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George Schembri
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1/32 Hasegawa Mustang Finishing comments welcomed

June 5, 2020 · in Aviation · · 8 · 2.2K

Looking for recommendations on how to finish coat my .

I started building the Kit S12 - scale P-51D back in the mid 1980's getting about 90% done with the intention of a OOB build, planning to use the kits decals.

Well, about a year ago I pulled it out of storage after about 33 years. I finished the paint scheme and then started to prep the decals only to find the decals had completely solidified!

I wanted to keep the Man O' War scheme the paint was done but could not find after market decals. I then realized Plaza Japan was actually selling the ST5 kit with an improved Man O' War decal sheet for an awesome deal. Now I have a second P-51D to build in 1/32 scale with a nice set of AeroMaster decals - gonna decide between Tender Terror or Ol' Flak Joe

This kit was originally painted in 1987 with Testors Spray Enamel Metallic Silver. Invasion stripes, anti-glare panel and upper surface camouflage all painted with Humbrol Enamels.

Future/Pledge Floor Gloss was used to prep for the decals with great results.

Now that all is complete, I wanted to get a uniform finish - should I just spray the complete model with the Future/Pledge acrylic finish?

Looking for some recommendations...just wanting to finish this guy so I can put it on my shelf but don't want to mess it up.

Thanks!

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8 responses

  1. Hi George @georgeswork!

    You may spray Future allaround, to seal everything in, but you will end up with a gloss allaround finish. I believe the antiglare panel and green top coat were matt (satin at most).

    In cases like this, I usually go with a satin (towards matt) finish allaround compromising mainly the aluminum ultrashine and retain the olive drab matt-iness.

    Noone will strongly blame me for not having an ultrashine metal finish. After all, we are talking about a real war workhorse!

    All the best!

    • Thanks Spiros – so Future all around for the gloss.
      What would you use for the antiglare panel to get a satin or matt finish?

      • Hi @georgeswork!

        You can pick your favorite color brand satin or matt varnishes.

        I mix Humbrol Gloss and Matt Varnish at a ratio of roughly 50/50 for "satin" effect and around 20/80 for "matt" effect.

        In your case, I would spray satin allover and leave it like this. Future will give the olive drab on the wings and fuselage an unrealistic shine. I would also mask lthe red painted parts and leave them "glossy" as they are now.

        Hope I helped!

        • Thanks for the recommendation Spiros - I'll pick up the Humbrol products soon as most stores have opened up in the last couple of weeks. I wasn't sold on applying the overall gloss finish and wasn't sure how to proceed. I have my old bottles of Micro-Flat & Micro-Gloss but I just don't want to chance it.
          Cheers

  2. This is a great build George. I built this kit as a kid in the 80's so it's with some nostalgia that I admire your build. I can't wait to see the end result.

    • Thanks Morne,
      I'm glad it packed away well. It is a pretty unique camo scheme that caught my interest decades ago. I'm just glad I did not have to spray over it. this model originally a build for one of my brothers. I just wanted to keep the original scheme.

  3. To get a satin or matt finish to Future I add Tamiya Flat base, and isopropyl alcohol to thin it down and airbrush with a large nozzle. Depending on the amount of flat base added you get a satin or matt finish.

    • Thanks Gordon.
      I still haven't got to this yet. My enamel airbrush has parts on order so I do not want to try an enamels.
      Hopefully, I'll have time to test your suggestion later this week.

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