To commemorate the 80th anniversary of Operation Overlord and the battles over Normandy and Western Europe, we have prepared a double model kit P-51B Mustang Deluxe Set with a great set of decals. For this set, we have selected both markings of famous aces, as well as interestingly decorated and marked machines of lesser-known pilots.
This is a very cool set, and although there are two kits in it, there are many more markings provided and the choice can be difficult. To make it easier, I have put together a short overview of the kit aircraft with photos and brief descriptions.
Don Gentile’s ‘Shangri-La’
P-51B-7-NA Mustang s/n 43-6913 “Shangri-La”, 336th FS, 4th FG, 8th AF USAAF, pilot Captain Don S. Gentile, USAAF Station 356 Debden, Great Britain, March 1944
The famous aircraft of the then-celebrity American pilot, who began his fighter career as a volunteer with the RAF in a Spitfire. He ended it in April 1944, as America’s most successful ace at the time, when he spectacularly crashed his aircraft in front of journalists from the world’s most important media gathered at the airfiled, only miraculously escaping with his life. We decided that our kit could not miss this marking!
Note the two variants of spinner colours visible in the photos and the red wheel rim.
See more photos of the Don Gentile’s aeroplane:
https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/dominic-salvatore-gentile
The Beauty from Iowa
P-51B-15-NA Mustang s/n 42-106950 “The Iowa Beaut”, 354th FS, 355th FG, 8th AF USAAF, pilot 2nd Lieutenant Robert E. Hulderman, USAAF Station 122 Steeple Morden, Great Britain, July 1944
Very interesting paint job, well documented with clear colour photos. Interesting combination of natural metal, worn Olive Drab camouflage and fresh paint on upper surfaces where there were previously invasion bands.
Polish Ace of Aces’ personal mount
Mustang Mk III FZ152 (North American P-51B-5-NA s/n 43-6533), No. 133 Fighter Wing, pilot Wing Commander Stanisław Skalski, RAF Coolham, Great Britain, Spring 1944
This aircraft is described in detail in Wojtek Matusiak’s heavily illustrated Armastory – see link below:
Bald Eagle III
P-51B-15-NA Mustang s/n 42-106839 “Bald Eagle III”, 374th FS, 361st FG, 8th AF USAAF, pilot 1st Lieutenant Robert Turnbull Eckfeldt, USAAF Station 374 Bottisham, Great Britain, July 1944
This aircraft is well known from the popular photographs of the four Mustangs in formation flight, but less well known is the photograph showing the lower surfaces. For this reason, the stripes on the wing tips are not reproduced correctly by everyone. The version we present is from after D-Day, when the invasion bands on the upper surfaces had already been painted over. This makes this camouflage even more interesting.
More photos of this aeroplane:
https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/aircraft/42-106839
Mysterious teeth
P-51B-7-NA Mustang s/n 43-6638, 355th FS, 354FG, 9th AF USAAF, pilot 2nd Lieutenant Fred G. Buckner, USAAF Station AFF-410 Lashenden, Great Britain, June 1944
A very attractive marking, while at the same time being an ongoing mystery. Fred Buckner, who flew this aircraft, was killed relatively early – on 12 August 1944 – and not in combat, but in an accident. The aircraft was taken over by someone else. Other photos indicate that our toothed aircraft was later used for a long time, also with other markings (see the 9th bonus marking scheme from our kit – GQ-T) and without armament. Researchers disagree whether this already unarmed aircraft was used as a “hack” or for reconnaissance in the later period (there is a trace that it may have ended up in a reconnaissance unit). Unfortunately, not all the photographs we know of are in the public domain, so some cannot be published.
Photo: still from the British Pathe reels published under the right to quote.
You can get a good look at it in this video from the British Pathe reels. See the full video (“teeth” appears at 5:11 minutes):
https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/93517/
Later marking variant of this aeroplane:
Two photos of this plane in later markings can be seen here: https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/attachments/p-51b-gq-t-43-6638-10thtrg-jpg.739681/
Kidd Hofer, a dog and a donkey
P-51B-15-NA Mustang s/n 42-106924 “Salem Representative”, 334th FS, 4th FG, 8th AF USAAF, pilot 2nd Lieutenant Ralph Kidd Hofer, USAAF Station 356 Debden, Great Britain, May 1944
Writing about Kidd Hofer’s adventurous history, as well as Don Gentile’s, makes no sense here, as he was an extremely popular and oft-described figure, such a celebrity of the time. However, he did have a colourful personality, as well as a cool dog and a colourful aeroplane worth making a model of.
The colours of his boxing donkey emblem are known from the book ‘Eighty – One Aces Of The 4th Fighter Group’ for which it was reconstructed by the author of the original design, Don Allen, with his own hands. The photograph was obtained from Jim Roeder.
The colour of the band on the tail is debatable. We decided on red, because although it appears black in some photos, there are also photos in which it is clearly lighter, in the same shade of grey as, certainly red, the nose of the aircraft.
More Kidd Hofer’s aeroplane photos:
https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/ralph-kidd-hofer
A white mustang on a Olive Drab Mustang’s tail
P-51B-1-NA Mustang s/n 43-12375 “Bonnie ´B´ II”, 353rd FS, 354th FG, 9th AF USAAF, pilot Major Don „Buzz” Beerbower, USAAF Station AFF-410 Lashenden, Great Britain, June 1944
A very attractive paint job with full invasion bands and a white mustang emblem on the tail. The take-off of this aircraft can be watched in this video from British Pathe.
Photos: stills from the British Pathe reels published under the right to quote.
In contrast, a photo from the National Archives shows a machine ‘younger’ by one kill (swastika under the cabin).
Watch the whole video („Bonnie ‘B II” appeares at 7:11 minute)
https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/93517/
More photos of Don Beerbower:
https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/don-merrill-beerbower
Silver Polish Mustang
Mustang Mk III FX876 (North American P-51B-1-NA s/n 43-12146), No. 309 squadron PAF, RAF Andrews Field, Great Britain, May 1945
This unusual, natural metal-coloured Mustang from the Polish No. 309 Squadron has the new British ’roundel’ on the upper wing surfaces, introduced in early 1945. For the first time since the start of the war, the white colour has returned to them, in the form of a narrow ring between the red and blue colours. Mechanics were not always given clear directions on how to paint this, so variations occurred – in this case the white ring covers part of the original red circle, clearly reducing its size.
The squadron emblem, which is light-coloured on the camouflaged aircraft, is dark on the silver aircraft, but in a good quality photograph you can see that it is not all dark – the arrows and the number ‘309’ are clearly lighter, so we are not dealing with an all-black emblem here, as is sometimes depicted.
Polish Mustang’s photos via Wojtek Matusiak
Unless otherwise stated, photos from the collections of the National Archive (USA), public domain.
See also:
https://armahobbynews.pl/blog/2021/01/14/wszystko-co-chcecie-wiedziec-o-mustangu-z-arma-hobby-i-nie-boicie-sie-pytac/
Modeller, son and father of a modeller. Loves digging through references and analysing old photographs. He builds aircraft, ship and vehicle models, the older the better. He has a weakness for Polish equipment, but does not despise the RAF, FAA and Great War topics. A journalist by training.
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