Kit News: Eduard Now Taking Pre-Orders on Their New Royal Class 1/72 North American P-51D Mustang Dual Combo Boxing

On April 27, 2024May 4, 2024 By acarothersvlrmIn Kit/Product NewsLeave a comment

Yesterday, I received an email from Eduard that they are now accepting pre-orders on their new Royal Class 1/72 North American P-51D Mustang Dual Combo boxing. From the CAD drawings and the information posted on Eduard’s website, it appears they have done an excellent job of scaling down their 1/48th scale kit to 1/72nd scale.

The box art for the 1/72nd Royal Class Dual Combo boxing is similar to what it was for the 1/48th Royal Class Dual Combo boxing except for the orientation of the Mustang drawing and the color of the background. Like the 1/48th Royal Class Dual Combo boxing, the 1/72nd Royal Class Dual Combo boxing includes the exact same 14 decal options, which means that decals for two Iwo Jima VLR Mustangs are included, both from the 506th Fighter Group.

Iwo Jima VLR Mustang Decals: The first set of VLR markings is for 555 “The Ole Lady/Little Anne/My Darlin Betty Ann” (P-51D-25-NA, 44-72628), a 458th FS Mustang flown by 2nd Lts. James E. Coleman and Ralph R. Coltman, Jr.

The second set of markings is for 528 “The Enchantress” (P-51D-25-NA, 44-72671), a 457th FS Mustang flown by 2nd Lt. William E. Saks. 2nd Lt. Saks was one of the pilots lost on the June 1, 1945 “Black Friday” mission, but he was not flying 528 on that day. “The Enchantress” is popular amongst modelers because the nose art and pin-up girl that adorns the fuselage.

Like its bigger brother, you can build any variant of the D model from a D-5 to a D-25 with this kit. All the parts to make an accurate Iwo Jima VLR Mustang are present. I have included drawings of two sprues for the kit that Eduard posted on its website. It appears that the fuselage floor and fuel tank (Part E24) will be one piece, and the SCR-522 radio transmitter, SCR-695 IFF transmitter, and the rack they sit on are one piece as well (Part E27).

A major difference from their 1/48th kit is that all of the different drop tanks that Mustangs carried (75 gallon, 108 gallon, 110 gallon, and 165 gallon) are included on one sprue. In the 1/48th kit, the 110 gallon and 165 gallon drop tanks carried by Iwo Jima VLR Mustangs and their sway braces were produced on a separate sprue, and only included in the Royal Class Dual Combo and Limited Edition Tales of Iwo Jima boxings. Now, as shown below on the drawing of sprue F, they will be included no matter what boxing of the kit you purchase. Nice touch on Eduard’s part.

As is customary, Eduard includes a lot of goodies in their Royal Class Dual Combo boxings. This boxing is no exception and will include two sets of resin cast main wheels and tail wells, 3D printed shrouded exhaust stacks, un-shrouded exhaust stacks, and seats. While there are no photos yet, the information on Eduard’s website about this boxing indicates there will be two color photo etch cockpit sets included.

In addition, Eduard will included a set to solid masks for painting around the wheel wells. They appear to made of some form of a foam material, and are designed to be placed into the wheel wells to protect your already painted wheel wells when you are painting the bottom of the wings. Again, a very nice touch on Eduard’s part. They appear to be doing that for their 1/48 kits as similar solid masks are included in their P-51B Mustang Royal Class Dual Combo boxing.

According to Eduard’s website, pre-orders will be accepted between April 26th and May 8th, and kits will ship in the second half of June.

Kudos to Eduard for producing a 1/72 P-51D Mustang kit with all the necessary parts to build an accurate Iwo Jima VLR Mustang. Let’s hope that they follow suit and release a limited edition boxing dedicated solely to the Iwo Jima VLR Mustang groups in 1/72nd scale.

Here is a link to the 1/72nd Royal Class Dual Combo boxing: https://www.eduard.com/eduard/p-51d-mustang-dual-combo-1-72.html?cur=2&&force_sid=fcq1jtinhf1a75u1rb33jsl6so4dups8

Decal Review: UpRise Decals’ P-51D-25 Mustang Iwo Jima, 1945 (UR72128/UR48128/UR32128)

On December 16, 2023December 16, 2023 By acarothersvlrmIn Decal Reviews, UpRise DecalsLeave a comment

UpRise Decals from St. Petersburg, Russia has released decal sheets featuring two 457th Fighter Squadron, 506th Fighter Group North American P-51D-25-NA Mustangs in 1/72nd, 1/48th, and 1/32nd scales.

