1 by
Dave Bailey, on Flickr
When Lockheed was handed the contract to develop a jet aircraft in 1943, they were given 180 days in which to do it. They accomplished it in 143, when the first prototype of the P-80, Lulubelle, was certified as ready for flight.
Their speed was somewhat undone when the first engine decided to suck the intake ducts and various attachments into the engine during a full power run-up by Guy Bristow, from de Havilland. It was damaged beyond quick repair, and they had to wait until a new engine arrived from Britain. Two months later, on day 203 of the contract, Lulubelle flew, with test pilot Milo Burcham at the controls.
2 by
Dave Bailey, on Flickr
But even before it took off, legendary engineer Clarence 'Kelly' Johnson was already working on a revised wing planform, with more rounded tips and significant changes to the chord at the root. In order to fly the new wing before installing it on another prototype P-80, it was tested on a company P-38 Lightning, given the code name P-380, and the identification numer of 77, one before Lulubelle's 78. It was left in bare metal, both to save time and to avoid affecting even the slightest deviation of the airflow. Tests proved successful, and the new design was accepted as the standard going forward. It also tested the revised placement of the pitot tube, under the nose instead of the wing.
3 by
Dave Bailey, on Flickr
4 by
Dave Bailey, on Flickr
5 by
Dave Bailey, on Flickr
The Kit
The major part of this bash is the Hobby Boss 1/72nd P-38L-5-LO, with the wings from the venerable Airfix F-80C. This simple (lie) conversion was done by sawing off the P-38 wing, separating the F-80 wing from the centre section, and easily (more lies) mating them to the P-38 booms. This is the first time I've decided to stick with the foil covering technique, other attempts were not good. This time it went much better (would you STOP lying?), and here it is for all to see. Paints were Tamiya X-7 over XF-7 for the red, Tamiya white primer, Revell Aqua for black parts, and Model Master Olive drab for the anti-glare panel.
The Hobby Boss P-38 is an interesting kit. The majority of it exists as one piece. The overall fit of the components is excellent, detail is adequate, and it should be easy for younger and/or less experienced modelers. There are, however, some intricate fiddly bits that could cause frustration, and, in my opinion, the instructions themselves leave a lot to be desired. A larger set would make for easier construction. Another problem is nose weight. I've seen some P-38 builds with weights added to the engine cowlings, but despite stacking in as many split-shot weights as I could it still rotated for take-off. Of course, this was after the nose had been glued on. Careful prying released it, more weight was crammed in there, and the space ahead of the cockpit, and it finally leveled out.
