Furball 48-095 P-51B/D Mustang of 487FS 'Meyer's Maulers' Pt. 2

Adding to their previous Furball Aero Design release, this is Part II, titled 48-095 P-51B/D Mustangs 487th F.S. Part II "Meyer's Maulers”. Similar to Part I it is a P-51B/D Mustang themed decal sheet. Mainly known for their superb jet aircraft decals, especially F-14A/D Tomcats in collaboration with the Reference Books from In Detail & Scale in their “Colors & Markings” series, this decal is all about P-51’s from the 487th Fighter Squadron in the European theatre. Furball has previously printed P-47D Thunderbolt, F6F Hellcat, and Colors & Markings of FM-2 Wildcats and Colors & Markings of SBD’s decals so prop airframes are in their previous releases.

Furball Aero Design was founded in January 2012. Their goal is to provide the enthusiast and modeler with the most accurate, well researched, and interesting decal sets available on the market. Their decal sets are always packed with multiple markings options and provide the modeler with excellent value. As a long-time decal buyer, the rise in decal pries over the years is a concern. Prices were under $10.00 for a long time but that was for decal sheets one-half the size of this decal sheet with simplistic black & white instructions. The physical decal sheet measures 8 1/2 X 11 inches. For comparison most decal sheets in the past were in a 6" X 9" format. The decal sheet is printed to the highest quality standards by the Hobby Industry's leading decal printer, Cartograf of Italy. This decal was copyrighted in 2024 and released in 2025.

This release has one decal sheet and six sheets of instructions and color profiles. They are clear and excellent guides to help you finish your model. The superb decals are printed by Cartograf. They are screen printed and legendary for quality and the ability to provide fine detail including tiny stencil lettering that is legible. Color side views and complete, per airframe (!), topside and bottom decal placement and painting guides are significantly helpful because the variation in airframe painting is well illustrated by these guides.

No specific model brand is recommended or indicted. Since there are quite a few P-51B/D models in 1/48 it's appreciated to get some guidance or recommendation. There are complete stencils for approximately 4 airframes. One of the small concerns I have with some decals is they can be translucent, and the Hamilton Standard propeller logo surround is printed in white (which I think is incorrect). The Hamilton Standard propeller logo surround is actually metallic gold. This Furball release provides that color in a golden-yellow which has been the decal norm for many years. It's close enough but not a perfect color – but I’ll take it. The white background oval used in some kit HS prop logo surround looks plain wrong to me. It, the HS prop logo is clearly readable using close-up 3X optic enlargement viewer.  A few companies have provided the correct metallic gold Hamilton Standard propeller logo which I appreciate but it’s rare. Perhaps it’s rare to find the correct metallic gold color used because it is more expensive? (Editor's note. At one time I asked an Airfix rep why they did not include a seat harness with their decals. It was explained to me that printers also charge by the number of colors they use and the shades in the harness were such that they were used no where else on the sheet, making it not cost effective.)

This decal release does provide a vinyl mask to permit the modeler to accurately portray the shape of the 487th F.S. blue painted nose colors which have a stylistic curve. It's very difficult to accurately mask with tape and correctly size the symmetrically blue cowl painted area. It’s a challenging shape and size in general and this inclusion of a painting mask for the nose area is fantastic. Since some of the airframes on this decal sheet include D-Day markings Furball does sell separately vinyl paint masks titled “P-51B Invasion Stripes Masks” (FMS-48-031) to make painting D-Day invasion stripes on your 1/48 P-51B’s a breeze. Masks for full aircraft stripes are included which should work for both P-51B/C and P-51D airframe wings. This set of Invasion Stripe Masks FMS-48-031 will work with either the Tamiya or Eduard kits.

“Meyers Maulers Part2” (48-095) covers 22 options for 487th Fighter Squadron P-51B/Ds:

1. P-51D-15-NA 44-15712, HO-F, LT James Graves, January 1945 “Lady Gue”

2. P-51D-15-NA 44-15712, HO-F, LT James Bateman, March 1945 “Buzz Boy II”

3. P-51D-10-NA 44-14785, HO-B, CAPT. Robert K. Butler, 1945 “Channel Belle 2nd/ Grace Helen

4. P-51D-5-NA 44-13530, HO-A, CAPT. Duerr H. Schuh, March 1945 “Dutchess”

5. P-51D-5-NA 44-13597, HO-F, LT. William Fowler, September 1944 “Stardust”

6. P-51D-10-NA 44-14397, HO-E, LT Cyril Doleac, August 1944 “EX-LAX…Shht ‘n’ Git!

7. P-51D-10-NA 44-14812, HO-S, LT. James N. White, 1945 “Socky”

8. P-51D-10-NA 44-14790, HO-O, LT. C.A. Pattilo, April 1945 “Sweet and Lovely”

9. P-51D-10-NA 44-14668, HO-H, LT. Ralph Hamilton, 1945 “Jeannie M”

10. P-51D-10-NA 44-14819, HO-G, LT. Anthony Goebel , 1945 “Miss Genny Cloud”

11. P-51B-10-NA 43-7167, HO-D, CAPT. Robert C. Draftz 1944 “Gusilier III”

12. P-51B-10-NA 43-7139, HO-G, LT. Cyrus Greer, June 1944 “Lilli Marlene”

13. P-51C-5-NA 42-103758, HO-Z, LT. James Wood, June 1944 “The Fox”

14. P-51D-15-NA 44-15383, HO-X, LT. Cyrus Doleac, November 1944 “Maid of New Orleans”

15. P-51K-5-NT 44-11556, HO-Y, LT. C.A. Pattilo, 1945 “Sweet and Lovely”

16. P-51D-20-NA 44-72216, HO-M Bar, CAPT. Raymond Littge, 1945 “Miss Helen”

17. P-51D-10-NA 44-14285, HO-D, CAPT. Robert Draftz, 1945 “Tillie”

18. P-51D-15-NA 44-14955, HO-I, LT. Karl Ditmer, January 1945 “Dopey Okie”

19. P-51D-10-NA 44-13321, HO-N, LT. Marion Nutter, January 1945 “Sexshunate”

20. P-51D-10-NA 44-14151, HO-M, LT. Col. John C. Meyer, September 1944 “Petie 2nd”

21. P-51D-5-NA 44-13619, HO-B, LT. Harry H. Barnes, August 1944 “Williams-Villian”

22. P-51D-20-NA 44-72216, HO-M, LT. Russell H. Ross, 1945 “Miss Nita”

The set contains enough stencil data decals to build 4 complete models. A vinyl mask set is also included to assist the modeler in painting the blue nose.

For a look at profiles for all the above options, visit them at

https://www.furballaero-design.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=48%2D094

Andrew Garcia

October 2025

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