UpRise produces decals for both World War II and modern military aircraft, civil aircraft and airliners, helicopters, ordinance, and insignia. Their website can be found here: https://uprise-decal.ru/

Decals are provided for 542 “Fighting Lady” (Serial No. 44-72570), and 528 “The Enchantress” (Serial No. 44-72671). Both of these planes are popular among modelers because of the pin up art which adorned their fuselages.

The decals are lazer printed and look exceptionally good, and each sheet comes with the dive angle stripes that appeared on the leading edge of the top of the wings and most of the exterior stencils that appeared on 506th FG P-51D Mustangs. The extensive exterior stencil decals are a nice nice touch on UpRise Decals’ part.

528 “The Enchantress” was assigned to 2nd Lt. William E. Saks. 2nd Lt. Saks went Missing in Action on the infamous June 1st “Black Friday” escort mission to Osaka in which 27 Mustangs and 24 pilots of the 15th, 21st and 506th Fighters Groups were lost to severe weather conditions encountered between Iwo Jima and the Japanese Home Islands. His Missing Air Crew Report indicates that he was flying a different P-51D-25 Mustang (Serial No. 44-72885) on that mission. The Enchantress survived the war and was transferred to Japan as part of the occupation forces after the cessation of hostilities.

*528 “The Enchantress” (506th Fighter Group Association)*

It is unknown if a second pilot was assigned initially to fly The Enchantress along with 2nd Lt. Saks, and if any other pilots were specifically assigned to the plane after 2nd Lt. Saks was lost on June 1st. We are unable to locate an individual picture of 2nd Lt. Saks, or a group picture that includes him. The picture below is of Dr. Theodore Paprocki, the 457th squadron’s medical officer, sitting on the wing of The Enchantress. Note the wear of the paint on the back sides of the propeller blades (uncuffed portions) due to the sand and volcanic ash on Iwo Jima.

*Dr. Theodore Paprocki sitting on the wing of “The Enchantress (506th Fighter Group Association via Maurita Paprocki)*

The other decals are for 542 “Fighting Lady” which was assigned to 1st Lt. Ralph Gardner and 1st Lt. Chester Jatzcak. Below is a nice close up picture of the pin up art that adorned the fuselage.

*542 “Fighting Lady (506th Fighter Group Association)*

While the quality of the below photo is not the best, it does clearly show the position of the name “Fighting Lady” on the nose below the engine exhaust stacks and the elegant design of the Mustang’s nose.

*Unknown ground crew member lying on the wing of “Fighting Lady” (506th Fighter Group Association)*

Norma Jatczak, 1st Lt. Chester Jatczak’s wife, was of the belief that the plane’s name was “Broadway Gal”. Unfortunately, the 506th Fighter Group Association does not have a photo to substantiate her belief.

*1st Lt. Chester Jatczak crouched on the wing of “Fighting Lady” (506th Fighter Group Association via Norma Jatczak)*

Please note the photo below does not have the name “Fighting Lady” on the nose yet. This photo was likely taken in June of 1945 as the plane has a solid green tail instead of the initial squadron markings of diagonal green stripes on the tail.

*1st Lt. Ralph Gardner in the cockpit of “Fighting Lady” (506th Fighter Group Association)*

I interviewed Ralph Gardner at the 2013 506th Fighter Group Reunion in Chino, California, but did not think to inquire about the whether the plane had the name of “Broadway Gal” at one point in time, or whether the name was on the right side of the nose. The photo below appears to dispel the notion that “Broadway Gal” appeared on the right side of the nose.

*1st Lt. Ralph Gardner flying “Fighting Lady (506th Fighter Group Association)*

457th Fighter Pilots in front of “Fighting Lady” – Front row left to right; Lts. Alan Kinvig and George Hetland; Back row left to right; Lts. Ray Miller, Martin Ganschow, Ralph Gardner and Larry Grennan (506th Fighter Group Association via Ralph Gardner)

UpRise Decals uses Film Free Ability (FFA) for their decals. This is the technology that allows the modeler to remove the clear film that covers the decal during production. The initial application of FFA decals is the same as regular water slide decals. After applying the decals, whisking away the excess water, and working out any air bubbles from under the decals, you let the decals sit for 24 hours, and then gently remove the film that covers the decals. Without any film surrounding the decals, they look like they are painted on. Really nice!

A tutorial/description of UpRise Decals’ Film Free Ability decals is found here: https://uprise-decal.ru/ffa. There are also several YouTube videos providing tutorials on how to use these and similar decals from other manufacturers.

UpRise Decals can be purchased on eBay from two vendors who appear the be the same person. When I initially purchased these decals, the FFA was only available on their 1/32nd decal sheets, but now all their decals (1/144th, 1/72nd, 1/48th, 1/32nd and 1/24th) produced from November 2022 forward use the FFA technology. If you want to use UpRise’s FFA decals, you need to check to make sure that the particular decal sheet you are buying has the FFA technology. There are probably some the regular water slide decals still being sold or resold on eBay.

