Revell 1/72 F-4A Lightning

            The history of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning has been chronicled extensively, including among the many reviews of models of it on this website. Keeping that in mind, I will keep this history short and specifically about the F-4 reconnaissance variant of the Lightning.

            With the U.S.A.A.F. lacking a dedicated, high speed reconnaissance aircraft at its entry into the War, the P-38 was something of a natural choice from the available fighters to be morphed into one. The first variant was the F-4, back when the F designation stood for Fotoreconnaissance. This was essentially a conversion of the existing P-38E airframe substituting cameras for the battery of guns normally carried in the nose.

            With a top speed of more than four hundred miles per hour with the twin Allison V-12’s in full cry, the Lightning could outpace many aircraft that might try to catch it. Its service ceiling of 44,000 feet made interception even less likely. These aircraft, along with the PR Spitfire and Mosquito variants were unquestionably some of the best reconnaissance platforms of their era.

            More than one hundred F-4 and F-4A variants were produced. These were production run aircraft, built on the assembly line alongside the P-38E and F models that they were derived from. While initially used for training, these aircraft would see action in North Africa and the Mediterranean as well as in the Pacific. 

            As production of the improved and more powerful P-38G model began, the designation for the reconnaissance version was changed to F-5. By now something of a proven commodity, the recce lightning was ordered in quantity. More than 1,200 were produced in several versions designated F-5A through G. These corresponded to P-38G through P-38L airframes.

            With the end of the War, all P-38 airframes rapidly vanished from the U.S. inventory, with the last withdrawn during 1949. Some of the recon version were use by private companies into the early to mid 1950’s for aerial mapping. Out of nearly ten thousand P-38’s built between 1941 and 1945, only around twenty-six survive. Sadly, there seem to be no F-4 or F-5 variants among them, at least not restored in this configuration

            First released by Revell in 1976 as a P-38J/M kit, this mold has been through multiple incarnations as different versions of the Lightning with the appropriate parts added to the basic kit.  This has also included a P-38F, P-38J/M, as well as both F-4 and F-5 variations. First kitted as the F-4A in 1982 and released as such only that one time, this was something of a vintage kit when I acquired it.

            I am uncertain how long the production run of this release lasted. However, I do recall seeing them on store shelves in this boxing at least through 1985 or so. In this version it is molded in sky blue plastic and features the parts for both a recon version as well as a P-38F. Parts are cleanly molded and I do not recall there being any flash to speak of.

            The nose bay can be positioned open and there is the option to display a camera or machine guns and cannon, depending upon which version is selected. There are also optional bombs or drop tanks. Decals were provided for both versions. Despite the age of the kit when I acquired it, these looked to be in very good shape (More about that later).

            Instructions are well printed and clear about all points of assembly, though it is a somewhat basic kit. The kit cockpit detail is good for its day. The landing gear bays have none to speak of, though are at least boxed in and not mere open pits as some kits of this era. The engine compartments can be displayed open and there are nicely detailed Allison V-12’s to show off. Overall, it is a nice little kit and fairly cutting edge for the era that it hails from.

            I have always liked the P-38 lightning, though in more recent years I have been more and more intrigued by the recon versions. Part of this is the striking blue paint that many wore. That, plus I have something of a fixation with reconnaissance planes in general since around the turn of the century.

            I happened to find this one on a vendor table at a model show for $5. I was already regular reader on Modeling Madness back then and had seen editor Scott Van Aken’s review and build of the same kit and was thus intrigued. I bought and brought it home and it found its way to my workbench a few weeks later.

            Like the majority of P-38 kits, due to the nature of the airframe, there are multiple subassemblies. This also enabled Revell to swap parts and mold multiple versions of the Lightning without extensive retooling. Overall, they are well designed and have good fit. There was very little filling needed over the course of the build.

            Construction was simple and went mostly by the instructions. Starting with the cockpit, of course, it was painted in Model Master Chromate Green with the instrument panel and other details in Flat Black. There was, some accenting by dry brushing with Testor’s Silver, though very little can actually be seen if the canopy is positioned closed.

