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Eye Catcher Mustangs I & II 48005, 72005 & 48006, 72006 1:48 & 1:72 TG Decals With all the new Mustang kits popping up hither and yon, TG Decals have created these new decal sheets for the modeller that likes to go far from the madding crowd when it comes to country and finishing options. With these sets you can build a number of schemes from Guatemala and the Dominican Republic from their heyday with the F-51D as it was labelled during the 50s and 60s. The Pursuit nomenclature became Fighter post WWII, and although we still call them P-51s, that was what they were at the time, so there! There are two sets in each scale, and all arrive in the same style packaging in the form of a resealable clear foil bag with a translucent white header, and the instructions, decal sheet(s) and masks safely in the middle of the folded instructions. The number of sheets varies between the sets and scales whilst providing the same markings for the two scales. The masks used are pre-cut translucent greyish vinyl, with instructions on how to apply and spray the various markings that are unsuitable for decals and best painted on the airframe. There are lots of reasons why this option was used, with the main one being that you don’t have to get the decals to settle down on substantial compound curves, particularly around the nose cowling panels. it also permits you to use them on many manufacturer's models, as the cowlings may be slightly differently sized so the masks can be adjusted. Eye Catcher Mustangs I (48005 & 72005) This set covers six airframes, three each from the aerobatic team PIRATAS and in-service machines at the same airfield later in the 50s. The Piratas aircraft all have a stepped band of red, white and blue on their noses that you will need to mask and paint yourself, but for the difficult leading edge “go-faster” flashes, there are masks to help you get the shape correct. Two of the three in-service airframes have a stylised red lightning bolt under their anti-glare panels, which is also supplied as masks for you to paint yourself. The rest of the markings are decals, with colours called out in Model Master, Humbrol, Tamiya, Gunze Sangyo and Vallejo codes as well as swatches for colour matching. From the sheet you can decal the following: F-51D 318 circa 1958, Base Aérea La Aurora, Guatemala City F-51D 336 circa 1959, Base Aérea La Aurora, Guatemala City F-51D 354 circa 1967, Base Aérea La Aurora, Guatemala City F-51D 342 Aerobatic team “Piratas” circa 1956, Base Aérea La Aurora, Guatemala City F-51D 342 Aerobatic team “Piratas” circa 1958, Base Aérea La Aurora, Guatemala City F-51D 321 Aerobatic team “Piratas” circa 1957, Base Aérea La Aurora, Guatemala City 1:48 1:72 Eye Catcher Mustangs II (48006 & 72006) Covering another three more airframes, these are Fuerza Aerea Dominicana aircraft, with their eye-catching (see?) roundels, tail flashes and shark-mouths under the nose. Again the set comprises decals with a sheet of vinyl masks to paint the nose area “face” behind the shark mouth with the various colours used on these airframes. The rest of the markings are decals, with colours called out in Model Master, Humbrol, Tamiya, Gunze Sangyo and Vallejo codes as well as swatches for colour matching. From the sheet you can decal: F-51D Fuerza Aerea Dominicana, “Ramfis” squadron, circa 1954 F-51D Fuerza Aerea Dominicana, “Ramfis” squadron, circa 1960 F-51D Fuerza Aerea Dominicana, “Ramfis” squadron, circa 1960 1:48 1:72 Conclusion These are certainly unusual mustangs, and are most definitely eye-catchers with their bright colours and polished skins. They will really bring your Mustang to life, and get people wondering where they’re from. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of [img= https://www.britmodeller.com/reviews/tgdecals/logo.gif]