Mark L. Rossmann’s 1/48 Tamiya and ICM P-51D Mustangs; 457th Fighter Squadron, 506th Fighter Group

On November 20, 2022November 20, 2022 By acarothersvlrmIn North American P-51D Mustang, Show Us Your Builds3 Comments

Mark Rossmann is back with two 1/48 North American P-51D Mustangs from Tamiya and ICM. In this dual build, Mark covers both marking options for Mustangs of the 457th Fighter Squadron, 506th Fighter Group; the early striped tail and the later solid tail.

Initially released in 1995, Tamiya’s 1/48 North American P-51D Mustang was a significant improvement over prior kits in the areas of accuracy, details, and engineering. Many of these kits have been built over the years and a lot show up on model forums. For beginners or novices with just basic skill sets, it can be built into a really nice kit worth sharing with the rest of the world. For those with advanced detailing or scratch building skills, the kit can be transformed into competition winning model. Even by today’s standards, it is still an excellent kit.

Mark has used the Tamiya kit to build 531 “Nip Nocker”, 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 not known if “Nip Nocker” was assigned to another pilot in addition to 1st Lt. Murphey. Unfortunately, official squadron and group records do not go into that level of detail.

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

1st Lt. Murphey would continue his service to his country in the Air National Guard during which time he would attain the rank of Captain. He also served as a civilian instructor pilot for the United States Air Force, and ended his career at the Federal Aviation Administration. 1st Lt. Murphey passed away at the age of 89 on March 30, 2007 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

***This photo shows that the name “Nip Nocker” was on both sides of the nose (506th Fighter Group Association via John Benbow)***

Mark used SuperScale Decals 1/48 “P-51D Mustangs 457th FS/506th FG, Iwo Jima” (48-1152) decal sheet for the markings. My review of this decal sheet can be found here: https://iwojimamodels.com/2020/08/22/decal-review-superscale-decals-1-48-p-51d-mustangs-457th-fs-506th-fg-iwo-jima-48-1152/ The tail stripes are on this decal sheet and were specifically designed for the Tamiya kit. 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.

For his solid tail 457th FS Mustang, Mark used the ICM kit to build 527 “Hel-Eter/Lil-Toddie” (44-72557), a P-51D-20 NA. ICM’s 1/48 North American P-51D Mustang is basically the same kit as the Tamiya kit, and therefore, can be built into a very nice model.

Mark used the decals from AeroMaster’s The Very Long Range Escorts “The Iwo Jima Mustangs” Fancy Art Part 2 (48-795) for this build. A nice decal sheet, and the only after market decals for 527 “Hel-Eter/Lil-Toddie”. No other kit, in any scale, contains decals for this Iwo Jima VLR Mustang.

While this decal sheet has been long out of production, you can still find it on eBay from time to time.

“Hel-Eter/Lil Toddie” was first assigned to 1st Lt. John W. Winnen and 1st Lt. Philip G. Alston. The plane name “Hel-Eter” was a combination of shortened names of the 1st Lt. Winnen’s wife Helen and son Peter.

***1st Lt. John W. Winnen in the cockpit of 527 “Hel-Eter/Lil Toddie” with Crew Chief Staff Sgt. Jaynes Gandy on the wing (506th Fighter Group Association via John Benbow)***

Two other pilots are known to have flown 527 “Hel-Eter/Lil Toddie”; 1st Lt. Warren Clayton and 1st Lt. Denny O’Hearn. I have not been able to find any records regarding if, and when 1st Lts. Clayton and O’Hearn were assigned to fly 527 “Hel-Eter/Lil Toddie”, but there is good evidence to suggest that was the case.

***1st Lt. Warren Clayton and Crew Chief Sgt. Simon sitting on the wing of 527 “Hel-Eter/Lil Toddie” (506th Fighter Group Association via John Benbow)***

Warren Clayton wrote on the back of the above photo: “Hel-Eter, crew chief Sgt. Simon, and me. Good combination, Warren”. This strongly suggests that 1st Lt. Clayton was assigned to fly this plane.

However, as was common in other theaters of operation, a pilot might fly a plane was he was not assigned due to the availability of planes for a mission. A good example of this was 1st Lt. Chauncey Newcomb. 1st Lt. Newcomb was assigned to 514 “Erma Lou” with 1st Lt. Francis Albrecht, but scored his two aerial victories in 522 “BuzzBuddy”.

A 505th BG Boeing B-29 Superfortress escorted by 527 “Hel-Etr/Lil Toodie”, a 457th FS/506th FG North American P-51D-20NA Mustang, piloted by 1st Lt. Denny O’Hearn (USAAF/National Archives via Fold3)

Thanks again to Mark Rossmann for sharing his dual 457th FS builds with us!

