John1

Amazing attention to detail and first-rate craftsmanship. I'm really enjoying this build.

Since you have the man's ear, please pass on that John1 from LSP would really like to see correct surface detailing. That alone should be sufficient for him to finally see the light

One last question - saw a couple of bits of info (including the source I posted above), showing only one wing with the NMF "roof", the other in YZC. Any idea if this was common? Makes no sense to me unless each wing was finished by a different subcontractor, each with different approaches to corrosion control... EDIT - went down a bit of a rabbit hole researching this topic. From an old post by "Tourist" who I recall seemed to be pretty well versed on the Mustang: I am not sure about earlier blocks but starting with the P-51D-20 the wells were finished asymmetrically with different finishes in each well. There are two or three pictures of deployed Mustangs showing fully painted wells but they seem to be the exception, possible repaints(?). Clearly more research needs to be done. It was also mentioned that NAA was pretty lax with finishing requirements and you could see various components in either YZC or GZC primer. Sounds like almost anything goes.....

I'm intrigued.... any info on where this was posted? For the record, if they can just fix the surface details (divots and overscale features on the exterior), I'll be beyond pleased. The 48th kit has multiple other issues but all can be addressed. Given that the surface issues were brought up ever since the 48th Huey was released and then KH did the same thing on their new Blackhawk kit, I'm not overly optimistic but we'll see how things work out.

Errr...Of course it’s all new tooling. They haven’t released this kit before so any 35th Huey from KH would be new tooling. What does that tell us regarding whether it will inherit the flaws of their 48th effort? No “right attitude” here, just basing my opinion on previous KH products.

Can’t offend our more sensitive members I guess. It’s not political, it’s fact. Higher op tempo equals higher maintenance demands. You see this across the services, just need to look at readiness rates for helos and fast jets.

Expecting nothing more than their flawed 48th kit scaled up, warts and all.

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't these retired jets that were put out to pasture as training airframes? Sitting out in the hot sun somewhere in TX for a decade or so will do wonders for a paint scheme. Touching up with Euro 1 paint (I'm assuming that's what was used) will do even more to advance the WTF factor.

Larry, I hate to say it but my expectations are also pretty low on this one. Given how they botched their recent 48th & 35th helos due to the divots and horrible execution (despite having some truly awesome SME's providing help on the kits), I don't expect much here. That being said, product improvement starts at the top. If they want to get better, they will. If they think they can make the same money releasing kits with issues, they probably won't change. I've seen some of their stuff that really has first-rate details, so they can do it when they feel like it. We'll see....

Thanks Jenning (and everyone else), I'll be ordering a set of your P-51 stencils once I get further into the project. Nice touch on providing those steel mill stamps as well. Also never noted how prevalent those NAA inspection markings were either. They seem to be all over the airframe and cockpit, in the form of stencils and stickers. I'll be going with the NMF roofs, it's a nice break from just overall YZC. I'd be curious if the wells ever got re-painted during overhalls, since I'm building a Korean War F-51D but I doubt I'll ever get an answer so NMF roofs it will be!

From an online source I came across, I found this picture of early and late D-model Mustang wheel wells. Believe I read somewhere else that later Mustangs occasionally had one (or both) wheel wells with the inner wing surface in NMF and the ribs and bulkheads interior green. So my question is - for a late model D-20 Mustang, would this scheme be accurate?

I second Jennings - No divots!! It will be a deal breaker for me if you go this route.

Thanks for the info Nick. Regarding radios, I'm still a bit on the fence on this one. I'd like to add one of the newer radios, if nothing else, just to make the Mustang a bit different from all the WW2 birds. Got a bit of time to figure this one out... Browsing through the Flickr site I linked above, found some really useful pics that show some details on later versions Mustangs. These are on a D-30 Mustang, need to do some research to figure out if they all were retrofitted to a D-25, which is the version that Little Beast was.

