P-38J LIghtning, Radar Pathfinder, Airfix + Scratch, 1/72

 Precision bombing was always a problem in Europe. Finding a target at night, in bad weather, could only be done with very precise navigation, something that could only be achieved by observing the stars or the terrain—impossible if you can't see it.

The RAF solved the problem with the Pathfinder concept, in which a group of aircraft, with the best navigators, flew ahead of the main formation and marked the target with phosphorus incendiary bombs. The heavy formation would then release its bombs, but even so, targets weren't always hit. It wasn't until the development of the Radar Bombing concept that a group of Mosquitos reconnoitered the terrain using radar to locate the targets.

As soon as the Americans saw the results, they decided to do the same. The Mosquito's equivalent was the P-38 Lightning. They were already using the Droop Snoot, with a navigator in the nose, equipped with the Norden gunsight. So they modified others, but instead of a bomber nose, they fitted it with radar. I haven't found any information on whether it saw combat; apparently not, because the few modified aircraft were still in an evaluation unit.

This is one of the most secret aircraft of the war. There are very few photos of it, and only one unit has been identified. Airfix model, heavily scratch-built, painted by El Viejo Marino, all done by hand

P-38J Lightning, Radar Pathfinder, Construction

 

This is the story of a modeling mistake that I turned into a very rare model, perhaps one of the least known versions of the P-38 Lightning, the Pathfinder Radar. Very few of these were converted in the field, and they participated in the final stages of the war in Europe, in such an irregular state that none ever saw service in a regular combat unit.

One of the strangest P-38s was the F-5G of the Costa Rican Air Force, one of only two aircraft operated by that service. I intended to assemble it to expand my collection of Latin American aircraft. To do so, I was going to use one of my incomplete models, the kind I used in my shop for spare parts for my customers. It was very incomplete.

Construction began, and the first thing was to see what I was missing. The most important parts were a complete boom, the canopy, the cockpit, propellers, and a lot more.

I assembled the main parts; the first piece to replace was the boom, which I built with a core of strips of branches. I achieved the shape by sculpting it with epoxy clay, as well as the nose.

Here's where the mistake happened: I put the windows up, the Costa Rican had them down.

Once built and left to dry, I applied a coat of paint to detect gaps.

The construction of the front of the engine

Now for the badges, step by step, from the guide

And I'll finish with the propeller and the minor details

The final details and it's ready.

P-40C Warhawk, 20 PS / 24 PG, FEAF, Far East Air Force

 

The Far East Air Force (FEAF) was the only American air unit to be wiped out in combat. It fought to the last aircraft in a desperate war. Its pilots performed heroic actions despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered. Young, recently graduated pilots became expert fighters in just two months, sick, without rest, without food, without hope, and yet they still managed to inflict a heavy toll on the Japanese invaders.

Their planes had just arrived at the end of November, with the most recent pilots from the academy, but those were different times; there was no experience in sending planes overseas. They went unassembled, untested, fresh from the factory. When they were assembled, it was discovered that they were missing essential parts: collimators, firing pins for the weapons, and the antifreeze was still in America because some logistics genius decided that in a climate like that of the Philippines, it wasn't necessary. The planes were delivered as best as possible while they waited for the parts to arrive, which they never would.

The FEAF was being built; the three original squadrons were equipped with old P-35s and antediluvian P-26s. The Severskys would be replaced in January with state-of-the-art P-40Es. The P-26s were transferred to the nascent Philippine Air Force, and they switched to the new P-40Cs, so new that they hadn't even received a complete paint job; not a single one had the squadron emblem painted on it. There was only time for the rudder codes. In early December, the first aircraft entered service, and the pilots began to fly them. The transition requires retraining, and that takes time.

And time was what they lacked. On December 8th (7th in Hawaii), news of the attack on Pearl Harbor arrived. The fighters that could fly took off immediately, but the Japanese attack never came. The units based in Formosa, intended to carry it out, had to remain grounded. Bad weather prevented them from taking off, delaying them for hours. When the weather cleared, the planes took off. This time, plus the flight to Clark, was coincidentally the same as the fuel tank capacity of the P-40s that were beginning to land when the Japanese arrived. It was a massacre. Those not shot down during the landing pattern either ran out of fuel or were destroyed on the ground. The FEAF was practically exterminated in the first attack.

The few surviving P-40s fell one by one. Clark was killed in a Japanese landing. The planes were forced to retreat to makeshift airstrips in the countryside, cleared with machetes, and constantly under pressure: air raids, surprise landings on the nearest coast, Japanese troops in the rear, pilots without food, to such an extent that a doctor diagnosed: "These lads should be forbidden even from getting on the wing of an aircraft on the ground."

They continued fighting until the last plane, which was destroyed attacking a Japanese merchant convoy. Some pilots were fortunate, evacuated to Australia to recover from their wounds or to pick up the new P-40Es from the Pensacola convoy, which would never arrive. Those who weren't so lucky fought as infantry until the surrender. Most were taken prisoner; many died on the death march at Bataan or escaped to become guerrillas.

MODELISM

This is the Academy model, the magnificent New Tool from that company, the first of the new generation, with a good interior, proportions and quality, recessed, with excellent decals for a Flying Tigers aircraft, in my opinion the best P-40 of its time.

No Squadron insignia in the fuselage side

GALLERY

The model is painted based on assumptions; not a single photo of an aircraft from the squadron has survived. The insignia was the famous White Owl. Since these were newly received aircraft, it is very unlikely that they had received the squadron's emblem, or even the complete insignia. Even so, I will probably paint the Owl on the fuselage.

Modelando P-51D Mustang, Texas Terror, Lodela 1/72

P-38J Lightning, Droop Snoot, Airfix, 1/72, Conversion, Part 2

 

The P-38 Droop Snoot doesn't exist in 1/72. Here, I continued its conversion. I made the mold of the bomber's nose and thermoformed it with acetate from a supermarket meat tray.

Once the pieces were in place, they were adhered with white glue and reinforced with epoxy modeling clay.

The nose was filled with acrylic filler to match.

With the basic paint job complete, several coats of varnish were applied. I started with the insignia.

Now for the air intakes. The Airfix model is a P38F, and the Droop is a conversion of a P-38J. I also built them with epoxy modeling clay. This sculpting process is quick and easy, but the drying time is not.

I'm almost finished with the stars. The last correction is the toothpick tips.

I build the propellers on a metal axis (a nail), using acetate and epoxy modeling clay.

P-38J Lightning Droop Snoot, Airfix 1/72

 

Modelando el F-89 Scorpion, Revell, 1/77