Scale Publications

Lockheed P-38 Lightning Gallery Including the XP-58 Chain Lightning

by  Richard Marmo IPMS/USA# 2

Reviewed By  Floyd S. Werner, Jr., IPMS# 26266

MSRP: $19.95 plus $5.00 shipping Website: scalepublications.freeyellow.com This CD compiled by IPMS member Richard Marmo opens up in a Microsoft Explorer HTML window which is unusual for me, however, navigation is easy. You can tell right away that this CD was a labor of love. There is a lot of information included in here. There are over 350 photos with each picture carrying a caption that explains what you are looking at in the high quality image. In the cases where the image isn't as clear it is included because the information is essential or of particular interest and there isn't a better photo available.

Some of the best photos are the color ones, in particular the PRU Blue F-5s. There are dragons and shark mouth P-38s included, which to me are some of the most interesting Lightnings out there. The aces are included such as Richard Bong and Tommy Lynch. Most major airframe sub-types include cockpit shots and many include actual drawings from WWII. Every variant is covered from the YP-38 to the XP-58 Chain Lightning. There are 40 pictures of the XP-58 alone.

Some of the notable things in here are ambulance pods for a P-38 drop tank station. I know I wouldn't want to be one of the patients. Can you imagine waking up in these claustrophobic container just inches from the engine with only a little window to look out? Well if you think that is bad try doing a combat photo recon mission in there. Really interesting reading. OK so if that isn't enough, try the RP-38 which carried another person in the boom. Even though impractical it looked even uglier. OK if there is something I'm disappointed about it is that there are no interior shots of the Droopsnoot P-38s. I don't really think they exist because there aren't any included and I'm sure that the author would have included them if he had any. There is a whole section on Glacier Girl, the recovered P-38 from Greenland. It has many restoration shots. The Aviation Art section has some nice paintings by Tony Weddel and the author provides contact information to the artist if you want to add one to your collection. A very nice touch in my opinion. The Miscellaneous section contains some really unique things. Some of them would make great humor in modeling subjects. There is even a photo of a P-80 in Italy in early 1945 without tip tanks. There is also a press release section, which is just an indication of the level of research and love that went into this CD. There is also a serial number listing that will help you establish what version you are looking at if you have a serial number. The CD contains something about nearly every version of the P-38. Many of the photos have not been previous released. The photos come from personal collections, factory drawings, and magazine clippings. This is really a one stop shop of photographs. This CD makes no bones about it, it is a photographic reference not a historical document. It does contain some historical data in the photos and captions but that is not what this is all about. This CD is for the modeler. What makes this CD very useful for the modeler is that Richard is obviously a model builder and as such he points out things in the photos that will help you build a P-38 model. This is another important tool for the modeler. Highly recommended. Thanks to Scale Publications for the review copy. You can obtain your copy from them at scalepublications.freeyellow.com . Be sure to tell them you heard about it from IPMS/USA.