ColFord

Once more unto the breach dear friends....... No.II(AC) Squadron started receiving Mk.XIVs on 1 November 1944, first serial being recorded in the ORBs being RM805 - which according to "the bible" (Morgan & Shacklady) is a high back F Mk.XIVe. By 18 November 1944 they had nine of them and the Squadron made its first operational sorties using the type. The ORBs record the arrival of the first of the low back FR.XIVes on 12 April 1945. Sorties using the new FR.XIVes appear to start pretty promptly. No.268 Squadron started receiving its FR.XIVes on 5 April 1945, the first two being received being NH641 and NH643, which according to the ORBs were low backed FR.XIVes, which tallies with "the bible". Two more on April 12, 1945 and the rest on April 19, 1945. The Squadron did however keep on using its Mustang Mk.IA and Mk.II aircraft as its main operational type. First operational use of the FR.XIVes is recorded on April 19, 1945, part of the delay being whilst some 'glitches' with the armament was sorted out. Use after that slowly builds up in the remaining days until VE-Day to where a couple of the pairs sorties per day would be on the Spitfire FR.XIVes, the balance, especially the longer ranging sorties, on the Mustangs. After VE-Day use of the Spitfires ramps up dramatically so that the Spitfire becomes the primary operational type, with the remaining Mustangs winding down by August 1945. MV316 K, photographed at B.106 Twente, it was not delivered to the Squadron until April 19, after the Squadron had moved there from Mill on April 17, 1945. Tie up of serial and code comes from ORBs cross referenced against pilot's log book entries. Squadron had one operational loss of a FR.XIVe, NH313, on May 3, 1945 - hit by flak, caught fire, pilot bailed out and returned safe to base the following day being somewhat the worse for wear after being plied with "medicinal rum" by the Canadian forward units into whose position he landed. There are some photos in 2TAF, including some of the Squadron's Spitfires in late 1945 after they had been renumbered as No.16 Squadron. Regards,

Hi PT, No empty cartridge and link chutes on the Mustang Mk.I. They had a large bin in the nose where the empty cartridges and links were dumped into. Twofold reason - firstly keeping some of the weight of that expended ammo on board for c of g reasons, but also more importantly you wouldn't want all that metal being ejected out of the aircraft's nose, right into the mouth of the underfuselage radiator! There is a thread over on the reborn P-51 SIG on the nose gun installation which includes photos of the Mustang Mk.I nose armament, and it also includes a couple of links to an A-36 restoration project which includes photos as well (the A-36 installation is very similar - probably around 99% the same - to that in the Mk.I). http://p51sig.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=96 HTH. Regards,

Apologies for not chipping in earlier, I have been travelling the past 5 weeks and out of internet contact. The following previous threads have covered off some of the information sought on the Typhoon FR.1b http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.p...&hl=typhoon http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.p...&hl=typhoon Hope these help in your project. Regards,

I think that the photos are of two N.A. Mustang Mk.I aircraft lost by No.239 Squadron, not one. The photos are of: AG565 HB-A and AG522 HB-B On 21 July 1942, two Mustang Mk.I aircraft of No.239 Squadron under operational command of No.35 (Recce) Wing took off from Gatwick at 13.05 hrs on a Popular sortie to the Brionne-Serquigny-Beaumont le Roger area. AG-565 HB-A was piloted by F/L Raymond Veal with AG-524 HB-B flown by F/O Lloyd as wingman. They were bounced by six Fw-190s as they were heading for home near Caudebec - about 25 kilometres north west of Rouen and 30 kilometres east of Le Havre on the River Seine, the Mustang flown by F/L Veal was damaged and he force landed it just outside the village of Norville on the Seine. F/O Lloyd returned safely to base. F/L Veal was captured and made a PoW. On 14 August 1942, AG-524 HB-B of No.239 Squadron Royal Air Force piloted by Pilot Officer Raymond Aubrey Pullin took off at 10.45 hrs in company with AG-472 piloted by Flight Lieutenant C Oakes for a Rhubarb sortie to the Blankenberge-Brugge area of Belgium. They met intense accurate light and medium flak at the coast from Kreigsmarine flak units as they were exiting the operational area. The Mustang flown by P/O Pullin was hit by the flak and damaged, forcing him to make a forced landing in a field near Wissenkerke in Zeeland province in the Netherlands. P/O Pullin was captured, made a PoW and ended up in Stalag Luft III. The wreckage of HB-B ended up at the Beutepark 5 der Luftwaffe at Paris Nanterre, where it was displayed with other Allied aircraft. The photos, some of which have been published before, show the early style 'fixed' F.24 camera mount with the thin sheet metal cover in place of the perspex and the 'funnel' around the lens. The photo 'FT Einbau' shows the front of the radio set which is as the report says a Type 19 HF set, which was the early type of transmitter/receiver used by the Tac/R Squadrons until replaced by the VHF set. The 'tube' above that is the variometer for the antenna installation. Bundesarchiv holds copies of a number of the photos in the report. Kari, I would be interested in getting a full copy of this report if at all possible. Regards,

