4dq43dl3wum magzus.org

BUILDING THE P-51 Mustang

Compiled by Andy Evans

The P-51 Mustang

he North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American-designed long-range, singleseat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission, who approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October. The Mustang was designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine (which had limited high-altitude performance in its earlier variants). The aircraft was first flown operationally by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk.I). Replacing the Allison with a Rolls-Royce Merlin resulted in the

P-51B/C (Mustang Mk.III) model and transformed the aircraft’s performance at altitudes above 15,000ft (without sacrificing range),] allowing it to compete with the Luftwaffe’s fighters. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-16507, a license-built version of the two-speed twostage-supercharged Merlin 66 and was armed with six .50 calibre M2/AN Browning machine guns.

From late 1943, P-51Bs and P-51Cs (supplemented by P-51Ds from mid-1944) were used by the USAAF’s Eighth Air Force to escort bombers in raids over Germany, while the RAF’s Second Tactical Air Force and the USAAF’s Ninth Air Force used the Merlin-powered Mustangs as fighter-bombers, roles in which the Mustang helped ensure Allied air superiority in 1944. The P-51 was also used by Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean, Italian and Pacific theatres. During World War II, and Mustang pilots claimed to have destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft. At the start of the Korean War, the Mustang, by then redesignated F-51, was the main fighter of the United Nations until jet

North American F-51D Mustang fighters of No.2 Squadron of the South African Air Force in Korea, on 1 May 1951

fighters, including North American’s F-86, took over this role; the Mustang then became a specialised fighter-bomber. Despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After the Korean War, Mustangs became popular civilian warbirds and air racing aircraft

As notes earlier, the Mustang was initially developed for the RAF, which was its first user. As the first Mustangs were built to British requirements, these aircraft used factory numbers and were not P-51s; the order comprised 320 NA-73s, followed by 300 NA-83s, all of which were designated North American Mustang Mark I by the RAF. The first RAF Mustangs supplied under Lend-Lease were ninety-three P-51s, designated Mk.IA, followed by fifty P-51As used as Mustang Mk.IIs. Aircraft supplied to Britain under Lend-Lease were required for accounting purposes to be on the USAAC’s books before they could be supplied to Britain. However, the British Aircraft Purchasing Commission signed its first contract for the North American NA-73 on 24 April 1940, before Lend-Lease was in effect. Thus, the initial order for the P-51 Mustang (as it was later known) was placed by the British under the ‘cash and carry’ program, as required by the US Neutrality Acts of the 1930s. After the arrival of the initial aircraft in the UK in October 1941, the first Mustang Mk.Is entered service in January 1942, the first unit being No.26 Squadron RAF. Due to poor high-altitude performance, the Mustangs were used by Army Co-operation Command, rather than Fighter Command, and were used for tactical reconnaissance and ground-attack duties. On

10 May 1942, Mustangs first flew over France, near Bercksur-Mer. On 27 July 1942, 16 RAF Mustangs undertook their first long-range reconnaissance mission over Germany. During the amphibious Dieppe Raid on the French coast (19 August 1942), four British and Canadian Mustang squadrons, including No.26 Squadron, saw action covering the assault on the ground. By 1943–1944, British Mustangs were used extensively to seek out V-1 flying bomb sites. The last RAF Mustang Mk.I and Mustang Mk.II aircraft were struck off charge in 1945.

The RAF also operated 308 P-51Bs and 636 P-51Cs, which were known in RAF service as Mustang Mk.IIIs; the first units converted to the type in late 1943 and early 1944. Mustang Mk.III units were operational until the end of World War II, though many units had already converted to the Mustang Mk.IV (P-51D) and Mk. IVa (P-51K) (828 in total, comprising 282 Mk.IV and 600 Mk.IVa).As all except the earliest aircraft were obtained under Lend-Lease, all Mustang aircraft still on RAF charge at the end of the War were either returned to the USAAF ‘on paper’ or retained by the RAF for scrapping. The last RAF Mustangs were retired from service in 1947.

The 8th Air Force started operations from Britain in August 1942, and their initial efforts met limited and unorganised resistance, but with every mission, the Luftwaffe moved more aircraft to the west and quickly improved their battle direction. In autumn 1943, the 8th Air Force’s heavy bombers conducted a series of deeppenetration raids into Germany, beyond the range of escort fighters. The Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission in August lost sixty B-17s of a force of 376, the 14 October

A Mustang I in British camouflage and outdated American markings on a test flight from the Inglewood, California factory in October 1942

attack lost seventy-seven from of a force of 291. Losses were so severe that long-range missions were called off for a time until an effective escort could be found. In early 1943, the USAAF also decided that the P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51B be considered for the role of a smaller escort fighter. In August, a P-51B was fitted with an extra internal eighty-five gallon tank, and although problems with longitudinal stability occurred and some compromises in performance with the tank full were made, and because the fuel from the fuselage tank would be used during the initial stages of a mission, the fuel tank would be fitted in all Mustangs destined for VIII Fighter Command. The P-51 Mustang proved to be a great solution to the need for an effective bomber escort. It used a common, reliable engine and had internal space for a larger-than-average fuel load, and with external fuel tanks, it could accompany the bombers from England to Germany and back.

However, the Allison engine in the P-51A had a single-stage supercharger that caused power to drop off rapidly above 15,000ft. This made it unsuitable for combat at the altitudes where USAAF bombers planned to fly. Following the RAF’s initial disappointing experience with the Mustang I (P-51A), Ronald Harker, a test pilot for Rolls-Royce, suggested fitting a Merlin 61, as fitted to the Spitfire Mk.IX. The Merlin 61 had a twospeed, two-stage, intercooled supercharger, designed

by Stanley Hooker of Rolls-Royce, and this gave an increase in horsepower from the Allison’s 1,200hp to 1,620hp (1,720hp in War Emergency Power) delivering an increase of top speed from 390 to 440mph, as well as raising the service ceiling to almost 42,000ft. Initial flights of what was known to Rolls-Royce as the Mustang Mk.X were completed at Rolls-Royce’s airfield at Hucknall in October 1942. At the same time, the possibility of combining the P-51 airframe with the US license-built Packard version of the Merlin engine was being explored on the other side of the Atlantic.

In July 1942 a contract was let for two prototypes, briefly designated XP-78 but soon to become the XP-51B. The first flight of the XP-51B took place in November 1942, but the USAAF was so interested in the possibility that an initial contract for 400 aircraft was placed three months beforehand in August.  The conversion led to production of the P-51B beginning at North American’s Inglewood, California, plant in June 1943, and P-51s started to become available to the 8th and 9th Air Forces in the winter of 1943–1944. During the conversion to the two-stage, supercharged Merlin engine, which was slightly heavier than the single-stage Allison, so moved the aircraft’s centreof-gravity forward, North American’s engineers took the opportunity to add a large additional fuselage fuel tank behind the pilot, greatly increasing the

North American P-51B ‘Shoo Shoo Baby’

aircraft’s range over that of the earlier P-51A.

By the time the Pointblank offensive resumed in early 1944, matters had changed. Bomber escort defences were initially layered, using the shorter-range P-38s and P-47s to escort the bombers during the initial stages of the raid before handing over to the P-51s when they were forced to turn for home. This provided continuous coverage during the raid. The Mustang was so clearly superior to earlier US designs that the 8th Air Force began to steadily switch its fighter groups to the Mustang, first swapping arriving P-47 groups to the 9th Air Force in exchange for those that were using P-51s, then gradually converting its Thunderbolt and Lightning groups. By the end of 1944, fourteen of its fifteen groups flew the Mustang. The Luftwaffe’s twinengined Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters brought up to deal with the bombers proved to be easy prey for the Mustangs and had to be quickly withdrawn from combat. The Focke-Wulf Fw 190A, already suffering from poor high-altitude performance, was outperformed by the Mustang at the B-17’s altitude, and when laden with heavy bomber-hunting weapons as a replacement for the more vulnerable twin-engined Zerstörer heavy fighters, it suffered heavy losses. The Messerschmitt Bf 109 had comparable performance at high altitudes, but its lightweight airframe was even more greatly affected by increases in armament. The Mustang’s much lighter armament, tuned for anti-fighter combat, allowed it to overcome these single-engined opponents. At the start of 1944, Major General James Doolittle, the new

commander of the 8th Air Force, ordered many fighter pilots to stop flying in formation with the bombers and instead attack the Luftwaffe wherever it could be found. The aim was to achieve air supremacy. Mustang groups were sent far ahead of the bombers in a ‘fighter sweep’ in order to intercept attacking German fighters. The Luftwaffe answered with the Gefechtsverband (‘battle formation’). This consisted of a Sturmgruppe of heavily armed and armoured Fw 190As escorted by two Begleitgruppen of Messerschmitt Bf 109s, whose task was to keep the Mustangs away from the Fw 190As attacking the bombers. This strategy proved to be problematic, as the large German formation took a long time to assemble and was difficult to manoeuvre. It was often intercepted by the P-51 ‘fighter sweeps’ before it could attack the bombers. However, German attacks against bombers could be effective when they did occur; the bomber-destroyer Fw 190As swept in from astern and often pressed their attacks to within 100 yards. The numerical superiority of the USAAF fighters, superb flying characteristics of the P-51, and pilot proficiency helped cripple the Luftwaffe’s fighter force. As a result, the fighter threat to US, and later British, bombers were greatly diminished by July 1944. The RAF, long proponents of night bombing for protection, were able to reopen daylight bombing in 1944 as a result of the crippling of the Luftwaffe fighter arm. On 15 April 1944, VIII Fighter Command began Operation ‘Jackpot’ attacks on Luftwaffe fighter airfields. As

An F-82 in formation with a P-51D

the efficacy of these missions increased, the number of fighters at the German airbases fell to the point where they were no longer considered worthwhile targets. On 21 May, targets were expanded to include railways, locomotives, and rolling stock used by the Germans to transport materiel and troops, in missions dubbed ‘Chattanooga’. The P-51 excelled at this mission, although losses were much higher on strafing missions than in air-to-air combat, partially because the Mustang’s liquid-cooled engine (particularly its coolant system) was vulnerable to small-arms fire, unlike the air-cooled R-2800 radials of its Republic P-47 Thunderbolt stablemates based in England, regularly tasked with ground-strafing missions. Given the overwhelming Allied air superiority, the Luftwaffe put its effort into the development of aircraft of such high performance that they could operate with impunity, but which also made bomber attack much more difficult, merely from the flight velocities they achieved. Foremost among these were the Messerschmitt Me 163B point-defence rocket interceptors, which started their operations with JG 400 near the end of July 1944, and the longer-endurance Messerschmitt Me 262A jet fighter. Lt. Chuck Yeager of the 357th Fighter Group was one of the first American pilots to shoot down an Me 262, which he caught during its landing approach. On 7 October 1944, Lt. Urban L Drew of the 361st Fighter Group shot down two Me 262s that were taking off, while on the same day Lt. Col. Hubert Zemke, who had

transferred to the Mustang-equipped 479th Fighter Group, shot down what he thought was a Bf 109, only to have his gun camera film reveal that it may have been an Me 262. On 25 February 1945, Mustangs of the 55th Fighter Group surprised an entire Staffel of Me 262As at take-off and destroyed six jets. The Mustang also proved useful against the V-1s launched toward London. P-51B/Cs using 150-octane fuel were fast enough to catch the V-1 and operated in concert with shorter-range aircraft such as advanced marks of the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Tempest. By 8 May 1945, the 8th, 9th, and 15th Air Force’s P-51 groups claimed some 4,950 aircraft shot down (about half of all USAAF claims in the European theatre, the most claimed by any Allied fighter in air-to-air combat) and 4,131 destroyed on the ground. Losses were about 2,520 aircraft. The 8th Air Force’s 4th Fighter Group was the top-scoring fighter group in Europe, with 1,016 enemy aircraft claimed destroyed. This included 550 claimed in aerial combat and 466 on the ground. In air combat, the top-scoring P-51 units (both of which exclusively flew Mustangs) were the 357th Fighter Group of the 8th Air Force with 565 air-to-air combat victories and the 9th Air Force’s 354th Fighter Group with 664, which made it one of the top-scoring fighter groups. The top Mustang ace was the USAAF’s George Preddy, whose final tally stood at 26.83 victories (a number that includes shared one half- and one third victory credits), twenty-three of which were scored with the P-51. Preddy was shot down and killed by friendly fire on

A USAAF North American F-6C from the 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron in World War II

Christmas Day 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge.

