Fine Art: P-38 Lightnings & Trains

Agree.......my father-in-law was a chief mechanic for a P-38 squadron during WWII in Europe. So I have a spot for P-38's. Built him a 1/48 scale model of his favorite plane years ago.  

Fork-tailed !!!!!!!!

Yes, the P-38 is a very capable aircraft (is for the few left) and played an important role in WWII as well as early Korea Conflict.  I have often thought of attempting to construct a model of the twin fuselage P-51 Mustang as a counterpart to the P-51.  The only existing example I am aware of is located in San Antonio, one of the Air Force bases there, do not recall which one at the moment.

AS for 1/48 scale, I have a few P-51s and P-38s for my layout and the small airfield I have in my plans.

Jesse   TCA  12-68275

One of the highlights of my days at Lockheed was a special anniversary or birthday celebration where Kelly Johnson was brought out in an ambulance and the P-38 did barrel rolls and low pass runs at the Burbank Airport. The SR71 also flew some spectacular aerobatics and a low pass that nearly knocked all us workers over when they hit the afterburners right over our heads. Straight up and through the smog, it was gone in a flash. It was a private Air Show just for us employees. Really a special memory. Lockheed was a great company to work for, never felt like just a number there.

texastrain posted:

Yes, the P-38 is a very capable aircraft (is for the few left) and played an important role in WWII as well as early Korea Conflict.  I have often thought of attempting to construct a model of the twin fuselage P-51 Mustang as a counterpart to the P-51.  The only existing example I am aware of is located in San Antonio, one of the Air Force bases there, do not recall which one at the moment.

AS for 1/48 scale, I have a few P-51s and P-38s for my layout and the small airfield I have in my plans.

Jesse   TCA  12-68275

 

I've never heard anything about P-38s in Korea. 

there are five P-82s left, two are at The US Air Force Museum. The prototype is being restored to flying.

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texastrain posted:

 I have often thought of attempting to construct a model of the twin fuselage P-51 Mustang as a counterpart to the P-51.  The only existing example I am aware of is located in San Antonio, one of the Air Force bases there, do not recall which one at the moment.

Jesse   TCA  12-68275

 

Actually there are 2 (P/F-82's) at the Air Force Museum in Dayton,Oh.  Hard to see at this angle but there is 1.  And there is another 1 in San Antonio.  I think 2 others exist as well.

Yes, I have read and saw in a documentary of P-38s used as recon in the opening stages of Korea.  But, as the early P-51s found out in combat, they were no match for the Chinese built MIGS, but we had to fly what we had until the F86 Sabres arrived.

Jesse

never knew that. I knew Mustangs and Corsairs saw a lot of ground attack use. I've read where many thought the )Thunderbolt would have been better in that than the P-51.

I am thinking that may be a good era for the airfield I plan to have.  Besides the Mustangs and P-38s, I also have some Corsairs in 1/48.  Plan on having some on flats, in crates and bracing, some assembled and on the airfield runway.  The P-38s have crude plastic gears for having the props rotate when activated with turning a square key located on bottom of fuselage.  Gonna try to have a couple sitting on runway with small motor through runway board connected to the "key" and provide function to rotate the twin props.  A little bit down the road in construction terms, but is on the drawing board.

Jesse

sdmann posted:

...The SR71 also flew some spectacular aerobatics and a low pass that nearly knocked all us workers over when they hit the afterburners right over our heads. Straight up and through the smog, it was gone in a flash. It was a private Air Show just for us employees. Really a special memory. Lockheed was a great company to work for, never felt like just a number there.

I know what you mean about the SR-71.  I attended an air show in Toronto during the late Seventies, and an SR-71 flyover was one of the main attractions.

My wife and I were watching from one of the Toronto Islands, checking our watches and wondering when the Blackbird was going to show up.  And then suddenly I saw it, not high in the sky as I'd expected, but about fifty feet above the Lake Ontario surface, coming in low, slow and eerily silent.  I couldn't believe anything with such enormous engines could be so quiet!  I was too surprised even to  snap off a photo.

Then the pilot took it up for a circle around the city, and it wasn't quiet any more.  The thunder from those twin engines shook the ground as it banked around Toronto.  Everyone knew where the SR-71 was by that time.

