ColFord

Mediterranean Allied AIr Forces - established December 1943 as unified Allied Command structure for combined RAF & Commonwealth and USAAF Air Forces in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations. Not to be confused with MAFS!

Mustang IIIs are a 'semi-can of worms' in terms of their C&M as recieved and operated by the RAF depending on the theatre of operations and timeframe. Just like the earlier Allison engine Mustangs, the NA-91 P-51 Mustang / Mustang IA and the NA-99 P-51A Mustang / Mustang II were before them, those arriving in the UK were stripped and repainted in the UK after arrival into a standardised C&M pattern. It was a part of the overall modification process after arrival in the UK, to incorporate all the mandatory modifications required to have the aircraft in a state to be considered fit for operational use by the RAF. That covered both the NAA Technical Orders current up to the time of delivery and the RAF specific approved and mandated modifications. For those in the UK, that was supposed to include the fitting of the Malcolm Hood, however supply of the hoods, resources to fit them, couldn't keep up with demand, especially when the USAAF also wanted them for their P-51B/Cs in the ETO. What complicates the issue is the original intended allocations of individual airframes to either RAF or USAAF with the factory application of C&M accordingly, and their actual allocation once they arrived in the UK. To allow the USAAF to rapidly convert a number of their 8th Air Force Fighter Groups in the UK over to the P-51B/C in late 1943 into early 1944, a number of P-51B/C originally intended for the RAF were passed to the USAAF. So in that instance the USAAF had to strip the Mustangs out of RAF C&M and repaint them into USAAF C&M. When the USAAF later backfilled the Mustangs transferred to them, the RAF received Mustangs in USAAF specification C&M. So they definitely had to be stripped and repainted before use. There was an evolution over time of the C&M pattern used by the Contractors/MUs repainting the Mustang IIIs in the UK to simplify the pattern and the process and the same basic pattern carried through into the Mustang IVs. Also late in the war, you start to get the arrival of the bare metal Mustang IIIs from the late production batches, but the RAF in the UK initially still gives them a full C&M paint job, later on they also start to retain the US style bare metal finish. It's all documented in the Air Ministry and MAP files in UK Archives and backed up by the photos. It gets more complicated in the MTO by a mix of sources of aircraft into that theatre. The bulk were aircraft directly shipped from the USA to the MTO and then reassembled in aircraft depots before issue to units. Then there was a small number of aircraft that had arrived in the UK, repainted and modified there, and then shipped/ferried onto the MTO. Those include a couple that had Malcolm Hoods fitted in the UK and had been repainted into the standardised C&M in the UK. Clue to those ones is that they arrived from the UK into the MTO with the repainted C&M which included the ETO Sky rear fuselage id band and prop spinner, and the yellow wing leading edge id bands. The Mustang IIIs in the MTO went to RAF, RAAF and SAAF units in theatre. So you have a majority of aircraft in the MTO initially in the NAA factory applied C&M with local modifications eg adding the MTO recongition red prop spinner, theatre id bands, etc. At some point, aircraft then need repairs or major overhaul at MU level. The MUs then implement what they have documented as the C&M requirements at that time for RAF Mustangs and do repaints matching that for the MTO. It is possible in some of instances to identify which MU or depot did the repaint based on their interpretation of the pattern and how they applied it (also application in some cases of a small MU 'zap' on the tail of the aircraft). So an aircraft may start its service life in the MTO in the US NAA factory applied C&M, but may at some point change to an MTO depot/MU applied C&M scheme. (Note here, David Muir in his excellent Southern Cross Mustangs provided a well documented and covered by photographs coverage of the Mustang IIIs and IVs used by the RAAF Squadrons in the MTO, well worth a look.) And please stop referring to the NAA applied colours as being DuPont, the NAA factory documentary evidence is that they were using paint suppliers other than DuPont as their primary sources for the Mustang production. In terms of P-51B production, initial preparation for production of the P-51B did not commence at NAA until very late 1942, with actual production commencing the beginning of 1943 - first 'pre-production P-51B-A-NA airframe delivered 31 March 1943, but that aircraft did not have the design fixes in place to resolve the 'duct rumble' in the underslung radiator assembly. The strike at the Packard factory delayed delivery of the required Packard Merlin V-1650-3 engines for the P-51B airframes that had been built so final delivery of finished aircraft was pushed back to June 1943. That then led to initial arrival of P-51B aircraft in UK slipping from the initially planned September 1943 to October 1943. Only 'F' prefix serial Mustangs received by RAF that were manufactured in 1942 were the 98 NA-91 P-51 Mustang / Mustang IA with FD serials - accepted NAA July-September 1942, arrived UK September - December 1942) and the 50 NA-99 P-51A Mustang / Mustang II with FR serials - accepted NAA March-April 1943, arrived UK June-July 1943).

