The Northrop P-61 was America's only purpose built night fighter. Fast and maneuverable, it saw action only in the last year of the war, when there were few airborne targets available. This was especially true in the Pacific where its long range made it a perfect night interdiction aircraft. Much of the final months were spent attacking targets at night, which was about the only relatively safe time for the Japanese to move men and materiel. Once the war was over, the P-61 rapidly faded away as the air force was much more interested in jets than prop driven aircraft. By the time of the Korean war, the P-61 was no more.

This particular sheet has two planes from the Pacific. The first one is the famous 'Lady in the Dark' from the 548th NFS. Its fame comes from not only the rather large nose art, but from having probably the last air to air kill of WWII, though it was never officially confirmed. This plane is painted in the overall gloss black scheme.

The other plane is 'Jap Batty' from the 6th NFS. This is one of the first P-61s in service. These planes were painted OD over neutral grey and had a translucent radome, which is shown here painted white. Trouble with airflow over the upper turret meant that just about all P-61As were delivered without it, so you really need photo reference. It is doubtful that 'Jap Batty' had this turret.

You have only one choice of kit for this sheet. That is the Monogram P-61. I could be wrong, but to my knowledge, this particular kit has never been out of the Monogram (now Revell) catalogue since it first appeared about 30 years ago.

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