Markings for P-51B Mustang Malcolm Hood canopy 1/48
COL A
P-51B-5-NA, s/n 43-6431, Mjr. Claiborne H. Kinnard Jr., 354th FS, 355th FG, 8th AF, Steeple Morden, United Kingdom, March 1944
Claiborne Holmes Kinnard was one of the most successful ground targets strafer. From November 1943 to June 1944, he led the 354th Fighter Squadron. On June 12, 1944, he was placed in command of the 355th Fighter Group, which he led until the end of August. In September, he was transferred to the 4th Fighter Group, which he also led for a short time from November 3 to November 29, 1944. He then returned to the 355th FG, where he served until May 1945. During his career, he scored eight aerial victories and destroyed another seventeen aircraft on the ground. The P-51B shown here was Kinnard’s first Mustang with the 354th Fighter Squadron, and between March and July 1944, he scored five aerial victories and the same number of ground victories with it. This aircraft bore the name “Man O’War” on both sides of the engine cowling, painted in white on a red background. Above the exhausts was the white inscription “Bulldogs 1.” Under Kinnard’s command, the 355th Fighter Group was the highest-rated group in ground-attack victories, earning it the nickname “Steeple Morden Strafers.”
COL B
P-51B-15-NA, 43-24769, Capt. Willard W. Millikan, 336th FS, 4th FG, 8th AF, Debden, United Kingdom, May 1944
Willard Wesley “Millie” Millikan enlisted as an aviation cadet in the United States Army Air Corps on August 16, 1941. After failing his flight test, he went to England and joined the Royal Air Force, where he served as an F/Sgt with No. 133 Eagle Squadron flying Hurricane and Spitfire aircraft. After the United States entered the war, Millikan was transferred to the U.S. Army Air Forces and, with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, served with the 336th Fighter Squadron, which he later commanded. He flew Republic P-47C Thunderbolt and P-51B Mustang aircraft named Missouri Mauler. On May 22, 1944, he scored his final, 13th aerial victory in the Mustang shown here. A few days later, on May 30, 1944, he had to bail out of his Missouri Mauler near Wittenberg, Germany, after colliding with the Mustang of his wingman, Lt. Sam Young, who was evading anti-aircraft fire. Millikan was captured by the Germans and held as a prisoner of war until April 1945, when, just before Victory in Europe Day in May 1945, he escaped back to his own lines. During World War II, he flew over 200 combat missions, during which he shot down 13 enemy aircraft in aerial combat and destroyed two more on the ground while strafing enemy airfields.
COL C
P-51B-15-NA, 43-24823, Capt. Clerence Anderson, 362nd FS, 357th FG, 8th AF, Leiston, United Kingdom, June 1944
The P-51B Mustang serial number 43-24283 was assigned to Clarence “Bud” Anderson as his third and final wartime P-51B. Like his previous P-51s, this one was named “Old Crow”; this time, the name was painted above the exhausts in large white letters outlined in black. The aircraft was camouflaged in the British colors Dark Green and Medium Sea Grey. Anderson scored nine of his seventeen confirmed kills with this Mustang, and when he completed his tour of duty with the 363rd FS in July 1944, the aircraft was assigned to Lt. William Overstreet. Overstreet had the new name “Berlin Express” painted on the left side of the engine cowling and a drawing of a winged Mustang in a circular crest on the right side of the cowling. The identification letter was changed from S to O.
COL D
P-51C-10-NT, 43-25054, 1Lt. Willard H. Lewis Jr., 79th FS, 20th FG, 8th AF, Kings Cliffe, United Kingdom, August 1944
The Mustang with Four Faces—that’s how one might describe the history of the paint scheme on this P-51C, serial number 43-25054. After the 20th FS transitioned from P-38s to the new P-51 Mustangs, Lt. Willard “Joe” Lewis flew this aircraft from February to September 1944. At that time, the aircraft’s upper surfaces were camouflaged in Olive Drab, and just like Lewis’s previous P-38 Lightning, his new Mustang bore the inscription “Hell’s Belle” and a devil emblem on the nose. With this aircraft, Lewis scored two Bf 109 kills and achieved numerous successes against ground targets during the 287 operational hours he flew during World War II. In the fall of 1944, after the addition of a dorsal fin fillet and the subsequent partial removal of the Olive Drab camouflage—primarily on the fuselage—the aircraft received black-and-white vertical stripes on the nose, and the inscription “Beaverhead Filly” was newly painted on the left side. Lt. Keith C. Price flew this Mustang, achieving his only aerial victory in it. Lt. Robert M. Scott was the next pilot to take over this aircraft, and he had the inscription “Shoot You’re Faded” painted on the left side of the engine cowling, which he later supplemented with “Berties Bet.” Throughout its wartime career, this Mustang was maintained by the same mechanics and armament specialists, Sgt. E. Schrader and Sgt. A. Kublin. Under their care, it logged over 700 flight hours during the war and survived until its end. Eventually, after the war, it crashed near Munich.