And I knew I had a copy of the 3/4 right rear view somewhere.... USAAF NA-91 P-51 Disruptive Camo 3/4 Right Rear View by Colin Ford, on Flickr Interesting to see where the white paint has worn away on the wing to fuselage fillet just ahead of the cockpit, adjacent to where a ground crew member might stand if helping the pilot get strapped in in the cockpit. You can see the wear on the top of the wing closest to the fuselage.

The Academy kit was a straight re-issue of the original AM USAAF P-51 boxing, which didn't include any camera option, which is ironic as one of the decal options was for one of the 111th TRS aircraft is with the "Snoopers" artwork with the little camera markings for PR sorties completed. I think the lack of the camera in the original AM release was a simple lack of research about the camera installations at the time they developed the kit. Onto the NA-91 P-51 for the camouflage trials. It was one of the aircraft that had been modified with the early style USAAF 'over engineered' oblique camera installation behind the cockpit complete with the bulged rear quarter glass with a flat optical glass panel insert in a frame in front of the camera lens. Photos of the 111th TRS P-51s in North Africa, Sicily and Italy show them with a mix of camera mounts and differing style quarter windows - some look to have followed the RAF style 'simplified' installation and cut out quarter window path. Some photos and diagrams that might be of interest with the 'splinter' or 'dazzle' scheme that was trialled. USAAF NA-91 P-51 Disruptive Camo Trials Front 3/4 by Colin Ford, on Flickr USAAF NA-91 P-51 P-51 Disruptive Camo Trials 3 by Colin Ford, on Flickr USAAF NA-91 P-51 Disruptive Camo Trials Underside by Colin Ford, on Flickr

I don't have an answer. I'm not familiar with the ICM P-51A. Maybe @ColFord knows the kit? Ahhhh, the ICM 1/48 Mustang family, the "mystery box" of components! Lots of theories back when ICM released their series of P-51 Mustang kits in 1/48th covering the P-51A, P-51B/C and P-51D, about its origins and how much of it was a "copy & paste" reproduction of the other kits on the market at the time eg AM and Tamiya. What you get in the box is a mish-mash of parts, some relevant to the model of P-51 being built, others, not. In the P-51A kit, think the AM fuselage halves from the Allison engine series, with the nose from the P-51 (no suffix), narrow edition carburettor air intake, already moulded in place as one unit. So wrong from the get go. For the wings, you get the same wings as in their P-51B/C kit, with a weird insert for the area under the wing in front of the radiator air intake to fill in the gap in the different profile between the P-51 and P-51B/C radiator intake shape and location. Plus the aileron wing strengthening 'fences' of the P-51B/C, which were not on the P-51A. You also get the cockpit sidewall parts for both the Allison engine Mustang and a Merlin engine Mustang, ditto seat. 'Clear' transparency parts are variable in their clarity and shape. And in a lot of them, somehow the part of the moudling sprue that carried the main inner undercarriage doors didn't get opened up on the P-51A and P-5IB/C kits, so there were no main inner undercarriage doors in the kit. I bought a couple of them way back when out of curiosity and as a source of spare parts for future builds. One, with a fair bit of effort and digging into spares from other kits, and Ultracast bits, I backdated to a Mustang I. And the other enduring memory, no locating/alignment pin and holes on any of the parts and flash, plenty of flash along the edge or centrelines of the moulded parts, plus rather soft light grey plastic. (Slow on the reply as I was away for a long day yesterday enjoying 1:1 scale aviation, including some P-51 content.)

