1:48 P-51D Mustang

A windscreen of flat panes, a dome from one piece

The letter D designates the most widespread form of this American escort fighter and it is at the same time the version on which two entirely different approaches to glazing came together for the first time. At the front stands a windscreen assembled from flat panes, whose middle part is formed by thick bulletproof glass set into a metal frame. Right behind it a dome without a single bar is seated, which the pilot slid back on external rails laid on the cut-down decking of the fuselage.

Two varnishing techniques on one model

The modeler thus has to manage two opposing procedures within a few centimeters. On the windscreen you work with sharp edges and narrow frames, where what matters is that the edge of the spraying holds a straight line. On the dome, by contrast, there is no straight line at all and what decides is the lower rim, which turns in every direction. This item carries covering for the outer as well as the inner surfaces, so the frame of the windscreen can be visually finished from the cockpit too.

What the delivery includes

A pair of sheets belongs with the panes, with which you apply the star with bars in paint. The outline is cut to the parts of the Tamiya model. The aircraft itself is missing from the box.

A piece of advice at the end

The rails on the decking are varnished together with the fuselage, not with the dome, and that is why it is appropriate to leave them free when masking the glazing. It is also better to glue the sliding dome on only after all the spraying is finished, best in the slid-back position, because that is exactly how the equipment of the cockpit stands out. Press the edges of the film down before spraying, so that paint does not lift under them.