Aircraft of the Aces 120
P-38 Lightning Aces 1942-43

By John Stanaway

Osprey Publishing

Reviewed by Luke Pitt

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This latest publication from Osprey examines the Aces of early model P-38’s. I must confess; I’ve always liked the lines of early versions of this big Lockheed fighter and am currently building the Hasagawa example. The book comes hot on the heels of the recently re boxed Eduard versions of the 48th Academy kit and features a few of the marking choices in that kit.

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The book begins with an overview of the P-38 describing its deadly cluster of four 50 caliber machine gums and one Oldsmobile manufactured Hispano 20 mm cannon in its nose. This together with its excellent range made it an excellent choice for the pacific campaign.

The first section predominantly concerns itself with the actions of the fighter groups stationed around New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. This is where the book shines as it includes some very rare photos of the shark teeth examples that so appeal to modellers.

The photos are noteworthy also as they are for the most part quite clear. As with all in the “Aces” series of box from Osprey a large number of side profile markings are shown and in this case 33 machines are covered.

The last part of the book covers the use of the P-38 in the Burma, Mediterranean and North Western European campaigns. The book covers 93 pages and includes 80 photos. The illustrations by Chris Davey are first rate, as is the informative text by John Stanaway. 

In my opinion this book gives a good overview of the exploits of the early P-38 aces. It strikes the right balance between historical fact, photo coverage and high quality colour profiles. The book is not intended to be a pure modeller’s book as it does not include all the detail photo coverage we have come to expect. This is not a bad thing, as most “walk around” books have very little in the way of historical detail at any rate .This a great publication and should be used in unison with the many “Walk Around” publications of the P-38

Highly Recommended.

Review Copyright © 2013 by Lynn Ritger
This Page Created on 1 October, 2013
Last updated 24 June, 2014

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