P-38 Lightning at War - Part II Decal Sets by Kagero

[woody37]

P-38 Lightning at War - Part II Decal / Booklet

Kagero Mini Topcolors

The lightning is without doubt one of the most beautiful fighters of WWII that operated in most theatres of operations. Success in the aircraft however was very mixed. It benefitted from High speed and strong capability at altitude as well as the added reliability of two engines, but became vulnerable if caught in close combat with more nimble opposition, particularly at lower altitudes. Indeed, there are black marks against the aircrafts service record where considerable losses were encountered, particularly over Europe and North Africa at the hands of the Luftwaffe, however that was because of poor tactics being used to exploit the aircrafts strengths. It achieved most success in the Pacific Theatre where it downed over 1800 Japanese aircraft, more than any other US fighter and in the process made over 100 aces.

This pack takes a selection of P-38’s from various theatres with a common theme....great artwork ! Inside are decals for no less than eight aircraft in 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 and a reference book to help not only with decal referencing, but inspiration too !

Let's look at the book first.

Containing 18 colour pages, each aircraft represented on the decal sheets is superbly drawn with side views and top down view across two A4 pages. Section drawings are provided for the nose and underwing areas to assist decal positioning where they aren’t visible on the main views. Not only do the drawings show where to apply the decals, but such is the detail in the artwork, you can use them for weathering references too. Wording is provided in both English and Polish to supplement the drawings with information about the aircraft in service.

If you are a lightning fan, then I’m sure that this set is a must for your collection considering that all three major scales catered for. What I really like is the stunning detail in the nose art. Whilst many decal sheets I’ve seen are limited to single colour tones, these are brought to life with exquisite shading, particularly in the skin tones. Register on the decals is bang on and the fine detail even in 1/72 is hard to beat. Even the placards are readable on lettering much less than 1mm in size when put under a magnifying glass!

Decals for the following P-38's included are:

• P-38G-13-LO, probable s/n 42-2197, 'Nulli Secundus' / 'X-Virgin', flown by Lt. Kenneth G. Ladd of 80th FS / 8th FG, Dobodura, New Guinea, winter of 1943/1944

• P-38J-15-LO, s/n 42-104107, 'Jewboy', coded '47', flown by Lt. Philip M. Goldstein of 49th FS / 14th FG, Triolo, Italy, May 1944,

• P-38J-10-LO, s/n 42-67916, 'California Cutie', coded (KI)- 'S', flown by Lt. Richard O. Loehnert of 55th FS / 20th FG, RAF Kings Cliffe, England, June 1944,

• P-38J-15-LO, s/n 43-28444, 'Vivacious Virgin II', coded 'E6-T', flown by Lt. Ian B. Mackenzie of 402nd FS / 370th FG, Florennes/Juxaine, Belgium, winter of 1944/1945,

• P-38L-1-LO, s/n 44-23852, 'Beautiful Bitch', coded 'B7', flown by Lt. John J. Kane of 96th FS / 82nd FG, Vincenzo, Italy, March 1945,

• P-38L-5-LO, s/n 44-26176, 'Vagrant Virgin', coded 'A', flown by Lt. L. V. Bellusci of 36th FS / 8th FG, San Jose, Mindoro, late 1944/early 1945,

• P-38L-5-LO, s/n 44-26176, 'Vagrant Virgin', coded 'A', flown by Lt. Peter Macgowan of 36th FS / 8th FG, Ie Shima, September 1945,

• P-38L-5-LO, probable s/n 44-26568, 'Wicked Woman', coded 'W', flown by Lt. Richard C. Livingston of 36th FS / 8th FG, Ie Shima, August-September 1945.

Conclusion

I'm really pleased to have got my hands on this set (although Mike was sad to see it go !!). If you like to put a lot of effort in your paint schemes, a good set of decals is a must to finish it off. Not only will you get some great aircraft choices here (which could be a dilema choosing which one to do !), but the book will give you plenty of inspiration with the colour profiles included. Considering you get decals for 8 aircraft in three scales plus a great reference booklet, the price is excellent value too.

Review sample courtesy of

[David_StoryModels]

beautiful drawings

[Pavel]

Ordered one directly from Kagero and waiting to reach my doors.