A model of what has to be the best two engine fighter of WWII. This is the
Airfix kit.
This kit is a real bargain and the detail is pretty good out of the box. I
added some
scratchbuilt details for the cockpit and seat, but basically this kit used
the kit decals
and it came out pretty good. This plane was nicknamed the "forked tailed
devil" by
the German pilots that faced it in combat in the early part of WW II. This
plane was
very powerful and fast and in the hands of a good pilot was almost
invincible in the
skies over Europe and the Pacific. It had tremendous firepower and was an
extremely stable gun platform. Well at least the American version was with
its
counterrotating propellers which cancelled out any engine torque. Coupled
with the
superchargers these planes had high speed and good maneuverability for a
two
engine fighter. The Lightnings that were sold to the Brits did not have
these features
and were not as readily acceptable to the British which caused some
friction between
the Allies. This plane represents one from the Pacific theater in the
standard olive
drab/neutral grey scheme. This plane gained its fame as the one that was
used to
successfully shoot down the Betty bomber carrying the infamous Admiral
Yamamoto
on one of his tours of the troops, thus avenging the attack on Pearl
Harbor. A lot of
lead weight was needed in the nose and forward nacelles to have this model
sit on its
nose wheel.
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