Finished sooner than I thought....
....the two ponies are now across the line! Onto the final results…
The P-51D was originally going to be an OD / Grey camouflaged machine, but eventually was built to represent “Contrary Mary”, 44-474251, flown by Lt.Col Roy Blair Caviness, Commander of the 78th Fighter Group, Duxford, England, August 1945. The decals came from the Lifelike Decals set 48-052. These decals were fantastic, conforming nicely and responding very positively to decal softener. All of the checkerboard markings were masked and sprayed… though I now have a new-found appreciation for compound curves, the result was less than perfect, but it’ll do. The NMF was attempted by using Alclads (6 or 7 different shades in total), which looked lovely, but various clear coats dulled them down a little so it all now just looks ‘silver’. Oh well. There is only one known photograph of this machine, and it wasn’t heavily weathered, so I kept it relatively clean.
The Mustang IV was built to represent KH745 “BAE”, flown by Group Captain Brian A Eaton, previously of 3SQN, Royal Australian Air Force. This was his personal aircraft while the head of Number 239 Wing, based in Cervia, Italy, April 1945. He flew this aircraft frequently with 3SQN, RAAF. This machine carried the perforated engine grills, similar to US machines. The decals came from the Freightdog Models “Keeping the peace Pt.I” set, FSD48009. Again, these decals were lovely. NMF was again Alclads. The pictures of this machine also show relatively little weathering, so I dirtied her up a little, but not too much.
So, the two ponies are done. Apologies to all of the Mustang afficionados out there – I know very little about Mustangs so there is no doubt I mucked up plenty of things. I feel the need to paint something drab now…!
Thanks for looking, and all feedback welcomed!
Cheers,
BC