Mike Grant Decals 1/48
P-51 Mustangs

I finally took the plunge and ordered some of the highly prized Mike Grant Decals and they arrived in the mail today. Mike Grant is known all over the internet as being a very easy guy to talk to and knowledgeable on many subjects and not just aviation. He is the definition of a Cottage Industry tycoon. He is a one man band in the true tradition of say Mike West of LoneStar Models and the only Bob left at TwoBob Decals, Bob Sanchez.

The P-51 decal sheet has 3 complete sets of decals. The first one is the famous “DING HAO!” that many remember from their early years of building the Monogram kit. Now with the Pro-Modeler, Accurate Miniatures and Tamiya kits out there, you can really do a fantastic version of this aircraft.

The next aircraft is the colorful P-51D of the Chinese Air Force. I think that it would be a super addition to your Mustang collection and very different from your usual 8th Air Force paint schemes.

The last aircraft is actually an F-6D by the name of “Lil’ Margraret” and is absolutely stunning. I consider it to be the best F-6D scheme ever made. The decals even come with the small crosses on the wing used for photo calibration. The complex checkerboard around the nose looks well done and should fit with no problem.

The whites are very white and the small crosses, stencils and kill markings are very well done. From the reference photos I can find the schemes look dead on. There is only one set of stars and bars and one set of Chinese National markings. So if you want to use all three schemes, you will have to dig up a set of star and bars from the decal dungeon.

These decals can compare with the big dogs in quality and accuracy. I highly recommend these decals but you have to remember that Mike does what he can when he can. If you are looking for a same day turnaround or overnight delivery, you will be disappointed but I will tell you that every day you wait is well worth every minute. Because of his short run and that these sheets are not produced by the thousands, the price is a bit higher than say, SuperScale. Again, I say, worth every penny. Right now you can only get the decals at Mike’s website. And as of this writing, he does accept PayPal payment. Check out the other offerings Mike has. You will not be disappointed.

If you want to visit Mike, just go to www.mikegrantdecals.com and check out his different offerings. I ordered P-51 Mustangs pt 1, MG 48-044 from Mike.