Here’s a few pictures of the Revell P-51D Mustang in 1/48 scale. This is my first model I’ve built since I was a kid, and I tried to get things as right as I could. I still have a ways to go, but I’m pretty happy with the way this turned out. It could use some weathering and more detail. I painted the aluminum with Alclad II Polished Aluminum and then went back over a few panels with Alclad II Duraluminum.
I had a heck of a time getting the large checker decals to sit flat and not wrinkle, even with all the Solvaset and Microsol that I applied. I also noticed that the Revell decals that came with the kit (the ones that I applied) are slightly different from a restored Big Beautiful Doll that I have pictures of in the book the model is sitting on.
Nice work! What a way to start off modelling again with a NMF! I built that kit a few months ago, but gave up on the checkerboard decal and went with a different one. Hope to see more from you.
The Alclad was very fragile, when I masked it you could see where the tape had been. After I got the panels painted the slightly different shades, I went back over the entire model with Polished Aluminum. It made everything seem a little more even and covered up the areas where the masking had pulled off some of the finish.
This is actually the last kit I finished (3ish weeks ago), did the same scheme as you. Yours outshines mine, it looks fantastic. I used Alcad Aluminum but I must admit I like yours more. Those checkers were a headache, took me 2-3 hours just to get them how I wanted.
Man, swinging for the fences first kit back! I waited til the third and fourth (in progress now) to try my hand at NMF.
The 'stang looks great, and awesome work with the Alclad. I’m surprised to hear about the fragility. Alclad is supposed to be the strongest of the NMFs. Wonder if the evidence was maybe some leftover adhesive from the tape that Goo Gone could remove…
I feel like such a dork based on my last post. For whatever reason, I could not see any pictures while I was viewing them at work. I’ve never had that problem before but I could sure see them when I got home.
Anyway, great job on the Mustang! I’ve built that one before as well and she’s sure a beaut. Just as a tip, on a plane like this where the letters on the side of the fuselage are pretty straight forward (a “W” and a “Z”), one can eliminate the decal film by easily cutting it away between the peaks and valleys of the W and Z. If it were a more difficult letter like a Q, then I tend to leave them as is. But I noticed in one of the pics that you can easily see the decal film between the W and Z.
You had mentioned that the tape lifted off or seemed to mar a little bit of the Alclad. I like to use Alclad as well as the Testor’s metalizers. The metalizers are a bit more fragile and tape tends to lift that stuff off. Whenever I get that issue, I buff in some SnJ or Hawkeye metalizing powders and that really makes the marred areas disappear! Just a tip for next time.
Your Mustang really looks great! Make sure you use photos of the actual plane as your references and not reproductions. You never know what kind of liberties they may have taken on the reproduction. I’ve seen a reproduction or two of Big Beautiful Doll where the checker patern on the wingtips are significantly different that what was on the actual plane.