Steve, The P51SIG came to you John M is a member over there. AW/CN is Awaiting Collection. ROS is Repaired On Site PATP is Packed Aircraft Transit Pool Regards,

Steve, The Form 78 (Aircraft Movement Card) for the Allison Mustangs are at best described as a bit "hit and miss". Comparison between what is recorded on the Form 78 (held by the RAF Museum at Hendon) and Squadron Operational Record Books and Pilot's Log Books, shows quite a few discrepancies. Often aircraft are shown against 'holding units' such as Maintenance Units or Group Support Units, when they have already been issued to Squadrons. Aircraft loss and damage information also can be a bit misleading as it is sometime the date someone updated the record, not the date the loss or damage occurred. Again there are movements of aircraft between some units that are simply not recorded, so the aircraft 'skips' a unit it may have been with, especially if it was for a short period (eg. less than 3 months), something that tends to happen when units go 'on rest' and swap aircraft temporarily with another unit taking their place on operations. However, may I suggest posting your inquiry at the P51SIG or RAF Commands as there are a couple of researchers at both sites (and common to both) who have delved into all the Form 78 held by RAFM Hendon for the Allison Mustangs and cross checking them against other records to improve detail in aircraft movement histories. There are a couple of RCAF Mustang experts too who frequent those sites who may be able to assist. As per the RAM Hendon site: Aircraft Movement Cards Air Ministry Form 78 was used to record the allocation of an aircraft to units, and the dates on which damage was sustained and repaired. The surviving cards date from about 1930, and are held by the Ministry of Defence Air Historical Branch, but the RAF Museum holds copies on microfilm. Whilst most of the cards are quite informative, those for aircraft sent to the Middle and Far East theatres during the Second World War are not: the majority of these simply record the aircraft's arrival at its destination and make no mention of its subsequent fate. It is thought that similar records were kept by overseas commands, but these appear not to have survived. The movement cards usually do not include aircraft operated by the Royal Navy. Regards,

Found this which might be of interest: http://www.angelfire.com/hi5/spitfiremk2a/a-i-b-rm689.html Looks like an aircraft eagerly awaited back in the air.

The scheme you describe is as the aircraft arrived with No.16 Sqdn in April 1945. In September-October 1945 the aircraft had that scheme - comes from photos I have from that timeframe when it was one of the Spitfire PR.XIXs transferred to No.268 Sqdn, just before 268 was renumbered as 16. I actually have in mind to do another model with the aircraft in the earlier April 1945 scheme as a comparison/contrast. I've got a couple of other schemes I could do based on photos from the September-October 1945 timeframe. From the photos I have, looks like there was a bit of variety or flux in the schemes on different aircraft. The antenna under the rear fuselage is the beam approach antenna. Period photos show it fitted. Regards,

And here's one I prepared earlier using the Academy Spitfire XIV (high back) with the Airwaves conversion set, and just a dash of modelling skills. Comes up fairly nice. I have one of the Aeroclub fuselages and a spare set of wings to do another, but of course, as soon as I do that, a mainstream manufacturer will announce the imminent release of the ultimate PR.XIX kit.