In early 1945, P-51C, D, and K variants also joined the Chinese Nationalist Air Force. These Mustangs were provided to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Fighter Groups and used to attack Japanese targets in occupied areas of China. The P-51 became the most capable fighter in China, while the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force used the Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate against it. The P-51 was a relative latecomer to the Pacific Theatre, due largely to the need for the aircraft in Europe, although the P-38’s twin-engined design was considered a safety advantage for long, over-water flights. The first P-51s were deployed in the Far East later in 1944, operating in close-support and escort missions, as well as tactical photo reconnaissance. As the war in Europe wound down, the P-51 became more common; eventually, with the capture of Iwo Jima, it was able to be used as a bomber escort during Boeing B-29 Superfortress missions against the Japanese homeland. The P-51 was often mistaken for the Japanese Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien in both China and Pacific because of its similar appearance. In the aftermath of World War II, the USAAF consolidated much of its wartime combat force and selected the P-51 as a ‘standard’ pistonengined fighter, while other types, such as the P-38 and P-47, were withdrawn or given substantially reduced roles. As more advanced jet fighters were introduced, the P-51 was also relegated to secondary duties.

In 1947, the newly formed USAF Strategic Air

Command employed Mustangs alongside F-6 Mustangs and F-82 Twin Mustangs, due to their range capabilities. In 1948, the designation P-51 (P for pursuit) was changed to F-51 (F for fighter) and the existing F designator for photographic reconnaissance aircraft was dropped because of a new designation scheme throughout the USAF. Aircraft still in service in the USAF or Air National Guard (ANG) when the system was changed included: F-51B, F-51D, F-51K, RF51D (formerly F-6D), RF-51K (formerly F-6K) and TRF51D (two-seat trainer conversions of F-6Ds). They remained in service from 1946 through 1951. By 1950, although Mustangs continued in service with the USAF after the war, the majority of the USAF’s Mustangs had become surplus to requirements and placed in storage, while some were transferred to the Air Force Reserve and the ANG. From the start of the Korean War, the Mustang once again proved useful. A substantial number of stored or in-service F-51Ds were shipped, via aircraft carriers, to the combat zone, and were used by the USAF, the South African Air Force, and the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF). The F-51 was used for ground attack, fitted with rockets and bombs, and photo reconnaissance, rather than being as interceptors or pure fighters. After the first North Korean invasion, USAF units were forced to fly from bases in Japan and the F-51Ds, with their long range and endurance, could attack targets in Korea that short-ranged F-80 jets could not. Because of the vulnerable liquid cooling system,

P-51D Mustang ‘Lou IV’ of the 361st Fighter Group Little Walden Airfield England

however, the F-51s sustained heavy losses to ground fire. Due to its lighter structure and a shortage of spare parts, the newer, faster F-51H was not used in Korea. Mustangs continued flying with USAF and ROKAF fighter-bomber units on close support and interdiction missions in Korea until 1953, when they were largely replaced as fighter-bombers by USAF F-84s and by US Navy Grumman F9F Panthers. Other air forces and units using the Mustang included the Royal Australian Air Force’s No.77 Squadron, which flew Australianbuilt Mustangs as part of British Commonwealth Forces Korea. The Mustangs were replaced by Gloster Meteor F8s in 1951. The South African Air Force’s No.2 Squadron used US-built Mustangs as part of the 18th Fighter Bomber Wing and suffered heavy losses by 1953, after which the squadron converted to the F-86 Sabre.

F-51s flew in the Air Force Reserve and ANG throughout the 1950s. The last American USAF Mustang was F-51D-30-NA AF serial no. 44-74936, which was finally withdrawn from service with the West Virginia Air National Guard’s 167th Fighter Interceptor Squadron in January. The final withdrawal of the Mustang from USAF dumped hundreds of P-51s onto the civilian market.

The rights to the Mustang design were purchased from North American by the Cavalier Aircraft Corporation, which attempted to market the surplus Mustang aircraft in the US and overseas. In 1967 and again in 1972, the USAF procured batches of remanufactured Mustangs from Cavalier, most of them destined for air forces in South America and Asia that were participating in the Military Assistance Program (MAP). These aircraft

were remanufactured from existing original F-51D airframes fitted with new V-1650-7 engines, a new radio, tall F-51H-type vertical tails, and a stronger wing that could carry six 13mm machine guns and a total of eight underwing hardpoints. They all had an original F-51D-type canopy but carried a second seat for an observer behind the pilot. One additional Mustang was a two-seat, dual-control TF-51D (67-14866) with an enlarged canopy and only four wing guns. Although these remanufactured Mustangs were intended for sale to South American and Asian nations through the MAP, they were delivered to the USAF with full USAF markings. They were, however, allocated new serial numbers (67-14862/14866, 67-22579/22582 and 72-1526/1541). The last US military use of the F-51 was in 1968, when the US Army employed a vintage F-51D (44-72990) as a chase aircraft for the Lockheed YAH-56 Cheyenne armed helicopter project. The F-51 was adopted twenty-five foreign air forces and continued to be an effective fighter into the mid-1980s with smaller air arms. The last Mustang ever downed in battle occurred during Operation ‘Power Pack’ in the Dominican Republic in 1965, with the last aircraft finally being retired by the Dominican Air Force in 1984. Various marks of the P-51 were used by the air forces of Australia, Bolivia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Soviet Union and Uruguay.

P-51D 44-14888 of the 8th AF/357th FG/363rd FS, named ‘Glamorous Glen III’, is the aircraft in which Chuck Yeager achieved most of his 12.5 kills, including two Me 262s

Variants

P-51 Variants

NA-73X Mustang Mk.I (NA-73 and NA-83) - The first production contract was awarded by the British for 320 NA-73 fighters. A second British contract for 300 more Mustang Mk.Is was assigned a model number of NA-83 by North American. The RAF mostly used its Allison-engined Mustangs as tactical-photo reconnaissance fighters, fitting many of its Mustang Is, IAs, and IIs with camera equipment.

XP-51 - Two aircraft of the first production batch, delivered to the USAAF.

P-51 (NA-91) - In September 1940 150 aircraft were ordered by the USAAF. These were designated by the USAAF as P-51 and initially named the Apache, although this name was dropped early-on for Mustang. The British designated this model as Mustang Mk.IA. A-36A Apache (NA-97) - In early 1942, the USAAF ordered a lot of 500 aircraft modified as dive bombers and designated A-36A. This model became the first USAAF Mustang to see combat. One aircraft was passed to the British, who gave it the name Mustang Mk.I

P-51A (NA-99) - Following the A-36A order, the USAAF ordered 310 P-51As, fifty of which were delivered to the RAF as Mustang IIs. Thirty-five P-51As were equipped with K-24 cameras and designated F-6B. All these models of the Mustang were equipped with Allison V-1710 engines except the prototype XP-51B.

XP-51B (NA-101) - Two USAAF ordered P-51s had been allocated to be fitted and tested with Packard-Merlin’s; these were first called XP-78s by the USAAF, but were soon re-designated as XP-51Bs.

P-51B (NA-102) - Beginning with this model the Packard V-16503 replaced the Allison, although from the P-51B-10NA series the V-1650-7 was used. Almost 2,000 P-51Bs were built.

P-51C (NA-103) - In the summer of 1943, Mustang production was begun at a new plant in Dallas, Texas, as well as at the existing facility in Inglewood, California. The P-51C version mainly used the medium-altitude rated V-1650-7. The RAF named these models Mustang Mk.III. 1,750 P-51Cs were built. The RAF also used P-51Bs and Cs, designating them Mustang IIIs. A number of P-51Bs and Cs were modified as tactical-photo reconnaissance fighters and re-designated as F-6Cs.

P-51D (NA-106) - A P-51B-1NA (43-12102) was modified and tested with a cut down rear fuselage and clear-blown canopy structure, becoming the fore-runner of the production P-51Ds.

P-51D (NA-109) - As well as the modified fuselage and new canopy the production P-51Ds had modified wings compared with the P-51B/C series and became the most widely produced variant of the Mustang, with 6,502 being built at Inglewood and 1,600 at Dallas - a combined total of 8,102. 280 were used by the RAF and designated Mustang Mk.IV.

P-51K - A Dallas-built variation of the P-51D equipped with an Aeroproducts propeller in place of the Hamilton Standard propeller was designated P-51K; 1,500 of these were built. The RAF received 594 P-51-Ks and assigned them the name Mustang Mk.IVA.

F-6D - 136 Dallas built P-51Ds were completed as photoreconnaissance version designated F-6D. 147 Inglewood built P-51Ds were converted to F-6D standard for a total of 283 F-6Ds.

F-6K - The photo-reconnaissance versions of the P-51K, of which 163 were built in Dallas, was designated F-6K.

P-51F - As the USAAF specifications required airframe design to a higher load factor than that used by the British for their fighters, consideration was given to re-designing the Mustang to the lower British requirements in order to reduce the weight of the aircraft and thus improve performance. In 1943, North American submitted a proposal to do the re-design as model NA-105, which was accepted by the USAAF. The designation XP51F was assigned for prototypes powered with V-1650 engines. A small number of P-51Fs were passed to the British as the Mustang Mk.V.

P-51G - XP-51G was assigned to those variants with reverse lend/lease Merlin 14.SM engines. Modifications included changes to the cowling, a simplified undercarriage with smaller wheels and disk brakes, and a larger canopy.

P-51J - A third prototype was added to the development that was powered by an Allison V-1710 engine. This aircraft was designated XP-51J

P-51H - The final production Mustang, the P-51H, embodied the experience gained in the development of the lightweight XP-51F and XP-51G aircraft. This aircraft, model NA-126, and, with minor differences, NA-129, came too late to participate in World War II, but it brought the development of the Mustang to a peak and was one of the fastest production piston-engine fighters to see service.

P-51L - With the cutback in production, the variants of the P-51H with different versions of the Merlin engine were produced in either limited numbers or terminated, including the P-51L, similar to the P-51H but utilizing the 2,270hp V-1650-11 engine, which was never built.

P-51M - The Dallas-built version of the P-51H, the P-51M, or NA-124, which utilised the V-1650-9A engine lacking water injection and therefore rated for lower maximum power, of which one was built out of the original 1629 ordered, AAF Serial Number 45-11743.

TF-51D - Twin seat/dual control version of the F-51 with four versus six guns.

F-82 Twin Mustang - Very long-range (VLR) development of the Mustang obtained by coupling two highly modified P-51H fuselages to a single wing. First flown in June 1945, it was to be the last American piston-engine fighter ordered into production by the USAF, with 272 built, and was subsequently deployed in the Korean War.

P-51D-5-NA, assigned to Lieutenant Abe P. Rosenberger, with the kinked wing root leading edge and the added fin fillet on the tail present

‘Yoxford Boys’

Tamiya first released their 1:48 P-51D Mustang back in 1995 and, until 2017 it has remained the best in this scale. However, we now have newer examples of the P-51 from Eduard, Meng-Model and Airfix. I have looked at these kits very closely and they are equally fantastic, although I preferred the refinement and detail of the Eduard and Airfix kits. That said, the Meng-Model offering looked a great kit and I decided to purchase one. Part of the reason for this was I wanted to try out their ‘glue-free’ approach on this kit. When most modellers think of this they immediately think back to the old Revell ‘Snap-Tite’ kits, however, this kit is nothing like thatthe approach Meng-Model have taken to this makes the kit an absolute joy to build. They have eliminated all of the major fuselage seams and the top cowl, bottom cowl, and rear fuselage insert are all moulded as a one-piece ‘push in’ part and the fit is sublime. Most of the major sub-assemblies push together snugly using large plugs. In some respects there is a

similarity on fit around the nose similar to the Tamiya 1:32 kit, however, Tamiya made these parts removable so as to expose the Merlin engine underneath.

