1:48 P-51 B/D Meyer's Maulers 487th Fighter Squadron Part II

The blue noses from Bodney

The 487th Fighter Squadron belonged to the 352nd Fighter Group of the Eighth Air Force and operated from the English airfield at Bodney in Norfolk from the spring of 1944. Its Mustangs could be told from a distance by their deep blue engine cowlings, because it was this very detail that gave the whole group the nickname it is known by. The squadron was led by John C. Meyer, one of the highest-scoring American fighter pilots of the European theater, and the unofficial name Maulers came from his surname.

What the second sheet brings

The sequel widens the selection of machines opened by the previous part of the same series. It covers both main versions operated by this unit: the earlier P-51B with its cockpit glazing divided by metal frames, and the later P-51D with a cut-down fuselage spine and a bubble canopy. The printing is a waterslide sheet, so the individual items release after a brief soak and transfer onto a gloss base coat.

Before application

It is an accessory to a kit that you obtain separately; the aircraft itself and any plastic parts are not part of the package. The boundary of the blue area runs fairly precisely with this group, so it pays to mark it out with tape before painting rather than rely on an estimate. Let the white bands on the tail surfaces harden thoroughly, and only then comes the unifying matte overcoat.

For collectors the unit is attractive also because several pilots with high victory scores served in its ranks. Their aircraft therefore appear repeatedly in period photographs, usually with a richly treated nose and a prominent personal name under the exhausts. Anyone building several examples side by side gets a clear illustration of how the markings of one squadron changed over the course of the year.