Best that I and the other researchers who have dug into the early Allison Mustangs with the RAF have been able to assess from the surviving files, photographs and information, is that none of the RAF's Mustang Is saw operational (combat) experience whilst still in the original brown & green over Sky with early style national markings. For a number of reasons, including the general shape of the Mustang I being considered 'similar' to a Bf-109 from certain angles, and the by then largely standardised C&M being carried by Fighter Command single engine, single seat fighters being the Day Fighter Scheme (DFS) with the later national markings, it was set out that to be cleared for operational use, the ACC Mustang Is needed to conform to the Fighter Command/Air Ministry C&M requirements in force at the time. It would thus assist with ground to air identification and air to air identification of the Mustang I as being a 'friendly'. Also why when they started to get into their stride with operations over Europe in mid-1942, they then had added the chordwise yellow identification band above and below the wings outboard of the armament, which lasted until about early November 1942 before being removed. Those that had been issued to the ACC Squadrons still in the original NAA C&M and early style national markings, had as the first interim stage, the updating of the national markings to the later style, the addition of the Sky spinner and rear id band and the yellow wing leading edge strips. Aircraft in that arrangement were limited to flying over the UK only on training flights and supporting Army exercises in the UK. But the move to the DFS happened pretty quickly with a big push to get all the ACC Mustang Is with Squadrons into the proper C&M by mid May thru early June 1942. The later deliveries of 'modified' Mustang Is to Squadrons included the repaint into the DFS C&M. Sometimes that was the expedient of overpainting the brown on the upper surfaces with Ocean Grey or 'mixed' grey, and Medium Sea Grey lower surfaces over the Sky, and the revised national markings, etc. Full repaints followed later to what became a standardised pattern.

Hi Ron, Never used the Squadron vac form canopies for any of my Allison engine Mustang builds, so I can't comment directly. The method of cutting out the whole turtle deck where there are rear quarter windows seems to be a method they used for a number of their vacform replacement canopies for different aircraft types. It would seem to make some sense from a strength/structural perspective for the quarter windows given the thinnness of the vacform windows.

Making good, steady progress there Ron. I had to go digging in my model stash cupboards in our garage, of course the last cupboard to look in had the AM Mustang stash. These are the unbuilt ones. Nineteen AM + 1 x ICM (conversion) Mustangs already built (6x Mustang I conversions, 9 xMustang IA, 4 x Mustang II, 1 x A-36A), one (Mustang IA) in progress. I didn't go digging into the resin and extra bits I have for most of them. AM Stash 2026 by Colin Ford, on Flickr When doing landing lights and clear parts for some years now, I have used Humbrol Clearfix, dries clear and seems to work for me. One thing I will be doing very, very carefully as/if/when I get sent any test shots or visuals of test shots of upcoming Allison engine Mustang kits, will be checking the clarity, fit and shape of clear parts and inserts.

James, These extracts from the A-36A E&M Manual might be of some use. A-36A E&M Radio 1 by Colin Ford, on Flickr A-36A E&M Radio 2 by Colin Ford, on Flickr A-36A E&M Radio 3 by Colin Ford, on Flickr HTH.

Good score and progress ron, The Ultracast Mustang I conversion set you have received, looks to be the early one which included the incorrect propellor blades. They initially included the wider blades as seen on the later A-36A and P-51. The later releases include the correct profile early 'thin, tapered' blades. Latest corrected set. ULT48031-2T by Colin Ford, on Flickr Correct profile propellor blades - available as a separate set, can also be used to correct the incorrect blades provided by AM on the P-51 Mustang/Mustang IA kits ULT48243-2T by Colin Ford, on Flickr Then there is the set of blades that are the correct shape and profile for the A-36A and P-51A Mustangs ULT48032-2T by Colin Ford, on Flickr