The kit comes in 102 injection-moulded pieces and there are also five clear parts. The decal sheet looks good and is in perfect register, although I do not intend to use it on this build. I planned this finish on this project to be as close to plain bare metal as possible - the only colour I want to add is the anti-glare strip in front of the windscreen, and the unit markings on the nose. I plan to finish the build as the personnel aircraft of

Captain Charles E ‘Chuck’ Weaver of Detroit, Michigan, 362nd Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group, Yoxford, England, 1945, serial no. 44-72199. The aircraft has a distinctive piece of nose art - a nude lady reclining on a black sheet. Construction began by removing all the major parts from the sprues and cleaning them up. The cockpit is well-detailed straight-from-the-box- the only thing I needed to add was the seat belts, which Meng-Model have omitted from the kit, and I also added a couple of knobs on the starboard side console punched out of sheet styrene. Both sides of the fuselage were sprayed using Mr Hobby Aqueous H58 Interior Green, and the detail was all picked out using Vallejo acrylics dry brushed initially, before using a 000 brush to mark all the details in. I also added the wiring to the battery packs at the rear of the cockpit. Meng-Model supplies a decal for the instrument panel, but I had a Sky Decals marking sheet in my ‘spares-box’ that had a panel on it. I punched the individual instruments out and with the aid of some Microsol placed these into the recesses for each dial. I also used some Airscale cockpit placards for added realism. The K-14 gunsight is a clear moulded piece that was painted and slotted into place, with the armoured glass plate pushed into place.

I joined the two parts of the fuselage together and ran a little Tamiya Extra Thin glue along the joins to ensure the parts stayed firmly in place. However, when I went to add the windscreen and forward cowls, I

noticed there is a fit issue - when all three parts are put in place, the middle part and windshield will not sit correctly. I had to do some trimming to get these pieces to fit, and had to run a little putty under the middle piece to hide the gap that remained. I then set this aside and concentrated on painting the tail planes and rudder, which come as separate parts. This would come in handy if one is intending to have a painted ruddermy version will just be painted silver. The parts were all primed using Alclad Black Primer and Micro Filler that once dry, was buffed into a shine. I used Alclad Airframe Aluminium for the metal parts of the tail planes, and Dull Aluminium for the silver painted elevators. Once these had dried thoroughly, I used AK Interactive Gauzy to seal the finish, before weathering using AK Streaking Grime. I went back to painting the fuselage. The windshield and cockpit were masked off. I used the alternative canopy as a mask for the cockpit area. This was primed in Alclad Black Primer, before being buffed back to check for any flaws or marks in the fuselage. I

I needed to add the seat belts, which MengModel have omitted from the kit

Adding the windshield ready for masking

The completed look of the cockpit

Alclad provided the natural metal shades for my ‘pony’

used several different shades of Alclad to achieve the finish on the fuselage, highlighting certain panels and metals on the airframe. I used a combination of Airframe Aluminium, White Aluminium, Polished Aluminium, Steel, Stainless Steel and Chrome. Certain panels were masked off to allow the separate colours to be applied. I sealed this again using AK Interactive Gauzy. Next in the process, was to mask the area on the nose for the anti-glare panel to be added. I sprayed this using Tamiya XF-62 Olive Drab. Once sealed, I was ready to add the decals to the fuselage, before working on the wings.

The wings are made up of three principal partsthe undersection is one continuous spar piece that incorporates each wing and the central fuselage section - then you also have the top sections of each wing. When I built my P-51D Mustang, featured in the February 2016 issue of Model Aircraft, I added the wings after the fuselage had been completely finished. A rationale for doing this was that the wings on the P-51 during World War II were puttied and then painted, whereas the fuselage was natural metal. I test fitted the main spar with one wing in place, and it fitted perfectly, but discovered it is not possible to put both wings in place, as it will not go on over the bulge in the fuselage

at the root of the wing. This meant that I would wait to paint the front of the wing, due to gluing together once in place and removing the join from the front edge. As I was trying to recreate an authentic looking World War II finish I puttied the wing panel lines and rivets using Milliput, before priming in Alclad Black Primer. These would be painted using Alclad White Aluminium paintthis looks paler than the normal paints and shows the difference between the NMF finish and the painted wings. The flaps, ailerons and the reinforced panels on the belly, behind the undercarriage doors, were given a coat of Alclad Chrome, as these areas were unpainted metal. These were sealed and added to the wings. The flaps and ailerons have to be added before the wings are glued together as they use locating pins that have quite large tabs at top to hold them in place. The wings were placed into positions and both halves pushed together. I ran a very thin line of Tamiya Extra Thin along the edges to keep these sealed. Once this was dry, I buffed the edges back, removing the join marks.

I then masked the wing from the gun bays back, and added a second coat of White Aluminium to the front third, covering the areas I had previously sanded. Once this was dry I clear coated the wings in preparation for decals. Before getting to the decaling I prepared the remaining parts for paint- this included the undercarriage, propeller and drop tanks. The drop tanks were painted chrome that I then buffed into a high shine before sealing. The propeller assembly was painted aluminium initially. I sprayed the tips of each blade yellow, then once dry, masked these off. I put a coat of

I chose to use markings from the Eagle Cals #EC-103 ‘To War with the

You

AK Interactive Chipping Fluid over the top half of the blades and then sprayed them Tyre Black. I then chipped off the black to show the metal underneath. This was only done on the top half of each blade, as the Hamilton Standard propeller used on the P-51D had a rubber cuff on the bottom half of each blade. The 357th FG wore distinctive markings on the nose of their aircraft- a red and yellow checkerboard on the nose, behind the propeller, and the spinner had 2 red bands separated by a yellow band. The spinner was sprayed yellow, masked in the middle and then the two red bands added. This was all clear coated for the decals to be added to the propeller blades. I chose to use markings from the Eagle Cals #EC-103 ‘To War with the Yoxford Boys’ sheet, as previously explained. The artwork for the nose art is beautiful, and I used these

can see the effects of different shades of Alclad here

and all the unit and national insignia but I chose to use a lot of the stencils from the kit, as they appear clearer.

I had no issues whatsoever getting the decals to conform to the surface of the aircraft, with no silvering. Once all the markings were on, the airframe was yet again clear coated for weathering. I use two steps for weathering- the first is to put a panel line wash over the entire model. For this I use Ammo by MIG Dark Brown panel wash. I let that dry, then wipe clear with a clean sheet of kitchen towel. I prefer to do this rather than use thinner, as the residue left from the wash leaves a dirt appearance to the paintwork. The second step is to further enhance the dirt with streaking grime. I run this around recesses and areas where you would expect a build-up of dirt. I let this sit for a moment, before using a rounded brush to blend this in. I added the exhaust staining using Alclad Hot Metal shades- namely Sepia, Red and Blue. The sepia worked to show the dirt from the exhaust whilst the red and blue worked to show the heat discolouration on the metal. The next stage was to flatten the anti-glare strip, propeller and national markings. For this I used Tamiya XF-22 Flat Clear.

The final steps to the model were to add the undercarriage and main canopy. The main gear legs slot into place and two lugs hold them in place. The angle they legs sit at are far too

perpendicular when in place. I had to cut approximately one third of the locating lug off and that gave the gear legs the correct angle. The hubs push into place in the tyre, and the assembled wheel then pushes onto a locating pin on the gear leg. The approach MengModel have made makes the kit very simple to paint, and so I painted all the smaller assemblies separate before slotting them into place. The P-51D Mustang from Meng-Model is a very welcome arrival on the market. Their approach to the kit make it rather easy to build, but it does not sacrifice anywhere in detail. If the modeller chooses to super-detail his build and add engines and such there will be a bit of extra work required to remove the internal structures of the kit. However, in pure kit form it builds up beautifully and creates a great replica of this iconic fighter.

Working on the propeller

Adding staining and weathering to the tail…….

…and the fuselage

This is the second Tamiya Mustang kit I’ve built, the first being their P-51B Mustang III in the markings of No.315 (Polish) Squadron RAF, so I knew before I started that this should be a relatively quick, simple build. Tamiya’s P-51D kit first appeared in 1995 and until very recently was undoubtedly one of the best Mustang kits available in this scale. The levels of detail out of the box are overall very good, although there are a couple of well-known issues such as the boxed-in wheel wells, the Hamilton Propellers supplied have cuffs that are too broad, and the join between the clear plastic element of the canopy and the canopy frame leave a very noticeable gap. These

build.

Construction began with the cockpit, and having decided to use the Eduard set, I began by sanding and scraping off most of the raised details to prepare the parts for the etched brass replacements. I don’t often use pre-painted etch for kits, but the level of detail available with these is light-years ahead of my ability with a brush, so I was happy to let this one slide. The interior was painted Interior Green, and washed with is typical of most Tamiya kits. The fuselage required hardly any clean-up of seam lines and the wing to fuselage joint which on a lot of kits can be problematic was as near to perfect as I’ve ever encountered. The wheel wells were sprayed a custom mix of ZincChromate Green, based on reference images I found online, and after another heavily thinned Black oil wash added more depth to the colour, the appropriate details were picked out with Tamiya Aluminium. Before I knew it, the main construction was complete, and it was time for painting. I’d decided by this point that I’d build Captain William G Burlingame’s ‘Buzz Boy IV’ from a Superscale Decal sheet, with the full-colour post-war roundels and a green and white nose as worn by the 41st Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group, based in Japan in 1947. So, I primed the model with Alclad Gloss Black Primer in preparation for the natural metal finish. The wings were then sprayed Alclad Aluminium to represent a lacquered finish, and then masked-off so I could focus on the bare metal finish found on wartime Mustangs. A base coat of Alclad Airframe Aluminium provided the base,

from which to build the higher shine finish. The numerous panels were masked-off and sprayed with varying shades, including White Aluminium, Dark Aluminium, Duraluminium, with Titanium for the areas around the exhausts.

The Superscale decals reacted beautifully with Microsol and Microset and even the large green nose markings conformed perfectly to the difficult curves they had to wrap around. One element that did worry me was matching the green of the decals to the propeller spinner which had to be masked and

painted. As luck would have it though Superscale have used a green which is practically identical to Citadel paints ‘Warpstone Glow’ and in my eyes at least I can’t see a difference. The decals were sealed under a coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss, which had the added benefit of sealing and protecting the high shine, which although stunning are somewhat fragile and susceptible to finger marks. Weathering on this model was kept to a minimum as although they were well-worked machines, they were also well looked after. Exhaust staining was applied with Lifecolor Tensocrom Smoke and White Oxide through my airbrush, along with some extra smoke around the gun-barrels. The undersides of the wing around the main undercarriage and fuel tanks along with the walkway area on the port wing were stippled using an old brush and a very dilute mixture of Tamiya Acrylic Thinners and Ammo by MiG Europe Dust pigments to simulate the dirt that accumulated in these areas. At this point, I thought I’d finished the model and proudly posted some images on a Facebook forum. The most interesting response came from one ‘Burl’ Burlingame – the son of Captain William Burlingame.

After the exchange of a few emails, Burl incredibly kindly agreed to send me high-quality scans of the images he had of his father from his time in Japan and Korea immediately after the war. Captain Burlingame’s squadron had been rotated to Japan late in 1945 to become part of the American occupying forces, but at weekends they would take four aircraft to Korea to be the ‘Korean Air Force’ for a few days at a time!

for me. Firstly, the Superscale decal instructions had missed off the green trim around the bottom of the canopy frame. This was easily fixed as the paint was straight from the pot. There was also another issue which cropped up because of Burl’s images, as the green which Superscale used on their decals is quite vivid in comparison to the green in the photographs. Unfortunately, as the decals were already on the model at this stage I had no option but to accept the difference. The final issue being the dual wooden aerials behind the cockpit. I debated whether to address this, but as I’d already achieved a natural metal finish I was happy with I was too scared I’d ruin it in trying to correct the aerials, so this is one inaccuracy I’m happy to live with. The most rewarding part of this build though for me was being able to make contact with the son of Captain Burlingame, and to make my model far more representative of the real aircraft. Special thanks go to Burl Burlingame for very kindly giving me permission to use his father’s pictures along with my own.

