1/72 Hasegawa P-51B/C Mustang
A semi fictitious P-51 out of the Hasegawa Mustang Mk.III 'RAF Combo' kit. Wanted to build Henry Brown's The Hun Hunter' Texas but couldn't find any after market decals so robbed these from an Aeromaster Debden Jugs Pt.III set. Lt Duane W. Beeson did fly a P-51 similar to this but I wanted to keep the aircraft as plain as possible. 'honeysuckle rose' was robbed from an Academy P-47 decal sheet.
Fictitious? No my son, generic is more appropriate. After all, there had to be a Mustang that wore those codes. Just because it was not flown by a renown ace or that there is no photographic evidence of it, does not necessarily mean it did not exist. Okay, so maybe the nose art and score board are fictitious, but I am certain that there existed a Debden pony that wore these codes. Personally, I like to model a generic aircraft from a certain squadron. As long as the codes and paint scheme are correct, one can practice a certain artistic license as you have certainly done, plus your build is certainly unique. Nicely done.
Thanx Seamus, but i'm afraid my work pales in comparison to your Hasegawa 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf109-G6 and Tamiya 1/48 Supermarine Spitfire Mk I, brilliant weathering on the Spit by the way, looks great, Oh how I'd love my very own man cave to build whatever I wanted in whatever scale but as herself says - she'd never get me out of there!
Never, never, compare your work against others. Model for yourself as it is only yourself you need to impress. Today's build should always be better than yesterday's, but never as good as tomorrow's. Man-caves (or what I prefer to call a study) are all well and good, but a man-cave does not a good model make. I have only had my man-cave for a little over three years. My Tamiya Spitfire was built in my kitchen and my Hasegawa Messerschmitt was pretty much built in the clean utility room of a hospital floor where I used to work. Anyway, your builds look quite fine, keep at it.
Hi Alvin,
Very nice Mustang & certainly not fictitious nor generic either in some respects. QP-B rang a bell & I looked in my spare decal pile to find that The codes were applied to a P-51B 0f the 354 FS/ 4 FG on Super Scale's old decal sheet No.48-590.
Many pilots flew more than one aircraft & changed names & nose art in the process so there are plenty of precedents for yours.
I also agree with Seamus - you don't have to please anyone else but yourself, so keep up the good work.
What I mean by generic is an aircraft of a paticular squadron/group that was not flown by some renown ace or an aircraft that was heavily photographed or documented. For example, three popular Mustangs of the 84FS/78FG are "Big Beautiful Doll", "Sherman Was Right", and "Dirty Dick" but they were not the only Mustangs of that squadron. There were others with the same checkered noses that wore the same pre-fix codes "WZ" that were flown by some regular moes who never achieved any sort of notoriety and whose mounts were never photographed. I am sure that a checkered nose Mustang with the codes WZ*B existed, but it was just never photographed. Personally, I find a generic build quite refreshing as the aircraft of the aces or an aircraft with well known markings/noseart have been done to death.
I can't comment on the accuracy, or otherwise, of your Mustang, but this, along with your other postings, shows that you have the necessary skills to complete your models to a good standard. As Seamus and Tony have already said, you're the one who has to be happy with what you're building. You say you're new to this, but you've certainly been busy!
Hiya George, I meant new to taking photos and trying to post them, have been making models on and off since I was a kid (mostly off), but took it up again in Christmas '08 after a long time of no activity. Have completed approx 70 aircraft since and have loads yet to do! Have made slow but steady progress skills wise, the next big step is mastering weathering techniques, I think worn and war weary aircraft look fantastic, difficult in 1/72 but not impossible, I know of a couple of examples where they actually look real and they are art!
Alvin,
I can't add anything more than what has already been said in the above comments. You build what you like and if it pleases you then that is all that matters. Modeling is a hobby creating illusions. When it becomes an obsession it is time to move on to something else. Your work and brush painting looks good.
Actually, modeling is a hobby creating art. Illusions are just part of the package that gets you there.