Home » P-51D Profile – “Little Shrimp”

357th FG Profile

Winter thru Spring, 1945

Modeler Tips:
Side View Notes:
A. Rear red band on propeller boss extends onto spinner to leading edge
of blades when in neutral pitch. Determine width of yellow band by dividing
remainder of spinner evenly.
B. “Little Shrimp” in red with a yellow border, splashed across nose
from lower left to upper right.
C. Glare shield is flat black and tapers away from upper cowl seam
toward center of aircraft from forward bulkhead to propeller boss.
D. Victory Board. 15 black crosses bordered in white & black, 5 columns
of three. Top row adjacent to panel seam. Second column lines up directly
beneath lowest point of side windscreen.
E. Clear perspex quarter dome with oval mirror place inside apex. Not
standard equipment, can be made from scratch using Squadron Brand “Heat
& Smash” Canopy Film. I used sandpaper to even up the shape of the front
corner of an extra Spitfire Mk V “clipped wingtip” from my surplus
parts as a smash mold. Refer to photo of P-51D on Modeler Guide front page.
F. There were no antenna wires installed on this aircraft. Tail Number-
black “463” on fin, “621” on rudder.

Upper & Lower View Notes:
G. Width of checkers reduced on underside in order to fit evenly on the
narrow surfaces of the chin scoop area.
H, I, J. Red, Green, Yellow navigation lights- circular and flush with
wing panel.
K. Formation Lights- Red (Port) and Green (Starboard)

Overall Modeling Tips:
*Paint on the flat colored glare shield first- then mask it off and
paint the remainder of the aircraft in natural aluminum color. Most
metal colors will be marred or removed by masking materials and should
therefore be applied last. Note that this aircraft did not wear any recognition
stripes, after the New Year 1945, most Mustangs in the ETO adopted a cleaner
appearance by omitting theatre markings.
*After building several 357th A/C over the past 30 years, I recommend
painting the nose area forward of the exhaust cutout yellow when the flat
features are painted. Then when decal time comes, carefully cut away the
yellow squares from the checkerboard decal and apply the remaining strip
of red checkers to the nose.
This method significantly reduces the potential for bubbles, and wrinkles
plus it makes exact alignment of the decal easier.
*Prior to assembly, wash clear plastic parts with a mild glass cleaner
and gently wipe dry. Then use a Q-Tip to evenly spread clear liquid floor
wax (Future Brand seems to get the best results) on both inside & outside.
Protect from dust and let dry for at least 2 hours. The wax fills in
microscopic flaws and creates an even gloss that is clearer & shines
brighter than the original plastic underneath.

Repli-Scale Decal Sheet 48-5054