Decal Review: DKdecals P-51D Mustang Very Long Range P-51 Units Iwo Jima 1945 (72087)

On December 8, 2020February 4, 2021 By acarothersvlrmIn Decal Reviews, DK Decals1 Comment

Along with the release of their 1/48th decal sheet for Iwo Jima VLR Mustangs (48029), DKdecals also recently released a new 1/72 scale decal sheet covering the Iwo Jima VLR Mustang groups. There are decals for 19 VLR Mustangs. Each squadron is covered with decals for two planes, and the majority of the planes covered on this decal sheet have not been covered previously by either kit manufacturers or the after market decals manufacturers in 1/72nd scale. Again, nice to see lesser known planes covered by an after market decal manufacturer.

The painting and decal placement guide is nicely done. The nineteen VLR Mustangs represented on this sheet are as follows:

60 “Miss Lillian”; 45th FS, 15th FG; P-51D-20-NA, 44-63428; pilot(s) unknown.

77 “San Antonia Rose”; 45th FS, 15th FG; P-51D-20-NA, 44-63438; flown by 2d Lt. Douglas Reese. 2d Lt. Reese scored single confirmed victories on June 26th, a Kawasaki Ki-61 Tony, and July 8th.

114 “Dear Edna”; 78th FS, 15th FG; P-51D-20-NA, 44-63967; flown by 1st Lt. Frederick A. Bauman. Lt. Bauman was credited with one aerial victory on the June 10, 1945 mission to Atsugi Airdrome near Tokyo.

124 “Button – II”; 78th FS, 15th FG; P-51D-20-NA, 44-63353; flown by 1st Lt. Doyle T. Brooks, Jr. 1st Lt. Brooks was credited with shooting down two Mitsubishi A6M Zeros on the June 10, 1945, VLR mission to the Tokyo area.

157 “Daisey Mae”; 47th FS, 15th FG; P-51D-20-NA, 44-63395; flown by Flight Officer John W. Googe.

176 “Moonbeam McSwine”; 47th FS, 15th FG; P-51D-20-NA, 44-63420; flown by Captain Eurich L. Bright. Captain Bright scored his first three victories on the April 7, 1945, VLR mission to Tokyo; a Kawasaki Ki-45 Nick, a Kawasaki Ki-61 Tony, and a Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero. Captain Bright scored again on the May 25, 1945 VLR mission.

200 “Miss Gene V”; 46th FS, 21st FG; P-51D-20-NA, 44-63775; flown by Major Fred A. Shirley, commander of the 46th FS. Major Shirley scored his first two victories on the April 12, 1945, VLR mission to Tokyo shooting down a Kawasaki Ki-45 Nick and a Mitsubishi J2M Jack, followed by two more Mitsubishi J2M Jacks on the April 22, 1945, VLR mission to Nagoya.

235 “Slow Roll”; 46th FS, 21st FG; P-51D-20-NA, 44-63891; flown by 2nd Lt. John W. Brock. Lt. Brock was credited with three aerial victories, his first on April 12, 1945, and the second and third on July 9, 1945.

250 “Dede Lou”; 72nd FS, 21st FG; P-51D-20-NA, 44-63733; flown by Major Paul W. Imig, commander of the 72nd FS.

264 “Marsha Ann”; 72nd FS, 21st FG; P-51D-20-NA, 44-63981; flown by 1st Lt. Jacob W. Gotwals. 1st Lt. Gotwals sole aerial victory (a Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki) was achieved on the first ever VLR mission on April 7, 1945, to Tokyo.

300 “My Achin!Ass”; 531st FS, 21st FG; P-51D-25-NA, 44-73623; flown by Major Harry C. Crim. Major Crim was the commander of the 531st FS, and the only ace of the 21st FG.

302 “Joy’s Boy”; 531st FS, 21st FG; P-51D-20-NA, 44-63910; flown by Captain Robert Mallin.

501; 457th FS, 506th FG; P-51D-25-NA, 44-72640; flown by Captain Evelyn Neff. Very nice nose art.

522 “Buzz Buddy”; 457th FS, 506th FG; P-51D-25-NA, 44-72876. It is unknown who was assigned to fly “Buzz Buddy”. However, it is known that 1st Lt. Chauncey A. Newcomb scored two aerial victories while flying “Buzz Buddy”. 1st Lt. Newcomb was actually assigned to 514 “Erma Lou” along with 1st Lt. Francis “Frank” Albrecht. It was not uncommon for pilots to fly VLR missions in planes they were not assigned to.

550 “Madam Wham-Dam”; 458th FS, 506th FG; P-51D-25-NA, 44-72607; flown by Major Harrison E. Shipman; commander of the 458th FS. “Madam Wham-Dam” was lost on the June 1, 1945, Black Friday mission with Lt. Col. Harvey J. Scandrett at the controls.

575 “My Madge/Julia’ll Fool Yer”; 458th FS, 506th FG; P-51D-20-NA, 44-72602; flown by Captain G. Marcott.