‘Buzz Boy IV’ in Korea

Photographs courtesy of Burl Burlingame

‘Rovin Rhoda’

James Ashton builds the 1:48 Eduard P-51D

Given the number of P-51D Mustang kits in this scale on the market it was a surprise to see that Eduard have joined the fray. My initial reaction was ‘not another P-51 kit’? Then I had second thoughts when I considered what Eduard have done with previous home-produced kits and not just re-boxings of other manufacturer’s releases. It all began with their superb Fw190 range and has been followed by the Hellcat, Bf109 and what must be the ultimate Spitfire model, certainly in 1:48. All these kits have had beautiful levels of surface and interior detailing. This is complemented by Eduard’s excellent etch and super-quality decals and a number of well-chosen attractive options. Upon opening the box, you are greeted with the usual high-quality booklet style glossy instruction sheet and a number of heavily populated sprues. As I suspected, upon closer inspection of the main airframe parts the quality of the detailing is astonishing. Finely recessed panel lines are complemented by fastener details and amazingly discreet riveting as seen on the Spitfire kit. The attention to detail continues to leap out as you

cast your eyes over the cockpit and wheel well parts. It seems that Eduard have also provided a number of interior parts for different P-51 variants that will no doubt follow in times to come. All good so far, but how does it all go together was the next question to be answered. As I carefully removed and cleaned up all the parts for the cockpit it became evident what a masterpiece this area is. With the addition of etched placards, instrument panel and seat belts you are left in no doubt that this is the best detailed P-51 on the market. The attention to detail continues not only in the main gear bay but also the rear wheel bay and the radiator sections. As much as I was enjoying this part

of the construction, I could not help but wonder if the fuselage and wings would all go together without any hiccoughs. I am happy to report that it does, with care, go together very well indeed. You will need to work along the fuselage a step at a time so as to get good alignment. Pay attention to the nose and radiator seams so as to avoid any stepping misalignment. The next big

heart in mouth moment was the fit of the wings. I did find that I had to squeeze the leading edges together at the wing root to get a nice tight fit. A little light sanding of the front edge of the wheel bays made it a lot easier.

Certainly, this is nothing like the problem in this area that I encountered with their old tool Fw 190 series. When this assembly is offered up to the main fuselage, I was very impressed with the satisfying click as it slotted nicely into position. With a little sight adjustment, the wing roots produced a seamless join along the whole length of the connection with the fuselage. I had chosen option D on the instruction sheet which is the only non-natural metal finished aircraft. The main reason for this was that I have seen all the other options already modelled. The

second was that I had another Olive Drab and Neutral grey kit I was painting at the time. Not to mention I quite like the Yellow and Red pattern on the nose and spinner. The decals are of the highest of quality and have fine carrier film and are in perfect register. The checkerboard pattern around the nose is provided in two parts and they did require a bit of manoeuvring and setting solution to get them to conform.

I nearly forgot to mention another bonus of Eduard kits is the provision of their high quality die cut masking tape. These make it so much easier to achieve a sharp finish to your canopies especially when dealing with curves and rounded edges. Without a doubt Eduard have produced the best detailed P-51D on the market in 1:48. Because of the complexity and the etched parts I would not say it is the easiest kit to build for a beginner. However, if you are

used to working with these mediums it is a straight forward build for the intermediate modeller. So, is this the best P-51D kit on the market? When it comes to levels of detailing both surface and internal by a country mile it is! The overall ease of construction is relative to its complexity as a kit, so it would not be fair to mark it down against some of the other ‘shake and bake’ kits available. This is a stunningly good kit and at a very reasonable price. If you are a fan of the P-51 you will want more than a few of these kits in your stash. Nice one Eduard you have done it again.

A

ollowing hot on the heels of their highly acclaimed P-51D, Tamiya’s P-51B first appeared in 1995, and the RAF Mustang III package appeared the following year. Further releases of the basic Merlin powered Mustang ‘B’ kit continued up until 2010, when a limited edition ‘Blue Nose’ issue complete with a standing pilot figure, brought the production run

to an end, for the time being at least. As far as quality of engineering and over-all accuracy goes, even after twenty-years, the vintage Mustang is still pretty good. The Tamiya kit is hard to fault, though with a single caveat - the cockpit floor is noticeably curved, which was a feature of the earlier Allison powered Mustangs

Jay Blakemore builds the Tamiya 1:48 RAF Mustang III

but not of the Merlin powered Mk.III, which had a flat cockpit floor. Luckily there are plenty of after-market detail sets still widely available which means that an inaccurate cockpit floor is a minor inconvenience. Moulded in Tamiya’s familiar mid-grey plastic, the kit parts feature recessed panel lines, which although wonderfully sharp-edged, might appear a little deep to modern eyes. The detailing though, in the form of access panels, grilles and rivets, is wonderfully and subtly done, and is easily comparable to that of today’s top kit manufacturers. Both the blown ‘Malcolm Hood’

and the heavily framed ‘bird cage’ type canopy are included in the kit, though the overall parts count is small at around fifty pieces, and straight from the box Tamiya’s Mustang III appeared to be a simple build. Of course, I intended to make things more difficult for myself by adding some resin detail sets, and indeed, the large number of after-market accessories available for the Tamiya kit are in of themselves confirmation if confirmation were needed, of the kit’s classic status.

I began work on the Tamiya kit by getting the ‘dirty jobs’ out of the way first. These included removing the interior fuselage detail from the cockpit side-walls, and removing the wheel-bays in their entirety to make way for the after-market sets. Not for the first time however, I found myself questioning the logic of my decisions as the kit detailing, especially that of the main wheel bays, proved to be more than adequate straight from the colourful Tamiya box. Once I had fitted the Aires items though, I was glad once again that I had gone to the trouble. The Czech manufacturer, Aires produce many exquisite detail sets, and the Mustang III cockpit and wheel bay sets are amongst them. On the down side, the Aires detail sets often require a lot of work to make them fit and the instructions are usually rather vague and only of limited use when it comes to positioning some of the smaller resin and etched brass parts. But the sense of achievement one feels once they are installed and painted, more than compensates for the extra research

one may have to do to make up for their shortcomings. Thankfully the Mustang III Cockpit Set offered no problems, though the single piece wheel bay was a different matter entirely. Removing the kit wheel-bay from the one-piece lower wing was a demanding job that required the use of drills, chisel blades, sanding burrs, wet and dry sandpaper and needle files. Because of the depth of the resin insert, it was necessary to greatly reduce the thickness of the plastic on the interior surfaces of both the upper and lower wing halves before the insert would fit comfortably within the wing-space. The resin insert too needs reducing in size, and the reverse side of the wheel-bay roof was tracing-paper thin before the wings would finally and grudgingly close around it. I did have to do some

patching-up work on the wing leading edges once the wings were finally cemented together, especially around the gun-ports, which had been chewed to a ragged appearance. Despite there being a pair of resin gun bays and four resin and etched machine guns included in the Aires detail set, I decided to open-up just one of the wing-mounted gun bays. More drilling and cutting was therefore required to remove the plastic maintenance hatches in the upper starboard wing-half. I had actually intended to open-up the port wing, so both the cockpit and the gun bay would be open to view on the same side of the airframe, but started work on the wrong one by mistake. The wonderfully detailed, one-piece resin wing insert, fitted comfortably against the underside of the upper wing with only a little thinning of the plastic required, though short lengths of plastic strip were needed to fill some noticeable gaps along its edges once it was glued in place. Otherwise the fit was perfect. I also felt it necessary at this stage to hollow-out the exhaust

Working on the wheel well detail set……and installing it into the wing section

stubs – there are two styles of exhaust supplied in the kit, which was achieved using the point of a new scalpel blade. I decided too to replace the kit wheels with resin replacements from the True Details range of accessories. The latter items are noticeably superior to the kit items and benefit from weighted tyres, but they too are rather simplistic in design and feature solid hubs rather than the hollow hubs of the real aircraft. Eduard do now offer far superior, multi part resin alternatives that realistically replicate the hollow nature of the hub centres, but as I had already had the True Details items, I naturally used them.

Perhaps typically for a kit of the Mustang’s vintage, there are no internal bulkheads or structural details beyond the cockpit. The fuselage remains just a hollow shell therefore, as the cockpit is open to the rear, and dry-fitting revealed that daylight was clearly visible filtering through the open tail-wheel bay and the gaping belly intake beyond the cockpit. Some form of internal structure was needed, therefore, and so I created a mid-fuselage bulk-head onto which I built a tail wheel bay using plastic card and plastic strip. I also enclosed the under-belly air intake by the simple expedient of adding a plastic card ‘roof’ above the intake grille. With those simple modifications completed, I could turn my attention to painting the interior. I began the painting process by airbrushing the fuselage interior in Alclad grey primer followed by Alclad Aluminium. Having allowed the Alclad lacquer to dry overnight, I masked-off the lower portion of the fuselage, including the intake and radiator, and sprayed a coat of darkened Colourcoats Interior Green enamel over the resin cockpit-sides and the interior of the

….which painted up very well

tail wheel bay. Before the darkened green had dried thoroughly, I wiped some of the enamel off the edges of the raised cockpit detail to reveal the silver base-coat beneath to replicate wear. Once the Interior Green was thoroughly dry, I dry-brushed increasingly lighter shades

of that colour throughout the cockpit and tail wheel bay to add highlights. The large fuel tank and battery combination that occupies the rear area of the cockpit were airbrushed in a Grey/Black mix, while the cockpit floor was sprayed in a pale Tan enamel. As far as I am aware, the Mustang III had a green-painted wooden floor, and so that was what I intended to replicate. Once the Tan enamel had dried therefore, I over-sprayed the floor area with Interior Green, and to replicated a worn paint effect, I ‘scrubbed’ patches of the green enamel off with a soft, stipple brush dampened with white spirit, to reveal the Tan beneath. Various electrical boxes were picked out using a Black/Grey/Brown mix, and later highlighted with lighter shades of Grey/Brown. With the cockpit painted and varnished it was time to cement the fuselage halves together, and once the cement had hardened, the Aires resin cockpit floor was offered up to the cockpit side-walls and glued into place. It was now time to complete the airframe. The wings slotted into position with little effort, though there were noticeable gaps along the nose-joint that needed filling. A smear of filler was also required along the length of both wing-roots and various places along

I also decided to open up one of the machine gun panels

I used an Aires Cockpit Set….

the wing leading edges where I had inadvertently sanded away the plastic during the cleaning-up of the wheel-bay walls as describe above. The machine gun ports also seemed overly large, so these too were filled with Milliput and when the filler was hard, new holes were drilled into the wing leading edges and sanded to shape. Finally, I cemented the flaps to the wing trailing edges in their lowered position, and the one-piece tail planes were slotted into place, and the airframe was complete. After a little corrective work on the wings, and to achieve a flat surface, I used 3,200 grit Micro Mesh sanding cloths wrapped around a sanding block made from the dense, foam packing material to be found inside airbrush cases. Once sanded, the airframe was wiped clean, and a heavy coat of Alclad Grey Pimer was airbrushed over the entire airframe. Once dry the primer too was wet-sanded until smooth, ready for an application of colour. I now airbrushed a shadow-coat of Dark Brown enamel over the entire airframe, followed by a localised Black coat in the areas to be painted with invasion stripes. Once the shadow-coat was completely dry, I utilised pre-measured lengths of masking tape to mark-out the stripes, removing the tape from those areas to be painted white. I used an off-white mix of enamel with which to paint the invasion stripes and identification panels on the nose and tail-planes, leaving the shadow-coat partially visible at the panel edges and in areas of wear on the actual aircraft. With the enamel thoroughly dry, the invasion stripes could now be masked-over entirely and forgotten. Before utilising Blu-Tack ‘sausages’ to mark-out the soft edges of the camouflage, I airbrushed a free-hand pattern of RAF Dark Green across the wings and around the fuselage, using Colourcoats ACRN09, filling the panels one by one as I had done with the white invasion stripes. Having left the green enamel to dry over night, I next rolled-out long, thin ‘sausages’ of Blu-Tack, which were cut to length and positioned across the airframe to follow the camouflage pattern of the particular aircraft I was modelling. These meandering sausages were secured in place with small off-cuts of masking tape, before yet more tape was used to completely mask

the green-painted areas of the wings and fuselage. I airbrushed a mix of RAF Ocean Grey and RAF Dark Sea Grey to complete the upper surface camouflage pattern, and lighter grey filters were randomly applied to add highlights to both the grey and the green once the masking had been completely removed. The airframe camouflage was finished with an application of Medium Sea Grey on the lower surfaces, once again utilising Blu-Tack sausages to help create the soft demarcation line between the upper and lower colours.

