1:48 P-51 Mustang III

A bulged hood over a flat decking

Mustang Mk III is the name under which the Royal Air Force operated the P-51B and P-51C versions. These machines still had a high fuselage decking and above it a low hood assembled from a windscreen, a hinged middle section and a fixed rear part, so the pilot saw pitifully little to the rear. The British answered that in their own way: they had the old hood removed and replaced by a smoothly bulged sliding dome that became famous as the Malcolm hood.

What that means for masking

The bulged shape has far fewer bars than the original hood, but its surfaces are doubly curved. A straight strip of tape cannot be laid on such a dome without wrinkling or cracking in the bend. Film cut exactly to the outline, by contrast, settles into the rounding by itself and the edge stays sharp even where the surface passes from vertical to horizontal. On the windscreen, where the frames on the contrary stayed narrow and deeply recessed, a precise cut saves even more time.

Box contents

Inside lie the outer covering of the panes and a sheet with the markings, thanks to which the British cockade arises by spraying. This item does not cover from the inside. The cut follows the plastic of the Tamiya company; the aircraft itself you will not find in the box.

What to watch out for

Before laying the film down it is worth ridding the glazing of grease and fingerprints, because film holds noticeably better on a clean surface. It is better to spray twice weakly than once heavily; a thin coat does not lift under the edge of the mask. Remove the covering with a diagonal pull from the middle toward the edge, so that the frame is not torn off along with it.