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Tom Bebout
142 articles

Tamiya 1/48 F-6D “Nose Art Group Build”

January 14, 2019 · in Aviation · · 16 · 2K

My first off the bench for 2019 is 's old P-51D completed as an F-6D Recce bird from the 10th Photo Reconnaissance Group. This aircraft was flown by Lt. John R. "Red" Ellis, who obviously was from the great state of Kentucky. The art work illustrates the nickname of Kentucky and depicts a zoot suit clad Kentucky Colonel jitterbugging. You have to be over 50 and know some history to understand.

Although a Recce bird the 10th's Mustangs were fully armed and Lt Ellis would finish the war with 2-0-1 aerial victories. Much as already been written about this particular Tamiya offering so I wont dwell on it's fit or overall detail. Both are good and this kit can often be found at model shows at very reasonable prices. Because of my fixation on seats I did add an Ultracast seat to upgrade the cockpit a little. I used the kits decal for the IP and it settled down extremely well by using some Micro Sol and Micro Set.

Paints were a combination of Model Master acrylics in the cockpit and Tamiya TS-17, gloss aluminum, from a rattle can for the exterior. The three camera openings are from the 48-115 conversion set for the . I was able to obtain this set from another modeler on HyperScale who was kind enough to sell it to me. The decals are a combination of those in the box and AeroMaster 48-708 sheet. Panel lines were outlined using a Pitt Pen. Thought it would be a nice addition to Jaime Carreons's Nose Art Group Build. Thanks for the opportunity Jaime.

Reader reactions:
6  Awesome

17 additional images. Click to enlarge.


16 responses

  1. Very nice overall, it’s a striking NMF/markings combination.
    I don’t remember seeing a Mustang converted to the Recee version, Kudos for that Tom!

  2. beautiful work tom...splendid scheme

  3. Looks great! Having all my family roots in Kentucky, I may need to try to find some 1/72 decals of this bird. Also love the variety of colors on this - the 2 different checkerboard sections, the blue in the nose art, and the glare panel all really set it off.

  4. Great job! in looking at those instructions you did a really clean job of surgery. She sure looks the part.

  5. What a great build and subject Tom, fantastic paint job as well. I like it a lot.

  6. Nice presentation, Tom...I like it!

  7. Great mustang Tom, kudos my friend!

  8. Great Mustang, Tom! Like already mentioned, I've never seen a recce bird Mustang before.

    Bravo!

  9. That's a beauty, Tom, don't see the recce Mustangs often. Good artwork, too!

    Thanks for playing!

  10. Nicely done, Tom. Being an adopted Kentucky boy myself, I like it!

  11. I like it Tom ! Another fine model from the Bebout factory...

    "liked"

  12. Aside from the interest of the Recce adaptation , which is really well done, this is a beauty, Tom -love the yellow vs blue checkerboard and the nose art - a cracker!

  13. A great build, Tom!

  14. 🙂 … Greetings … 🙂 :
    Nice build Tom. The white and blue checkers really stand out, gives it a personality all of it's own.

  15. Nice looking Mustang dude, great work!

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