616 “Shanghai Lil”; 462nd FS, 506th FG; P-51D-20-NA, 44-72588; flown by 1st Lt. Darrell Bash and 1st Lt. Edward J. Linfante. 1st Lt. Bash was credited with shooting down a Kawasaki Ki-61 Tony over Yokohama on June 10, 1945.

643 “Providence Permitting”; 462nd FS, 506th FG; P-51D-25-NA, 44-72855; flown by 1st Lt. Allen F. Colley and 1st Lt. Leonard A. Dietz.

“Darlin’ Ruthie”; unit unknown; P-51D-20-NA, 44-72570; flown by Lt. M. Lerret.

The decals are in register and the artwork is very well done. The decals are recommended for all 1/72 North American P-51D Mustangs kits (Academy, Airifx, Hasegawa, and Tamiya). If you are going to use the decals for 550 “Madam Wham-Dam”, the tail stripes are designed for the Tamiya kit.

Since there are not a lot of decals for VLR Mustangs in 1/72nd scale, this decal sheet is highly recommended. Kudos to DKdecals!

Decal Review: DKdecals P-51D Mustang VLR Units Iwo Jima 1945 (48029)

On December 5, 2020February 4, 2021 By acarothersvlrmIn Decal Reviews, DK Decals6 Comments

DKdecals recently released a new 1/48 scale decal sheet specifically covering the three Iwo Jima VLR Mustang groups. There are decals for 9 VLR Mustangs; one plane from each squadron, and the majority of the planes covered on this decal sheet have not been covered previously by either kit manufacturers or the after market decals manufacturers . Again, nice to see lesser known planes covered by an after market decal manufacturer.

The painting and decal placement guide is nicely done. The nine VLR Mustangs represented on this sheet are as follows:

77 “San Antonia Rose”; 45th FS, 15th FG; P-51D-20NA, 44-63438; flown by 2d Lt. Douglas Reese. 2d Lt. Reese scored single confirmed victories on June 26th, a Kawasaki Ki-61 Tony, and July 8th.

124 “Button – II”; 78th FS, 15th FG; P-51D-20NA, 44-63353; flown by 1st Lt. Doyle T. Brooks, Jr. 1st Lt. Brooks was credited with shooting down two Mitsubishi A6M Zeros on the June 10, 1945, VLR mission to the Tokyo area.

157 “Daisey Mae”; 47th FS, 15th FG; P-51D-20NA, 44-63395; flown by Flight Officer John W. Googe.

200 “Miss Gene V”; 46th FS, 21st FG; P-51D-20NA, 44-63775; flown by Major Fred A. Shirley, commander of the 46th FS. Major Shirley scored his first two victories on the April 12, 1945, VLR mission to Tokyo shooting down a Kawasaki Ki-45 Nick and a Mitsubishi J2M Jack, followed by two more Mitsubishi J2M Jacks on the April 22, 1945, VLR mission to Nagoya.

264 “Marsha Ann”; 72nd FS, 21st FG; P-51D-20NA, 44-63981; flown by 1st Lt. Jacob W. Gotwals. 1st Lt. Gotwals sole aerial victory (a Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki) was achieved on the first ever VLR mission on April 7, 1945, to Tokyo.

302 “Joy’s Boy”; 531st FS, 21st FG; P-51D-20NA, 44-63910; flown by Captain Robert Mallin.

501; 457th FS, 506th FG; P-51D-25NA, 44-72640; flown by Captain Evelyn Neff. Very nice nose art.

550 “Madam Wham-Dam”; 458th FS, 506th FG; P-51D-25NA, 44-72607; flown by Major Harrison E. Shipman; commander of the 458th FS. “Madam Wham-Dam” was lost on the June 1, 1945, Black Friday mission with Lt. Col. Harvey J. Scandrett at the controls.

616 “Shanghai Lil”; 462nd FS, 506th FG; P-51D-20NA, 44-72588; flown by 1st Lt. Darrell Bash and 1st Lt. Edward J. Linfante. 1st Lt. Bash was credited with shooting down a Kawasaki Ki-61 Tony over Yokohama on June 10, 1945.

The decals are in register and the artwork is very well done. My only comment is on the decals for 616 “Shanghai Lil”. DKdecals has done the name in black and have decals for both sides of the nose. Over the years, there has been two other decal sheets with different colors for the name. SuperScale Decals issued a sheet with “Shanghai Lil” (48-1203) that has the name in yellow and outlined in black, which is clearly not supported by the photograph below. The decals that are included with the book, “506th Fighter Group: The History of the 506th Fighter Group, Iwo Jima 1945”, has the name in red. Is the name in red or black? Very hard to tell from a black and white photo so your guess is as good as mine.

*616 “Shanghai Lil” (506th Fighter Group Association)*

The photo below would support that the name only appeared on the left side of the nose. However, was the photo below taken before nose art was applied to the plane? Is there a photo showing the name appearing on the right side of the nose? Good questions that I do not have answers to.

DKdecals is putting out some really nice decal sheets. If you are interested in building a lesser known Iwo Jima VLR Mustang with some really nice markings, this decal sheet is highly recommended. Kudos to DKdecals!

