Red Nose P-51D
Mustang Aces Decals

RB Productions, 1/32 scale

Reviewed by James Hatch

Iliad Decals' 1/48 scale ANG Mustangs is available online from Squadron.com

There are quite a few products which RB Productions has sold which have some relation to Romania – Radu’s country of origin. This new decal set is one such item. But how does the P-51D relate to Romania, you ask? Well, these particular (mostly) stripe-tailed machines saw action over Romania. See…there is a link! Launched at Scale Model World (where I received my copy), these are available in all three popular scales (of which I have the 1:32 set). This decal set is packed into a re-sealable clear sleeve which neatly shows four P-51D profiles on the cover, complete with information about their pilot and Fighter Group.

Flip the sheet over and you are presented with a couple of black/white images, plus some further pilot information, plus a splendid colour photo of MX-A, resplendent in its red tail stripes. Some colour notes are supplied here, and a key is also printed which pertains to the colours used, in ANA, FS and Lifecolor codes. For further info, the specific references are also listed, should you wish to seek out those particular tomes.

Opening up the folded presentation sheet reveals all four profiles in much more detail, including decal position reference and paint application. Notes are also supplied for the wing bands (and fuselage/tail bands for one machine), in all three scale dimensions (as this insert is common to all three different scale releases). Where kit decals need to be used, then this is also clearly highlighted.

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Two decal sheets are supplied. Neither of these carry any national markings or regular stencils, and as noted, you will still need to use the kit decals for that purpose. The first, larger sheet contains the individual machine serials, codes, names and kill tally markings, as well as the red stripes for the tail and the forward central portion for the stabiliser stripes. Also note that numerous black stripes are included for the edging of the fuselage, tail and wingtip stripes of the last scheme on the sheet.

A smaller, second sheet contains the upper and lower stabiliser stripes.

Note that these, and the stripes for the fin on the previous sheet, are printed as a whole piece, without separate rudder or elevator portions, so you will need to divide these soon after application. Lastly, a decals for the last scheme is also included. A very nice little touch on this set are how the decals re numbered. Scheme A has all decals prefixed with ‘A’, scheme B prefixed with ‘B’ etc. I think you get the idea. It certainly makes things easy to identify.

All printing is done by Fantasy Printshop and is superbly thin, cloggy, has minimal carrier film, plus also solid colour that is in perfect registration. Having used Fantasy Printshop decals many times, I know how good they are, and they conform well to surface details. I’ve also used decal setting solutions with zero problems. Of course, all decals are also silk-screen printed.

A very nice set of reasonably colourful P-51Ds (as far as silver goes!), and of course, you can also build more than one scheme from this set, as long as one of them is scheme D (without tail stripes). Nicely researched and superbly printed, this is one to perhaps adorn the recent Revell P-51D kit. I’ll soon have some aftermarket parts to show you for that kit too.

Thanks to RB Productions for the review sample.

Text and Images Copyright © 2018 by James Hatch
This Page Created on 28 November, 2018
Last updated 28 November, 2018

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