In an alternate timeline, the 422 Night Fighter Squadron was deployed to the PTO, as part of General George Kenney's Fifth Air Force. Kenney requested the Black Widow after observing the success that Mitchells enjoyed in the theatre, particulary the 345th Bomb Group, known as the Air Apaches. Major Paul Gunn, Engineering Officer, saw that the P-61's were stripped of their black paint and subjected to certain modifications: The dorsal turret was deleted, the onboard radar removed, and two Browning .50's were added in their place. Additional armor plate was installed where possible around crew areas, and bullet resistant glazing installed in a revised canopy configuration.
The most obvious change was the inclusion of the Yehudi lighting system, which had been successfully trialed on PBY Cats and TBM Avengers. The diffused lighting allowed the Widows to approach within two miles undetected visually, and it's high speed enabled it to close the target with relative impunity. Skip bombing had already been perfected by the 345th, and the modified P-61's outperformed the venerable Mitchells by a large margin.
The heavy forward firepower of the Widow wrought absolute havoc on the decks of the targeted vessel. Many patrol craft and small coastal ships were thus destroyed by gunfire alone. Targets for the Widows were identified by radar equipped PBY's and Privateers which combed Japanese sea lanes for convoy traffic. The fighter capabilities of the P-61 proved highly useful in the event that convoy air cover was encountered.
The Airfix P-61 is a true veteran, and has been with us for many years. As a product of it's time, it has held up pretty well, but thankfully there are newer offerings available. Rivets were toned down on the model, but still are painfully visible. I just happened to have some extra bombs from the Monogram Twin Mustang, which were a bit nicer than the kit ones.
EagleCal decals were used, and performed superbly. Basic work here, mainly on trying to replicate the Yehudi system.
Best regards,
Kem
