Mustang markings help needed

[stevej60]

Guys a little guidance if you will.I am building Tamiyas P51D Lou IV over on the D-Day GB,and I am at the masking stage of

the black/white I.D. stripes clearly the stripes were carried under the wings but not I assume on the upper wing surfaces as

the only actual photographs I can find show none,however most restored aircraft,die casts and even a few models on the net

show full stripes.Can anyone clarify the situation? thanks in advance.

[Black Knight]

afaik. full stripes were ordered for D-Day, but in the weeks after they were reduced to just the under surfaces because the Allies had both air supremacy and they compromised camouflage

[JackG]

In a recent publication, the date July 6 1944 is given as when the recommendation was made to stop applying any stripes. Those aircraft that still had them were allowed to fade. So from early July to mid-August they could still be seen as mentioned above by Black Knight.

Another amendment was passed mid-August calling for the removal of under wing stripes, with only those around the fuselage remaining.

regards,

Jack

[Jennings Heilig]

In my entire time in the US Air Force I never once received a "recommendation" to do something. It was always phrased as "orders"

Upper wing stripes were indeed ordered removed in July '44. That's when you started seeing them scrubbed off or overpainted.

Keep in mind that the first P-51D bubble top was delivered to the ETO in May 1944, so you simply wouldn't see a horribly weathered airplane on or around 6 June. In fact, you rarely saw horribly weathered P-51Ds in general, since their crew chiefs were pretty proud of them, and the average airplane was weeks to months old at most.

Edited June 15, 2014 by Jennings Heilig