I then set it aside for a few days to allow the camouflage colours to fully cure, before proceeding with the weathering process. To weather a model, I rely on localised applications of enamel – generally utilising mixes of Black, Grey, Dark Earth and Red-Brown enamels – blended directly onto the painted surface of the model, using a soft brush dampened with White Spirit to create streaks and shadows. This technique is particularly effective on a surface painted with matt enamels but it works too on a glossy surface, though the effect is harder to achieve. What is essential is that the enamel base colours have been allowed the time to thoroughly harden, otherwise the repeated blending washes can lift-off previously applied layers, resulting in a horrible mess. Having studied my photographic references, I decided to apply a heavily weathered finish to my Mustang, and the invasion stripes in particular benefited from several dark blending washes. The Black invasion stripes were weathered using lighter shades of Black/Grey, dry brushed around hatches and filler caps and in areas that might appear worn on the real aircraft. Finally, I used a Black/Brown enamel wash to add depth to the hinge-lines on the rudder, ailerons and elevators, the various inspection hatches, and on the wings and fuselage. Once the weathering process was complete, several coats of gloss, Humbrol enamel varnish were applied, and before decaling, these areas were polished to a high shine using Micro Mesh cloths.

For the decals I used the Techmod decal sheet #48002, containing four options, all of which feature aircraft from No.315 ‘Polish’ Squadron. Three of the aircraft featured have the blown ‘Malcolm Hood’,

….and using Blu-Tac ‘sausages’ to mask off the camouflage colours

Here we see work being done on the

but I chose to model the single option featuring the earlier style ‘bird-cage’ canopy, which I feel adds to the vintage character of the high-backed Mustang. I had some issues with the Techmod roundels, which saw me resorting to my ‘spares-box’ for replacements, And the found the remainder of the decals were easily torn when chivvied into place on the models’ surface. It was, however, my intention to heavily weather these, that really didn’t matter too much. In particular I intended to over-paint the RAF codes once they had been applied so as to more closely match the shade of Duck Egg Green that I had used to paint the wrap around tail band. Painting over the codes would also allow me to weather them to match their surroundings more closely. Every reference picture I had of these early RAF Mustangs showed them to be heavily weathered and exceedingly shabby, and I wanted my Mustang to look suitably shabby too. With the somewhat protracted weathering process almost complete, I proceeded to airbrush a couple of coats of Matt over the entire model. I used Matt here as my next, and final weathering process involved the use of watercolour pencils, and these work best on a matted surface.

which when thoroughly dry were gently and carefully wet-sanded, paying particular attention to the markings and flatting any ridges caused by my brush-painting over the decals – another heart-in-mouth process.

I proceeded now to attach those items that were best left off a model until the very end of the building and paint flatting process, followed by a dusting of quick drying Satin varnish thinned with roughly 80% White Spirit for speedy evaporation, so as to minimise the risks of dust settling onto the tacky surface. The very last jobs involved removing the canopy masks and fitting the remainder of the transparencies, before the propeller was pressed home, and my Mustang III was finished.

‘Shangri-La’

With so many modern P-51 Mustang models available in every scale, for this project I chose the pretty old 1:32 Revell kit, a model which was first released in 1969! The kit also includes a good Merlin engine, which can be exposed if you choose not to glue the engine hood, a crude (by today’s standards) pilot figure, and a canopy that can be posed opened or closed. The cockpit is nicely detailed considering its age, and has details on the sidewalls, a wooden texture on the floor and a good instrument panel. Mr Hobby Interior Green was used here, with Tyre Black being applied to the floor, radio boxes, instrument panel and engine block.

After receiving a Deep Brown wash followed by some

dry brushing to highlight all raised details, small details were brush painted mainly in White, Silver and Yellow. Instrument panel dials received a coat of Kristal Klear to simulate their glass. Dark Yellow was then dry brushed over the cockpit floor to replicate the wood showing

A little tape was used to keep the wings at the correct dihedral while gluing, assuring an almost perfect fit

through the Black anti-skid coat, and Silver and Black watercolour pencils helped to create some general scratches and marks. The engine compartment was airbrushed with YellowGreen to represent the primer used in this area. The Merlin engine then received a subtle Silver dry brushing.

Gluing all the interior components inside the fuselage

was not an easy task, and a lot of dry fitting was necessary to properly align all parts, especially the engine block. Moving onto the wings, they had some glue seams that needed to be scraped, but surprisingly the wing attachment to the fuselage was almost perfect. I did use some tape to hold the wings at

The interior parts ready for assembly

Mr. Surfacer was used to check any fit problems and to act as a primer for painting as well

Kristal Klear was used to simulate the glass over the instrument panel dials

Neutral Grey was first airbrushed over the rivet and panel lines, and then a misty coat of the same colour followed

The wings and tail were masked off and White applied for the stripes

The upper surfaces were painted in Olive Drab

The propellor being detailed

Despite their age, the

and then the model was primed with Mr Surfacer and was ready for painting. I didn’t want to go too heavy on weathering on this one, and painting started directly with the underside Neutral Grey, first airbrushed only over rivets and panel lines, and then followed by a mist coat of the same colour. This technique allowed a

subtle tonal variation with no need for pre-shading. The same sequence was used to paint the Olive Drab upper surface colour, using ‘Blu Tack’ for a soft demarcation line between the lower and upper camouflage colours. After some post-shading the model received a couple of gloss coats. Before painting the White ID stripes and Red nose, these areas were properly masked, and a Light Grey base colour was applied. There was only one decal option, USAAF ace Don Gentile’s famous ‘Shangri-La’. The decals were as old as the kit, and took some work to get them to conform to the model. After another gloss coat to seal the decals, the subtle weathering started with a Blue Black Wash on all landing gear parts, including their wells. To add a little more contrast Deep Brown

decals conformed nicely

Silver was applied with a sponge to simulate paint chipping on the flying surfaces and leading edges…

(upper surfaces) and Deep Grey (lower surfaces) washes were applied over the raised details with an interesting result. Then using a piece of sponge, some Silver paint was dry-brushed on the wing roots and all leading edges to represent chipping. Mr Hobby Soot paint was then airbrushed on to create some subtle exhaust stains.

I must confess I did not know what to expect when I opened this Mustang box as I hadn’t built a kit like this since I was a kid. But building a classic (or vintage if you prefer) kit was a very interesting project, and a great modelling exercise.

A look at the the completed and weathered undersides

…and the same technique was used to chip the wing roots

The P-51 is one of the most famous aircraft in history, and is well represented by a multitude of manufacturers and in all scales. In 1:72 Academy has produced a very nice kit with lots of detail in all areas. However, if you want to show the canopy open you will need to source a new one as the kit supplied ítem is one-piece and very thick. I used a vacformed one I had in my ‘spares-box’. For this build I used Gunze colours, these being H78 and H304 for the Olive Drab, and H53 for the Neutral Grey. The kit depicts the aircraft piloted by Bud Anderson of the 363rd Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group ‘Yoxford Boys’, based in England during 1944.

The cockpit is well represented with a wood effect

For the cockpit I started painting this with Black H12, and then with H312

The rest of cockpit details were painted with various Vallejo shades

Work been done on the wheel bays

Add some dark brown oil paint and then some Ammo by MIG Chipping solution to recreate the wooden floor look

The painted and assembled cockpit now in-situ

I then applied some masking and added Red H327…..

I decided to hand paint the checkerboard on the nose, and Firstly I painted this White H11 and then Yellow H413…..

….and touched up any areas as neccessary

For the invasion stripes I decided to paint these, despite the fact that the kit includes decals for them.

First I applied Black H12……

The same procedure was followed on the undersides

The lower surfaces with the masks removed…..

…..then some 6mm Tamiya tape and then applied White H11 and removed the masking for a very nice result

On the upper surfaces I added Olive Drab H78 along with H304

…..and the upper surfaces with the masks removed

I added some hydraulic lines to the undercarriage

Next I added some oil paint drops to act as filters and blended these in

After adding a Gloss coat and the decals, I began to add some Ammo by MIG panel line washes

Ready for final assembly

Blue Nose Stallion

To most, this is one of the most iconic and important aircraft of all time - the North American P-51 Mustang. Most modellers have built at least one in their time and I have built several of Tamiya’s 1:48 offerings as well as the 1:72 Airfix ‘Red Tail’. So when I got the chance to get my hands on one of the fantastic 1:32 Tamiya kits, I just couldn’t resist. For so long there was a gap in the market for a top class 1:32 Mustang; now the Hasegawa version is not bad, but is showing its age and suffers from a lack of detail in places and raised panel lines. Many people thought the problem had been solved when Dragon announced their version - but this kit disappointed so many when released. Then along came two top class kits within a relative short space of time - the Zoukei Mura offering then this masterpiece from Tamiya.

I have modelled her as 414906 ‘Cripes a Mighty’, the P-51D, of Major George E. Preddy, of the 328th Fighter Squadron, 352nd Fighter Group, the famous ‘BlueNosed Bastards’ of Bodney, and this is how she looked in October 1944. The Tamiya kit is beautiful straight-fromthe-box and comes with three decal options and a choice of three versions of the Mustang - an early NA-5 without

the fin fillet, an NA-10 and NA-15, with the only visible differences between the -10 and -15 being the cockpit. There are a lot of modular components in this kit - the landing gear can be swapped to allow you to model the aircraft with landing gear up or down. You can also display the engine area and the gun bays open or closed, and all these areas are held in place using a system of tiny magnets, a fantastic innovation, in my opinion.

Construction began with the Merlin powerplant. The kit’s engine is a very good representation straight-fromthe-box, although it does leave a lot of the wiring and piping out. I chose to leave it as is, the intention being to have the cowls in place most of the time. Be careful

when building the supercharger though, as there are two included, one for the P-51, but also one for a Spitfire Mk IX. The engine was painted with Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black, with all highlights being dry brushed with XF-69 lightened with XF-52 Buff. I then used AK Interactive Steel Pigment on the exposed edges for a metal effect. As good as the Tamiya kit is, there are still some opportunities to super detail, starting in the cockpit. I wanted to use as much of the kit as possible, adding only the Barracuda Cockpit Upgrade Set and Cockpit Stencil Set, together with HGW Seat Belts and Dinghy. You can replace both sidewalls with Barracuda resin replacements, but I chose to stick with the kit parts. The Barracuda Cockpit Upgrade Set I used replaces the radio, batteries and wiring harnesses, the throttle quadrant,

the stencil set is a must, as it really brings the cockpit to life. I used Mr Hobby H58 Interior Green highlighted with other Vallejo shades. This was one area of the build where I really emphasised the contrast between the dark shadows and highlight areas. The instrument panel was painted XF-69 and the raised areas dry brushed again with some homemade wash to darken the shadow areas. I also chose not to use the floor decals, instead painting the floor with XF-64 with a touch of yellow added to it, and applied some streaking effects with Vallejo acrylics to simulate the wood grain. Once dry and after a coat of Johnson’s ‘Future’, I added some AK Interactive Chipping Fluid. Next I sprayed the floor black, then chipped away at the colour to reveal the wood effect below.

Now it was then time to join the fuselage up, and as

sides before gluing together. One thing to note at this stage - if you do add any extra detailing to the engine make sure the engine framework fits snugly around it as if there are any bulges then the frame is not correctly aligned and you will have issues later with the upper cowling. The rudder and elevators are held in place with metal hinges, and once in place do not detach easily. The instructions have you adding the wings at this stage but I made the decision not to attach them until much later in the build. The panel detail on the wings is beautiful, but most P-51Ds left the North American factories with the wings puttied and painted silver. This was known as a laminar flow wing, and increased the top speed of the aircraft. So I made the painful decision to fill in all the panel detail, with the exception of the plates underneath covering the fuel tanks. For this I used a liberal coat of Mr Dissolved Putty, which was sanded back flush using wet and dry once it had hardened. I really wanted to achieve a perfect metal finish, and purchased the newly released AK Interactive Xtreme Metal colours. These paints are a new formulation - once sprayed on they give a finish very similar to Alclad,

but do not give off the same fumes during application. These are designed to be used straight from the bottle, with no thinning required for airbrushing.