Lets look at what is known and recorded about MacLachlan and N.A. Mustang Mk.IA FD442. First up, the Mustang Mk.IA aircraft received from NAA destined for the RAF were painted in US equivalent colours to the temperate day fighter scheme, dark earth, dark green, sky, with earlier (for want of a better description) A, AI roundels and fin flash. The Palmer series of photographs at the US Library of Congress show this scheme well in B&W and colour. Upon receipt and reassembly in the UK, the aircraft were sent for modification to operational standard. This included stripping back and repainting in the correct RAF c&m scheme for that time, the day fighter scheme of Ocean Gray, Dark Green, over Medium Sea Gray undersides, sky rear fuselage id band and sky spinner, with (for want of a better description) C, C1 roundels and fin flash. The scheme was a standardised pattern, so much so that air to air photographs of formations of Mustang Mk.IAs just received into Squadron service show the same scheme on each and every aircraft. Average time from arrival by ship from the USA in the UK, assembly, modification and issue to unit in the UK, SIX months. The painting used as the background of the book "One-Armed Mac" is a painting done by Frank Wootton OBE. Similarly the painting used as the cover for Geoffrey Page's book "Shot Down in Flames" was also done by Wootton. But, they were done some time after MacLachlan had been lost on the second low level sortie in Mustang FD442, based on the reports, not from actually seeing the aircraft. Hence why in the painting on "One Armed Mac" the two Mustangs are in brown-green scheme, yet in the painting on "Shot Down in Flames" the Mustang is grey-green. Wootton also shows both aircraft in Mustang Mk.I configuration, not one being a Mk.I and the other a Mk.IA. Page in "Shot Down in Flames" recalls: "He went to great pains to have the Mustang painted a dark green to blend with the French countryside, ....." and "....afterwards the sleek green Mustang roared away southwards." and when Page entered the fray with his second Mustang a Mk.I about preparing his Mustang to accompany MacLachlan "Green paint was applied and finally it was ready to take its place beside the first Mustang." Twice more Page makes references to the green Mustangs. The one, very small photo in "One-Armed Mac" (how I wish it was bigger and clearer) shows a Mustang Mk.IA with a couple of immediately interesting c&m differences. Firstly, the spinner, appears to be painted in a dark colour, very much like the top colour and there is no evident sky rear fuselage band. So this aircraft is in a non-standard scheme. There is a lighter colour on the underside, not black, the delineation line is visible under the front cowling and on the radiator 'bath', plus the main gear door is also in a light colour. Likely left in Medium Sea Gray? Not sure if what is seen above and behind the exhaust is writing or just exhaust staining. Alongside FD442 at AFDU there was another Mustang Mk.IA, FD449. A number of photos of this Mustang Mk.IA survive in the collection of the IWM. This aircraft appears in these photos in a day fighter scheme finish and the later national markings in the correct styles. The photos also show the aircraft to have a number of other detail differences from Squadron operational Mustangs, which suggest that it and FD442 may have been removed from the normal process after arrival in the UK and issued to AFDU. For example they show the unmodified original US Hispano cannon installation with exposed recoil springs forward of the cannon wing leading edge fairing. The Form 78 on this aircraft too, has a number of inconsistencies in recording its movements. The scheme shown in the profile posted, matches those of FD449 when at AFDU in the same time frame as FD442 was there. MacLachlan before he conducted his Mustang sorties with AFDU, went and spent a good deal of time talking with senior Mustang pilots of the RAF Tac/R Squadrons about their low level sorties over northern France. He talked tactics, targets, defences, German response times, low level navigation and about the Mustang's strengths and weaknesses up against the various German fighters likely to be encountered. He did his homework. Included in those discussions, camouflage and the effectiveness of the RAF day fighter scheme at low level over Northern France was discussed. The Tac/R pilots made the point that anything 'light' on the aircraft made it more noticeable at low level. So the sky spinner, rear fuselage id band and aircraft id letter were all seen as things that would make the aircraft stand out more. (see how that carried forward to the 2TAF scheme of early 1945 where the spinners were painted night and the rear id band was over painted). That was where the ideas about repainting the Mustang he would use with over painted spinner, id band, no code letters and a colour more likely to blend into the countryside over Northern France, probably came into being. Also senior Tac/R Mustang pilots were also being cycled through AFDU from the various Squadrons for courses on air fighting tactics, so MacLachlan had plenty of opportunity to talk to them as they came through on courses. I've had a couple of Tac/R pilots recall their discussions with MacLachlan, hearing of his preparations, initial successes and then loss. Again, recollections of him using a Mustang with a different camouflage applied have also been given. So on balance, I would say it is more likely that Mustang Mk.IA FD442 used by MacLachlan was finished in a non standard scheme. It was likely to be a dark green on all upper surfaces including prop spinner, no rear id band, undersurface colour, from the photo in the book, more likely Medium Sea Gray. He may have had black on the undersides, but low level in daytime, MSG would have been more suitable. Also fits with the one photo in the book. If however he was planning to use days with heavy overcast or to make his sorties late in the afternoon, a darker underside colour may have had some tactical advantages.