I'm in. Unlike the trainwreck B-24, I can't see them finding too many areas on the A-26 to screw up beyond repair. Plus it fit's my storage requirements nicely. Can any of the experten conclusively determine if this is the Vietnam era bird or the earlier WW2/Korean War variant? Either way, lots and lots of aftermarket decal and resin opportunities here! Now if they just do the "other" B-26.

Hi guys and thank you all for the tips and words of encouragement. I'd hoped to have had a bit more to show you all by now but it's just been a hectic summer (as they all are I suppose). My wife and daughter are going camping next week without me (at one point in life I was an infantry soldier, you couldn't pay me to sleep outside anymore!) so I think I'll finally be able to get some progress done. Here is my tentative radio set up for my Mustang. It's got the late WW2 fit of the old SCR-522 radio and the IFF unit, with the addition of a BC-453 receiver which I think was used for navigational purposes. Although the picture posted of Little Beast doesn't show the BC-453, according to what I read, there was a pretty aggressive program to update Mustangs, so I think there was a good chance this might have been added at some point during the war. It'd be nice if someone offered a resin update kit for late Mustangs that included this rig but instead I'll have to scratch build the radio and it's mount. I think it's do-able but if for some reason I tank it, I'll just go back to the original configuration. I'll try to keep you posted! BTW, the picture above came from a very interesting Flikr site. This guy has a wide range of illustrations showing all the arcane differences found in D-model Mustang cockpits. Didn't know there were so many variations. Worth checking out for those interested in the subject. https://www.flickr.com/photos/34363610@N08/with/30496690655/

I was thinking about having a go at a Banff Mossie but it appears all the Aviology decals are out of stock. Anyone else do Strike Wing subjects for this kit? For that matter, any resin night fighter conversion sets out there?

I guess I’m gonna go with a flat aluminum mixed with flat very light grey and just tweak the ratio until I get something I like. Hopefully glossing then applying the final flat coat won’t destroy the luster. I might go with a dilute wash as well, per some of the recommendations provided.

I gave up on Future. I now use Novus plastic polishes. This stuff is the shiznit!

Nope, it’s NMF that has been exposed to some very harsh elements, starting in 1945 when it was built. A good comparison would be to check out one of those old school aluminum canoes that was stored in someone’s back yard for a decade or two. The surface is close to matt grey but with a pronounced metallic sheen.

Yep, RF-51D.

Thanks Jennings. I'll probably go with a heavily worn dark brown headrest (unless I can find a pic of a khaki one). Thanks for the info on the black cockpits. I was aware of that, was hoping to find out how far back the black was applied. However, in thinking about it, I'm going to leave the interior walls aft of the armor plate green. Can't believe the AF would have gone to the trouble of removing all that grear to spray those sidewalls black. With regard to the cockpit - here is the effect I'll be shooting for: This seems to be a pretty much unrestored F-51D cockpit, found on the Mustang displayed at the USAF Museum in OH (it's funny - they took the time to repaint the exterior as a WW2 bird but left the cockpit untouched).

I'm slowly working on a Korean War F-51D. Just got the very nice Barracuda resin seat. Reading the instructions, I have few questions: They mention the seat is Bronze Green. Is this correct (and if so, any good matches for this paint)? I thought only Interior Green was used on the Mustang? They also mention that the pilot's head rest could be khaki, OD or Dark Brown. For a later F-51D, which color would be most common? I'm hoping khaki would be a good choice, just to add some color to the black cockpit. Lastly - for Mustangs that had their cockpit's repainted black, would the inner fuselage walls behind the pilot's seat (ie - in the fuel tank area) have also been painted black or would they have been left in their original WW2 interior green?

Great pictures.. One thing that came to mind was the relatively crude airframe compared to the US B-29 that was developed in generally the same time frame. Certainly adds a bit of class to her!

When did this kit get to $600 Pup? Last I heard, WN was still shooting for under $399.

Well I guess it is successful then!