1:144 Mustang P-51

Fighters from the command and photographers without armament

Toward the end of the war the Mustang appeared in two very different roles, and this sheet shows both side by side. The first two machines belonged to the commanders of combat units: the aircraft with the number 44-73623 flew from the command of the 531st Fighter Squadron on Iwo Jima, from where long-range raids as far as the Japanese islands were escorted, and the machine with the number 44-11622 and the code G4-C carried the name Nooky Booky IV and belonged to one of the most successful pilots of the European theater.

The remaining two items are reconnaissance conversions, which received cameras in the fuselage and lost part of their armament. Machine 44-14699 named Shady Lady and aircraft 43-25081 called Oh Johnie served with the 109th Reconnaissance Squadron, and their task was to come back with film, not with a kill. In the documents, alongside the names of the pilots, the names of the mechanics also appear with them, which was common practice in reconnaissance units.

Operating from a small Pacific island was at the limit of what a single-engine aircraft can manage. The journey to the target and back took as much as seven hours over open sea, with no possibility of diverting anywhere, and the pilots learned to save fuel as carefully as they learned to shoot. That is exactly why the machines from this area have conspicuous colored markings on the tail and on the wings.

Building recommendation

Reconnaissance machines differ from fighters in the camera window on the side of the rear fuselage and often also in stripes for quick recognition. Anyone building such an example should mark the window out before painting, because once the markings are applied the surface is no longer easy to work on.

The sheet is intended for single-engine fighter models of 1:144 size. Paints, clear coats and the kit itself do not belong to the package.