FalkeEins, Thanks for your reply. Yes, you are correct, chasing this one for some time with little progress. Have sent an email to Eric Mombeeck, so will wait to see what reply is received. I am waiting for Eric to put out those volumes of the JG2 history covering 1942 onwards. Thanks for your suggestions and for the link to that site, very useful. Regards,

A question for our Luftwaffe FW-190 experten. I have limited knowledge of Luftwaffe subjects, have pulled out a few books including the Osprey FW-190 Western Front Aces and Osprey JG2 book but they are a bit thin on the information I am looking for. For a long time I have been trying to find photographs or details of the FW-190 flown by Fw. Siegfried Lemke of I/JG2 in September 1943. I've posted to all the Luftwaffe forums and basically drawn a blank. Little known about him and very few photographs, none that I have found showing his aircraft other than one from 1944 with him standing beside the rudder of a FW-190 showing his scoreboard at the time. However, looking at Luftwaffe records, for a number of the victories he claimed in September 1943 it shows his unit details as 2 I/JG2, which might indicate 2nd Staffel I/JG2? He was appointed Staffelfuhrer in I/JG2 in early September 1943. Lacking details of exactly what aircraft he did fly, other than in all probability a FW-190A5 or FW-190A6 at that time, can anyone tell me what the unit markings were for 2nd Staffel I/JG2 in September 1943. The camouflage seems fairly standard from the photos, profiles and descriptions, it is mainly the unit markings that have me stumped. So what colour used for markings, etcetera. Was it typical for different roles to have a defined or different number or marking applied eg for Staffelfuhrer? I am trying to build a representative FW-190 to provide the other half of the story of a RAF Mustang Mk.IA that was shot down by Lemke in September 1943. The Mustang Mk.IA pilot who was shot down is a friend of mine and this is a part of the closure process after all these years of the story of the Luftwaffe pilot who shot him down and resulted in him being a PoW in Stalag Luft III for the remainder of the war. The RAF pilot's Mustang Mk.IA is easy for me as I know its full c&m details. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Jim, Another great PR bird from you!!! Hmmmmm, strong with the PR modelling force he is. PR Spitfires his strength is. Hmmmmmmm. (For those who don't know, Jim's nickname is Yoda, a Master of PR modelling he is......)

Thanks for looking and for the feedback to all. I wasn't 100% happy with the fit of the AM canopy, I think they are moulded slightly undersized for the main centre section. So to get around that I opened it up to how the canopy would be when access to the cockpit was required. Also gives a better view into the finished pit. So here it is with the revision of the opened up canopy. Enjoy,

Following on from the long thread on RAF Allison engined Mustangs, here is one I have been working on. It is the 1/48th scale Accurate Miniatures kit finished to represent N.A. Mustang Mk.IA FD546 'G' of No.268 Squadron participating in the final stages of Operation 'Starkey' on September 9, 1943. The aircraft is wearing the distinctive identification markings applied using distemper for that day only, a fore runner of the later stripes used for D-Day. Placement, thickness and style is based on original photographs of the subject aircraft. Enjoy.

