ANA 503 Willow Green Options and Opinions:

[speedgraflex]

[dmminiatures]

Very nice selection of decal options, Bruce. I don't see this shceme a lot, actually.

[speedgraflex]

Very nice selection of decal options, Bruce. I don't see this shceme a lot, actually.

Monty, it is a great scheme! Apparently the tails were stripes for about a month when the a/c first arrived on Iwo. Both versions:



Decals in 1/48 were made by Hussar and Kagero. I emailed Kagero regarding any availability in their stock because they made a full color booklet as well; it is out of production, sadly. I was quite fortunate to find Kits World making a partial decal set with the nose art and ID specifically for the Airfix kit, though.

It is a rare scheme; and has several interesting late war antenna changes as well as “dive stripes.”



I am learning a lot—picking n’ choosing details. Interesting research:

Mustangs on Iwo Jima
506th FG

The Enchantress should have dual antennas behind the cockpit, a small access port on the left side below the antenna and “dive stripes” marked on each wing: “Every 506th Mustang had those stripes. I don't recall seeing them on any other Mustangs including those I flew later in the NJANG. We had very little practice in using those stripes. No mention of them was made when briefed for dive bombing Chichi's Susaki Airfield—my 1st combat mission,” Pilot Ed Linfante, 506th FG.

[speedgraflex]

This information will be part of the build docs, but I wanna include this here to preserve and use this as a “look back” when the project starts.

Enjoy:

NOTES ON CHOOSING A P-51 IN 1/48

I made up my mind to research and let the Norns decide. The scheme, chosen early, would dictate the type of kit. EBay, an interesting research database, became useful for the search. At the time my thoughts were of Tamiya. I made a list:

• Tamiya 1/48 P-51D 8th AF
  Tamiya 1/48 P-51D 9th AF

Followed by:

• Airfix 1/48 P-51D “The Indian”
  Hasegawa 1/48 P-51D “Pacific Pinup”

As a total wild card, I added this, too:

• Nichimo 1/48 P-51D “Faithful Feenie”

This last choice would amount to a painting mule, but ya never know. Builders here — lookin’ at you, Carlos — have proven the worth of old kits, and I believe Nichimo’s molds were used by Revell in the Sixties. I like how kit designs are absorbed from one manufacturer to the next. This is an interesting form of idea mutation.

[Stikpusher]

Ah jeez, ya had to call me out...
Those P-51 kits are all fine. The Nichimo Mustang is an unknown quantity to me. I have never seen one. Many of their kits were clones of Monogram kits, but those were all older. All the D kits in 1/48 which I am familiar with, Revell, Monogram, Otaki/ARII (later reboxed by AMT & Airfix), came out in the later half of the 70’s or later. The Tamiya kit, it’s ICM knockoff, and the Hasegawa kits came along a decade later. And of course there is the new Airfix kit. Any can be built into a showstopper, some with more effort than the others.
Really it’s just detail differences in most. And then you figure out which aircraft you wish to model and look for those details in whatever kit.

[speedgraflex]

Ah jeez, ya had to call me out...
Those P-51 kits are all fine. The Nichimo Mustang is an unknown quantity to me. I have never seen one. Many of their kits were clones of Monogram kits, but those were all older. All the D kits in 1/48 which I am familiar with, Revell, Monogram, Otaki/ARII (later reboxed by AMT & Airfix), came out in the later half of the 70’s or later. The Tamiya kit, it’s ICM knockoff, and the Hasegawa kits came along a decade later. And of course there is the new Airfix kit. Any can be built into a showstopper, some with more effort than the others.
Really it’s just detail differences in most. And then you figure out which aircraft you wish to model and look for those details in whatever kit.

Apologies, my friend! No need for head slaps. I meant what I wrote about how you show the value of older tooling as high praise, indeed, so I want to thank you for your assessment of these kits. You know first hand what is what, and that means the world to me. I read online (Finescale's forums, I think) that the Nichimo kit was uniquely tooled and the seller of the kit on eBay's version was N.I.B., quite a deal at 13 bucks.

About a year ago I checked out the Meng Mustang kit. Here is my deal with Meng. I really wanted their 1/32 Komet. I still do. When I reached out to their customer service, I received no reply, and that bothered me. I know I am an overly sensitive soul, but sheesh, when I reach out as a customer with my hand on my credit card to buy a kit It would be nice to have a reply.

Since all of the emoticons seem too violent to me tonight, I will end without one! Thanks again, Carlos!

[Stikpusher]

No worries my friend. Like I said, the Nichimo Mustang is a mystery to me. Scalemates has no links to anything on those kits. Zip. Nada. For $13 I would be tempted to snap one up, just for the hell of it. Judging from the other Nichimo kits in my stash, it won’t be bad. Just a better product of that era most likely. There were also old 1/48 D Mustangs by Aurora, Fujimi, and Hawk. The Hawk kit would be on par with all of their other 1/48 stuff such as the Jug you’re working on. The Fujimi kit is likely slightly better, and then lastly the Aurora kit, which is of more of collectors value. P-51D kits are pretty much a dime a dozen out there in 1/48, and you can go from easy to fancy for a penny or a pound.

Regarding Meng’s customer service, they sound pretty typical for a Chinese company. The ones that I have tried contacting myself, Bronco, Trumpeter, Hobbyboss, have been echo chambers. Absolutely zero response. I suspect that is a business cultural norm.

[speedgraflex]

Fujimi looks good... thank you for the reviews, Carlos. Invaluable.

[BlackSheep214]

What purpose of dive stripes on the front leading edge wings serve?

[speedgraflex]

What purpose of dive stripes on the front leading edge wings serve?

Mustangs on Iwo Jima
506th FG

The Enchantress should have dual antennas behind the cockpit, a small access port on the left side below the antenna and “dive stripes” marked on each wing:

“Every 506th Mustang had those stripes. I don't recall seeing them on any other Mustangs including those I flew later in the NJANG. We had very little practice in using those stripes. No mention of them was made when briefed for dive bombing Chichi's Susaki Airfield—my 1st combat mission.” — Pilot Ed Linfante, 506th FG

“Sweetheart, do you remember the pilot who went shopping with me for your black dance set? He has named his plane “The Enchantress” and has a picture of a “babe” in black sheer undies.” — Capt. John Benbow, 506th FG