]

You can really see the "fighter/bomber sweep" bomb over a broom emblem on this plane.

** EDIT ** I'm an idiot. The lower left hand protrusions that had me stumped are the freaking umbrella handles. I can't believe I didn't realize that until right now. So we were kind of confusing two separate markers.

[rifleman_btx]

Yup.

[SoLongSidekick]

Oh! One interesting thing the book claimed was the reason the white stripe seen on the green model here is seen quite a lot on P-38s from the era is because it was used to try to trick the Germans into thinking they were actually droop snoot P-38s. Why? How? It didn't go into any detail beyond that. It's not to mimic the reflection you'd get off windows, as it's a white stripe not natural metal. Anyone have any ideas?

[rifleman_btx]

Get them to come in for a front assault and what you gonna get? A face full of lead for the enemy. Good thinking there

[SoLongSidekick]

Just found some of the most awesome dogfight footage I've ever seen and it just so happens to feature the P-38. Check it, pilot is going after a plane then drops down seeing a friend in trouble. He drops in behind the plane making a run on his fellow P-38 and flames him. So cool.

http://footage.framepool.com/en/shot/783861341-focke-wulf-fw-190-lockheed-p-38-lightning-dogfights-air-combat-shooting-down

[rifleman_btx]

Indeed seen that one before. Good stuff

[SoLongSidekick]

At the beginning of this clip is a really interesting shot of an in-air accident. The wing shape made me think of a P-39, but the tailplane on the P-39 isn't as triangular as the one shown in the video (at least from my eye). Can anyone name the type of plane?

http://footage.framepool.com/en/shot/191087548-lockheed-p-38-lightning-republic-p-47-thunderbolt-collection-jack-lieb-dogfights-air-combat

[SoLongSidekick]

Holy crap I had no idea the US was using gun pods as far back as WWII. I know Germany used some gun pods (more cannon than gun, but still) on their aircraft, but they had a real need to destroy bombers. Why strap 2 additional 50 caliber guns to a ship that already has 6? It's crazy how different the bubble canopy makes the P-51D look compared to previous versions. Notated arrows not mine, although I would love to know what they are pointing at.

** EDIT ** Also, in the second image you can see the canted M2 mounting that caused so many jams in the P-51B. They had to physically make the wing bigger in order to fit the guns in straight up.