I will be starting a 1:48 Tamiya P-51D soon and in the process of doing some research on colors etc., What i’m confused on is should I paint the wheel wells? Some say leave NM and paint the ribs ZC, Some say paint it all ZC. Also i’ve seen current restored P-51’s with both. Was it different during the war with some ZC and some not? I’ve included some pics to show both on real aircraft. 
What I’ve always been told and read about is NM except for the wing spar which is the front wall of the bays. I tjink alot of the restored ones have the whole bay done for corrosion protection. Hope this helps
I’d check for as many photo references for the specific bird you want to build. And restored warbirds can be OK for references, but we have to bear in mind that there could be another layer of question involved–did the restoring team check its references, did it check valid references, how much of the restoration was conjecture, etc, etc?
From the factory, P-51 gear bays would be bare metal. Do not go by restorations as far as original factory colors go.
WWII era color photos usually show zinc chromate visible in the main when wells
A general rule for late war Army aircraft, especially Mustangs, Alcad sheet metal was left bare, any extrusions or castings where definitely painted, I can’t remember if the ribs (stamped sheet metal) were painted or not. I have seen it both ways on the same aircraft it just depends on what batch the individual parts were pulled from. The most accurate Mustang restoration was done by Westpac Restorations a little over 10 years ago. It is owned by the Flying Heritage Collection in Washington state. Tim
I’d say it’s really up to you. I’ve seen pictures with bare metal, others with the green zinc chromate, and even some with the wheel wells painted the color of the landing gear.
Thanks for all the replies… yeah farmboy I think that’s just what i’ll do as it looks like it was done both ways. I like the contrast of the ZC to the bare metal so I think i’ll just go with some type of combination of both up in there.
That’s a tough one. It’s hard to find color pics of P-51 manufacturing processes - and there appears a great variety between available historical pics and images of restored airframes. Generally, it appears the main spar was Chromate Green, and much of the rest of the structure was natural metal. There’s a huge variation between restored airframes and the degree of corrosion protection the restorers chose to apply. Some are totally Zinc Chromate, some Interior Green, and some are kinda half and half. All I gotta say is…if you manage to find good pics of 40’s vintage P-51 wheel wells, please share! I’d LOVE to see the real deal!
With the ability to research on the web any material pertaining to a current project, you would think that it would be easy to finish a model on how it actually looked like in the field. That is so far from the truth.
I’m building The Big Beautiful Doll, P51D mustang, and I can’t even begin to count the different versions of the same plane I have seen while looking on the web.
So many variations of the same actual plane such as wheel well colors and markings seem to be the most abundant. I guess it’s best to pick one variation and just go with it like I am.
Well in the case of “Big Beautiful Doll”, you will have the original aircraft. And then you will have warbirds marked up to look like the original. All with varying degrees of fidelity. I try to avoid using restored aircraft for references because far too often they are restored to anywhere near original colors and configuration. Preserved aircraft are a different story, but time takes a toll on those subjects.