I need a bit of help with the depiction of the name on Bud Anderson's P-51D 'Old Crow'. Was the name - and the engine cowling - repainted when the plane was changed from camouflage finish to bare metal? These are the only photos I've found in books and the web; This has already been discussed on the P-51 Mustang STGB IV Chat page. But due to the problems with the only low-res photo of the camouflaged plane, no conclusion could be made. @gingerbob and @Toryu have been very helpful, and Michael provided me some useful background on the plane's history; The side view above is also presented in Merle Olmsted's 'The Yoxford Boys' with the following caption: "... It was received at the 8th Air Force depot at Wharton in the first week of September, 1944, just off the freighter from Newark N.J. It would have arrived at Leiston a week or two later, where it was apparently immediately painted in RAF green and Anderson flew it like that until winter came on, when his crew stripped it back to bare metal. It was eventually scrapped in November, 1945." When the paint was quickly removed in late 44/early 45, it would make sense that they'd have left the name. Why bother stripping the paint and the name? And from what I've read it was done in a hurry overnight. But the individual characters of the name look 'fatter' on the camouflaged plane, and the SuperScale decals I've just got provide two versions stipulating to use the 'slimmer' one on the NMF plane. Photos can be deceptive, and although the name looks 'fatter' on the camou photo, this may not necessarily be the case. Its very low resolution and the white of the name may have 'spread' due to the size of the pixels. And exposure and printing can make a difference to how things look in photos. Does anyone have access to a better photo? Any thoughts or advice gratefully received. I have one week left to complete it! Cheers,

Started a couple of weeks ago building my Favourite Xmas gift, Eduard Royal Class P-51D. Like you probably know this Edition always comes with 2 complete kits, and this one also spares to build a third if you have the wings and elevators available in your stash. So it’s also a dual build, the goal is to complete both a D-5 and a later D model (with fin) at the same time.

With only 18 days left, I'm pushing my luck here . But I'd really like to get an Airfix P-51D built. It looks lovely and there have already been some great builds on this STGB builds using it. So, opening shots... Nice Airfix box art; Simple sprues; Everything looks nice and crisp, good panel lines, nice detail and flaps which drop! I plan a few AM enhancements, and I'll need to make (or source) some unshrouded exhausts. Decals/Markings; These decals must have been in the spares box for 20+ years... The kill markings are too large and not enough kills. But I can use these to make the right ones (I hope!) And, if I'm lucky, it should end up looking something like this: This was Capt Clarence 'Bud' Anderson's P-51D-10-NA 44-14450, 363rd, 357FG, at Leiston in the winter of 1944/45 with all his kill markings (he ended with 16.5 kills). It had just had its Olive Drab paint striped off, so would have been fairly clean. The wheels were originally white walled (like his P-51B) but time and wear seems to have worn most of it off. Cheers,

Here we go - I have the green light to inflict the original tool Airfix P-51D 'Fool's Paradise IV' on this GB - sorry, chaps. Dependent on time, I may bring in newer tool kits as I go along. I've got the Red Stripe Bag 'boxing'... The kit comes in silver-grey plastic, only 30 parts. Raised detail outside but absolutely zero detail inside the cockpit area, other than two pins for the pilot to perch on. That said, the pilot has gone AWOL so I'll need to set up an 'office' that will tempt him back. All the gen on the 'North American P-51D Mustang' - I fancy doing a check on how this lines up with the wealth of reference material made available here. Ditto for the colour scheme given for this particular aircraft...

P-51D-10 & P-51D-15+LööK Panels 1:48 Eduard - For Eduard Kit LööK Sets Arriving the envelopes we normally see the PE in, each set of 3D panels is accompanied by a set pf PE seatbelts as well . P-51D-10 P-51D-15+ Review samples courtesy of

