Academy 1/48 P-38J Lightning "California Cutie"

[generalgrog]

Ok fellows, I put a lot of thought into how I was going to approach this build. I was originally wanting to do a P-51 Mustang in D-day stripes, but as you all know, I try and do aircraft subjects from active service Air force units. Alas I could not find any P51 decals for active service units that were in action on D-day.

Soooo I found this little gem.



Nice little booklet with some sweet decals. I will be building the California Cutie picture here.







The 55th Fighter squadron flew P-38J's as part of the 8th Air Force, 20th Fighter Group. I have read that the allies purposefully choose P-38s to support the beach area landings to reduce the chance that they would be fired upon by friendly fire since the P-38 was such an iconic design.

Now on to the Box and spruage.















Kit decals..not sure how much I will be using.



Instructions.



Been looking forward to this one.

GG

[Coen]

This will be a cool one to see GG, nice choice bud.
I love the 48 scale aircraft now. Wasn't sure at first.
From what I hear academy can kit a pretty good aircraft too.
I hope it goes well for ya.

[trekfanj]

I don't know which is sexier; a P-38 or the nose art on a P-38
Good choice!!!

[rodrant]

Nice entry !

I now wondering why my US planes do not have Pinup's ???

I WANT to do a US Plane with a Pin up !

Top Plane choice and seems a very nice kit !

To follow ....I think in the next Months a lot to follow around our forum and this GB

[Willem]

That looks like a lovely kit (want one now) and nose art is always good.

Best of luck General.

[Nige201980]

Great choice mate and I've built this kit and it goes together like a dream so I'm looking forward to seeing her come together.

[UKguyInUSA]

She's a sexy plane, and even sexier with that cutie nose art! Good choice to build General!

Cheers,

Martin

[generalgrog]

Thanks for all the support guys!!

Gotta finish up the two nightfighters, but I may do some prelim work on this one while the paint dries on the others.

So here is some back ground info on the P-38.

Nice Video

[youtube]kRhIHPoB430[/youtube]

Also wanted to give some background on the 55th Fighter squadron. They currently fly F-16's out of Shaw AFB in South Carolina, but they have a history going back to WWI as the 55th Aerosquadron.

The 55th Fighter Squadron’s roots trace back to 9 August 1917. Originally organized as the 55th Aero Squadron at Kelly Field, Texas, by November the squadron was deployed to Issoudun, France. The squadron was demobilized on 6 March 1919, following the war. The squadron was reactivated in November 1930, at Mather Field, California, flying Boeing P-12 aircraft, later joined by DH-4 aircraft in 1931. The squadron moved several times in the next decade, flying the P-26, P-36, and finally the P-40 at Hamilton Field.[1]

World War II

At the beginning of World War II, the 55th sent its personnel to units fighting overseas and continued to train aviators for squadrons in Europe and the Pacific. In May 1942, it was redesignated a fighter squadron and transitioned to the P-39 Airacobra, operating from several locations in the United States before acquiring P-38 Lightnings.[1]

The 55th was in the skies over Europe by August 1943, operating from RAF Wittering, England. The squadron flew 175 combat missions with the Lightning before acquiring the P-51 (F-6) Mustang in 1944. With the rest of the 20th Fighter Group, the 55th flew daily strafing, long-range-patrol and bomber-escort missions. In June, they provided air cover during the massive allied invasion of Normandy.[1]

As the war progressed, the 55th performed escort and fighter-bomber missions supporting the Allied advance through Central Europe and the Rhineland. In December 1945, they took part in the Battle of the Bulge, escorting bombers to the battle area. The squadron’s 175th and last combat mission in the P-51 was flown in April 1945, the day after American and Soviet forces met at the Elbe River. The 55th was demobilized on 18 October 1945, after the war’s end, but was reactivated on 29 July 1946, at Biggs Field, Texas, flying air power demonstrations and training operations in the P-51.[1]

