This little ‘Stang clocks up a couple firsts for me. This is the first Hobby Boss kit I have assembled, that is used loosely as there was very little assembly required. This is probably not their best, their P-51B is waiting its’ turn on my hobby desk and looks much better, but it does fill a niche. It is an excellent as quick build at a low cost to practice techniques on.
As the second first, this was the first finish completed with SNJ Spray Metal Polishing Powder, and I am sold concerning future builds in NMF. The kits finished in plain aluminum paint pale in comparrison. I pre-shaded with light gray (rudder), gunship gray (overall) and semi-gloss black (selected and obvious panels). I applied the aluminum powder with a Q-tip, then brushed the application with an old soft bristled toothbrush, then rubbed down with a soft dust cloth. After about four layers I sealed with Testors gloss-cote.
The Mustang represents a P-51D as flown by the 111th Fighter Squadron out of Houston Texas late 1947, hence the unit logo. I am attempting to build every front-line monoplane flown by the unit. The 111th flew the F-6A(P-51A), F-6C(P-51C), P-51D and P-51H, essentially the whole family of ‘Stangs. I need to improve my NMF skills significantly before I tackle my $$$$ CMR P-51H though.
Thats really neat. I like that result you got out of those powders/ preshade. I am experimenting myself with the alclad stuff, and I have a lot to learn about it. The Tamiya P-51D I figured would be an easy subject to try it on, but wow, this stuff can really show any blemish, or finger print, or oil spot you think you got. You got me very interested in the powders. Nice looking build there!
Overall I think your build looks good! But, I think there’s something amiss with your decals. They look like they have fuzz or something on them. That’s the only thing I see wrong, good lookin build!!
I’m trying my first NMF on a hasegawa p-51 but like andrend, I’m trying the alclad. Thanks to Swanny’s website I decided to try the preshading like you did. After seeing the results on your bird I’m glad I went down that road.
Good luck on the rest of your mustangs and I would love to see them when finished… I guess like anything else practice makes perfect even for a NMF!
Andrend, you are not kidding about those blemishes. Before applying the aluminum powder I had just wiped the black paint with a tac cloth. I did not do the same with the rest of the colors and wound of having to remove my initial powdering from the entire model via thinner dosed make-up applicators. Those finger prints stuck out something fierce! Lesson learned for my next build.
scorpr2, I made the unit decals with Testors decal paper, photoshop and my printer. The week link in the combo and culprit is my printer. It is low on ink, and would benefit from realignment. As an $8 kit, I figured less than perfect decals would suffice on my “experiment.” Another item I managed to err on are the landing gear doors. I placed them on the wrong sides, the forward edge matches the inner wing leading edge, but not the whole where it is supposed to fit.
One thing I recall on the P-51D is that the wings were not NMF, but were instead painted silver. They were smoothed out and painted that way in order to get the most performance from the laminar flow wing. I dont recall if that was still the case in the late 40’s, but I know it was during the war…
The BMF look’s great…I still dont want to try it myself. I did notice the landing doors too, I’ve done the same thing.
I actually like the way the decals came out, gives it the worn and tattered look. Kinda how you would see old planes that sit as gate guards with the faded paint and markings.
