1:48 F-51H Mustang

The last and fastest Mustang

The F-51H version grew out of an effort to make the Mustang as light a machine as possible. The designers reworked the whole airframe, took weight off wherever they could, raised the vertical tail surface, and the result was the fastest production piston Mustang of all. It did not take any substantial part in the fighting of the Second World War, however, and its career was played out above all with reserve units at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s.

The sheet offers nine machines. Several of them belonged to National Guard squadrons from the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, California and Maryland, that is to units that operated Mustangs long after the war. Also represented is an aircraft used by an aeronautical research establishment, then a machine from Tyndall base and one Mustang with a personal inscription on the fuselage from a fighter squadron. The serial numbers of all nine aircraft fall within a single production batch, so the sheet holds together historically as well.

Working with the sheet

Most machines of this version flew in bare metal, which is the most demanding variant for decals: metal shades tend to be more matte than they seem, and a silver edge appears easily under the film. The remedy is a layer of gloss clear under the decal and a softener that settles the film into the panel lines. On the fuselage of the Mustang there is a good deal of double curvature as well, so it pays to cut the larger markings into pieces.

A model of the aircraft is not part of the delivery; the sheet serves purely for finishing it and for choosing one of the nine forms offered.