With an accurate 1/48 Iwo Jima VLR P-51D Mustang on the market, I am inclined to believe that we will see more completed builds of VLR Mustangs on modeling forums and at model contests. In addition to the decals included in the Eduard kits, and aftermarket decals recently released by DK Decals, there are a number of older decal sheets with VLR Mustangs that are still produced or available on the secondary market like eBay.

The first decal sheet with Iwo Jima VLR Mustangs released by SuperScale is sheet number 48-1152 which has two 457th FS, 506th FG Mustangs; 540 “Kwitcherbitchin” and 531 “Nip Nocker”.

The decals are very nicely done, in register, and come with some of the more common stencil markings.

540 “Kwitcherbitchin” – “Kwitcherbitchin” was a P-51D -25-NA (Serial No. 44-72854) assigned to Captain William B. Lawrence, Jr., and Captain Alan J. Kinvig. Captain Lawrence shot down a single engine Japanese fighter on the July 16, 1945 VLR strike mission to the Nagoya/Bay of Ise area. The photo below was most likely taken shortly after the 506th arrived on Iwo Jima in mid-May of 1945 because the plane still has the early green striped tail markings and no mission markings. From left to right: Captain John W.L. Benbow, unknown ground crew member, Crew Chief George Wagner, and Captain William B. Lawrence, Jr. This is a nice picture showing the installation of the 110 metal drop tanks with the sway braces.

The two photos below show “Kwitcherbitchin” with a solid green tail, and were most likely taken after the July 16th Nagoya/Bay of Ise VLR strike mission as both photos show an aerial victory marking.

531 “Nip Nocker” – “Nip Nocker” was a P-51D-20-NA (Serial No. 44-63291) assigned to 1st Lieutenant Wesley A. Murphey, Jr. 1st Lt. Murphey shot down a Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki (Demon), and damaged a Mitsubishi A6M Zero on the July 16, 1945 VLR strike mission to the Nagoya/Bay of Ise area.

It is unknown as to whether 531 “Nip Nocker” was assigned to another 457th FS pilot. The photo below of the starboard side of the plane shows that the name “Nip Nocker” was on both sides of the nose. This suggests that 531 may have been assigned just to 1st Lt. Murphey. Unfortunately, squadron records do not go into that level of detail.

This photo also shows one of the shortcomings of this decal sheet. The sheet only provides one decal for the name “Nip Nocker”. This is not a criticism of SuperScale. This photo has not shown up on the internet and was probably unknown to SuperScale at the time they manufactured this decal sheet in 2006.

The only other shortcoming in this decal sheet is the squadron emblem. Please note that existing photos for both aircraft show that the 457th Squadron emblems (an angry hornet carrying a 50 caliber machine gun and wielding a hatchet and pistol) were never completed. This appears to have been a common occurrence of 457th FS aircraft. Many photos of 457th FS P-51Ds show the emblem background painted on without the hornet and it’s weapons.

First released in 2006, this is a very nice decal sheet that is still being produced, and it is the only decal sheet on the market for “Nip Nocker” in any scale. If you are wanting to build an early striped tail 457th FS Mustang without having to do all of the tedious masking, this decal sheet is what you need.