            P-38 kits are infamous for tail sitting. To avoid this, I crammed weight everywhere that I could forward of the main landing gear. This included as much as would fit forward of the cockpit where it could not be seen with the camera bay open. In this case, I used #9 birdshot held in place with CA glue, after which the fuselage tub was glued to the upper wing with more of the same.

            The interior of the camera bay had been painted in Chromate Green as well, along with the bay doors. This was left off for the moment, along with the camera. Other parts of the nose were glued up and went together without any problems.

            The booms were painted flat black on the inside near the air scoops, then glued together with CA glue. Throughout the build, all of the seams proved to be fairly good, clean joins, with little filling required. I elected to leave the engine out and assemble these bays closed. This was principally so that I could cram as much weight as possible into the engine compartments ahead of the main gear, again using birdshot.

            The lower wing halves were glued to the upper with CA glue. This left the main subassemblies essentially complete. All seems were given some sanding with 400 grit sandpaper to clean them up and buffed with 0000 steel wool. These were all then joined together per the instruction with CA Glue. There were some very minor gaps in a few spots that were addressed with Squadron White Putty smoothed out with a Q-tip soaked in nail polish remover. Only a similar sanding was needed on any of these areas.

            So, here it gets a bit interesting. F-4’s and F-5’s seem to have worn several blues along with very conventional camo in some cases as well. Some later examples were painted in R.A.F. PRU Blue like some PR.IX  Spitfires and PR.XVI Mosquitos in U.S.A.A.F. Service. However, many wore what was known as Haze Paint.

            The exact color and application of this is much debated, though there does appear to be original source material out there. I am not going to attempt to go into all of the details and history here. However, there seem to have been two different incarnations of Haze which required a special preparation and painting process. Both were known to wear quickly, which is doubtless part of the reason for the transition to the PRU blue.

            Additionally, while period color photos appear to show aircraft of an intense, knock your eye out blue, this may actually in part be due to the nature of the paint itself and the camo doing its job as it were. Part of the color being seen may be some reflection of the sky and/or a trick of bright light. Additionally, it appears that they were a lighter shade underneath, though it is very hard to tell in some of the few color photos that exist. Again, this was largely how the paint scheme was designed to work. (In retrospect, as I look back at the review by the editor Mr. Van Aken of the same kit, he seems to have gotten it right. While at the time that I built this, I did not know all of these details and thought that he was depicting a different paint scheme. Thus, I charted my own course, incorrectly, sailing right off the edge of the world, it seems.)

            This made it effective, if somewhat wear prone. It has also made it a bit confusing for those who never saw any of the aircraft and have only eighty year old photos for reference. If this is all correct, many, if not all that have been depicted very monochromatically are likely incorrect. I can lump this model in that group as well.

            So, that being said, I was going with that color. I have never seen a color of blue paint that seemed to have the right look and tonal qualities of what the photos seem to show. I knew I was going to be mixing. Here is where it gets almost weird. First, I am uncertain exactly how many colors were used in creating this. The short answer is: LOTS.

            I actually experimented with this over a large part of an afternoon one weekend until I was satisfied that it was very close to what I had seen in the photos. This was composed of several colors of blue as well as some other colors. The most surprising color that came into play was flat red. However, it proved to be just the thing that I needed to get it to shade out the way that I wanted. And, of course, now I know that this was probably largely wasted effort. Still, I like the color.

            The cockpit was stuffed with paper towel bits, and everything was blown off to remove any sanding debris. Everything was then sprayed with my own version of haze blue over a couple of sessions, allowing for it to dry on each side. Also, during this process the propeller spinners were painted in the lighter, paler blue indicated in the instructions and the photos of the finished model. In this case, I went with Model Master PRU Blue.

            At the same time, I also decided to paint the landing gear in Model Master Dark Anodonic Grey Metalizer. The wheels were assembled and tires painted in Testor’s Rubber with more of the gear color being used on the wheels themselves.

            The propeller was painted Testor’s Flat Black with Flat Yellow tips. The main gear bays are one piece units, complete with attached doors. These were sprayed with Chromate Green on the inside and Haze Blue on the outside. As the other parts were drying the canopy framing was painted in the same Haze Blue that I had created.

