Tamiya 1/48 P-51D Mustang “Katydid”
Tamiya P-51D straight from the box except the Aeromaster Decals. This one depicts "Katydid",Piloted by Lt. Col. Elwyn Righetti, 338thFS and CO of 55th FG. Col Righetti was shot down and survived the crash but was killed by civillians. The Tamiya Mustangs go together so well that they dont need much enhancing in my opinion.
I usually paint my control panels flat black and they dry brush them white..same with the radio behind the seat after I get the fuselage together I get the wings on and mask off the wheel wells and I usually use a liquid masking agent on the canopy and windscreen. I paint the anti glare panel first and then shoot with rattle can Testors Silver.
on the Tamiya Mustangs you have to build the entire prop so what I do, like on "Katydid" the prop is green with yellow stripe. the green goes all the way back to the exhaust so before I shoot the silver I mask that off. There is a yellow and green checkerboard just aft of the prop... I put the prop hub together without the blades (blades can be added after) and push it on to the plane then paint the green... after that dries good its masked off and THEN the silver is shot. since the green is gloss and decals usually go onto silver just fine with Solvoset I do not clear coat the bare metal planes...so after decals have dried I dull coat the blades of the prop and install them, install landing gear and she is done...
I like the name Katydid because my youngest daughter's name is Katherine and we call her Katydid...She is a special need child (well not child anymore she is 23)...and she is such a daddies girl...she says this plane is her's because it has her name on it...LOL...
enjoy
Nice build - nice pics. Tamiya rules...
Chris...Great looking clean colorful build.
Nice model, but you haven't got the landing gear cocked forward enough. You should just see the mainwheel axle just ahead of the leading edge of the wing looking straight down at the wing. It's why the model is sitting too high. Fortunately, it's an easy fix with a bit of bending and then reinforcing with CA glue.
thanks for the advice Tom...must be a design flaw in the kit..I put the gear into the holes as molded in the wing...will check them out though and try to fix it...
Chris .. it IS still a fantastic model .. AND the photography really adds to the effect to make it LOOK real .. a JOB WELL DONE ! all it NEEDS now is a pilot !