1:48 P-51B MUSTANG

The spine that blocked the view

The first Mustangs with the British engine kept the original fuselage shape with a raised spine behind the cockpit. The sliding section had heavy frames and the rear glazing was small, so the pilot could see practically nothing behind him. In the fighting over Germany that was a drawback, which pilots solved by retrofitting a blown one-piece canopy of British production. The P-51B model can therefore be built in two completely different silhouettes and the mask has to match the one you choose.

What the set solves

The cut-outs cover the canopy from the outside and from the inside. Two masks for spraying the markings and a decal sheet belong to them, so the markings can be handled in combination: large areas by spraying, small lettering by decal. That double track suits the modeler, because a sprayed edge is sharper while a decal manages fine type.

Where the machine made its name

It was this version that first took escort fighters all the way to Berlin, because the combination of an economical engine and drop tanks pushed the range far beyond the previous limit. Thanks to that the bomber formations stopped flying alone and the loss figures turned around within a few months. For the modeler that means the varied finishes of the Eighth Air Force, nose art and prominent recognition stripes.

Building recommendation

The aircraft model is sold separately. On the Mustang it pays to mask only after the glazing has been glued in and cleaned up, because the seam between the fuselage and the windscreen is often filled and sanding would damage the mask. Anyone building the version with the blown canopy should dry-fit the cut-outs first.