Eagle Editions / EagleCals

1/32 P-51D To war with the Yoxford Boys

Sheet Number: EC-103

Reviewed by  Fred Amos, IPMS# 6672

MSRP: $15.00 Review decals courtesy of Eagle Editions (www.eagle-editions.com) EagleCals EC-103 is the last of three releases as a spin off of a book by Merle Olmsted "To War with the Yoxford Boys", formerly of the 357th Fighter Group. There are enough decals for three complete P-51D's but there are only enough data stencils for one aircraft. EagleCals has been generous and provided two full sets of the red and yellow band that goes around the nose, one for the Hasegawa kit and one for the Dragon kit. The three aircraft covered on this sheet are a P-51D flown by Capt' Charles E. Weaver with a very prominent nude image on the lower left nose, Hurry Home Honey flown by Maj. Richard Peterson, and the one I chose to test, Passion Wagon flown by Lt. Avril Robertson. The decal is perfect registry except in one place (on mine). On the red No Step marking on the landing flaps there was a very minor white outline to the left side. Easy to fix and no real problem. Color saturation is very well done. I had painted the area that would be under the noseband white because I expected the darker color to shift the color of the decal. It was unnecessary. I chose to test the decal on Passion Wagon because P-51D's in other than NMF were a rare sight. I had to cut the fin strake off and then build up the fin and fuselage to fill the void. After I had cut and rebuilt it I found out there is an Ultra cast conversion for it.

Live and learn. The instructions with the decal stated that this a/c may have been painted with available Royal Air Force "dark green" and 'medium sea gray so I pulled out some Humbrol paint tins and used them. After applying a gloss coat the decals were laid on. It took just a few seconds in warm water to release the decal and slide into place. I had to put a small slice in the front part of the noseband to get it to conform to the compound curves. The decals were very compatible to the Micro System but on the noseband I used some Champ decal solvent as a back up with good results. The only fit issue is the lower part of the noseband where it has to fit around the lower chin air intake. So all in all I am very pleased with this decal set and can recommend it to all modelers. I still have a 1/32 Hasegawa P-51D left in my stash so I think I will do "Hurry Home Honey" next. Thanks to Eagle Editions for the review sample.

Information, images, and all other items placed electronically on this site are the intellectual property of IPMS/USA ®.