Decal Review: Lifelike Decals Kawasaki Ki-100 Part 1; 48-030

On November 20, 2020November 20, 2020 By acarothersvlrmIn Decal Reviews, Lifelike Decals2 Comments

I have been very impressed with Lifelike Decals and the decal sheets they have released over the years for Japanese Army fighter aircraft. Their decals appear to be extensively researched and based on written and photographic documentation from various sources.

First up for review is their 1/48th decal sheet for Kawasaki Ki-100 Goshikisen, both Ko and Otsu versions.

The painting and decal placement guide is very nicely done with extensive commentary for each aircraft and references to support their choice of markings.

The markings for the five Ki-100s are as follows:

Kawasaki Ki-100 Ib Otsu Goshikisen flown by Captain Totara Ito, 5th Sentai, 1st Chutai, Kiyosu AB, early summer 1945.

Kawasaki Ki-100 Ib Otsu Goshikisen flown by Major Yohei Hinoki, Commander of 2nd Datai, Akeno Flying School/111th Sentai, Akeno AB, July 1945. Major Hinoki dueled in the skies over the Nagoya/Bay of Ise area on July 16, 1945 with 21st and 506th FG Mustangs.

Kawasaki Ki-100 Ia Ko Goshikisen of the 59th Sentai, 3rd Chutai, Ashiya AB, October 1945.

Kawasaki Ki-100 Ia Ko Goshikisen possibly flown by the Commander of the 1st Datai, Akeno Flying School/111th Sentai, Akeno AB, July 1945. It is assumed that this was the aircraft of Major Toyoki Eto, and this Ki-100 may have been flown by Major Eto on the July 16, 1945 air combat against 21st and 506th FG Mustangs.

Kawasaki Ki-100 Ib Otsu Goshikisen flown by Major Teruhiko Kobayashi, Commander of the 244th Sentai, Chofu AB, May 17, 1945.

This decal sheet was released in 2009 and recommended for the Hasegawa kit, but can also be used for the older Otaki/Arii kit. It still can be purchased from Lifelike Decals or many on-line hobby retailers. The decals are in register, and the markings are well done. If you are interested in building a 1/48 Kawasaki Ki-100 Goshikisen with some really nice markings, this decal sheet is highly recommended.

When you label a decal sheet “Part 1”, it is necessarily implied that there will be a “Part 2”. Will Lifelike decals follow up with an additional sheet of Ki-100 decals? I definitely hope so.

If you have either the 1/72 Aoshima, Fine Molds, RS Models Ki-100 kits, Lifelike Decals has also issued this decal sheet in that scale (72-026).

Decal Review: SuperScale Decals P-51D Mustangs (48-1153)

On October 11, 2020October 11, 2020 By acarothersvlrmIn Decal Reviews, SuperScale Decals2 Comments

The second SuperScale sheet with decals for an Iwo Jima VLR Mustang is 48-1153, which has decals for the 45th FS, 15th FG Mustang, 86 “Foxy” (Serial No. 44-63474).

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

The only shortcoming to the decal sheet is that they do not provide the diagonal bands for the undersides of the wings and the horizontal stabilizers. The prevailing wisdom is that the distinctive diagonal bands were also on the underside of the wings and horizontal stabilizers as shown on the aircraft profiles below. This shortcoming is easily overcome by just painting on the diagonal bands.

86 “Foxy” – “Foxy” was a P-51D-20A (Serial No. 44-63474) assigned to the 45th FS, 15th FG. Her time on Iwo Jima was very short lived, and never was used in VLR mission. She arrived on Iwo Jima on March 7, 1945, with the rest of the 45th FS, and was involved in a landing accident on March 10, 1945, when another 15th FG Mustang came in for a landing, slide into “Foxy” setting her on fire, then nosed over and fell onto the wing of another Mustang. As can be seen from the photos below, “Foxy” was a complete loss and was written off.

Below are pictures of the 1/48 Tamiya North American P-51D Mustang using the decals which was built by Mark Beckwith. The decals look really nice on this excellent build.

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 “Foxy” in any scale.

Special thanks to Mark Beckwith for permission to use the pictures of his build of “Foxy”. If you have not come across Mark’s blog, Making History: Scale Models, Real People, Extraordinary Stories, check it out here https://making-history.ca/. Excellent modeling/history blog!

Decal Review: SuperScale Decals 1/48 P-51D Mustangs 457th FS/506th FG, Iwo Jima (48-1152)

On August 22, 2020September 20, 2022 By acarothersvlrmIn Decal Reviews, SuperScale Decals2 Comments

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.

***540 “Kwitcherbitchin” (via 506th Fighter Group Association)***

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.

***1st Lt. Wesley A. Murphey, Jr. and 531 “Nip Nocker” (via 506th Fighter Group Association)***

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.

***531 “Nip Nocker” on the 457th FS flight line (via 506th Fighter Group Association)***

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.

***457th Fighter Squadron Badge/Emblem***

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.

Iwo Jima Models

Category: Kit/Product Reviews