And to keep Gingerbob happy, 613_0_AG602 by Colin Ford, on Flickr Yes, the main gear fairing doors are down, but.............. With thanks to JM of the P51SIG for providing the photo which is of a N.A. Mustang Mk.I AG 602 of No.613 Squadron RAF.

MainGearFairingDoor by Colin Ford, on Flickr MainGearDoorFairingLatch by Colin Ford, on Flickr MainGearFairingAdjustlarge by Colin Ford, on Flickr More than a built in release, a procedure. And based on that latest photo, I am now trying to track down when they added the VTOL option with the downwards thrust to the P-51 production line...........

US Interior Green FS34151 is a good starting place. Like most things, there was some variation in batches and application, some slightly more yellow and lighter, some slightly more darker and greener - again working from old colour images, factory finishing and surfacing specification documentation, and the few surviving extant pieces, all laid against the recollections of those who flew and maintained them. In instances I've heard the colour described as "an apple green" to "a darkish leaf green", but certainly no attempt to simulate the RAF interior green-grey shade. The colour used was pretty much the NAA interior cockpit colour they were using for other types coming off their production line for the same timeframe. I just have to find it, but I do have a colour photo of some original NAA cockpit interior green as used on a Harvard from the same timeframe, and also a colour photo detail section of the cockpit of a P-51/Mustang Mk.IA taken at NAA in late 1942 that show the colour fairly well.

Trev, The material you linked to is now over 10 years old and more recent research and information, additional photos and the like that has come to hand has overtaken them. I think that probably Camouflage & Markings - RAF Fighter Command 1936-1945 by Goulding & Jones by Ducimus was probably a key resource in their creation. The colour rendition is an approximation at best, probably a reflection of the illustrator packages of the time. Again, because the profiles were based on the best knowledge and photos available at that time, some incorrect assumptions are there. But as an example, the Mustang Mk.IA and Mk.II aircraft were painted in the same standardised scheme, so the variations in the schemes, demarcations between the Mk.IAs and Mk.IIs represented is inaccurate. Having original period photos with formations of aircraft and lineups of aircraft and including some of the subject aircraft, plus exchange of information with other dedicated researchers working of primary reference material, allows me to make that kind of statement. Certainly the "same old, same old" subjects keep getting done in profiles, based on what photos have been available, and what has gone before. I keep seeing the same errors from one profile artist's work being repeated in another, or one researcher's errors being taken and repeated and then used in profiles which end up being less than accurate. Hard to break the cycle. The profiles done by RJC in the October 2008 issue of Model Airplane International if you can get hold of it are a good starting point. Probably more up to date and reflecting more recent research and findings. There are some errors that crept into a couple of the profiles, purely the result of publishing deadlines and quick turnaround, but they are closer to the mark than those you referenced. Some really good profiles of a RCAF Squadron Mustang Mk.I were in the new Aviaeology book by Carl Vincent with the profiles by Terry Higgins being very well researched and rendered. It was particularly good as it showed the same airframe at three different stages of its service all based on good reference photos and research. I look forward to seeing more from that source in the future. And I've seen some of the profiles being developed for "the book" and accuracy is certainly the keyword there.

Yes, but......... No, but......... MustangService by Colin Ford, on Flickr Any aircraft when being serviced and maintained can appear in less than normal configuration. There are lots of things opened, unlatched, exposed when you need to service an aircraft. The problem in this case largely arises because: 1. Model companies don't known the detail differences between Allison engined and Merlin engined Mustangs; 2. A number of museums containing surviving Allison engined Mustangs have unlatched the inner main gear doors intentionally for display purposes, so when walk around reference photos get taken and published they show the doors down, and that must be right; 3. A couple of the remaining airworthy Allison engined Mustangs are 'hybrids' utilising undercarriage components of Merlin engined Mustangs in their restorations - then see part two of point 2 above; and 4. The undercarriage door bleed down on Merlin engined Mustangs is another matter of discussion, but since the Merlin engined versions predominate, the Allison engined versions are assumed and presumed by many to display the same attributes - which they don't.

