Collin

I’m building the same kit now, so watching closely. I’m doing Hun Hunter from the Eagle Cal Sheet. You are welcome to either of the other two schemes. I also have Kits World 132026 that I won’t be using. Yours if you want them. Cheers Collin

Yep, from the photo evidence of when Brown got the Mustang, that’s what she was “wearing”. Collin

Brilliant so far on a terrific subject!! weathering and colors look spot on. Cheers Collin

Freaking sweet!! I mean sweet! Can you expand a little on your improved intake? Cheers Collin

Went over to WWII Aircraft forum and found some interesting details. Seems that Brown's P-51D was a hand me down from the commander who was transferring. So the photo with the stripes on the bottom is actually WR-A before it was turned into WR-Z and had the stripes removed. Seems the upper OD color on WR-Z would have the traditional old and new paint where the stripes were either covered up or removed and repainted. No lower stripes at all. Interesting that "The Hun Hunter~Texas" may have never been painted on the aircraft. Photo evidence show the black arrow empty a week before the plane and pilot went down. Interesting things you find out researching a project. Cheers Collin

No stripes: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/351210470920573573/ Stripes (I think): Although I think the lower pic is actually WR-R?? Look like the same tail number and kill markings (two rows).

Next project is going to be the newer Revell 1/32 early P-51D dressed up as The Hun Hunter. I’ve seen conflicting photos on the net. Did she have lower wing invasion stripes w/two rows of kill markings which were later removed ( when a third row of kill markings were added)? Anyone know if she once had overwing invasion stripes that were painted over? Thanks for anyones info!! Cheers Collin

Grabbed this kit to practice my airbrushing. Made up markings for a late war 219. Earlier Tamiya mold from the mid-90's...good kit with just a few little areas to watch out for. Fun build of a cool looking aircraft that was before it's time. Cheers Collin

The only tricky part of the build is the area of the engine bodies and attaching them to the wings. Just be careful glueing them. You may have a small bit of cleanup on the rear parts of the engine and some excess plastic near the wing leading edge and engine. Hard to explain, but when you build it you will see what I’m talking about. Other than that, it’s a great kit. I kept the wings off until the end. Sure helped with painting, it’s a surprisingly large kit. And yes, the wings just slide onto the plastic guides provided, and press fit to the fuselage. A little touch of glue. Absolutely no seam to worry about. Cheers Collin

Weathering, gear and wings on. I was amazed, the wings were snap together tight...could have left them unglued. Exhaust stains and flat coat. Cheers Collin

I never met a beer in Munich I didn’t like. Darker the better. Cucumber vice lime, I’m game for trying that out. I’m on “bingo” when it comes to my JD and Glenlivet (12 not 24). Need to hit the store. Jamison Caskmates Stout is my first choice. Whistling Pig Rye if it’s still on the shelf. One cube of ice to sip sip sip and enjoy. Cheers Collin

Wanted to challenge my airbrushing skills to improve, so I grabbed this kit off the shelf and set off. Now when it comes to the He 219, my research showed the same 4-5 paint schemes from NJG squadrons in 1944 and 1945. I thought....there was ~250-300 of these aircraft out there...I'll airbrush a scheme that is close....but not exactly like a aircraft in the reference photos. So I figured here is a HE 219, toward the end of the war...the pilots took delivery of a grey squiggle painted bird, but wanted the local squadron folks to paint the lower parts of the aircraft black. Then after a P-47 attack on the airbase, someone came along and painted RLM 83 all over the top of the aircraft and pushed it into a tree line parking spot. Took about a week to construct the kit. OOB. Wine foil for seatbelts. Cheers Collin Here we go:

I painted a my first 1/48 P-51B with straight Alcald Aluminum on bare plastic...came out great (and still looks great on the shelf after 5+ years). There was no lifting of the NMF when I painted the glare shield or the black wing/horizontal stabs (for the black ID stripes). I've found that if you spray Polished Aluminum (or Chrome), then masking becomes a challenge (exactly what I ran into during this build). Any other NMF or color you put over the polished or chrome...chances are you are going to get "pull off" when masking. Lesson Learned for me. Cheers Collin

I used Alclad duraluminum over Alclad airframes aluminum, which I don’t recommend if you need to do any masking. I sprayed onto bare plastic. If you spray lightly it shouldn’t harm the bare plastic. The airframe aluminum is very fragile, so tape pulled up the dura and OD in places. I always try to de-tack any masking tape first to minimize any lifting paint. After painting I used Mr Color clear #46 as a gloss coat for decals. After that I shoot MM semi semi-gloss in prep for weathering with a PLW of MiG Blue Black. After that I use a light coat of MM acrylic flat, which I feels give a better “in service” NMF look in our small kits (32nd/48th). I also recommend AKs Heavy Metal line, they are just as good and slightly better than Alclad (IMO). I’m going to use those on my 32nd Revell Mustang. Forgot to add: I puttied up my wings, and used Floquil Old Silver for that. That is a tip I picked up years ago from another club member. Gives a great in-scale silver lacquer look (IMO). Cheers and Thanks Collin

Finished today, my contribution to our clubs group build (Southern Maryland Scale Modelers club....great bunch of guys). This is a OOB Tamiya 1/48 P-51B. Older Pro Mod decals. The nose checkers decals just didn't work, even with a decal clear coat so out came the Tamiya tape and the paint. Wasn't as bad as I thought using the original decals as a trace to make a mask. Overall, just love building this kit (my third), highly recommended for a fun COVID build. Seatbelts stay in the OOB swimlane, made with wine bottle foil. I puttied up my wings. Now onto my next build....some 1/32 kits are just begging to be built.