Someone asked about a B model Mustang 🙂 . My first attempt at Alclad and Betty Jane went south. I got it fixed but in the process I lost most of the forward surface detail. The second Mustang I bought off of eBay with a ton of resin parts and decals. What I didn't know was it was partially started. I'm not sure which resin cockpit set was attempted but it the fuselage walls were installed crooked and the fuse wouldn't go together. After much cussing and surgery it worked out and finally got it all to fit. This time, instead of using Aclad Black Primer...(which takes forever to dry and sucks up dust like a Hoover) , I used Mr. Color Black base and wet sanded with 6000 grit. Butter! Once all the silver was successfully applied I decided on Salem Representative. I'm using Mr. Color, Tamiya, and Alclad paints. It's so nice when everything works! The decals are a mix of Kits-World and Superscale. The Kits-World nose art and Serial numbers are spot on, but the Fuselage codes are way off. I used Superscale codes from the stash, along with their stars and bars. No real hic-ups, about a week of building and painting, around 3 hours a night and this is where it's at.

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Hi Jim!
This is a beautiful job; your NMF stands out.
One would assume that Alclad primer would be the way to go when Alclading, but you went better with Mr Color. It's never bad to experiment in our hobby!

Great looking color scheme and paint job. At one point, it seemed all of the model paint brands were disappearing, and now there are more than I can keep track of. It is great to have a choice.

Hey Jim ! @jimh
It's great to see you back at it again... You picked a good one to build.

Kidd Hoffer wasn't shot down by a Luftwaffe Experten as claimed by one individual who claims to know everything. You know who I mean. Instead, he was shot down along with 4 other Mustangs by the German AAA that ringed the airfield they were strafing on that fateful day. You can google it and see exactly what I'm talking about. It's listed on Wiki too, yet the one who touts to "squash all things that are not correct" continues to spread his poison. Enough about that.

Back to the models. Even if you have spent $30 in masking tape, it looks like every penny was well spent. The wheels remind me of Don Gentile's P-51 Shangri La

Your paint is flawless, as was your F2G Race 57...

Thanks for posting...and for inspiring me to do some work on my two 1/32 scale Ponies.

Stay safe brother.

Got a bit done tonight, put a thin coat of semi-gloss on the OD, May add some flat in a couple spots. Down to the prop, clamshells, pitot tube, light cover and another pass with the oil paints. The Malcolm hood is really thick so dremeled it down with Polish, it fits a bit better. I’m on the hunt for a Squadron hood and I’ll probably invest in a resin prop. For now I’m going to use an Accurate Miniatures prop.

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That’s too cool Louis. Preddy is another fighter pilot that holds a certain fascination. I’ve mapped out his final flight as well. I thought I was the only one that nerdy. Sam Sox actually went over there and tried to find his crash site. He thinks he was close but nothing was really conclusive. A few years ago we did a trip to Europe and the route we took from Amsterdam to Belgium took us right by Y29. Unfortunately I couldn’t talk the group in to finding the memorial. Years ago the wreckage of Bill Preddy’s Mustang was found and the seat and a rudder pedal are or were in a museum in Hickory. The seat is in remarkable condition, we talked about putting it in Betty Jane to give it one more flight but it was tweaked a bit too much. The photo below is about a mile or so from Y29.

I’m calling Salem done before I screw it up. The Accurate Miniatures prop doesn’t look half bad so I may glue together permanently, for now I used Blue Tac to hold the blades in place. I’ll take proper photos tomorrow. As for what’s next? I don’t know, I’m on a Mustang kick and my Betty Jane decals are stuck in Europe. I’ve been mulling around 4 different pony’s...all of which I have the decals and the conversion.

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Mustang looks great, especially with the natural metal finish. I always admire people who can do a metal finish well. For me, a NMF is a shot in the dark.

Thanks guys! It's all Tamiya though...I'm just amazed by these kits. The Panther is 90% there 90% to go 🙂 I finally found Brubaker Decals if that tells you which direction I went. I told myself when I got back in to this to "do one kit at a time"...well that went out the window, it's too fun not too. I've got at least 5 Mustangs I want to do...for now 🙂 The NMF was a huge learning curve but once it clicks it really clicks. I think it took me around an hour and a half to do Salem with the Alclad. I sprayed the entire airframe and used some different shades on various panels and not a lick of it pulled up with the tape. The last 2 attempts were disasters and pretty much destroyed two kits, although I saved the Betty Jane model I lost most of the cowling detail stripping the finish. It's now my exhaust "test bed" model. More soon!