Once the paint was dry, assembly continued, first fitting the landing gear bays into the booms and gluing them in place with CA. The wheels were attached to the landing gear with the same glue, and these were glued in place as well, along with the nose gear and door. Then everything was given a coat of Testor’s spray gloss.

Kit decals were used, though with mixed results. Some were just fine. Others disintegrated. The worst offenders were the smaller ones, with larger pieces such as the insignia and the flags giving no trouble.

At the time, I had virtually no yellow serials. So, when the ones for the F-4 didn’t make it, I found some in my decal spares and went with what I had. Unfortunately, it is not a correct F-4A serial, or anything close to it. Still, at the time I mainly wanted to finish it and was not quite as OCD about such things as I am today.

The same thing happened with the NO STEP markings for the canopy side windows and the fuel filler marking rings. I painted the appropriate spots on the canopy frame an Flat Red and decided to live without the filler rings. If I was doing it again, I would now work a little harder sourcing some decals.

The decals that I managed to save adhered to the paint without any problems, though I was leery of trying setting fluid on them at this point. Instead, I waited until they were thoroughly dry and hit them with a good coat of Model Master Dullcoat. This seems to have worked, as the model is now close to twenty years old, and they show no signs of cracking or peeling.

The camera was painted in Model Master Flat Black with some accents in Testor’s Steel. It was then drybrushed with some more steel to accent it. Once dry, it was glued in place with a drop of CA glue.

The clear, oblique windows for the camera bay doors were tack in place with some very carefully applied CA, using a toothpick to apply it. I was concerned that I was going to fog at least one of them, though it came off without a hitch. The camera door was then glued in the open position.

The ventral camera ports are only represented by outlines and indentations. These were painted in Testor’s Flat Green, then given a small amount of Tamiya Clear green to make them look a bit more like windows.

The exhaust and turbochargers were painted in Testor’s Rust and dry brushed with Model Master Dark Anodonic Grey. Flat Black was then drybrushed on the booms around and aft of them to simulate exhaust streaking.

The pitot tube and mass balances were glued in place followed by the canopy. I had decided that I wanted to pose it shut, as it would call less attention to the red paint that was used in lieu of the decals.

Running lights were painted using Testor’s Gloss Red & Gloss Green. Lastly, the propeller assemblies were glued up and placed on the booms. With that it was finished, and I was happy with what I had, a Lockheed F-4A in a striking paint scheme. (Even if I now know that they were actually painted somewhat differently.) Due to the decal debacle and erroneous numbers, I now tend to think of it more as a representation of an F-4A than a true model. Still, it is rather nice to look at.

This kit builds very easily and with very little fuss. It is definitely one of the better 1/72 kits of its era and is still worth building. The only thing that I would really fault it for is a lack of any sort of detailing in the landing gear bays. It does build up quite easily for something with so many seams and joints to contend with and I had no alignment problems as I have run into on some other P-38 kits. (Around the same time, I built a 1/48 Minicraft F-5E from the then new release. It had horrific warping of the booms. This was so bad that after two sessions of trying to correct it, I ultimately gave up on it.)

The only problem with this build was really the decal sheet. Normally, I can spot an iffy decal sheet. However, this one looked okay. Then the decals turned out to be very hit or miss. I would judge that to be not an issue of the original sheet quality so much as the age of the kit and possibly storage conditions.

I enjoyed it so much that do plan to buy one of the P-38J kits and have a go at it. I am also quite tempted to build the same kit again and do it right this time. Overall, I think that I spent around eight to ten hours on it in actual working time. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a simple, enjoyable build of a Lightning. Keep building and happy modeling!

P-38 Lightning in Action by Larry Davis, Squadron Signal Aircraft #109, 1990

P-38 Lightning in Action by Gene B. Stafford, Squadron Signal Aircraft #25, 1976

P-38 Lightning in Action by David Doyle, Squadron Signal Aircraft # 222, 2011

P-38 Lighting in World War II in Color by Jeffrey L. Ethell, Motor Books International, 1994

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_P-38_Lightning

27 January 2025

Copyright ModelingMadness.com. All rights reserved. No reproduction in part or in whole without express permission from the editor.