Finally, after a single circle , the pilot stood it on its tail and cut in the afterburners.  "Straight up" was exactly how it took off, rocketing into the clear sky and vanishing in an incredible few seconds.  The roar, which had been simply loud before, rose to an earthquake of power as the Blackbird disappeared as if it had never been there.  Others around us on the Island stood silently gawking, hardly believing what they'd seen.

That was the one and only time I ever saw an SR-71 in flight, but I'll never forget it.  An incredible aircraft, to say the least.

sdmann posted:

One of the highlights of my days at Lockheed was a special anniversary or birthday celebration where Kelly Johnson was brought out in an ambulance and the P-38 did barrel rolls and low pass runs at the Burbank Airport. The SR71 also flew . ...... Lockheed was a great company to work for, never felt like just a number there.

Kelly Johnson .... quite a man. Quite an accomplished engineer.

Scott  ..... what did you do at Lockheed?

Jim

No Comment.

I got mine.  This is Richard Bong's plane.  They named a Wisconsin state park after him. Thanks, for the motivation to dust this beauty off, fix the front wheel and she looks ready to fly.  I can just imagine being in that cockpit, suspended on the wing, with two huge engines roaring away on each side of you.  Five machine guns in the nose, bombs on the wings.  What a machine. I had fun building this a while back.  I remember thinking at the time, nothing like spending fifteen dollars on a model and seventy on the paint. Gotta love it.

Very cool, Steamer!

Great job on that model, William1! I see Trumpeter makes a plastic P-38 kit in 1/32. I have some WWII armor items I built in 1/35 .... so I may get the Lightning kit.

How about Colonel Doolittle chasing the Southern Pacific Daylight ......

Yup.  Major Bong's  "Marge".   I remember thinking at the time "what a difficult model to build" due to fit issues.  Of course adding working motors with speed control, synchronized sound, LEDs, etc. just added to the "fun"!  Sorry for the poor video quality by today's standards but this was quite a while back.

I keep watching that over and over, Stan2004. Outstanding!

You just pieced together all the electronics/motor components?

Jim

fantastic! There used to be a model line....Lindberg maybe? that had motors you put together, had planes, ships? I tried a couple but could never get the motor to work.

Steamer posted:

fantastic! There used to be a model line....Lindberg maybe? that had motors you put together, had planes, ships? I tried a couple but could never get the motor to work.

Yep....Lindberg Line kits.  Many included small electric motors you had to build......a Great educational on motors....never got one to run. Winding to commutator more then likely the issue now I look back.

I'll bet your right.

stan2004 posted:

Yup.  Major Bong's  "Marge".   I remember thinking at the time "what a difficult model to build" due to fit issues.  Of course adding working motors with speed control, synchronized sound, LEDs, etc. just added to the "fun"!  Sorry for the poor video quality by today's standards but this was quite a while back.

 

 

I am doing that with a Mongram 1/48 B-17.....get all 4 motors running it has real 'wash' from behind!!! Love to have a layout big enough to have some plains on the ground!! 

Nice work....who's kit?

oh you gotta show that one off Dave. I recently finished a kit my late Uncle had given me, done up in Nine O Nine colors. We were supposed to fly on her the year he suddenly passed. This makes three B-17s (and a bunch of other WWll birds I have over my layout)

AMCDave posted:

 

I am doing that with a Mongram 1/48 B-17.....get all 4 motors running it has real 'wash' from behind!!! Love to have a layout big enough to have some plains on the ground!! .....

Wow .... that will be cool!

Are you putting together the motors and electrical stuff all yourself ? Or, are there kits available that make it a bit easier? I want to try it myself.

Steamer posted:

........ This makes three B-17s (and a bunch of other WWll birds I have over my layout)

Dave .... you have a COOL train room! Trains and warplanes and all the rest!

My B25 got relegated to office duty receiving paper from the printer.  I also have a P51 and a B17 diorama with more guys.  Need to paint my crew to finish up a Revell German made B24 with nose art called Flak Alley.

thanks Jim. It's half a basement, and the current owner made the train layout take over the room!. I'd love to show off more of the planes I built in High School, but it's hard to get good pics of them.

EBT Jim posted:

 

...You just pieced together all the electronics/motor components?

