48-657 is the final sheet in a three-part coverage of the 361st Fighter Group, the 'Yellow Jackets' by AeroMaster. 

It provides markings for three aircraft, two P-51Ds and a P-51B.  The individual aircraft and their markings are as follows: 

'Death's Angel' P-51D 44-72940, flown by Lieutenant Harry Chapman of the 376^th Fighter squadron.   The machine is in overall natural metal finish with 361^st's yellow nose and spinner group marking, 376th's yellow rudder.  The supplied markings comprise: 

• Black E9 squadron code and R individual aircraft code.
• Black 472940 aircraft serial for the fin and rudder (supplied as one-piece decals).
• A data block with the correct serial number (as are all of them on the sheet)
• The name 'Death's Angel'.  The D and the A have a thin white outline whilst the remaining letters have a thin black outline.  There are a further separate letters A and D in yellow but no mention is made of them on the placement guide.
• Nose art in the form of a kneeling nude with a grotesque face.
• A scoreboard consisting of three black swastikas on a white circle background for the left hand side of the canopy rail.

'Queen Jean', P-51 B 42-106875, flown by Captain William J. Shackleford of the 375^th' Fighter Squadron.  The machine is in natural metal finish with the 361^st's yellow nose and spinner group marking and black theatre bands around the horizontal stabilisers as well as D-Day markings on the lower fuselage and the tops and bottoms of the wings (the D-Day markings are not supplied).  The supplied markings consist:

• Black squadron E2 codes and individual aircraft code letter D.
• 216875 aircraft serial for the fin and rudder (supplied as one-piece decals).
• The name 'Queen Jean' in red with a thin black outline.
• Nose art in the form of an Ace of Spades playing card on a red and white striped circle.
• A data block.

'Detroit Miss' P-51-D 44-14164 flown by Lieutenant Urban Drew of the 357^th Fighter Squadron.  A very bright aircraft to say the least, it was in overall natural metal with D-Day markings on the lower fuselage and bottoms of the wings, Black theatre bands around the wings and horizontal stabilisers, Yellow group markings to the nose and spinner, red gun panels, wing and vertical stabilizer tips and canopy frame.   If you think that this machine looks familiar you're right as the markings first appeared in the Monogram kit when it was first released.  The supplied markings consist: 

• Black E2squadron codes and individual aircraft letter D.  The underline to the letter D signifies that it is the second aircraft in the squadron coded D.
• Black 414164 aircraft serial for the fin and rudder (supplied as one-piece decals).
• The name Detroit Miss' in white with a thin black outline on a red bomb which itself has a thin black.
• The data block.
• A scoreboard comprising seven Nazi flags for the red painted canopy frame – I guess that you would need to use a different shade of red for the canopy rail so that the decal's red background doesn't merge.

The sheet incorporates national insignia for each option (the 'Queen Jean' option incorporates a silver surround for the fuselage and the set for 'Detroit Miss' are 'greyed out') and two very complete sets of stencil data.  Two complete sets of black theatre bands are also supplied for the wings and horizontal stabilizers even though you will not need all of them. 

As with the other two sheets in this series, the decals themselves have been printed in Italy by Cartograf and are very well printed indeed.  Everything is in perfect register and sharply printed.  I again state my standard warning re Cartograf decals. Cartograf decals will work!  Just be patient and apply heaps of settling solution.  The decals and placement sheet come packed in a clear plastic zip-loc bag. 

The placement guide is A-4 in size and shows left-hand side profiles of each option.  The tops and bottoms of the wings are also shown as is a complete guide to stencil data placement which includes the propeller. 

The recommended kits are the Tamiya P-51D and P-51B. 

Another nice sheet from AeroMaster.  The total absence of any 374^th Fighter Squadron aircraft (Squadron code B7) on any of the first three sheets suggests that there may be more Yellow Nose Musting sheets in the wings. 

Recommended.

Postscript 

If you want to know more about the 361^st Fighter Group, its men and its machines, head over to Little Friends at  http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/361stfg.jsp  It has some great reference shots as well as the histories of some of the aircraft featured in AeroMaster's trilogy of sheets covering the 361^st Fighter Group.

Thanks to AeroMaster / Eagle Strike Products for the review sets

On-line sales are available from the AeroMaster Products / Eagle Strike Productions web site.

Review TextCopyright © 2004 by Rodger Kelly
This Page Created on 24 July, 2004
Last updated 29 July, 2004

Back to HyperScale Main Page