Being such an aerodynamic aircraft, the Mustang picked up speed in the dive very quickly. In early trials it was identified that attempting to open the dive brakes when already in the dive presented issues. The approved and recommended method of use was to arrive over the target at the required altitude and speed and with target approaching leading edge of wing on one side. Bring the speed into the envelope for safe operation of the dive brakes whilst level = less than 350mph IAS. Ascertain top and bottom dive brakes on both wings have opened equally - if the dive brakes didn't open equally the aircraft would veer strongly to the side where both dive brakes had deployed fully, then immediately close air brakes. If air brakes deployed correctly, target goes behind leading edge of wing, half roll in direction of wing target has just gone under until nose pointing down and pointing towards target, stable dive established. Do not exceed 450mph IAS in dive, control dive speed with engine power settings. There were some examples in the US training units of trainees going into the dive before opening the dive brakes, the dive brakes not opening correctly - often estimated at a speed above the maximum safe deployment speed, and the aircraft breaking up in the air. A couple of the trainees stateside also apparently had uneven deployment in level flight, which was a cause of concern. This led to stateside training unit(s) placing a lock wire over the dive brake operating control lever and banning use of the dive brakes by trainees. This meant that the first time a number of the replacement A-36 pilots actually got to use the dive brakes fitted to their A-36A, was when they arrived at their first operational unit. The series of photos in the book, most of those are from the RAF trials, with some of the trials flights being dedicated to air to air photography of the aircraft from multiple angles and in multiple configurations eg dive brakes closed, dive brakes extended, undercarriage up, undercarriage down, etc, and also carrying different stores on the underwing hardpoints. For the RAF flight trials the bombs were inert training items - similar weight to live items, measure performance and handling with and without bombs on board. RAF would use this standardised series of photos in the Air Ministry Aircraft Recognition Manuals that they produced. There was another series of photos usually taken on the ground from a standardised set of angles and views, these were the Air Technical Publications - ATP - series of photos, which were for use in technical publications put out by the AIr Ministry such as the RAF Pilot's Notes, Maintanance Manuals, etc. IMW London and UK Archives and RAF Museum Hendon hold varying collections of these original photos in various files, collections.

The interest in MacLachlan is well founded, partly as he was highly decorated pilot ( DSO, DFC**, Czech War Cross), and a key clue to a lot of the interest is in the title of his biography "One-Armed Mac". He lost his left forearm to a Me-109 cannon shell over Malta, barely survived, back to the UK, fitted with a prosthetic arm and back onto operations. His accomplice at AFDU Geoffrey Page had been badly burned when he had been shot down, time as one of the East Grinstead 'Guinea Pigs' getting treatment and reconstructive surgery, especially to his hands. So it was quoted that when they flew togther, they had collectively as Page recalled: "Fine bloody pair we are, going off to tackle the enemy with only one good hand between us!" He and Page in their successful sortie shot down six enemy aircraft in about as many minutes. Citation for second Bar to DFC: 30 July 1943 – Squadron leader James McLachlan DFC and Bar (39639) of ADFU flight is awarded a second Bar to the DFC for gallantry displayed in flying operations against the enemy: Recently these officers in the course of an operation over enemy occupied territory, shot down six enemy aircraft, three of which were destroyed by Squadron leader MacLachlan and two by Flight Lieutenant Page, while the other was destroyed jointly. The operation, which was planned by Squadron Leader MacLachlan, was brilliantly executed and the successes were worthily earned.

The RAF serial of the A-36A that the RAF directly received for trials in the UK is EW998. One of only two typos that made it all the way through the multiple review and editing passes before the book went to print. Will be fixed in any reprint. The other A-36As that the RAF received in the MTO and used by No.1437 Strategic Reconnaissance Flight are interesting examples as they were retained in their original USAAF Olive Drab over Neutral Gray, but had RAF markings applied, plus individual aircraft id letters and RAF MTO allocated serials - there is at least one, maybe two threads here on Britmodeller regarding them. IWM London digital online collection has a couple of them in their collection. The photo of the No.225 Squadron P-51 in the MTO, you will be able to find in the IWM London digital online collection, IWM FRE 14895.