Cold War

The 55th entered the jet age in February 1948, with the F-84G Thunderjet. In January 1950, it was redesignated the 55th Fighter-Bomber Squadron. The squadron returned to England at RAF Wethersfield in June 1952. The squadron transitioned to the F-100 Super Sabre in 1957 and in 1958 was redesignated the 55th Tactical Fighter Squadron.[1] The 55th moved with the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing to RAF Upper Heyford in June 1970. The next April, the 55th received its first F-111E Aardvark, becoming fully operational in November. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the 55th participated in countless North Atlantic Treaty Organization and U.S. exercises and operations, which directly contributed to containment of Soviet threats to Europe.[1]

In January 1991, elements of the 55th deployed to Turkey during Operation Desert Storm. They flew more than 144 sorties, amassing 415 combat hours without a loss. These missions neutralized key facilities throughout northern Iraq and helped to liberate Kuwait and stabilize the region.[1] The squadron was inactivated in December 1993.

Modern era

It was transferred and reactivated on 1 January 1994, to its present home, Shaw Air Force Base, flying the A-10 Thunderbolt II. In July 1996, the squadron transferred its aircraft to Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, and stood down.[1]

In July 1997, the 55th made history when it stood up as a combat-ready F-16CJ squadron in only 60 days. It has since made numerous deployments to Southwest Asia, continuing to contain the Iraqi threat. In the meantime, the squadron has earned awards and recognition, including the David C. Schilling Award in 1999 and 2000, as well as the Air Force Association Citation of Honor.[1]

In the summer of 2000, the 55th deployed to Southwest Asia for Operation Northern Watch. It followed that deployment with Operation Southern Watch in the fall of 2001, and in the winter of 2002, deployed again in support of Operation Northern Watch. Most recently the 55th deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in late 2008.


I need to order some aftermarket stuff for this kit as well. I haven't decided if I'm going to use a resin cockpit, or go with some eduard PE.

GG

[mannloon]

Love the P-38. I've been putzing with the old Revell 1/48 kit when I need a break from armor. It's always been a favorite of mine. I know I want invasion stripes, but never could decide on the scheme itself. I look forward to seeing how this scheme comes out.

[fly1ngdutchm4n]

A gem indeed!
Looks like a great kit, and those decals are brilliant

[snappercity]

Looking forward to watching this..

[Rob]

What Mark said...me too!

[LudvigN]

How exciting! Im doing a mini-me version of this aircraft. Im doing academys 1/72 version of California Cutie so I will watch this thread closely. Will be great to see how it turns out!

[Unit53]

Cracking subject, good luck with the build...

[MarkVerploeg]

Awesome bird
And such a cool design
But how will you tackle the tail sitting
Because the booms extend quit a bit
Or is there enough room for weights in the nose
Cheers Mark

[generalgrog]

How exciting! Im doing a mini-me version of this aircraft. Im doing academys 1/72 version of California Cutie so I will watch this thread closely. Will be great to see how it turns out!

This set of decals comes with an extra set of 1/72 decals for California cutie.

Let me know if you need them, and I'll cut them out and send them to you.

GG

[generalgrog]

Awesome bird
And such a cool design
But how will you tackle the tail sitting
Because the booms extend quit a bit
Or is there enough room for weights in the nose
Cheers Mark

I believe there is enough room in the nose for lead weights. If that doesn't work, I'll just use some clear acrylic to prop up the tail.

GG

[T3hGuppy]

Nice choice buddy,

Those decals look great.

[generalgrog]

Ok gang..big lesson learned for me on the nightfighter SIG..don't PROCRASTINATE!!

So, on that note...I have jumped back onto the P-38 build.

I started working on the twin fuselage, and the Aries cockpit.



As you can see from the pics there is gob of resin to remove..





Resin removed and prepped for paint







Primed with Vallejo surface primer and, and base coated Tamiya Cockpit green.



Fuselage has seem lines to work on..

Taped and puttied..



Nose weighted to keep plane from tail sitting.



Started prepping the wings.






The PE that comes with the Aires kit is unpainted, so first time for me painting a photoetch sheet.



Masked up to focus on areas that will be painted





Pretty happy with result..I'm going to put a satin coat on it, and drybrush the buckles metal to bring back the mettalic look of the buckles.

Also painted the back of the film with white to bring out the dial guages.







GG

[UKguyInUSA]

Nice start...look forward to seeing her come together

[fly1ngdutchm4n]

Great start, love the details

[martin57]

nice work like the resin detail and the p e