It's a LOT of work that I don't wish upon anyone.  Custom electronics, motor controllers, LED controllers, sound synthesizers, etc.  Lot's of software.  I had to dig up some of these photos from a PC retired several versions of Windows ago!  Here's a nacelle showing the DC motor and a custom-designed micro-controller board that controls prop speed via a command-control system to allow synchronization to sound.  An observant viewer will recognize the DC motor as the same one used in Lionel/MTH smoke generators.

Here's another custom-design circuit board with micro-controller that flickers the 4 machine gun LEDs and the center cannon LED.  Note the fiber-optic rods to transport the LEDs into the barrels.  Again, like the prop motors, there's only two power wires going to the circuit as there is command-control where the commands to fire/flicker the guns/cannon are on the "track power" like our trains.

Here's a crummy video of the guns in action...sync'd to the actual sound of a Lightning!

Some LEDs for the wing tip Nav lights, landing light, belly IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) red-green-orange.

texastrain posted:

Yes, the P-38 is a very capable aircraft (is for the few left) and played an important role in WWII as well as early Korea Conflict.  I have often thought of attempting to construct a model of the twin fuselage P-51 Mustang as a counterpart to the P-51.  The only existing example I am aware of is located in San Antonio, one of the Air Force bases there, do not recall which one at the moment.

AS for 1/48 scale, I have a few P-51s and P-38s for my layout and the small airfield I have in my plans.

Jesse   TCA  12-68275

 

I think the display P51 (twin fuselage version) your referring to is at Lackland AFB.  If not there, it's at Randolph AFB which is right down the road.  I saw it years ago.  Great looking plane.

My B17 diorama.  She's a honey.  I'll post my P51 tomorrow after a little fix em up.

#Verrrry Nice Gents! Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Oh, and Nose art, Funtastick collection here on the Ogauge. <salute> "You are a Gentleman and a Scholar....and a Fine judge of women.." (unknown, but the ladies on the nose art were celebrated as well, i know, right..)

The electronics in these models is amazing. I thought that I was cool just putting little DC motors in my model planes attached to DC transformer or batteries. The kids would to push the buttons and watch the propellers turn.

I want to model a B-24 flying over my layout, since it is a plane my grandfather was a tail gunner in during the war.  I will have to look into the DC motors to run the props.   

had this buzz my house a few years ago. I heard it long before I saw it, but I knew there was something with four radials coming my way.On her way to an airshow near Pittsburgh.She didn't trim the treetops...but wasn't far from it! I was pumped for days. Got to go thru her last summer, and but for rain I was supposed to go up in Nine O Nine.

SOP - Standard operating procedure.  One guy working, four guys bs'n.

Last May I had an opportunity to shoot the Yankee Lady at Willow Run.  What a great day to shoot, and hope to do it again this summer.

Glacial girl

sdmann posted:

One of the highlights of my days at Lockheed was a special anniversary or birthday celebration where Kelly Johnson was brought out in an ambulance and the P-38 did barrel rolls and low pass runs at the Burbank Airport. The SR71 also flew some spectacular aerobatics and a low pass that nearly knocked all us workers over when they hit the afterburners right over our heads. Straight up and through the smog, it was gone in a flash. It was a private Air Show just for us employees. Really a special memory. Lockheed was a great company to work for, never felt like just a number there.

Great memory Scott. Long ago I saw a documentary on the local PBS channel about Kelly Johnson, the Lockheed Skunk Works and the U-2. It described an incident during U-2 testing where after a flight Johnson had them cut the the rear with a torch to shorten it and then up it went again and how nowadays it would take weeks to get such a change order thru. The book Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Ben Rich is very interesting reading. Was in OKC for school years ago and my roommate was a former F-111 pilot so we went to see the Armed Forces Day air show at Tinker AFB. I thought the AWCS were old until we saw some B-52's with patches!

Stan, that plane and all of your mods are really cool. I bet that sure did take a while and lots of effort too. Very nice!!

Jdevleerjr posted:

I want to model a B-24 flying over my layout, since it is a plane my grandfather was a tail gunner in during the war.  I will have to look into the DC motors to run the props.   

Revell-Monogram makes a nice 1/48 B-24.....I've built it a few times. My B-17 has small motors from ebay.....most sellers list specs. I used small brass tube to connect the motor to the props. My engines all start at the same time.....but still kinda cool. 

built one of those myself. It's hard to get good pictures in my dungeon, but here is my P-38 Drop Snoot making a run, and my other Lightning giving cover.