PYN-up Decals New Releases
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
A big stack of decals from Meteor Productions showed up for this month, and there’s something for modelers of all the main scales this time around. As we have come to expect, the artwork in these PYN-up is exquisite and quite a bit better than the traditional silk-screened stuff we’ve seen in the past.
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The 1/72 sheet is a duplicate of one of the 1/48 sheets, and these focus on some famous Ploesti B-24 raiders. There are two aircraft portrayed, although one of them has several variations to it. Starting with the solo aircraft, this is “Wongo Wongo,” a B-24D-70-CO from the 513 BS, 276 BG. Flown by Lt. Brian W. Flavelle, this plane was the lead aircraft on the August 1, 1943 raid on Ploesti when, near Corfu, the plane stalled and crashed into the sea with no survivors. It is finished in the standard desert scheme of sand over neutral gray, with the “Wongo Wongo” artwork on both sides.
The
second aircraft is a B-24D-65-CO of the 566 BS, 389 BG. Flown by Captain
Tom Conroy, this plane is finished in the standard olive drab over neutral
gray scheme. This aircraft is shown in three configurations: the August
1, 1943 Ploesti raid, a fall/winter 1943 scheme when it was based in Hethel,
England, and a March-May 1944 scheme. The main changes between the schemes
deals with the mission markings and the tail markings, with the roundels
getting the bars and outline by the second option. The nose art consisting
of an angry Uncle Sam rolling up his sleeves is constant across all three
variants.
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Now
that the big boys are done, the next sheets add some fancy to the P-38.
These two sheets are in 1/48 scale, with the first providing markings
for a P-38H and an F-5C. The P-38H is finished in olive drab over neutral
gray and was flown by Major Mark Shipman of the 38 FS, 55 FG out of Northampstead,
England in November of 1943. This plane features red-surround stars and
bars and some colorful artwork in the form of a bird archer on a cloud.
The plane carries the name “Skylark IV.” The F-5C is from
the 22 PS, 7 PG out of Mount Farm, England in May of 1944, and is finished
in synthetic haze blue overall. Named “Dot-Dash,” this plane
features a classic pinup gal on the nose.
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The second
P-38 sheet offers up another attractive olive drab and neutral gray P-38H
from the same 38 FS, 55 FG, and a natural metal P-38L from the 36 FS,
8 FG. The P-38H is the famous “Mountain Ayers,” the personal
mount of Captain Jerry H. Ayers. The nose art of this plane is quite impressive
and features a reclining hillbilly, resting against a tree stump with
a foot on a casket of moonshine. For the P-38L, this is Captain Phil McLain’s
“Ready Maid,” a somewhat controversial P-38, with regard to
the nose artwork. Plenty of research went into these decals, revealing
the true colors of the checkerboard behind the pinup gal. Aside from the
artwork, this plane features some impressive treatment to the antiglare
panels, both on the nacelles and the nose. Masks are provided to assist
in painting those.
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Continuing
on with USAAF fighters, the next sheet provides a pair of olive drab and
neutral gray razorback P-47s. The first is the well known “Pride
of Lodi, Ohio/Miss Mutt” P-47D-2-RE, flown by Lt. Col. Robert Rowland
of the 341 FS, 348 FG, out of Port Moresby, New Guinea in the fall of
1943. This aircraft has the white theater tail and wing markings, and
the pinup artwork on the cowling. The large “Pride...” text
is behind the cockpit. Note that this is the first “Pride of Lodi,
Ohio” aircraft, and Rowland flew a “Miss Mutt II” as
well. The second aircraft is Major David Schilling’s P-47D-1-RE
from the 62 FS, 56 FG out of Halesworth, England in the fall of 1943.
This aircraft carries the inscription “Hewlett-Woodmere Long Island”
on the fuselage, and has a very large barefoot man carrying a big club
on the cowling. Both of these aircraft are interesting and would make
for great additions to a Jug lineup.
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Finally,
we come to the Mustangs. There are two sheets here, one in 1/48 and one
in 1/32. The 1/48 sheet provides a P-51B-1-NA and a P-51K-5-NA. The P-51B
is from the 336 FS, 4 FG and was flown by Lt. Fred W. Glover out of Debden,
England in the spring of 1944. Finished in olive drab and neutral gray,
this plane is coded VF-C and has a string of kill markings under the windscreen.
The artwork on the nose is a bathing beauty, with the name “Rebel
Queen.” This name is provided in both yellow and blue, as it is
uncertain which color it actually was. The P-51K is from the 334 FS, 4
FG and was flown by Lt. Col. Jack J. Oberhansly in late 1944, early 1945.
This plane has red outlined black letters for the QP-X codes, and carries
the name “Iron Ass,” with appropriate donkey artwork on the
nose.
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Moving
to the big Mustangs, the 1/32 sheet provides markings for two bubbletop
Mustangs. The first is a P-51D-5-NA from the 55 FS, 20 FG, flown by Lt.
Moon Mullins. Coded KI-S, this plane has olive drab painted on the upper
surfaces, as well as a patch underneath the exhausts where the nose art
is. The nose art is a soaring nude woman, with no name on the plane. The
other Mustang, a P-51D-20-NA, does have a name, “Sweet Arlene.”
This is the mount of Lt. Arthur R. Bowers from the 334 FS, 4 FG as seen
on February 22, 1945. It has red outlined black code letters and a reclining
gal next to the name.