Nooky Booky III - stripes or no stripes?

[ruudster]

I have the Eagle Strike sheet IP7204 "357th Figther Group part 3".  I'd like to build "Kit" Carson's Nooky Booky III.  I have not found any pictures of it save one.  I have seen that some profiles have it with the Invasion stripes on the bottom of the fuselage and others (like the Eagle Strike sheet) do not.  The sheet has the plane with 7 kills.  I thought it would be easy to google and see when he got his kills and thus narrow down the time frame of the picture/profile, but no such luck.

 

Any guidance on whether i should or should not apply the stripes?

[fubar57]

The book, "Mustang Aces of the 357th Fighter Group" has what it says is, "The only known photograph of Capt, 'Kit' Carson's short-lived P-51D-15 44-14896 NOOKY BOOKY III......" The underside of the aircraft is in shadow and I can't make out any stripes

[ruudster]

I wish they would have told us around what date that was.

[72modeler]

@ruudster,

 

This won't be a  definite confirmation on how NB III was painted, as it's a profile, but maybe you could contact the aftermarket source to see if they have a photo on which  the decals for Carson's 2nd Mustang were based. It's a good possibility that the finish was RAF dark green over medium sea grey. I do not have the photo that you mentioned, so can't help you with that- guessing there was no date with the caption; that would have helped, as the date the stripes were to be removed from all surfaces except the lower fuselage is known. It's a pretty Mustang flown by a very accomplished ace, though. IIRC, the 357th was set to deploy to the continent, thus the need to have camouflage paint applied, and if the date listed on the decal sheet is indeed correct, then the full stripes should have been removed. Possibly @Dana Bell might be able to help you. (It appears Carson didn't have this Mustang very long, as it was transferred to the 352nd FG at some point.)

Mike 

 

https://store.spruebrothers.com/product_p/bma48010.htm

Edited February 13, 2021 by 72modeler
removed redundant text

[silberpferd]

"Kit" Carson served two tours with the 357th F.G. From the information I have, Nooky Booky III was assigned to him when he returned from his leave in October 1944, and kept the plane for 2 months, before he got Nooky Booky IV in December. His last kill with NB III was December 5th, and the first kill with NB IV was December 24th.

 

So, to answer your question, it is more than likely that NB III had the invasion stripes on the bottom of the fuselage, like did NB IV before January 1st, by which date they should have been removed.

 

Laurent

[ruudster]

Coolio.  Thanks Laurent.  That indeed makes it almost certain that it did have them.