Here I go again............ Cockpit interior sidewalls and floor - yellow green (US interior green) - basically from firewall to a station in the fuselage that is usually represented by the last of the visible ribs. Note, there were a number of plywood 'walls' in the rear fuselage, first one was behind where the camera, batteries and radios were fitted behind the cockpit, so you could not look directly back through the fuselage. There was another plywood 'wall' forward of the tail wheel well. Instrument panel - instrument black (a semi-matt black) Cockpit antiglare - Instrument panel shroud/coaming - flat bronze green Seat Pilot's - bronze green On the RAF Mustang Mk.I and Mk.IA aircraft, to the best of information to hand from research to date, the interior of the wheel wells, inner face of the main inner undercarriage doors and inner face of undercarriage doors supporting the undercarriage legs and the visible face of the wing spar at the back of the wheel bay all received one overall coat of aluminiumised lacquer over what other anti corrosion treatments had been applied (eg.zinc chromate primer). Think about this, spray gun put up into wheel bay and an overall coat of the aluminium lacquer applied - no masking! Keeping in mind that the rear 'wall' of the undercarriage bay as represented in most the mainstream Mustang kits to date have been incorrect - hence why modellers have to do their own fix with some plasticard or utilise resin replacements from aftermarket suppliers. And keeping in mind that the main inner gear doors of the Allison engined Mustangs remained up and locked after engine shut down, there is not all that much visible of the undercarriage bay if the doors are in the correct close position. The Allison Mustangs had a different door latching mechanism, which utilised a mechanical interlock that kept the inner main gear doors securely in place when not cycling through the extension or retraction cycle. Where a number of other posters of information get confused is in referring to later amended technical orders or documentation that incorporates changes that were introduced from the P-51B/C onwards and trying to imply retrospectively that it was the same for the earlier versions. In looking at original 1942 and 1943 documentation, there are differences between the finish specifications and materials callouts compared to the later versions of documentation covering the same marks of Mustangs. The armour plate fitted behind the pilot's seat on the RAF Mustang Mk.I or Mk.IA was painted either a flat bronze green or RAF Dark Green, some Mk.Is having the dull yellow spot visible on the front face of the armour plate at a height roughly equivalent to the pilot's head/neck - above the top edge of the seat back. Fitted with RAF Sutton harness. F.24 camera would be in a RAF blue-grey colour, very similar to colour used on RAF vehicles, also a mid grey similar to Ocean Grey and a very dark grey almost black also seen in some examples. Camera control box on cockpit floor also in similar RAF blue-grey colour or black-grey. See: http://www.airrecce.co.uk/cameras/raf_ww2_cameras.html Wireless set type TR.19, mid to dark blue-gray bodies, light grey face plates with black controls/dials, black background placards, white lettering/captions. There you go.

Mike, If you check the following link to a part of the history of No.4 Squadron RAF, you will see that certainly upon their return from duties supporting the BEF in France in the first half of 1940, the Lysanders of Army Co-operation Squadrons were tasked with ASR duties. In the section of the linked history that starts "In the period 10 to 23 May 1940,...." you will find the start of the ASR commitment. http://www.rafjever.org/4squadhistory3.htm Most of the Army Co-operation Lysander Squadrons were tasked with ASR to some degree. Some had it more as regular activity they performed, whilst for others it was upon direction in specific circumstances eg. a pilot was known to be down in their area of responsibility, otherwise they did not conduct ASR patrols per see. The only way to get specifics of aircraft used on ASR duties in 1940 would be to go to the Operational Record Books of the Squadrons involved and hope that the keeper of the ORBs at the time was conscientious enough to include aircraft serial numbers and or aircraft id codes in the sortie records. In that timeframe you are most likely looking at Lysander Mk.II aircraft, possibly carrying smoke floats or smoke markers on their stub wing stores carriers. You might look in the Mushroom Models Publications book on the Lysander. It has a section which covers the use of Lysanders for ASR, which indicated that it was not until 1941 that they received the dinghy pack. So in 1940 it was a smoke float dropped near the pilot in the water to attract the attention of nearby shipping, then a dinghy, partly inflated thrown from the rear cockpit by the observor/gunner, keeping it clear of the tail planes in the process. HTH Regards,

