Iron Ass Mustang – 1:48 Tamiya P-51D

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

-51 MUSTANG P BUILD 11 – 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?