P-51D Mustang Part 2

EagleCals Decals

1/32, 1/48 or 1/72 scales

Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

Eagle Cals #140 P-51D Mustang Part 2 is available online from Squadron.com

The release of the new 1/32 scale Tamiya P-51D has been a blessing for fans of the Mustang as it has prompted a veritable flood of new decal releases.  This is beneficial for two reasons.  Firstly, decals that have been around since the late 60’s and early 70’s are being re-leased with the benefit of more meticulous research and far better printing technology, and secondly, Mustangs that have never been seen in decal format are popping up.

Eagle Editions Ltd are one of the decal manufactures who are embracing this new trend and have recently released three new Mustang sheets in their EagleCal range, EagleCals EC#139, EC#140, EC#141, and EC#141, with a fourth one, EC#142 to follow shortly.

Each sheet carries markings for three machines.  Combine these sheets with the previous EagleCals Mustang releases and you soon realise the Eagle Editions are into Mustangs!

EagleCals EC#140 Part 2

This sheet provides you with markings for three UK based 8th Air force early P-51Ds without the dorsal strake. 

The details of each option are as follows:

• P-51D-5-NA serial number 44-13305 “Hun Hunter/Texas” flown by Captain Henry Brown of the 355th Fighter Group’s 354th Fighter Squadron.  Just why this machine is referred to as “Hun Hunter/Texas” is a mystery to me as I can find no images of it wearing that name.  Captain Brown’s P-51B serial number 42-106448 however did carry the name so maybe it is a carry over from that.  The only name the machine wears is ‘BULLDOGS” which was the Squadron’s tactical call sign in white lettering on the cowling above the exhaust stacks but again, I could not find an image of the machine wearing the name.  The name DALLAS TEXAS however is worn in (small) white lettering on the canopy rail under the pilot’s name.  The aircraft is in overall natural metal finish with its upper surfaces in a post-delivery applied olive drab.  It wears white theatre identification bands around the wings and horizontal stabilisers.  The remnants of its D-Day identification markings are worn on the underside of its fuselage.  The spinner is in white as is the band around the nose.  The decals for the fuselage national insignia are provided with a “silver” surround to save you the agony of correctly masking these markings. 

• P-51D-5-NA serial number 44-13410 “LOU IV/ATHELENE” of the 361st Fighter Group’s 375th Fighter Squadron flown by the Group’s Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel. Thomas J. J. Christian.  Let the seemingly never ending debate regarding this machine’s upper surfaces/vertical stabiliser camouflage scheme continue.  It has been reported as being painted in blue, ranging from a bright blue to a deep royal blue or either US olive drab or even RAF dark green.  Either way, the machine started out in natural metal finish with an olive drab anti-glare panel before the debated top camouflage was applied.  It wears Group markings of a yellow spinner and nose (the gun fairing panels on the wing are also in yellow) as well as black and white D Day recognition markings on the underside of its fuselage and its wings.  The remnants of its theatre recognition markings are also carried on its horizontal stabilisers, black on the underside and white (lightly over sprayed) on the upper surface.  The upper surface D-Day recognition markings on the wings and fuselage have also been over sprayed in (reportedly at least!) RAF green paint.  The decals for the fuselage Squadron identifying letters as well as the upper surface and fuselage national insignia are provided with a “silver” surround.

• P-51D-5-A serial number 44-13878 flown by Major John Bennet of the 352nd Fighter Group’s 487th Fighter Squadron.  It is in the standard late-war factory finish of overall natural metal finish and strangely, it lacks the black European Theatre recognition bands.  The entire forward is in the blue Group marking and it wears a fearsome shark mouth marking on its lower engine cowling with white “eyes” on the upper engine cowling.  The shark mouth marking is supplied in two pieces to aid in placement

The sheet provides comprehensive stencil data and national insignia is provided for all three machines with each option gets its own individual data block with the correct serial data block.

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Thumbnail panels:

The placement guide is A-3 in size and folded in four so that when you open it up you have full A-4 sized illustrations.  A left hand side full colour profile is provided for each option with the markings keyed by letter to those on the decal sheet.  Smaller plan views are provided for upper and lower surfaces.  The stencil data placement guide is a line drawing and it too is full A-4 sized.  Notes for each option are also provided and these include a brief history of each machine’s pilot.  The placement guide appears to have been printed using a good quality laser printer rather than the normal printing press. 

The decals themselves are produced by Cartograf, and very well produced they are!  Everything on my sample sheet is in perfect register and there is an absolute minimum of carrier film surrounding each subject which is excellent as the film tends to show up when applied onto a natural metal finish subject.  The decals themselves look very shiny and somewhat thick.  I feared that they would be resistant to settling solution but a link provided off the EagleCals website to a review of their new Mustang sheets on the Osprey Publishing Modelling News website shows that they will work and work quite well. 

Are they accurate?  EagleCals are well known for their meticulous research and the research for these four new sheets was done by Mark Proulx.  There is however a disclaimer printed on the placement guide – “The colour schemes depicted are the artist’s interpretations of the available photographic references only.  The final decision resides with the modeller.”  From what I can find of the three subjects in my library and on the internet though, Mark and EagleCals have done an excellent job on these.

The decal sheet and placement guide come packed in a clear plastic zip-loc bag.

The sheets are also available in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale.

This is an excellent new release from EagleCals.  It provides you with top quality decals and supporting material to model three different bright and colourful P-51Ds.

Thanks to Eagle Editions for the review samples

EagleCals decals are available from Eagle Editions Website

Preview Text Copyright © 2011 by Rodger Kelly
This Page Created on 4 October, 2011
Last updated 5 October, 2011

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