For the base I used Tamiya X-1 thinned with Mr Color self-levelling thinner, after which the wings were painted in ‘Duraluminium’. I used ‘Chrome’ for the unpainted flaps and the reinforced plates on the bottom of the wing. The fuselage was also undercoated in Tamiya X-1 before giving it a coat of ‘Airframe Aluminium’. To emphasise the rivet lines I went over them in ‘Chrome’. The fit between the fuselage and wing was absolutely perfect with no filler needed whatsoever. For the propeller, I like to paint the blades silver first. I then give them a coat of AK Interactive ‘Chipping Fluid’ followed by XF-69 NATO black as a base coat, before adding XF52 to the mix, and fading the paint from the leading edge back. This is then weathered using the Lifecolor Black Set in a stippling effect using a sponge. I then take a cocktail stick and chip away at the leading edge, before sealing it with Johnson’s Klear ready for decaling. The propeller boss was given a coat of ‘Aluminium’, then a wash with my homemade black.

For decalling I use the Micro Set/Sol system to get the decals to snuggle down, in conjunction with a hairdryer to speed

aircraft. This is an absolutely vital stage as the new AK Interactive paints wipe off during weathering process if thinner is applied onto them. I tried not to go overboard on the weathering, however, remembering I was modelling an aircraft as it would have appeared in October I used Tamiya Weathering Pigments and restrained AK Interactive washes. The gun staining was a fine spray of Tamiya XF-64, darkened down with a touch of black before spraying the inside of the stains. I recreated dirt on the wing walk areas using Vallejo acrylics stippled on using a barely damp sponge, followed by a light dusting of MIG Productions Mud pigment. The fuel spills on the drop tanks were AK Interactive ‘Fuel Stains’. I replaced the kit’s vinyl tyres with Barracuda resin items, and when setting the aircraft on its wheels, I found the tail wheel leg quite weak and flexing under its own weight. From start to finish this project took four months to complete. There are certainly things I could do differently in future but all in all I am satisfied with the way this has turned out. Tamiya have overengineered this kit to a degree, but is certainly worth the effort in getting it all together.

Middle Eastern Mustang

In September 1948 Israel received their first two P-51D’s, which were quickly assembled and rushed into action to fight in the War of Independence. These aircraft were the most modern combat aircraft in service at the Middle East at the time, and were extensively used for tactical reconnaissance, strike and interception duties. In October, a second pair of Mustang’s were received, but too late see any action during the war. In the early 1950’s the IAF/DF started receiving more P-51s from different sources, including USA, Sweden and Italy giving them seventy-nine operational aircraft, with twenty-six airframes used to supply spare parts. These formed the backbone of the Israeli air defences until mid-1950’s when the jet-

powered fighters were introduced in large numbers. I’m basically a 1:72 modeller, but have built some 1:48 kits in recent years, and I expected this 1:32 build to be my biggest challenge so far. I was right, yet this project turned out as one of the most enjoyable builds I’ve done. The Zoukei-Mura Mustang is an old friend to large-scale modellers, extremely well detailed and full of nice options. Everything you need is in the large box, including engine cables and pipes. There is some flash on most of the parts, but if you take care you won’t have problems during the assembly, and you will enjoy the opportunity this great kit provides.

There’s a nicely rendered Packard Merlin engine in the box, so why not to leave if exposed? Trying to make

Mario Serelle adds and IDF/AF finish to the 1:32 Zoukei-Mura P-51D

things easier I built all the engine components and primed them in Grey. The engine block and its accessories were then painted in Rubber Black and the frames and oil tank in Yellow Zinc Chromate, with some metallic parts being coated in Aluminium. A Black wash was used to accent the details and using a Steel acrylic paint I highlighted all raised parts of the engine, and then painted the spark plug cables as well. A Dark Brown wash helped to show up the engine mounts and oil tank details and this also served to add dirt to these components. Some chips were simulated with Rubber and Tires paint, carefully applied with a sponge. Everything was then sealed with a matt coat. The engine was secured on its mounts using Slow Dry CA glue and then the smaller details that had been left aside were attached. Some Engine Grime was used to add more dirt to the engine itself, and a Silver pencil was used to create some small chips on the cylinder covers. A lead pencil then gave a metallic sheen to the supports, and oil leaks were replicated with Ammo by MIG Fresh Engine Oil. Now I turned my attention to the twelve exhaust pipes supplied individually. To add a worn look here also, I started painting them with a coat of Steel, which was followed by a very thin translucent Red Brown. These were sealed Matt varnish ready for some pigments. First I used Track Rust, which

Green, Yellow Zinc Chromate and Black. To represent the Mustang’s wooden floor, I started with a coat of Old Wood which was then covered with Streaking Grime. I used a sponge moistened with enamel thinner to work the product, and create the wood veins. Next I added a coat of Chipping Effects, and after this has dried, a thin layer of Crystal Orange was added, and later using a toothpick I revealed the original wood colour underneath. A second Crystal Orange coat gave the wood its final and weathered appearance. I know the Mustang floor was usually covered with a Black antiskid coat but I liked the wood effect so much that I decided to leave it all exposed. Back to other parts, and all the details like hoses, boxes and levers were carefully brush painted their appropriate colours, and everything was then sealed with a coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss. A Dark Brown wash was then applied to enhance all the various details

and Light Green was then used to highlight all edges and rivets. To give a worn look to the interior I added ‘old’ and ‘new’ paint chips using Chipping and Steel acrylic respectively, applied with a sponge. The last details to be added were the paper and etched parts for the HGW Models seat belts.

painted and weathered the attention to every item you attach to get perfectly aligned parts, as any flaws here can create problems in future steps. I started the airframe by the tail unit that includes a detailed wheel well which used in the cockpit, a Dark Brown wash followed by Light Green highlights. The gun compartment also received the same wash, but some chips were added with a sponge to represent some wear caused by the regular maintenance and rearming process. The guns were painted with a mix of Gun Metal and Black, with edges and raised details being highlighted with

After painting the cockpit floor with a wood colour, Streaking Grime was spread over it with a flat brush

Thin layers of Crystal Orange were applied over the Chipping Effects coat

A coat of Chipping Effects was airbrushed over the wooden floor to help creating some worn effects

After moistening the surface with some water, the Crystal Orange paint was scratched in some areas to reveal the lighter wood shade underneath

The gun compartment looks nice in the complete wing

Four metallic shades from Ammo/Alclad were used to create the metallic finish

The cockpit is now completed. The only addition to the kit parts were some superb HGW seatbelts

Before any metallic paint was added a Gloss Black coat was airbrushed on

Painting now completed

After a coat of Aqua Gloss, the model was ready to receive the IsraDecal decals

To weather the Israeli insignias, I added small drops of White and Light Blue oil paint….

…. and to make the oil paint effect more subtle, a clean and stiff brush was used for a final blending….

…. and to seal the oil paint and give a flat finish to the markings, a thin coat of Matt was airbrushed carefully over the roundels

the wings and fuselage were masked and painted with different Alclad shades to add more interest. Finally, the anti-glare panel was painted with Rubber Black received from Sweden. It’s interesting to note that this

Streaking products were used to create most of the leaking fluids on the underside of the aircraft

A Deep Grey wash was applied to specific panels where I wanted a

‘splashed’ some Streaking Grime over the wing roots and blended this in with round brush moistened with thinner, and then with a flat and clean brush. On the undersides, I added some fluid leakings using Streaking

When I decided to tackle Tamiya’s 1:32 P-51D/K, the decision was mostly driven by my desire to seek shelter in the quality of a Tamiya kit! The first step, as with any new build, was to decide what scheme to present. Now, I have to admit, I put way more priority on choosing a subject that captures my eye and imagination than on subjects that perhaps have more historical or deeper significance. Also, I always try to steer towards something from my little corner of the world. In the past, other Tamiya 1:32 kits I’ve done in a local scheme have been an RAAF Spitfire VIII and a RNZAF F4U-1A Corsair. The modelling world doesn’t see too many of these variants so it’s also nice to build something that isn’t generally seen.

With this in mind, I searched around and found a decal set for an RAAF P-51K, showing a mid-blue tail and red propeller framing an all-over camouflage pattern. Apart from looking interesting as presented, I also relished the idea of a

bare metal and invasion stripes. Although lacking in some of the striking nose art of these variants, I saw this one as something refreshingly different, with the iconic Southern Cross depicted on the tail. The subject of my build, serial number KH677, which was original coded CV-P until 11th December 1944. The aircraft was part of the RAAF’s No.3 Squadron, stationed in Fano, Italy. Unfortunately, the aircraft was lost as No.3 Squadron’s last fatality of the War, on 11th April 1945.

The process began with construction of both the engine and cockpit assemblies, which join together

and once formed and painted they come across as quite authentic. One change I decided to make was to replace the kit’s seat cushion with one I made up with light-cured dental composite resin filling material. You can use epoxy, but being a dentist by trade, I found this easier to access and more familiar to use! Making my own cushion resulted in something more realistic. The engine and cockpit went together perfectly. All of the surfaces, including the inner fuselage, were primed with black Stynylrez and painted using Tamiya Acrylics thinned with Tamiya X-20A. I used the instruction’s suggested paint mix for the interior green, the colour of which is always in contention. It looked a little bright at first, but after a weathering wash with Tamiya’s brown panel line wash, it was dulled down nicely to what I saw as a realistic shade. Paint chipping around the cockpit was done after painting and clear coating, using Tamiya X-11 enamel. I like using enamel for post-painted chipping because it can be easily removed with odourless solvents if not happy, or the effect can be softened up by using less solvent. Dry brushing was done with my new favourite method, using oil paint on a very dry brush. In most cases, especially around the engine, silver oil paint works best, but the colour can be changed around according to whatever is being dry-brushed. The advantage, as with the chipping, is that odourless

Cockpit, engine and fusealge parts ready for assembly….

complete, it was time to add the tail stabilisers and wing assemblies. Once again, Tamiya uses etched parts skillfully to allow movement of flaps and flight control surfaces. The system of rods and hooks is simple and most importantly, works well. At this stage, for ease of painting, I deviated from the order of construction suggested by the instructions, which will have the windscreen and canopy towards the end of the build. I added those components at this stage and tacked the movable canopy down with a little Mr Masking Sol Neo. It provides great adhesion yet is able to be

on the main body of the model, I constructed and painted the spinner and propeller, the landing gear, gear bay doors and bombs. I used a combination of Tamiya and Mr Hobby acrylic paints according to what I needed and what I had on hand. Metallic surfaces were painted with Vallejo Metal Color, which gives a great finish free of visible metallic particles. Tamiya provides the ability to convert this plane from parked to in-flight mode, however, I chose to show the landing gear into position and the gear bay cover that would normally be placed for in-flight made an excellent mask for painting. Also, because there is more than one propeller variant, I was able to use the spare spinner

Masking off the canopy

The wheel wells and landing gear are very well detailed

The smaller parts ready to be fixed

After a base coat…..

…to get the look I was after

hub to help hold the cowling covers firmly in place for painting, again using Mr Masking Sol to keep everything in place. The painting procedure followed my usual method of black primer and mottled sequential paint layers. With the entire plan covered in black primer, I Blue and the sky band was painted Sky Blue. I then

Appling the roundels using Montex Masks

Tamiya X-11 enamel and odourless thinners to control and modify the result. I varied the amount of chipping according to location and tried to keep it subtle since this aircraft didn’t have a long working life. Once this was complete, I applied another coat of Aqua Gloss before an overall highly diluted wash of oil paint was applied. In this case, I opted for quite a dark mixture of Black and Burnt Umber. This was wiped away with

the pilot’s headrest. With a final minor retouch of chips with a Prismacolour silver pencil, I took the model off the bench and onto the shelf!

The Airfix P-51D Mustang is a lovely kit, and I have already built two of them to a specific remit, so when the editor said I could ‘build what I wanted’, I armed myself with another kit, and that’s exactly what I did! The Airfix Mustang is very nicely detailed, the cockpit in particular is a real gem and I decided the only upgrade I would make was to add some Eduard seat belts and add the wiring to the radio behind the pilot’s seat. I wasn’t even going to replace the instrument panel, just use the kit decal. Now for the colour scheme, I wanted something colourful and with invasion stripes, and as you can imagine there are a lot of decals available for 1:48 Mustangs, so it took me quite a while to settle on a colour scheme. Eventually, I decided to use Lifelike Decals set 48-052 covering a number of interesting Mustangs including the markings for ‘Detroit Miss’, Lt. Urban Drew’s aircraft in which he shot down two Me 262s during one mission. Lifelike have done a lot of research for these decals and the instructions provide some excellent analysis of the available photographs. This aircraft is usually shown with red wing tips but Lifelike made a convincing case for blue. I went with their colours for this model, some may not agree but I have to say that reviewing the images with their analysis makes a convincing case.

