Sheet:

Repliscale 48-5053: 49th FG P-38s

Units: 49th FG

Price

$

Reviewer:

Scott Van Aken

Most of us know the 49th FG for its various variants of P-40 Warhawk. Well the old P-40 was finally retired by the group in late 1944 and replaced with the P-38. Unlike the Warhawks, these were all in natural metal and in some cases, were quite colorful. Others were a bit plain. For your choice of kits, you have Monogram, Academy and Hasegawa. Most will waffle between Academy and Hasegawa as both are good but both have their quirks. The Monogram kit isn't bad, but it is old and the fit is, well, not that good.

First plane is from the 9th FS and piloted by the 49th Group CO. Nothing more than the unit badge on the nose and the individual aircraft number for this one.

From the 8th FS is "The Strawberry Blonde" with even less in interesting colors other than the name on the nose.

We get some color in 'Frenchy II' from the 7th FS. This one has blue on the fin, blue and white prop spinners, and a blue nose ring.

The last plane is 'Virginia Marie' of the 433rd FS. This not only has all the color of 'Frenchy II' but also has white stripes next to the blue markings and has white outlined blue bands on the upper wings. Best of all, it has a nice cheesecake nose art.

There are enough insignia for two planes and enough data markings for one. If you want something a touch different, this sheet should fill the bill.

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