P38J Droop Snoot
First ww2 aircraft build off the desk this year is a P-38J from the 401st reconnaissance squadron of the 370th fighter group USAAF. I have always wanted to build one of these for my European theatre ground air support as this unit was the close support for Pattons 3rd Armys breakout through Pays de Loire in August 1944. The droop snoot nosed aircraft was used coordination for targeting and low level rockets and bombing by the rest of the group, targeting the German support elememts and retreating convoys to the north and east into the Falaise pocket.
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| 401st Squadron patch |
As Wargamers we like to think that air support was easily available, with ground to air contact regularly. Pattons 3rd army was the first time that units at the front had direct radio liaison between the ground and the target liaison aircraft during the breakout. US aircraft were available every 8 mins to be targeted on the Germans units directed by these aircraft in constant contact with the lead elements of Pattons Armoured units. The P38s were flying out of Cardonville in Normandy so were over targets in the Mayenne region in around 5 mins as they chased the German 7th army east towards Paris then the border. The unit was also the first to drop Napalm incendiary bombs in Normandy on the 17th of July on a German fuel depot at Coutances west of St Lo.
My kit is the superb Dragon model, only complaint no pilot….. so a Revell one was used, markings are for the 401st squadron of the 370th Fighter Group, fuselage code 9D.
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| P38J Droop Snoot |
Sound effect of the P38 Fly Past
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| Dragon P38J Droop Snoot |
The kit being academy went together very well, you will need a stand to align the wings though because of the centerpiece and the way the wings are designed. I built it wheels up, which has a lot of carving and sanding to get close enough to closed wheel bays. Also ensure you correctly line up the pilots bay with top and bottom before gluing. The only PE I used was for the recon camera.
Cheers
Matt
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