I want to get as close as possible to the reflective finish i see on many P-51s. I know basic paint isn’t quite going to cut it. How might i approach this?
try chrome with the Alcad II system or BMF,probablyy the closest you’ll get
I am nearing that stage on my Tamiya P-51, and I plan on using Alclad II lacquers.
You could use foil but that can be a pain if youve never done it before. The second thing is to use allcad II, Now alcad is a laqure based paint and has to be shot through an AB second is you need a vary smooth clean suface. I used alcad II polished aluminum on my P-51 with a gloss black base coat i used testors gloss black but swanny uses gloss black krylon ive heard dad things about allcads gloss blk taking forever to dry.
those are the only two ways that i know of to get that kind of finish, there re other methods somebody else will probubly give you some more info.
Heres a picture of my P-51 shot with allcad II polished aluminum Note this was the first time i had ever used this stuff. Hope the info helps you.
I personally think the way to go is to foil it. Alclad requires you to get an airbrush, and has finicky prep requirements, etc. The great thing about BMF is that it is actual metal foil. Yes it might be tedious ( my 1/72 Lockheed Constellation took me a couple of weeks ), but the finished results are spectacular, and its’ easy to get a full polish, or burnish, or whatever look out of it. GO FOIL!
smokinguns3, thanks for the pics of your bird. it’s a great looking model! i’m going to look into both approaches. however, the foil definitely has me curious. Are there any good tutorials out there?
P.S. I found this shot in my search for detail photos of the P-51. It’s such a great shot i just had to share…
bcamp here are two threads of a 1/48 B-29 that i did woth house hold foil it should give you some insight in what needs to be done. the one big issue with house hold foil is it dosnt stretch like BMF so more care has to be taken when apply it and shouldnt be done in big peaces, aslo you have to buy an adehsive made for metal BMF adhesive or mona lisa gold foil adhesive.
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You might consider using SnJ Spray Metals.
smokinguns3, that’s a great looking bird! well done. that’s exactly what i hope to pull off. so you avoided masking the foil so you didn’t pull it off? i’ll need to track down some really good exterior shots of the P-51 so i can get this as accurate as possible.
I painted the tail and anything else that way i didnt have to mask the engine cowlings where painted with tstors chrome and matched pretty good. To get the two tone metal i just turned the foil over and glued the shinny side down that way you get the polished and the non polished panels you see.
This result was acheived with Alclad.
Great stuff
Now that is BRIGHT. Which Allclad did you use, Chrome?. Man, that says “look at me”. I love it. [:D][yeah]
What was used for the primer?
That is crazy shiny- wow!
Do not take that thing out in the sunlight unless you are wearing at least SPF20 and some dark shades! [;)]
Well…the man said he wanted a mirror shine finish[:O] And, it actually can be correct.
Cheers,
Jerry
Hi all- beautiful p-51’s by all but I was wondering if you have noticed that the wings are mostly a “painted” silver finish- as they were during the war as well. The laminar flow wing of the P-51 was filled, puttied, sanded and painted - so while the fuselage was indeed a polished metal the wings beyond the fillet were a seamless painted surface as a rule- with of course the metal gunbay doors and the standard access doors in a metal finish.
Good luck with the mustangs,
Cheers, Keith
Yes! you are correct Keith. That subject has been disscussed on this forum more times than you want to know.
Jerry
Keith, don’t suppose you could point me to some photos demonstrating this? i’m downloading all the photos i can find online for reference material, but i don’t have any demonstrating that specifically. I think because many of the restored Mustangs are a bit more “shined up” than their wartime counterparts 
Check out this thread over on ARC it explains the finish of P-51 wings.
http://s102164210.onlinehome.us/forums/index.php?showtopic=21362
So what Alclad did you use to get that finish? borderlines on amazing