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Construction

Construction started in the cockpit. The instrument panel was sprayed white and dipped in “Future” floor wax. The thick clear coat is allowed to dry thoroughly then shot with a thin layer of water-based black. Using a Q-tip dipped in spirit, I gently and carefully go over the raised instrument dials to remove the black, and exposing the underlying white protected by the Future. To me, the result of this technique yields a much sharper result than the usual silver dry-brushing that most modeler uses. Thanks to the folks that came up with this technique though can’t remember where I read it.

The rest of the ‘pit is shot with interior green, and the various details are pick out by hand. A thin clear plastic was glued to simulate the gun-sight. The end result is very satisfying and a real morale booster. I’m beginning to fall in love with this little gem.

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Well, since this is another trial project might as well practice my slice-and-dice skills. I cut out the flaps to be position in the down later (not the wisest of decision), drill a hole in the aft canopy for the antenna, sanded away the small .50 calibres and replaced with drilled enlarged ones, and other small details like filling pin-holes, detailing the gun bay etc. Things are beginning to fall into place…

Then the real trial-by-fire came. Sorry, the fuselage halves could not be fitted without some physical coaxing. The fuselage to main wings joint has to go through serious putty work. After sweating for 2 days, my limited skill is stretched to the max…(so was my patient). I moved on when I realized that there’s no more I could have done.

The rest of the construction went on with muted feelings and lots of putty and sanding. 

Painting and Decaling

After hand painting the engine, most of plane was sprayed with Gunze aluminum metalizer thinned with Gunze thinner. It looked subdued and not shiny as advertised. Buffing with a cloth had no effect? A call back to the shop where I bought the paint revealed that the paint has to be applied straight from the container. Ok, lesson learned. The only parts left unsprayed were the main landing gear doors and the drop tanks. Did it the right way, the results were quite impressive and I had top-rate doors and tanks!

Some selected panels were masked and sprayed with a darker shade to give the patch-work effects found on WW2 Mustangs. Then the whole aircraft was given a gloss coat to prep for decaling.

Decals were applied next. After the foul ups I decided its not worth anything but the kit provided set. These were yellowed but workable, and didn’t give a lot of problems and settled well with Mr. Mark Softener. One suggestion I learned was to trim the decal as close to the colored print to lessen the yellow area on the aircraft.

Another thin gloss coat was given to seal the decals in, the aircraft is washed with diluted Tamiya smoke to bring out the grime, and matt coated for pastel work. Again, many modeler recommend using gloss instead of matt when doing pastel work. But I like my Mustang to look dirty and a matt coat provides the surface for the pastel to bite and hold on to. Everything was sealed again with a light gloss layer. The overall surface gives a semi-gloss appearance, which didn’t look bad at all. Then all the separate little pieces were glued. The end result looked like a Mustang if the observer doesn’t go into the “search and spot errors” mode.

Looking back, this project is like a love-hate relationship, however from the wider perspective, the main objective of learn to use the metalizer paint was well met. Besides I also got to brush up my cutting and dicing skills without any injuries and got the much needed exercise with all those sanding… most important of all got myself another ‘stang .

Happy modeling.  

Leon

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