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I'm nearly at the end of this build after more than four years. It's on its feet and all the nav lights and landing gear doors are attached. I still need to add the antenna wire and the pulley block that guides it through the bubble canopy...well that and some paint touch-ups here and there. If anyone cares to see in-progress photos the link is at the end. The weathering was done with water-soluble graphite pencils that I found in an art supply store in town. The beauty of it is that it can be wiped off with a damp cloth if you are not happy with the results. With a sharp point you can wet it and follow the panel lines. It will lay down a fine line of sludge which you can then wipe in the direction of the airflow. It can also outline access hatches and panels. The thing to remember, which I learned the hard way, was that it darkens considerably when hit with a clear coat. The exhaust stains were another learning experience. I had never applied exhaust stains with an airbrush before, and the first attempt was with extremely thinned black paint and it was far too dark, and black. I managed to remove it all without too much trauma. The second attempt was with my own mix of dark grey and red-brown thinned to almost water. I learned that the perfect amount of stain was about two or three passes BEFORE you think it looks good. 🙂 Oddly enough in some light it looks thin and grey, in other lighting it looks very dark. I'm not touching it again! Sorry about the weird backgrounds, I was experimenting with lighting and background colours with my DSLR camera. Hopefully I'll do better when it's done.

With the discussion around the old 1/24 Airfix kits, and Charlie's fabulous Spitfire Mk.I build below, I thought I would present my attempt at their almost 50-year old kit of the Mustang. Some of you will have seen it elsewhere, and I apologize. Mine was started four years ago, and it's getting close to completion. These old kits are still impressive for the amount of detail they included, and disappointing for what they omitted. The Airfix P-51D/Mustang IV is still easily the best foundation for a 1/24 model of the Mustang. Trumpeter's attempt was an enormous disappointment, although better fitting and finely detailed, it doesn't matter when most of it is inaccurate. The major problems with the Airfix kit are the lack of dihedral on the wings, the complete lack of anything in the landing gear wells, the too-long landing gear legs and the somewhat anemic shape of the nose. Most of these shortcomings have recently been corrected by fabulous aftermarket parts by ModelMonkey. There is a now set of brass gear legs from a chap in the States, and the Airscale instrument panel is stunning and a must. Of course, all of the aftermarket improvements except the instrument panel were not released until after I had scratch-built all of my own corrections! These kits will absorb as much work as you are willing to put into them. I had never scratch-built anything before, so it has been a slow but satisfying experiment. I learned a lot about the Mustang, in particular the modifications made to RCAF Mustangs in the process, and learned many new techniques for other projects. I also lost my fear of altering and improving parts, or making new ones. Although, there were a lot of, 'Oh crap, what the hell have I done!" moments. So, I started with the kit, Waldron 1/24 P-51D placards ( I would kill for another set!! ), the Airscale P-51D instrument panel, and the RB Productions USAAF seat harness. The rest was a lot of plastic card, aluminum tubing, solder wire and swearing. The decals were a combination of an ancient sheet of RCAF roundels from Can-Force, and the rest had to be designed and printed by me on decal paper. The RCAF Mustang stencils were a unique combination of North American Aviation instructions, and RCAF additions. I learned a lot about post-war RCAF markings!! I hope people won't mind me sharing the progress photos that were taken during the build to date. Richard This is what I hope to achieve...soon:

Hi All, anyone heard of Aftermarket decals on the way for the Hellcat? It seems to me that BPF and Uruguayan Hellcats are in order. 😊 TW