Lockheed P-38 Lightning 1/72 Scale Model

American P-38J - This is a model of an Army fighter that flew against the Japanese in the South Pacific in 1944. The P-38 was developed by Lockheed in response to the U.S. Army's request for a heavily armed, long range, high altitude fighter to intercept enemy planes before they could reach America's shores. Its designers decided two engines would be necessary to meet the requirement. This resulted in an innovative design, including the unique twin booms with the middle pod for a pilot, and the first tricycle landing gear to be used on a fighter plane. The P-38 entered U.S. service in 1941, before Pearl Harbor, but did not see combat until 1942. It was first deployed on a large scale in Algeria in late 1942, earning the nickname of "The Fork-Tailed Devil" from the Germans. Despite its long-range capabilities, the P-38 was unpopular as a day bomber escort in the European theater because its performance wasn't superior to the German fighters it faced, the Bf 109G and the Fw 190A. This wasn't a problem, however, in the Pacific theater, where the P-38 enjoyed enormous success in a wide variety of roles. About 10,000 Lightnings were produced by the time its production was ended in 1945.

More Photos: Left, Right, Front, Top, Front Angle Left, Front Angle Right, Rear Angle Left, Rear Angle Right, Above Left, Above Right, Rear

49th Fighter Group: Aces of the Pacific, William Hess

Air War for Burma: The Concluding Volume of the Bloody Shambles Series; The Allied Air Forces Fight Back in South-East Asia, 1942-1945, Christopher Shores

Air War Over Italy, Andrew Brookes

American Aircraft of World War II, David Mondey

American Eagles, Volume 2: P-38 Lightning Units of the 8th and 9th Air Forces, Roger Freeman

Battle of the Bismarck Sea, Lex McAuley

Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific, Eric Bergerud

Fortress Ploesti: The Campaign to Destroy Hitler's Oil, Jay Stout

A History of the 459th Fighter Squadron: The Twin Dragons, China-Burma-India Theater, 1943-1945, James Fielder

Lightning Strike: The Secret Mission to Kill Admiral Yamamoto, Donald Davis

Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Warren Bodie

Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Michael O'Leary

Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Steve Pace

Lockheed P-38 Lightning in USAAF, French, Italian, and Nationalist Chinese Service, Richard Ward

MacArthur's Eagles: The U.S. Air War Over New Guineau, 1943-1944, Lex McAulay

The Mighty Eighth: The Air War in Europe as Told by the Men Who Fought It, Gerald Astor

Operation Dragoon: The Allied Invasion of the South of France, William Breuer

P-38 in Action, Larry Davis

P-38 Lightning Aces of the European Theater of Operations (ETO) and Mediterranean Theater of Operations (ETO), John Stanaway

P-38 Lightning Aces of the Pacific and China-Burma-India Theatres, John Stanaway

P-38 Lightning at War, Joe Christy

P-38 Lightning in WWII Color, Jeffery Ethell

P-38 Lightning Part 1 (XP-38 through P-38H) in Detail and Scale, Bert Kinzey

P-38 Lightning Part 2 (P-38J through P-38M) in Detail and Scale, Bert Kinzey

The Siege of Rabaul, Henry Sakaida

The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville - Pacific War Turning Point, William McGee