1:48 P-51 Mustang III

The Mustang under its British designation

The name Mustang III belonged in British service to the machines the American army listed as the P-51B and the P-51C. It was the first form of the aircraft with the Merlin engine, and with it came a leap in performance at great altitudes. British squadrons replaced the original framed cockpit cover on most of their examples with a bulged sliding canopy, which finally let the pilot look behind him. It is that which makes the silhouette of the Mustang III unmistakable. The squadrons escorted bomber formations over Germany with it and later hunted V-1 flying bombs over the Channel.

Why a bulged canopy is harder to mask

A bulged cover is a continuous three-dimensional surface with no dividing frames, so the self-adhesive film has to follow the curvature in two directions. It pays to press it from the middle toward the edges and, in the corners, rather to notch it than to let it lift. The set is applied to a seated and sanded canopy, that is only at the moment when the fuselage is finished and waiting for primer. Applying it sooner makes no sense, as filler and sandpaper would destroy the film.

The procedure through to the end of the build

Once it is applied, the primer coat follows, then the British or American camouflage, gloss varnish, invasion stripes or roundels and finally a matte overcoat. The masks are taken off as the very last act, ideally over a soft surface. If a thin deposit of paint appears at the edge, it is removed by careful trimming, not by polishing, which would buff the matte area of the glass into an uneven sheen.

Contents

A sheet of self-adhesive film with shapes for the outside of the canopy. The delivery includes neither the kit nor paints.