I shot the rudder with Tamiya gloss clear coat, which left quite an orange peel, no matter what mix of thinner I used. I ordered some Mr. Color gloss clear and it's corresponding thinner. Went on like glass! After I got the decals on and the airframe cleared I built up the gear and decaled the doors. The landing gear is pretty generic so I added the door arms and "springs" with fine wire. After a shot of clear coat I used Tamiya wash to give it some depth and grime. The tires that come with this kit are terrible so one of my

Tamiya Corsairs is short set of wheels 🙂 The resin exhaust that is supplied with the kit is terrible as well. I had some evergreen tubing laying around so I heated it up and stretched it to scale. Small spacers were added to mount the exhaust pipes based on period photos. I wanted to mount the cowl flaps in the open position so those were cut apart and mounted individually. The nose decal went on with little trouble but the white paint on the nose bowl didn't match the decal. I taped off the red and did my best to blend the white decal with the airbrush.

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The white and red paint scheme here is a real standout, Jim. Everything is coming together nicely. I have had some trouble with Tamiya clear gloss, but I thought I was causing the problem. In addition to orange peel, I also had it dissolve the decals that I was covering with the clear. As you can imagine, it would be very difficult to fix this problem once it occurred. The first time it happened I thought perhaps I had put it on too thick, so I tried misting the clear on the next model. Same results. I haven't used it since. Tamiya clear flat has never caused a problem, so I still use it.

A real beaut in those colors!

Finis...she has some flaws but overall this was a fun build. From start to finish it was around 4 weeks, working about 2 hours a day. Maybe I'll start sanding the dust out of the Mustangs next 🙂 I really appreciate all the feedback and comments, such a great group!

10 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Thanks George! much appreciated. I've got a 1/48th P-26 on the table now, once it's farther along I'll post some photos. I have the Beguine P-51 conversion that is next in line. That one will require a lot of chopping!

Jim