I did this one in the Swanny’s Air Race Group Build. The in process pictures are there and also on my web site. A nicely detailed kit that takes just a little care to get all the fits right. The color is Italian Red, the markings are from an ALPS printer, drawn in Corel Draw. In order to get enough opacity over the red, the white decals are applied in two to three layers.
Paul Mantz won the 1946 and 1847 Bendix races in this airplane, and it was later bought by Charles Blair and flown solo across the north pole, quite an achievement in 1951, navigating with sun line navigation as the compass is useless on that route. It is in the Smithsonian now, in Blair’s Excalibur III.
Somewhat strange seeing these planes out of their wartime colors. Yours looks sleek and fast!! I’m guessing the prop is free spinning in second pic? What did you use for a gloss coat?
Thanks, everyone, for the nice comments. Strangely enough, it doesn’t look all that odd to me, but I was a young lad in the 50’s and in those days Mustangs at places I might see them were painted in spiffy civilian schemes except for a very few, and Cavalier was rebuilding them for personal and business transportation, all in civil schemes. I saw NX1204, NX1202’s sister, in the late 60’s at the Tallmantz Museum in Orange County in the late 60’s, and still remember how smooth and glossy the surface was.
Eric, the final gloss coat is Future thinned 30% with Tamiya X-20A acrylic thinner. The paint itself is a gloss color, Model Master Italian Red.
The propeller is running in a stream of air from an air nozzle. The kit stub for the prop has been replaced with a 1/8" aluminum tube, and the prop has a 3/32" brass shaft. The two metals have very low friction running against each other.
