I was wondering about the paint on these. should the whole plane be dull coated? or is the aluminum finish glossy?
It depends on what you are replicating. Active duty craft got little TLC in the finish department and tended to get dull as their flight time increased. Airshow birds occasionally get a good polishing. Since the majority of modelers are going for war weary craft they will lean towards a duller finish, not shiny and polished.
Brian
The main point you should consider is how you are depicting the aircraft. Most P-51s during their combat careers were left outdoors in the elements for nearly their entire service life. By the end of the winter of 1945, the aluminum would have oxidized quite a bit as compared to their fist appearance in the summer of '44. The wings, even on a NMF bird, were painted in an aluminum lacquer, due to the need to maintain smootheness with the airflow on the laminar flow wing . Current day warbirds, polished to a mirror finish and kept in hangars by their owners are not a good reference for this.
cool thanks guys!, thats what I figured