The Hellenic Air Force - Edocviews

60P-51D Mustangwww.sampublications.comThe assembled and paintedaircraft ready for markingsand stencilling decalsThe Packard Merlin engine installed in the engine bearers onthe bulkheadThe oil cooler installationwith associatedpipework,underneath thefuselageand a wooden cocktail stick employed to burnish itinto fine detail such as rivets and panel lines. I alsoused a fibreglass polishing pen to add more wear inplaces. The edges were sealed with a coat of glossenamel varnish.Work then moves onto the radiators under thefuselage, before the engine assembly is mated tothe cockpit section. This section is then clad in theexterior panels, which Iʼd pre covered in Bare-Metal.And there lies my error. The tolerances in the partsare so fine that the thickness of the foil in the joinsaffected the fit… so it was a case of carefullytrimming the foil away from the join where I couldand then stripping and fitting the panels I couldnʼtmanage. In addition to the aluminium foil, I alsodressed the exhaust panels in chrome foil to givemore variation.The tail assembly follows the same route, fittingonto the rear of the fuselage as per the real deal. Ialso fitted the windscreen transparency at this stageusing Gators Glue, having previously painted theinside of the frames black and fitted the suppliedmasking set.The Kit had started to look like a Mustang. Thewing is the next step, kicking off with painting theframework and spars, along with the fuel tanksbefore installing them, making up the wheel wellsand the gun bay before adding in the plastic skinpanels to replicate that laminar flow wing. I addedsome more detail to the gun bays such as controlcables and additional panels to the Browning gunsthemselves, as well as the ZM gun barrel set. Thecontrol column fits on top of the wing before thewing fits under the fuselage, to locate in the middleof the cockpit, and the join between the wing andfuselage are covered with panels.PaintingThe kit comes supplied with decals for three wellknown aircraft, however thereʼs no reason to berestricted as there are a huge number of decals for1/32 Mustangs available in the aftermarket, and Ihad to resist temptation to produce an RAF or RAAFversion, given the small amount of conversion workrequired and the availability of the necessary partson the aftermarket.The kits options are:• ʻMiss Marilynʼ P-51D-5-NA Sr.44-13837, 343rdFighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, flown byCaptain Robert Welch• ʻOld Crowʼ P-51D-10-NA Sr. 44-14450, 363rdFighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group, flown byCaptain ʻBudʼ Anderson• ʻRed Dog XIIʼ P-51D-25-NA Sr. 44-73108, 334Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group, flown byMajor Louis NorleyChoosing which option took a lot of deliberation,but in the end I settled for ʻRed Dog XIIʼ, as I felt itgave the metallic finish the best setting.With the bulk of the construction complete andthe markings choice made I then finished off the foilcovering and masked off for the Olive Drab antiglarepanel on the nose.The red sections were masked off and paintednext; I used Tamiya X-7 to provide a deep gloss red.Finally the fuselage was masked off and the wingsgiven a dusting of Xtracrylix Silver paint by airbrushto replicate the painted finish given to the wings tosmooth the airflow over the wing, but without wipingout the metal effect of the foil.Decals came next, with no drama to report,these being in perfect register, gossamer thin andwith a good depth of colour coupled with a minimalcarrier film. Once a coat of Klear had sealed them inplace I decided to proceed with weathering.With the odd exception I like my aircraft to havea slightly tired and distressed finish,because when you get up close tomost aircraft they are simply grubby. To