Just a quick "Heads Up"- Over on CYBERMODELLER, I just saw an announcement this morning in their "New Kits 2020 Announcements"- TAMIYA has announced # 25199 Lockheed P-38H Lightning. New parts for this Lightning I'm sure, will indeed be very "Limited", as the external features of the P-38H were identical to the P-38G, which TAMIYA had released last Autumn, 2019. I expect that there may be very minor changes in the Cockpit, such as a new Instrument Panel with a corresponding decal.
The main changes on the 1:1 P-38H versus the P-38G were purely INTERNAL, which entailed more powerful Engines in the "H" version. Having said that, the only REAL changes in the new TAMIYA P-38H kit could more than likely come in the form of new Decals and slightly different Instructions. Other than that, I can't see any real changes which may occur in the forthcoming "new" boxings.
Some may forego buying this "new" P-38H by virtue of TAMIYA's duplication of the "G" kit- Others, such as myself, would buy it for its novelty, alone. I would expect an increase in the kits' pricing. I've gone through all of my P-38 books and publications and have yet to find any real differences in camouflage and/or markings between P-38Gs and P-38Hs. Unless TAMIYA wants to "corner the market" for 1/48 scale P-38s by including say, heavier external ordnance or a different variation of Drop Tanks?
The new P-38H is slated for a tentative release in August, 2020. We shall see...
Thanks for reading...
VR, Dennis
