1:32 P-51A Mustang

The Mustang that did not yet have a Merlin

The P-51A is the version with the American Allison engine, that is a machine with a different task from the later famous escort fighters. At great altitudes it lost performance, but down low it was fast and had good range, and so it was used for reconnaissance and for attacks on ground targets. Its recognition features are the straight fuselage spine with a framed cockpit and the short nose without the characteristic chin of the later versions. Among other places it was deployed over Burma, where the machines carried conspicuous white bands on the wings and the tail.

The order of the coats decides the result

With camouflage there is a simple rule that a beginner usually grasps only after the first failure: you spray from light to dark. The light lower area is laid on first and carried over the edge onto the sides, and only then is the dividing line masked and the dark upper shade sprayed. The opposite procedure would leave the dark color showing through the lighter layer, which would have to be covered with several coats that drown the surface detail. The same logic applies to the insignia: the white field first, then the blue circle, the rest last. Anyone who plans the order in advance saves himself sanding back.

What the set offers

A framed cockpit has a great many straight runs and their width has to be the same on the left and on the right, otherwise the model looks crooked. The film settles this work in one go and in both layers, that is from the outside and from the inside. A pair of national insignia masks makes it possible to spray the stars into the paint and to keep a continuous surface. Obtain the model itself and paints separately.