Ahhhh, that's a story in itself. MacLachlan was technically 'on rest' from operational flying and had been attached to AFDU at Duxford. At the time there was a strong push to improve the level of air to air combat training of the pilots with the RAF ACC Mustang Squadrons. As a result a number of experienced RAF fighter pilots who had recently been placed 'on rest' from operational flying were attached to AFDU and in addition to the flight testing and tactics development and documentation role, took on a teacher role. The use of the Mustang by the ACC Mustang Squadrons in their low level Rhubarb, Ranger and Intruder roles caught MacLachlan's attention so he travelled around doing the air to air combat training with the ACC Mustang Squadron, but also spent a lot of time learning about the tactics they were using at low level and the processes they used to plan and conduct their operations. He flew Spitfires and Typhoons in dissimilar combat practice and also the Mustang, rapidly appreciating its attributes. He developed the idea initially of single Mustangs being used to conduct low level intruder operations against Luftwaffe airfields that were effectively outside the range of the RAF's other single engine fighters of the time. Some of the ACC Mustang Squadrons had done this but on a limited scale. In particular he focussed on some Luftwaffe advanced and operational training bases in France, where Luftwaffe pilots would be completing their final training before being posted out to their operational units. He also considered Luftwaffe night fighter bases in France to be other suitable targets, with the idea of catching the Luftwaffe night fighters in the afternoon when they were conducting their flight tests before flying operationally that night - thus disrupting their ability to intercept RAF heavy night bombers that evening. Sew some confusion. He gained approval to try out his idea, and a recently received Mustang IA was modified to meet his requirements - primarily a change away from the standard RAF DFS C&M to a scheme he believed would make the aircraft more difficult to see at low level over France. After an unsuccessful first attempt, he realised that the type of sortie would require what the ACC Mustang Squadrons had already figured out, a pair of Mustangs. This would allow the lead to concentrate on navigation, avoiding known 'hot spots' and spotting potential targets, with the No.2 keeping an eye out for enemy fighters. On his next attempt he was joined by S/L Geoffrey Page, a BoB veteran and experienced fighter pilot also with AFDU at the time. Page flew a similarly C&M modified Mustang I. That sortie was quite successful with attacks on a number of Luftwaffe training and night fighter bases near Paris, catching a number of Luftwaffe aircraft near and within the circuits of the airfields. Next sortie he unfortunately made a slight navigation error on his crossing in point over the French coast, was hit by enemy flak and crashed, being mortally injured in the crash. There was a very good book about MacLachlan and his wartime experiences with the RAF - he flew Fairey Battles in the Battle of France, then Hurricanes, including over Malta, Hurricane intruders/night fighters in the UK, did a public relations tour of the US, including a number of the aircraft factories, before moving to AFDU on his return to the UK. "One Armed Mac" by Brian Cull and Roland Symons. A number of the RAF ACC Mustang pilots I knew when they were still with us, had been amongst those MacLachlan had spoken to and flew with during his time 'teaching' with the ACC Mustang Squadrons.

The RAF schemes in the Academy reboxings (remembering that Academy did the majority if not all the mouldings for the original AM releases) make me think that someone in Academy frequents Britmodeller. Why, because the two RAF schemes selected have been the topic of discussion here on Britmodeller over a number of years and the schemes they present with this kit, represent the thinking and theories being swapped here about them around the time the Academy re-release of this kit came out. Academy P-51 Options Lrg by Colin Ford, on Flickr The Academy re-release effectively of the original AM P-51 kit, which originally only came with a USAAF MTO scheme as the option. But back then, AM didn't understand that the USAAF P-51s with the 111th TRS were all modified in the USA before they were shipped to the MTO via the UK, and fitted with the USAAC developed version of the Tac/r camera fit, which included an oblique camera pointing out to the left in the area immediately behind the pilot's head in the cockpit, and a vertical/rear oblique camera installation in the area between the underslung radiator outlet and the tail wheel bay. The oblique installation in this one was the version with the overly complicated camera support and the bulged rear quarter window with an optically clear glass port where the camera lens aimed through. The kit release doesn't come with any camera installation - either USAAF or RAF style - because they didn't realise the actual aircraft had it. The P-51s No.225 Squadron RAF borrowed in the MTO, were by what the records indicate, not fitted with the oblique camera, but were fitted with and used the vertical camera installation. The kit also has the cannon barrels withe the original US/NAA style version for the original US Oldsmobile licence cannon installation, which has the recoil springs forward of the leading edge of the wing fairings. That would be correct for the US P-51s in the MTO, AND may be corret for the two RAF subjects portrayed. But there is photographic evidence of some of the 111th TRS P-51s having the later style, British cannon mount modifications conducted, which placed the recoil springs within the leading edge fairing and only present the 'smooth' cannon barrel forward of the fairing. In the case of the P-51s loaned to No.225 Squadron from the 111th TRS, depends on the modification state of the actual aircraft and what photos there are of the No.225 Squadron P-51s, is from an angle that does not show the cannon barrels. The Mustang IA flown by S/L MacLachlan is a quandry, as when he was flying this Mustang IA with AFDU, it was in the period where the RAF developed cannon mod was being implemented. So again a 50-50 if it had the cannon mods or not - altho photos of another Mustang IA that spent some time with AFDU in the same timeframe shows it without the mod. The Mustang IA used by MacLachlan was not fitted with any of the Tac/R camera equipment or mods. Page from USAAF P-51 (no suffix) Pilot's Manual re the camera installation. USAAC P-51 Camera Installation by Colin Ford, on Flickr