The first job I decided to tackle was to correct the cockpit opening. The kit has this squared-off towards the back of the cockpit when it should follow the shape of the fuselage. The area was sometimes covered by a plate (as in the new Eduard kit). This was quickly modified with a scalpel blade. Having opened this up, it was now possible to see the top of the fuel tank, so a filler pipe was added leading to the port side filler cap. For this, some 3mm plastic rod was used, bent to an appropriate shape. A beading tool was used to add the missing fastener detail around the seals on the top of the fuel tank. The kit has quite a complex interior and it pays to check

together properly. Having built the kit before I knew how things worked so I first painted all the interior parts for the complex intake trunking inside the fuselage. The parts were all airbrushed with a coat of Alclad II ALC-101 Aluminium. The cockpit area was then masked, and the centre section airbrushed with Mr. Hobby H58 Interior Green. A black wash was then applied over all the parts and left to dry. The cockpit floor, being wood, was painted with H79 Sandy Yellow, oils were then used to create the wood grain effect before a coat of Tamiya X-26 Clear Orange was applied. The seat was prepared by first removing the

one major assembly ready to be fixed in place. While the fit of the fuselage is very good, closing around the complex interior with no problem, the tail has a few problems. I have found that it seems to have a noticeable twist, this is visible in the prominent step in the seams aft of the tail wheel bay and it seems to be caused by the fit of the tail wheel bay inside the fuselage. This is made more difficult by the separate fin

While the kit’s moulded seatbelts are quite good, however, the Eduard ones really make a big difference

As the kit cockpit is well detailed, I only added the radio wiring and fuel filler pipe. Oils created the wood grain effect on the plywood floor

horizontal tail surfaces were difficult to align. Fortunately, this is not easy to see on the completed model but it’s still a source of annoyance to me. The tail is the only area where there is any filling and sanding to do, the seems around the tail gear bay needed fixing and some attention was required around the insert which ties the interior ducting to the fuselage just forward of the tail wheel bay. Other than that, this is a kit that needs little attention to the seams. One extra filling job was to fill in the holes in the carburettor intakes on either side of the nose as on this aircraft they were covered over to prevent icing. These were filled then sanded back and due to the depth of the holes in the parts, it took a few rounds of filling and sanding to eliminate them completely. With the fuselage now mostly built up, I

This is the completed cockpit interior, the extra details added just

The cockpit looks very busy once installed into the fuselage. The fit is excellent, and everything lines up perfectly

The fuselage closed up easily around the interior parts, and the tail wheel has to be fitted at this stage, sadly leaving it open to damage wile handling the model later

The cockpit sides received the same painting effects as the rest of the cockpit. The cockpit is not quire finished here; the oxygen pipe has not been fitted to the starboard side

Wingtip identification lamps here receive their correct colours, the inside of the upper wing was painted silver to act as a reflector

The undercarriage bay needs to be painted and finished before gluing in place as its not possible to reach the outer areas after it has been installed

After assembling the wings, these were quickly attached, again the fit is very good with little if any work being needed around the seams

Attaching the windscreen needs some careful work to get it to sit correctly otherwise a noticeable step can be left on the starboard side. The canopy was masked once it was attached, ready for painting

Ready to paint. The model was given a thorough clean up, making sure all the panel lines were cleaned of sanding residue and removing any grease from finger prints

moved on to the wings. The first job here was to paint the undercarriage bay. This was first airbrushed with Alclad ALC-103 Dark Aluminium before picking out the details with Humbrol enamels. A black wash completed this part and it could then be glued in place on the wing. Its worth noting that generally the undercarriage bays were not painted though some early P51s did have them painted Interior Green. RAF Mustangs had the spar at the back of the undercarriage bay painted with yellow Zinc Chromate Primer and the rest of it either unpainted, or painted Aluminium. Before closing the wings, the wingtip lamps were fitted and painted with the correct clear colours and the holes opened up for the wing hard points. The assembled wing fits extremely well into the fuselage location, but its important to check the front to rear alignment with the wing though before committing to glue. The wing on this kit seemed to fit differently to the last two I had built, being slightly loose at the wing root, for reasons I couldn’t work out. A length of off-cut sprue was used to widen the fuselage

The cockpit needed to be well protected during painting so after covering it with Tamiya Masking Tape, Mr. Hobby Mr. Masking Sol Neo was painted over the tape to ensure nothing came undone

Painting the invasion stripes on the fuselage was a tricky job, here the area is being masked prior to painting the white

slightly, removing the slight gap. The tail surfaces were then attached, the rudder needed a bit of attention with a sink mark near the bottom being filled with Mr. Surfacer. The nose of the model was built up next, attaching the wing to fuselage fillet and then checking the fit of the windscreen and engine cowling. The windscreen tends to sit over to the port side so a little cutting and trimming then carefully gluing the part in place saw this fitting somewhat better. This in turn meant the cowling fitted up against the windscreen much better, almost eliminating the slight step on the starboard side. At this point the airframe was essentially complete and the next stage was to give the whole model a clean up, using Micromesh to sand and polish the surfaces. Any defects found were repaired and then I masked the undercarriage bays, cockpit and canopy ready to start painting.

‘Miss Detroit’ was typical of many late-War Mustangs, colourfully painted and well maintained. Photographs show mustangs of this period to be generally quite

The painting process began with a coat of Mr. Surfacer, sprayed from an aerosol can

Black is an excellent undercoat for metallic paint, so the model received an overall coat of gloss black

Alclad Aluminium was used for all the metal painted areas of the model. These were then masked, and the rest of the model painted with a normal metallic silver to represent the ‘painted’ areas of the airframe

With the invasion stripes done, the wing identification stripes were next, as were the darker metallic areas around the exhausts

Here the invasion stripes can be seen in the underside, it was not clear how these were painted around the opening radiator door, so the area was left aluminium

With the colours all applied, the paintwork was sealed with a coat of gloss and it was time for the decals

clean even showing little in the way of exhaust staining. The aircraft had the standard bare alloy fuselage with filled/painted wings. The way the wings were filled and painted did vary, some had the entire upper wing done, and others were only done from the leading edge to the chord mid-point. The underside was generally filled and painted from the leading edge to at least the chord mid point, but this didn’t encroach on the wing fuel tanks aft of the undercarriage bays. Unless you can find photos of a particular aircraft, it’s not really possible to work out how the wings were finished so it’s up to the modeller to decide.

Painting began with an overall coat of Mr. Surfacer, applied from an aerosol. Once dry I flatted this with a piece of 3600 grit Micromesh then the model was given a coat of Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black. This is the perfect base for metallic

Almost there- the final finish has been applied and the model is nearly complete

paints and applying these began by painting the fuselage with Alclad II ALC-101 Aluminium. The unpainted parts of the wings were next given a coat of the same paint. Next these areas were masked and the ‘painted’ areas of the wings were given a coat of Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver. This was immediately airbrushed with a coat of Microscale Gloss to protect the delicate paint. After the masking was removed, I had the entire model in its basic metallic finish. On the fuselage, a few panels were masked and airbrushed with Alclad II ALC-103 Dark Aluminium to break up the finish a bit. Next came the difficult part – masking and painting the colourful markings. I started by masking the fuselage invasion stripes and this was not an easy job due to the complex curves over the wing roots and around the radiator ducts. The outline of the area was masked and then airbrushed with white. The white stripes were then marked out and masked, and the black stripes were airbrushed with

The Cartograf decals were excellent and went on with no issues

A dark wash helped to bring out the detail, note that now the serial number is on the rudder, the blue has been painted up to the edge of it

a very dark grey mix. The wing identification stripes were masked and airbrushed with the same dark grey used for the invasion stripes. The Lifelike markings guide said the presence of a fin stripe would not be confirmed so I left this off.

and rudder came next, for these I used Tamiya XF_8 Flat Blue. The gun ports were also masked and airbrushed with Tamiya XF-7 Flat Red. Work moved on to the nose with the windscreen area receiving a coat of Mr. Hobby H52 Olive Drab before masking the yellow area for the nose and airbrushing this with Mr. Hobby H329 Yellow. The last job was to mask the carburettor blanking plates, and these were airbrushed black. While this may have sounded like just a series of mask-and-paint sessions, it seemed like every time I did something, I affected something else. Despite covering the model in masking, I kept getting overspray, something which I hardly ever have issues with. I had some paint lifting on the wing stripes too, again something which I have rarely had a problem with. Perhaps this was just ‘one of those builds’ where things just seem to go wrong! Finally, after what seemed like weeks, the painting was finished, sealed with gloss and it was time for the decals.

Fortunately, the decal process was nice and simple. The Lifelike decals were printed by Cartograf so I knew these should be excellent and they were. The process took two evenings, the main markings being applied on the first, the remaining ones (stencils etc) on the next with Microscale setting solutions being used. After giving the model a quick post-decal clean-up, the decals were sealed with a coat of Klear. A wash was applied next to help bring out the moulded details and I used Flory Models Dark Dirt for this job. This was sealed with a further coat of Klear. I had prepared most of the remaining parts that were left to

effect was similar that seen in the photographs. The model was now almost complete, so I decided it was time to apply the final finish. For this I used MR Paint MRP-126 Super Clear Semimatt. Several light coats were applied which toned down the gloss finish. The cockpit and canopy masking was then removed and the open section of the canopy test-fitted. On the real aircraft, as the canopy opened it sat down onto the fuselage. The kit part won’t do this without some modification. The inside edges need to be scraped with a blade to thin them until the canopy will sit lower. To help this, the lower corners of the canopy brace need to be cut off square. The modified canopy can then be glued in place using the squared-off brace to glue it to the cockpit sides. I had assembled and painted the paper drop tanks commonly used at this point in the War, so these were attached to the hardpoints. The final job was to add the wingtip navigation lights using drops of Microscale Kristal Klear which were painted with the appropriated clear colours once dry. The Airfix Mustang is a very good kit and I really enjoyed this build despite the painting problems!

The finished model looks great and really captures the look I was after.

s the saying goes ‘you can never have too much of a good thing’, and for me this certainly holds true when it comes to Tamiya 1:32 aircraft kits. They are an absolute joy and delight to work with straightfrom-the-box, and the attention to detail and clever engineering make you light-headed with anticipation. I know this kit has been on release now since 2011 so it has been built and reviewed numerous times. Meaning that there is very little I can say about this kit that is not already

known by most if not all modellers who have built one. With that in mind I am approaching this article with the idea that if you have too much of the same good thing you get sick of it. This is where the aftermarket producers come into their own, and in this case its ‘Kits World’ decals. Even a casual glance into the many and varied markings and colour schemes that the P-51 sported during its wartime and post-war life, could keep the most ardent Mustang enthusiast from ever

becoming sick of the same old thing. The aircraft that caught my attention due to its humorous nose art was ‘Iron Ass’ piloted by Lt. Col. Jack Oberhansly 334th FS 4th FG. I wanted to make this model as interesting as I could so I added D-Day stripes for further interest, although I could not find a specific picture of this aircraft with them on I did find a picture of the rest of the squadron sporting this scheme, with half banding on the fuselage and full stripes on the wings. With this research spurring me on, and the excellent quality decals from ‘Kits World’ awaiting application I threw myself into this stunning kit. Although it is inevitable that I will talk about the stunning features of these kits from Tamiya, I thought I would also mention some of the potential pitfalls. Often the expression ‘shake and bake’ is applied to these kits and indeed they are a constant source of amazement as each beautifully crafted piece, no matter how complex, fits into place. This does not mean that you cannot get caught-out by thinking you know better than Tamiya (speaking of myself) when it comes to the best method of construction. Not that I messed anything up, however, as the more experienced modellers among us are aware some kit instructions do require work arounds. Not Tamiya, these people know what they are doing. The one area I did differently was the fuselage insert behind the canopy; this would require you to fit the canopy before painting. I chose to fit the insert and then trim the tabs off the canopy shaft after painting. As I am not bothered

about the canopy sliding this was not a problem and meant that the fuselage could be painted without the danger of the canopy being broken off while spraying. Even the complex engine bay and magnetic cowls fit perfectly as long as you fit all the parts together exactly as described there will be no misalignment.