Hi Falke, I'd have to agree with Terry on the Squadron Allison Engined Mustang Walk Around. It is largely based around US material and specification aircraft. In particular two surviving airframes in the US get the majority of the detail photos and one of those is partly restored, whilst the other has had a number of 'restorations' to keep it semi-airworthy that has resulted in a less than 100% authentic airframe and detail. Of the photographs in that walk around, 7 are general photos of RAF Mustang Mk.I or Mk.IA aircraft, nothing too exciting as most have been published elsewhere, 135 are of US specification or post-War restored aircraft. Therefore a great resource for someone doing a US spec aircraft, but very slim pickings for RAF specific material. There are a number of books out there that give some more significant detail on the RAF's use of the early Allison engined Mustangs, but a book just focussing on the RAF's use of the Mustang, the RAF specific experience, modifications and RAF specific detail is noticeably absent. Unfortunately even in a number of the published works to date that do give coverage to the RAF Mustangs, it is largely very superficial and often contains the same old original myths and mis-captioning of photos that seems to keep re-perpetuating itself. There is research and writing being undertaken to produce what should become the best source for information on RAF Mustangs to be available in print. Unfortunately like most good things it is not available, right here, right now, but the wait for those interested in this subject will be quite worth it. It is probably some time off yet because those researching and writing it want to get it RIGHT and that requires research, cross checking and then writing it all in a way that is understandable and acceptable to both the lay person and the armchair expert. In the meantime, threads like this one can answer some of the questions that get raised. On another tack, over at the P51SIG there is a very interesting thread running on the design evolution of the NAA Merlin engined P-51 prototypes, including some good photographs from various sources.

Here I go again............. Stevehnz - I focus on 1/48th scale so can't comment directly on the MPM kit. However, the aircraft taken up by No.225 Squadron were US P-51/F-6A specification aircraft, so were to the US specification, not the RAF specification and standard of modification. So if MPM have based their moulding and detail on the US specification, they should be a good starting point. A quick Google around has thrown up a few reviews and they seem reasonably favourable. The kit is a bit fiddly, takes a bit more care than a normal mainstream kit, but seems to come together to create a nice looking model. Seems the moulding has been shared around the MPM stable of brands and has also popped up in Condor and Special Hobby branding with various markings. Tony - ahhhhh, Malcolm Hoods on RAF Alison Mustangs. I think I have answered this in a previous thread here at Britmodeller and also a couple of times over at Hyperscale. Basically. Mustang Mk.I - NO. Mustang Mk.IA - evidence a very limited number of aircraft, a handful in late 1944 into early 1945. A Mk.IA airframe was used for the design and acceptance trials for the modification. For the Mk.IA not a widespread modification and where AM and Hobbycraft get their Malcolm Hooded 'N' FD465 with D-Day stripes with No.168 Squadron is a joke. Firstly No.168 Squadron did not have Mustang Mk.IA by D-Day, they had reverted back to Mk.Is in January 1944 like the other Squadrons in 34 (Recce) Wing. And the RAF records for FD465 indicate it was not with 168 or operational. Don't get me started on FD472 'M' with D-Day stripes, as it too left 168 in January 1944 and was with 268 from then until SOC in late 1944. FD472 may be slightly unique in having scored a credited kill against a FW-190, without firing its guns in the engagement. Photos of Mk.IAs still serving early 1945, still generally show the standard hoods. Mustang Mk.IIs started out with the standard hood, but by late 1944 were being either fitted with the Malcolm Hood before issue to No.268 Sqdn (No.II(AC) Sqdn was relinquishing them by then as they converted to Spitfire FR.XIVEs) or were modified when they next went in for major servicing or repairs. So by early 1945, the majority were fitted with the Malcolm Hood. There was the odd one that had not been in for major servicing still with the old hood by March-April 1945, but they were the exception, not the rule. Again, good references in the four volumes of 2TAF by Shores and Thomas (you will find my name listed in the acknowledgements - I shared). Gingerbob - the XP-51B is not on my radar at present, still too busy focussing on the 'pure' Allison Mustangs in RAF service, altho I have collected a few bits and pieces on the R-R conversion with the Merlin for a future build project. That one's well down the build list. And so endeth today's lesson in Allison Mustangs.