1:48 P-51A Mustang

The Mustang that flew low

The P-51A did not yet have the British Merlin; an American Allison worked under its cowling. At great altitudes it therefore ran out of breath, but down at ground level it was among the fastest machines of its day and had an enormous range that sent it far beyond the front. Its deployment matched that: low-level attacks, reconnaissance and the famous operations over Burma, where the machines worked from improvised strips in the jungle. The wing carried four large-caliber machine guns, the cockpit still had a low spine and a sliding door at the side.

The inner masks belong at the start

The inner side of the glazing is masked before the cockpit is glued into the fuselage. The frames are sprayed from the inside in the interior color, and as soon as they are done the base shade of the airframe comes on the outside. The order cannot be reversed: once the cockpit is glued in you can no longer get at the inner side of the canopy and the frames would stay transparent from the inside, which on a finished model is visible at first glance.

What the delivery includes

The set covers the glazing from the outside and the inside and adds a single set of masks for the national insignia. The cut self-adhesive pieces serve for painting; they do not include the kit or varnishes.

Before you reach for the airbrush

Pressing the edge of the film down with a burnisher or a toothpick takes a few seconds and saves repairs later. Spraying is done in two stages, first a weak covering mist over the edge, then a full coat. The weak mist creeps into any gap and closes it, so the main coat has nowhere left to bleed.