P-51D-5 Mustang (82101) 1:48 Eduard ProfiPACK Kit The P-51D was developed by the North American Aviation company as a possible fighter for Great Britain, but due to the poor performance of the engine initially fitted it wasn’t all that good. Luckily they strapped a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine into the airframe and it brought out the best of its design, which included the energy efficient laminar flow wing that gave it the potential to escort Allied bombers all the way to Berlin with the addition of drop-tanks and a lean mixture when not in combat. It was flown in this guise as the Mustang III in British service, and as the P-51B/C in US service, then as the P-51D with the bubble canopy and cut-down aft fuselage, with an additional fin-fillet added later to improve stability that had been reduced by the new shape and fuel tank location. This is the Mustang that most people think of when they hear the name, unless they’re more of a petrol head. Kit This is the eagerly awaited new kit from Eduard. It is a new tool with everything you would expect from a new tool Eduard kit in terms of excellent quality. Construction starts in the cockpit, and as you would expect there is quite a lot of detail straight from the box. The seat is first made up with PE seat belts being added. This is placed on the cockpit floor along with the control column. Behind the seat the radios are added. The sidewalls for the cockpit are separate and these have small parts added before these are put into the fuselage sides. The instrument panel from PE is then added. Also added into the fuselage sides at this point are the backing plates for the exhausts and rear tail well. Construction then moves to the wings. The main wheel well is built up with a representative main spar at the front. The rear wall and all the cross plates are separate pieces. Once the main well is in the top wings can be added to the lower wing. At the font the guns are provided as insert parts. Separate ailerons are then added. The wing can then be joined with the fuselage. At the rear the tailplanes and their control surfaces are added along with the rudder. All these have realistic moulding for the fabric covering. On the underside the tail wheel is added along with the intake lip and engine vents if used for your marking option. Its then time for the flaps and main gear. It would appear the flaps are only in the lowered position so if you are going to do an "in flight" model you will need to do a bit of extra work. For the gear the wheels are in two halves with separate hubs and a three part leg. These are added along with the outer door. The inner doors can also be added at this time. Going back to the main fuselage at the front the exhausts are added, these are different ones depending on the marking option being used. The propeller and spinner are assembled and then added. The main upright aerial is added. The canopy can then go on. Eduard seem to be moulding these thinner at present, while these look good the downside is that they come off the sprues. In the review sample and kits which have been purchased there are clear parts off all the sprues. Masks (not shown) are provided for painting. Lastley for the underside both metal and paper droptanks are provided. . Decals These are in house from Eduard and should pose no problems. As well as the markings there is full stencil data, and information about which areas were left Natural Metal, and which areas were painted. There are markings for 5 different aircraft, but 6 schemes as Cripes A Mighty 3rd is shown with either full invasion stripes in June 44, or partial ones it wore later on. The options are; P-51D-5 1/48 - s/n 44-13318, "Frenesi" flown by Lt. Col. Thomas L. Hayes Jr., 364th FS, 357th FG, 8th AF, Leiston, England, June 1944 (Box art) P-51D-5 1/48 - s/n 44-13321, "Cripes A Mighty 3rd" Flown by Maj. George Preddy Jr, 487th FS, 352nd FG, 8th AF, Bodney, England, August 1944 P-51D-5 1/48 - s/n 44-13321, "Cripes A Mighty 3rd" flown by Maj. George Preddy Jr., 487th FS, 352nd FG, 8th AF, Bodney, England, June 1944 P-51D-5 1/48 - s/n 44-13321, "Devastating Dottie" flown by Capt. John M. Simmons Jr., 317th FS, 325th FG, 15th AF, Lesina, Italy, August 1944 P-51D-5 1/48 - s/n 44-13606, "Louisiana Heatwave" flown by Capt. Claude J. Crenshaw, 369th FS, 359th FG, 8th AF, East Wretham, England, September 1944 P-51D-5 1/48 - s/n 44-13859, flown by Lt. Walter Mullins, 55th FS, 20th FG, 8th AF, Kings Cliffe, England, September 1944 Conclusion It is good to see another new P-51D Mustang kit available, and this is everything you would expect from Eduard. Highly Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

P-51D Gun Bays (648517) 1:48 Eduard for Eduard Kit This set contains 38 resin parts & PE to fit gun bays to the new Eduard kit. The set contains parts for the gun bays. As well as the bays there are the guns and ammo belts. Decals are provided for the loading instructions inside the doors. Some surgery to the kits wings is needed, through note a lot, mainly just removing the panels. This set should get good results and would suit some kind of loading diorama. Highly Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

