Background

On November 27, 1944 a 21-year-old Captain named Leonard “Kit” Carson was leading a flight of Mustangs on a mission to strafe oil reserve stores at Leipzig. As they approached the area of Magdeburg, Germany a large group of 50-75 Fw190s was spotted. The squadron dropped their long-range tanks and turned to attack the Focke Wulfs head on. In a series of turning, diving and climbing dogfights Carson managed to down five of them. By wars end, then Major Carson would fly 115 combat missions and score 18 ½ aerial kills with an overall score of 23 with ground kills included. Carson flew four different Mustangs called “Nooky Booky” including P-51K 411622 depicted in this review. I don’t think anymore of an introduction is needed for this legendary aircraft.

Each issue of Scale Aircraft Modeling has been a basic design and format but they changed it up with the last issue. In this issue, there are five feature articles, an Aviation in Profile piece, and five Compact Build Reviews.

The Feature articles for this issue start with Jay Laverty's build review of the Trumpeter 1/48 Westland Whirlwind Mk I. The kit is built and shows no issues. The majority of the article concentrates on the superb weathering done to replicate V HE which showed a lot of chipping. Mr. Laverty also corrects the markings, adds Barracuda cast wheels and uses ComArt's excellent weathering set. The result is spectacular!

Next up is Mr. Laverty's build of Planet models 1/48 Westland Welkin. This is a good size all resin kit and it is finished superbly in a Medium Sea Grey scheme. There are also some excellent tips in working with resin kits.

Eduard's set 73467 is meant to detail Tamiya's 1/72 A6M2b. The set addresses the cockpit, the wheel wells, the engine and adds dropped flaps. This is done with two superb frets of photoetch. One is the standard set and addresses the flaps and wheel wells and engine with 61 parts. The second fret is colorized and covers the cockpit and miscellaneous parts with 66 parts. All are beautifully done.

Starting with the cockpit, there are three things that make a huge difference. First is the superb seat. it is scale thin and has the needed holes. It takes a little roll to get the right shape. Added to that are fantastic seat belts. Second are the side walls and panels. it is preprinted and also adds to the cockpit. Last is the instrument panel which is a little work of art. All of these fit well and as you can see by the detail shots,. they make the cockpit look fantastic.