In Memory of Burton W. Jones; 457th Fighter Squadron, 506th Fighter Group; February 1, 1921 – October 24, 2021

On October 31, 2021October 31, 2021 By acarothersvlrmIn HistoryLeave a comment

On February 1st of this year, the 506th Fighter Group Association helped celebrate the 100th birthday of Staff Sergeant Burton W. Jones, who was a ground crew member (mechanic and armorer) with the 457th Fighter Squadron. Staff Sergeant Jones was assigned to 541 “Kwitcherbitchin”, flown by Captains William B. Lawrence and Alan J. Kinvig.

*Private Burton W. Jones (via Priscilla Heburn & Evan Jones)*

My post on Burton’s 100th birthday celebration can be found here: https://iwojimamodels.com/2021/01/31/happy-100th-birthday-burton-w-jones/. The post covers Burton’s upbringing, induction into the United States Army Air Corps, training, assignments, and service with the 457th Fighter Squadron on Iwo Jima.

Burton’s family was hoping that he would receive at least 100 birthday cards from family, friends and well wishers. Burton actually received over 300 birthday cards!

*Sergeant Burton W. Jones on Iwo Jima (via Priscilla Heburn & Evan Jones)*

On October 25, 2021, we were informed by Priscilla Hepburn-Jones that Burton had passed away. Like other members of his generation, Burton returned from the war and became active in his community serving in many civic organizations.

*Burton W. Jones at World War II Memorial (via Priscilla Heburn & Evan Jones)*

On October 24, 2021, we lost another member of the Greatest Generation. Burton’s obituary can be found here: https://www.uticaod.com/obituaries/k0030474. Our prayers are with Burton’s family during this time of loss.

In Memory of Albert A. Sharke: 457th Fighter Squadron, 506th Fighter Group; March 13, 1921 – July 16, 2021.

On September 28, 2021October 16, 2021 By acarothersvlrmIn HistoryLeave a comment

Albert Arthur Sharke was born on March 13, 1921, in New York City. He entered into Columbia University as a first generation college student. Like many others of his generation, his post-secondary education was put on hold during the time he served his country in World War II.

*1st Lt. Albert A. Sharke on Iwo Jima (via Dr. John Benbow)*

The 457th Squadron Unit History indicates that 2nd Lt. Albert A. Sharke was assigned to the squadron on December 18, 1944, as Armament Officer, replacing 2nd Lt. McCallick who was transferred out of the squadron. 2nd Lieutenant Sharke, and the rest of the ground echelon of the 457th Fighter Squadron, took a troop train from Lakeland Army Air Field to Seattle, Washington. They arrived on Iwo Jima onboard the H.M.S Bloemfontein, a converted Swedish hospital ship. The long overseas journey started in Seattle with stops at Hawaii, Eniwetok Atoll, Tinian, and finally Iwo Jima.

*Lt. Lawrence Brennan (Supply), Maj. George Flemming (457th Squadron XO), and Lt. Albert Sharke (Armament) (Mary Ellen Ramsden via Dr. John Benbow)*

It appears that Lt. Sharke may have been the armorer for the P-51D Mustang flown by 1st Lieutenant Larry Grennan, although that cannot be confirmed. Squadron histories just do not go into that amount of detail, and we do not have any good photos of Lt. Grennan’s P-51D to see if Lt. Sharke’s name appears on the plane. Without either the pilot(s) or ground crew providing that information, that piece of information is lost forever.

*Lt. Lawrence Brennan and Lt. Albert Sharke along side a Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer on Iwo Jima (Mary Ellen Ramsden via Dr. John Benbow)*

Albert Sharke was promoted to 1st Lieutenant while on Iwo Jima. After being honorably discharged after the war, Albert graduated in 1947 from Columbia University with a degree in metallurgical engineering. After working briefly at Air Reduction Laboratories, he spent the duration of his career in chemical and refinery operations at Standard Oil of New Jersey.

On March 13th of this year, the Joseph McDowell Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution organized a birthday parade for Albert to celebrate his 100th birthday. A fantastic event that allowed Albert to ride around Hendersonville in a convertible and be greeted by those wishing him a happy 100th birthday. The article of the event in the BlueRidgeNow Times-News can be found here: https://www.blueridgenow.com/story/news/2021/03/15/wwii-veteran-american-hero-albert-sharke-treated-100th-birthday-parade/4712824001/.

On July 16, 2021, we lost another member of the Greatest Generation. Thanks to Mark Stevens of the 7th Fighter Command Association for bringing to our attention Albert’s passing.

Iwo Jima Models

Tag: 457th Fighter Squadron