P-51D Cockpit Set (648522) 1:48 Eduard Brassin - For Eduard Kit Cockpit Set Arriving in the now normal (more eco friendly?) black box is this new brassin set for the new Eduard P-51D. Inside are 28 resin parts, a coloured photo etched fret, a small film sheet, and a small decal sheet.The photo etch parts are for the multi part instrument panel, seatbelts, and the area to the rear of the cockpit under the canopy,as well as a few smaller parts. In resin we get a new cockpit floor with the instrument housing at the front, control column, pilots seat complete with head armour, two fully detailed side consoles, gunsight & coaming, main canopy frame, and the radio area behind the pilot. The decal sheet provides cockpit placards. Review sample courtesy of

OOB build. I decided to do almost no weathering and present her as a freshly cleaned aircraft. Lovely details, excellent fit, but the decals (not Cartograph in my case) are tricky to work with. Sorry, no pictures

Ok, time to start up the builds and join the group build. Funny is that today I've found the last missing kit in my P-51D stach. I've got the Forces of Valor"s P-51D kit. Together with my Airfix, Tamiya and Hasegawa P-51D kits I have som nice choises to do. I also have some decal"s to choose. Hopefully I end up with one built kit before end date! Cheers / André

Hi all - Here's my latest - Tamiya's P-51D in 1/48 - An enjoyable build although as ever, Tamiya's decals put up quite a fight. The kit is old but still top quality - it goes together very nicely - My one issue is the way the canopy is attached - with no framing where it meets the plastic. I added scratch built details to the wheel bays, used a Eduard PE cockpit interior with additional parts - also Eduard resin wheels. Painted in Alclad and Tamiya arylics - weathered with oils, enamel washes and pigments. WIP build is here: Thanks for watching Cheers John

Hi all, An appeal for your input, please: Does anyone out there know why these tanks were fitted "on their side" and, as they clearly were, what does the fixing and pipwork look like? On some images you can see a pipe vertically running slightly inboard and close to the LE of the pylon. Thanks a lot. Martin

Another market tester, the cheap and cheerful Airfix 1/72 P-51D, which could be had for as little as £2.99 recently. The decals were from an ancient 15 year old Hasegawa kit and were headed for the bin until the miser in me kicked in, apart from needing a new bogus tail code due to some ill advised Daco Red all was well. Paint is Alclad and Mr Color as usual, along with my no hole magnetic stand. No aerial wires and pitot left off as this is a "to be posted" item but a personal one would have got some Uschi "rig that thing" fine that looks right in this scale. Only thing that needed effort were the guns which are Albion tube. So number 12 for 2019 and 2 already for July, loving my build fever right now. As I can't get up any enthusiasm for building anything for the display cabinet, these one-a-week builds are keeping my modelling skills honed til inspiration strikes me and I finish my 1/72 'Nam Spook thats been sat forlornly since March. Mind you would be nice to finish at least 25 1/72 airplanes this year.... WIP here: And beauty shots here: Thanks for tuning in. Cheers Anil

The old Hasegawa P-51D 1/72 kit has decals for an aircraft from 339 FW flewn by Col. William C. Clark and named Dappy VI. I can't find any information about this aircraft nor any pictures of it or the kit with mentioned decals. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegawa-a16-mustang-p-51d-north-american--158278 Or did Hasegawa and Scalemates get it wrong about the name of the aircraft? Happy IV or... ? Someone who knews? Cheers / André

Hello, The old Lindberg "Bomber Escort", an P-51D Mustang (probably the very first P-51D in1/72) was marked VF-L with serial number 317926. Was this an real aircraft or just an fictional marking made by Lindberg? It seems that Lindberg saw what was comming and didn't want to pay any royalties to Boeing by not naming their kit as an P-51D Mustang. https://www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php?detail=23976&page=1&manu=lindberg Picture's of the Lindberg "Bomber Escort" can be seen att IPMS Stockholm. https://www.ipmsstockholm.se/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9533&p=87124#p87124 Cheers / André

