Hasegawa P-51D Mustang "Nose Art"

[Golikell]

With my current project coming to an end, I dug up an older kit from my stash. On "order" from she who must be obeyed, I chose the Hasegawa P-51D Mustang "Nose Art".

An oldie. Upon opening the box, I discovered that I already started it (not too much though  ). But the instructions are missing the blue print on the inside. Since there was no internet then (yes, it is that old), I couldn't proceed then. Started to lay down the green interior layer and the zinc yellow wheel wells.
Not sure about the decals, though. What is the quality and how will they hold after all these years?

Upon invitation, I decided to add to the Group Build too...

[gingerbob]

Welcome aboard!  Sorry, I saw that you'd posted earlier, but I've been going various directions today.

 

bob

[Golikell]

Thanks... I'll do my best to finish it within the time frame, but I am not  the most speedy builder 😐  
No problem. A belated welcome is better than none

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good morning Golikell

Welcome aboard

Have fun with you build

Patrice

[Golikell]

1 hour ago, TEMPESTMK5 said:

Good morning Golikell

Welcome aboard

Have fun with you build

Patrice

Merci Patrice, 

I certainly will. As I will build OOB, the challenge will be in the painting. It is rather difficult to tell which parts will be  what color. Some black and white pictures suggest that at least the rudder is a different kind of aluminium color than the fuselage. I could not find any decisive indication however... 

 

Regards,

Erwin 

[gingerbob]

The rudder is fabric-covered, so was painted with aluminum dope, while the fuselage was bare aluminum sheet metal.  I think that the trim tab was "phenol", so would also be painted.

[Golikell]

Allright, if I understand correctly, the wings where also doped? 

 

[pacificmustang]

Hello Golikell. Without getting too bogged down in the details, The wings were painted silver, whilst the flaps were left in bare metal. Same for the fuselage. Many people paint the wings with a little grey added to the silver paint to distinguish it from the bare metal fuselage and flaps. To me this just sounds weird seeing as you are using silver paint to begin with 

Nice model, which scheme are you going to do? 
Bruce 

[Golikell]

Hi Bruce,

 

I like details, so no worries about being bogged down...   
Since the build will be OOB, the magic will need to be done by the paint    Therefore the need to paint different parts differently, is what will make the different. 

I hope the decals will hold out, but I intend to use the one on the box art, since I find that one the most appealing...

[Golikell]

I found this one: 

Seems accurate to me? 

[Golikell]

[Golikell]

After some idling, I finally picked up the modelling of this kit once more. 
I started painting and assembling the cockpit. Hasegawa, in all their wisdom, added a kind of cushion to the seat. The only thing I could imagine it to be (since the pilots sat on their parachutes,
was that it might be a liferaft, and therefore I painted it yellow, toning the bright color down with black oilpaint. \

 

Edited December 29, 2019 by Golikell

[Toryu]

Alclad (if that's the source) show these pictures to present their different lacquers. They don't necessarily reflect the P-51's actual materials and metal shades. For instance, the wing would be painted with aluminium colour all over, including the gun panels (although they often lost their colour). The panels above the cooling duct outlet sometimes appear darker than the adjacent area, etc.  After studying many wartime pictures, I came to the conclusion that the metal areas reflect differently on different aircraft. The only panels that are definitely darker on all planes are the ones around the exhausts (higher grade alloy to withstand the heat).

[Golikell]

Well, it actually comes from a modelling site: 
https://www.themodellingnews.com/2017/04/build-guide-ptiii-gary-seals-and-shines.html