There was a time when the mere thought of doing a Natural Metal finish had me running from the workbench. In fact I would usually either look for a camouflaged option or just not by the kit. Then I discovered the Airbrush and Alclad II metallic Lacquers and although it has taken lots of practice and some disasters, this has now become an enjoyable and rewarding part of modelling. The key to getting a good finish is in the preparation and correct application of metallic paints. There are numerous articles and ‘how to’ videos on the internet as to how you should do this and I would encourage you to persevere and practice. One thing more about these type of paints is that they make an ideal surface for the decals to be applied upon. A gloss coat is always recommended and the surface is already super smooth. Kits

World decals are of a high quality and are in perfect register with good colour saturation and a fine carrier film, which means no silvering. All these factors mean that they have a painted on appearance. If you really want to go to town on this kit, and indeed any Mustang then the two excellent Modellers Datafiles on this subject are a must have companion. Once again I cannot praise Tamiya enough for their superb engineering skills, it is obvious that every part has been designed with the modeller in mind. Given the number of options and aftermarket parts that are being produced for these kits it may be true to say you could build them forever and never, ever, get bored?

Many may sigh at the sight of another P-51, but believe me, this offering from Airfix is beautifully detailed, and comes at a price most can afford, and therefore must be commended. It is not often that your author walks indoors with a new kit and starts making it the same day...but this was one such occasion! The Airfix breakdown and engineering approach is conventional, and you can see that they will produce other versions later with two re-boxing destined for 2018 (Korean F-51D/late war P-51K). The cockpit detail was pleasing with no real need for any aftermarket parts at all. The Airfix designers have presented the wooden floor as one section leading aft, to include the tail wheel well. The radio box/ battery and fuel tank are nice and only a few lengths of Plus Models lead wire were needed to enhance this area. The base colours for this area were Lifecolor UA735 Deep Cockpit and Xtracolor X117 FS34151 Matt Interior Green, with details being picked out with various colours, along and a good dry brushing to add a few metallic scuffs here and there.

Turning to the all-metal laminar flow wing area, and on inspection, the six small covered openings for the rocket

equipped aircraft are there. Other nice touches are the optional flap arrangement with the full span lower wing section, including the two-part separate detailed main wheel bay that runs into the forward engine cowl, and there is a separate panel for the six .50 calibre M2/AN Browning machine guns. Within a day, most the fuselage was complete with a minimum of putty required, even though a few slivers of Plasticard were used on the underside! You have a choice of exhaust stacks and the ram-air breather ducts are an option too, and a pair of tail sections are also included again pointing towards various Mustangs on the horizon, and on closer inspection they have captured the off-set to port tailfin layout (as on the real aircraft) to

compensate for the propellor torque - nice touch Airfix!

Airfix gives you two sets of fuel tanks, these being 75 US gallon (330 litre) steel tanks and 110 US gal (484 litre) paper renditions, alongside a brace of 500lb (226kg) bombs and Bazooka-style M10 triple rocket tubes. As mentioned, a Korean War option is coming, as the location holes for the six-inch HVAR rocket launch rails are clearly marked. The overview of the framework looks superb with just the right amount of riveting and fasteners incorporated into the softish grey plastic. Airfix has also made the exhaust manifolds to fit into a recessed slot from the outside of the fuselage, meaning you can add them after painting, and again, they include shrouded or un-shrouded options.

Soon I was ready to paint and the first job was to mask

Interior Green onto its frames. Now, many may think it sacrilege to camouflage such an aircraft, and who can blame them. But with the new Xtradecal sheet 48-177 to hand, a wonderful Swedish Air Force/Flygvapnet J26 (Swedish designation) 26031/N (16) F16 Wing Uppsala AB 1945-46 could be accomplished. Sweden purchased 165 (including four –B models) P-51B/Ds and painted six of their P-51Ds in a temporary Olive Green/Blue-Grey pattern for trials work, and these made for a very different and interesting aircraft. They operated Mustangs until 1954, in turn being replaced by the SAAB J-29 Tunnan from 1952 onwards. Before any major colour was applied the complete airframe was primed, followed with a light coat of Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Silver,

Everything you could need for a detailed cockpit

This is the first time I had seen this approach to a P-51 tail fillet assembly, and points to more P-51s on the horizon

Airfix include a choice of ordnance, with the five-part Bazooka rocket tubes a pleasant surprise

Airfix must be commended for the super side walls

A sublime level of detail is included in the cockpit

The snug fit of the one-piece interior can be seen, along with the super-charger/radiator section

Scale

P-51D #48-344

applied over the upper frame of the model. To simulate wear and tear Wilders new Quick Mask QM04 Yellow was dabbed on with a small piece of sponge, and left to dry. Next, the nose boss, the hub and the four-bladed cuffed propeller were painted. Xtracolor X318 West Pac Security Services Blue is a perfect foil for the Swedish roundel/code letter N, and looked ideal. Underside wise the base colour used was Xtracolor X157 FS16176 F-15 Mod Eagle Dark Grey, with many panels picked out in UA524 FS36173 US Neutral Grey. For the upper surface, I went with Xtracolor X778 Mork Gron (Olive Green) 325H, intertwined with shades of Lifecolor UA219 FS33070 Lustreless Olive Drab, and UA220 Lustreless Olive

Drab 319. This combination essentially worked fine as the harsh climate would have taken its toll on these aircraft. Once a good coating of Johnson’s ‘Klear’ had covered the entire airframe, the Xtradecal sheet came into its own. The decals performed as expected, and the final stage was the weathering. For this Lifecolor Liquid Pigment LPW02 Black Umber, LPW04 Black-Grey, LPW21 Smoke and LPW22 Carriage Grime made up most of the staining. This in turn was supplemented with Vallejo Model Wash 76-505 Light Rust and 76-507 Dark Rust. Both products complement each other so well, that if a mistake is made, you simply remove with Lifecolor remover. The faint exhaust staining

Armed with only a worn fine sanding stick and a sharp 10A blade, it was amazing how the chipping turned out

Attaching the replacement undercarriage with brushed on activator and medium superglue

Aircraft Conversions

replacement gear, was used and the details were picked out with Lifecolor UA733 Tyre Black and Citadel Mithral Silver

Liquid pigments are a dream to mix and apply

Wilders Quick Mask is highly recommended

I was lucky enough to have a tin of the now defunct Xtracolor X778 Olive Green 325H that is believed to be the correct topside colour

With a fine acrylic paint brush I added a various streaking marks

looked perfect with a brushing of LPW15 Soot, and once I was satisfied with the finish required, the entire model was sealed with a 50:50 mix of Lifecolor LC27 Matt and LC77 Satin. No form of ordnance was included, as few pictures exist of Swedish J26/S26 fighter/reconnaissance aircraft carrying them. As range and endurance was far more than needed, the external drop-tanks were seldom used, and some were converted into transport containers, potentially air droppable with rescue equipment. In 1950 trials were made arming the Mustangs with rockets and bombs, but they were found to be unsuitable for the role. The brace of faired bomb-racks with the sway-braces were picked out with Citadel Bolt Gun Metal 61-57, The canopy had a small hole drilled for the radio wire, which was attached to the rear of the pilot’s seat, and with the addition of the AN104A VHF antenna mast, the project was finished.

The gear doors also had slight weathering added to them for extra depth

The AN104A VHF mast now attached, and you also have a choice of the old style ADF Navigational System Loop Antenna

Building a P-51D Mustang ‘dressed-up’ in Grey/ Green camouflage has long been in my plans, not only because it’s different from the familiar metal finished aircraft, but the RAF camouflage with US paint should look nice! Yes, Mustang IVs were painted in factory with US made colours ‘similar’ to those used in England. That information really caught my attention and I had to see just what this would look like! So, armed with a Tamiya kit, an Eduard Zoom etched fret and Aeromaster decals, the fun began. Before

spraying any paint onto the cockpit parts, some raised details had to be sanded off in preparation for the etched items to come. I also added the side frames missing on the seat using thin plastic strip. The interior was airbrushed Interior Green, Black and Rubber Black before the etched details were added. These parts were a considerable improvement over the original ones especially the instrument panel, which really makes a difference. After brush painting various

The gun muzzles and exhaust stacks were drilled with a manual tool for a better representation of the real thing and soon I was ready for painting. After filling the wheel wells

with Silly Putty and securing the canopy in place with Pritt-Tak, the whole model was coated with Black primer. As mentioned, camouflaged Mustang IVs were painted in US with American colours, these reported to be ANA 602 Light Grey for the underside and ANA 603 Sea Grey and ANA 613 Olive Drab for the upper surfaces. Using lighter shades of these colours I applied the ‘marbling’ coat, playing with tonal variation to add some interest to the incoming camouflage. To make masking work easier I decided to paint the Sky fuselage band first and then proceed with the camouflage colours. I started on the underside, followed the upper surfaces, always working slowly in thin layers to make the ‘marbling’ effect subtly show through the camouflage. With the first layer applied, Off-White was then ‘dabbed’ with a sponge on the wing roots and then blended with another thin layer of the camouflage colours. A very thin coat of Off-White was sprayed over the rudder for a faded effect, as the fabric covered surface tends to fade faster than the rest of the airframe. To represent the stressed fabric over the rudder ribs, each frame was carefully

instrument panel is a huge improvement over the original part

With all the etched parts in place, the cockpit detail is taken to another level

The Eduard etched

masked and clear Smoke paint airbrushed on the edges of the masks creating a shadow effect. The Yellow leading edges, nose and spinner were then masked and painted, with the spinner receiving its Black stripes. Painting completed, the Aeromaster decals were applied over a coat of Gloss varnish, but even using setting solution some of them refused to conform in the recessed details. I then used a sharp knife to cut the decals along the panel lines and a second application of setting solution solved my problem. Weathering started by the propellers with some paint chipping being represented by Black and Aluminium colours being applied with a sponge on the leading edges of the blades. The same technique was used on the spinner as well, but this time using Ammo by MIG Yellow and Rubber and Tires colours. To create subtle dirt marks

on the blades, perpendicular lines of Ammo by MIG Rainmarks were painted on the propellers and then blended with a flat brush moistened with Mineral Spirits. After adding some Aluminium chips on the wing roots using the same sponge technique I moved to accenting the panel lines. I used different wash colours according to the desired effect. A Blue Grey wash was used on the underside and a Deep Brown on the upper camouflage. The moveable surfaces received a stronger contrast with Deep Grey on the underside and Black on the upper side. A Dark Wash was used in the wheel wells for depth and dirt effect. I then moved onto Ammo by MIG Streaking products for different effects. First some leaking fluids were represented on the underside with Streaking Grime for Panzer Grey, a very dark tone. These were applied mainly

A manual drilling tool was used to carefully open the gun barrels

Weathering the seat started with a Rubber and Tires applied with a sponge to simulate paint chipping

The cockpit was easily installed in the fuselage

The painting process started with Black Primer

Light Grey was used on the underside to create a ‘marbling’ coat

A Medium Grey shade was used on the ‘marbling’ coat for the upper surfaces

With all the postshading now applied, it was time to blendin the effects

After careful masking work, the wing leading edges and nose were painted in Yellow

Light Grey was used to match RAF’s Medium Sea Grey

The RAF’s Ocean Grey was replaced by Sea Grey

Some decals refused to conform into the panel lines, and had to be persuaded with a sharp knife

For a deeper effect around the movable surfaces I choose the darker

Leaking fluids and grime were represented on the underside with a very Dark Streaking Grime from Ammo by MIG range

A paste of Dark Earth pigments diluted and mixed with Mineral Spirits was applied to the tyre treads

The Green/Grey camouflaged areas received a Deep Brown wash to accent the panel lines, and Black was used around the control surfaces and air scoops

Blue and Light Red shades of oil paints. These aircraft usually operated from un-paved runways in England, and to represent some mud splattered by the landing gear on the underside I used the Ammo by MIG Earth Effects, just flicking a moistened brush with a toothpick where I wanted. This was also applied to the gear covers, and then complemented by some Ammo by MIG Dark Earth pigments. To give the tyres the look of being used on unprepared runways, I mixed the Dark

Light Dust pigment was used to represent exhaust soot, being first applied with a small brush to create the peculiar curve of the soot