Several 357th FG P-51Ds from the first two Inglewood-built batches (NA-109 c/n 26896...28485 or P-51D-5NA 44-13253...14052 and P-51D-10NA 44-14053...14852) are commonly shown as camouflaged in OD/NG - sometimes even with white identification stripes across the wings. The best known examples are: 4-13691 PassionWagon, 4-14709 MissouriArmada and 4-14798 ButchBaby from the 362nd FS 4-13518 HorsesItch, 4-13714 DesertRat, 4-13717 ReluctantRebel and 4-14450 OldCrow from the 363rd FS 4-13318 Frenesi and 4-14507 Tangerine from the 364th FS First question is whether were they (and 1588 other D-5 & 10NA a/c) factory-painted in OD/NG like most of the P-51B/Cs or have all the teardrop-Mustangs for the USAAF left the factory in NMF ? If it was a factory finish then everything is clear, but if they were delivered in NMF and matt painting was the 357th FG tactical "therapy" applied in the UK it seems hard to believe that original US colours were applied there. For the topsides the RAF Dark Green (just a little bit greenish than OD, but far from from the US Medium Green) looks more probable, but what about the undersides? If the colour was so dark that white stripes were used (and not black ones like on the NMF P-51D wings) was it Ocean Grey, Dark Sea Grey or Extra Dark Sea Grey? IIRC all three were substituted with FS36118 NG on the US-built aircraft destined for Britain. The contrast of white stripes on Sea Grey Medium seems too weak... Cheers Michael

Hello, When building the P-51D Mustang in 1/72 with Peddinghouse decals I discovered that this aircraft according to Peddinghaus had smaller stars n bars on the wings than other P-51D during the same period. Actually smaller than the ensignia on the fuselage sides. Is this correct and was it common? It looks strange as all stars n bars where painted before delivery... https://www.ebay.com/itm/Peddinghaus-1-72-P-51D-20NA-Mustang-Sunny-VIII-Markings-Everett-Stewart-2570-/171167353048 http://wingstracksguns.com/dt_gallery/north-american-p-51-mustang/p-51-sunny-viii/ Cheers / André

Hello. Wonder, is there any 1/72 decals available today for Airfix first P-51D Mustang? https://www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php?detail=17036&manu=Airfix What I understand the real aircraft had an blue nose and D-day markings. Yellow rudder? http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/18399 It could be fun building an new P-51D with the markings of one of the first P-51D kits... Cheers / André

Barracuda Studios is to re-release a 1:48 P-51D decal sheet with markings for five aircraft: 1) P-51D-20-NA "Double Trouble Two," 353rd Fighter Group, 352nd Fighter Squadron, 8th Air Force Flown by Lt. Colonel “Wild” Bill Bailey. 2) P-51D-15-NA Mustang “The Millie G,” 55th Fighter Group, 343rd Fighter Squadron, 8th Air Force Flown by Major Edward Giller. 3) P-51D-15-NA Mustang “Amorous Len III,” 357th Fighter Group, 363rd Fighter Squadron, 8th Air Force Flown by Captain Reager. Yoxford Airfield, England, 1944-45. This fictional airplane can be easily adapted by the clever modeler to represent another well known aircraft. 4) P-51D-5-NA Mustang “Lou IV," 361st Fighter Group, 375th Fighter Squadron, 8th Air Force Flown by Lt. Col. Thomas Christian. 5) P-51D-15-NA Mustang “Alabama Rammer Jammer” 353rd Fighter Group, 352nd Fighter Squadron, 8th Air Force Flown by Lt. Arthur Cundy. According to www.1999.co.jp/eng/, the decal sheet is to be released in January 2019, but it's been on preorder since November 22. Wanting to get my hands on the markings for "Amorous Len III," I went and preordered (first time in my life) the decal sheet from Barracuda Studios website for 11.95$ plus 8$ for shipping. Recommended kits are the Hasegawa and Tamiya P-51Ds in 1:48. Link to to the Barracuda website: http://barracudacals.com/proddetail.php?prod=BC48011 Link to www.1999.co.jp/eng/ website: https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/m/10157689 Link to Hannants website: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/BC48011

