North American P-51 Mustang Part 2

Lifelike Decals, 1/32 scale

Reviewed by Floyd S. Werner Jr.

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Lifelike Decals always offers some unique decal options and this sheet is typical Lifelike quality.  Designed for the Tamiya P-51D and the Trumpeter/Revell P-51B these decals offer some very unique looking machines.

The instructions are on three sheets, two single sided A4 sheets and one half page.  The single sided sheets include the profiles and plan views, as well as, the historical and research data.  The smaller half page sheet contains the stencil placement.

Lifelike Decals has used Cartograf out of Italy to print their decals.  Cartograf printing is perfect with even the smallest detail being picked out.  The decals are thin, in perfect register and with good color saturation.  They also respond to setting solutions and conform to compound curves.  There are three sheets of decals.  The first one has all the markings, while the little sheet has the nose art.  The other sheet contains the national markings and stencils. 

The first aircraft is one of my favorite P-51B, the mount of Lt. Ralph ‘Kidd’ Hofer of the 4th Fighter Group.  His aircraft, ‘Salem Representative’ is a natural metal aircraft with olive drab upper surfaces.  The stripe on the tail is red instead of black.  The Malcolm canopy is painted in a light color, probably yellow.  Also the landing gear cover on the left side has ‘Kidd’ emblazoned on it.  Other than Gentile’s P-51B ‘Shangri-La’, this is probably the most famous P-51B of the 4th Fighter Group.

Gaudy markings are the highlight of the second aircraft.  This comes in the form of a large eagle on the right side and ‘Skyczar’ on the left.  Complete invasion stripes are on the lower wings and fuselage.  The olive drab anti-glare panel is extended all the way back to the tail.

‘Big Mac Junior’ is flown by Capt. John Brown, Jr. of the 9th Air Force.  You can not go wrong with a shark mouth and this P-51B sports a good one.  The mission markings below the windscreen include a comprehensive mission tally and kill markings.  The D-Day markings are on the top and bottom of the fuselage and wings.  The top surfaces have the white portions of the invasion stripes painted over in olive drab. 

The final aircraft has blue anti-glare panels as well as three swooshes on the nose.  Marked with ‘Nancy Lee’ on the left side and a nice nude on the right side this aircraft is interesting in its markings.  If you don’t want ID bands then this is your aircraft.

The selection on this sheet makes it a natural if you want to build P-51s.  The options are colorful and will make great additions to your models.  This is another fabulous sheet from Lifelike Decals.

Highly recommended

Thanks to Lifelike Decals for the sample

Text and Images Copyright © 2011 by Floyd S. Werner Jr.
This Page Created on 2 February, 2012
Last updated 2 February, 2012

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