I thought some of you might enjoy watching this short video that celebrated Chuck Hall's last airshow appearance with the USAF Heritage Flight. As you can see, his flying is as smooth as glass, as I can also attest, having had the pleasure to have seen him perform at two different airshows. The F-22 pilot in the video is Max Moga, who also flies with the Horseman P-51 Mustang team. It is a shame that the USAF has curtailed so many of the Heritage Flight appearances due to budget cuts, as it was always a thrill and a wonderful tribute to see fighters of so many different eras together. This one's for you, @Old Viper Tester! 👍 Mike https://vimeo.com/98664563

Here's my entry to the GB. The recent new tool Airfix P-51D based in India so it ties in i think with the SEA (?) section. The Mustang wasn't prevalent in the Pacific until nearer the end of the war and was better known in the ETO. It is also rarer to see a Mustang with the Bazooka tubes, and according to references i have seen on the net this aircraft was definitively armed with them. Box Top and scheme photos.. More to follow shortly, thanks for looking, Cheers Greg

Hey Guys, you know what this GB needs ? A bronze painted Mustang with go faster stripes and a prop painted the colours of the rainbow. Lucky for y'all, I got here just in time fill this gaping void. So here's the obligatory sprue shot: And some naff Red Pegasus ALPS decals that might work (+ some very dark looking Mr Paint bronze). When its done , at least Ol' Yeller will have a buddy, its lonely on his shelf... Its a light conversion compared to the BF109V14 I'm just about to finish: Removal of guns & radio, clipped concave wing tips & elevators, a funky new aerial and finally an uncuffed prop from the dozen or so F-51s I picked up at Home Bargains a few years back in 2016 I did the same kit as Bob Hoovers ( now solitary) Cavalier Reno start plane and remember it had no vices apart from the annoying canopy with a separate frame which drove me nuts as I had to remove the brace and the clear bit wouldn't line up. Still it should be hoot and something you don't see every day! Cheers Anil

Concerning the IDF-lights on starbord wing I noticed that those lights often interfere with the stars and bars on the same place according to instructions. What would be correct? /André

Hi all. My previous 9 builds has all been some sort of camo scheme, so it's time for a bare metal subject. And since I always have room for another Mustang, that's what I'll do. However I couldn't decide which Mustang to do for my next build, so I'll just do them all! I have to warn you, this isn't going to be a very fast build as I have few other non-modelling related things on my plate at the moment. Ok, so here's what I've got I also have some aftermarket and spare decals Microscale and spare decals from the Italeri F-51D kit and of course, the decals that comes with these kits Academy usually has superb quality decals - just kidding Luckily these looks printed okay. I have academy sheets where the red circle in the RAF roundel isn't anywhere near the centre And the Airfix decals. Looks perfect as usual So it seems I still have some choices to make. Here's some photographs of the possible subjects The Airfix F-51D. The OOB option looks really great. But I also have this F-51 option from the Microscale sheet Pretty sure I'll go for the OOB option As for the P-51D's, I haven't built the OOB option yet. I don't think it's the prettiest Mustang scheme ever, but a blue nosed Mustang would bring some diversity to my Mustang collection... But, I have this option from the Microscale sheet I think I'll go for "Jan". I also the the "wildcard" option of going for a RAF Mustang Some camo might help break all the silver from the bare metal Mustangs in my production line. Hmmm, choices.... Moving to the P-51C Mustang. The Academy kit gives 3 options. I won't go for the Chinese one, so that leaves two viable options Wow! Isn't she a beaut!? The 530th FS option (top of the 3) doesn't look bad, but the 5th FS (yellow tail) just looks so racy. There's no choice here. To make it a little more interesting, I also have these Unfortunately not enough for all 3 kits, so yet more decisions. Looks like deciding to build all 3 Mustangs didn't make for any easier choices.... Well that's it for now. Next I'll share the mandatory sprue shots. Cheers Jimmy