Maj. Ilfrey’s P-51D "Happy Jack’s Go Buggy" in 1/48
This is the second Tamiya Mustang of the series and my third overall, but I didn’t go OOB with this one. (Click here for Part 1.) This time I used Ultracast’s sweet fillet-less tail conversion. I got it on the cheap at a swap meet and figured this would be a good build to use it on. It’s pretty much idiot proof. (That’s a given since I was able to use it rather successfully.) Just make one cut along an existing panel line, glue it on, and viola! The only other aftermarket parts I used were a True Details seat and Aeromaster decals. I also scratched some piping for the tanks, and a piece of packaging plastic replaced the gunsight’s reflecting glass.
Speaking of the decals, their instructions call for a straight line on the anti-glare panel, but these pics (Pic 1 and Pic 2 show that HJGB’s panel was painted with a wavy line. A detail I had to go back and fix.) Also, Pic 2 shows what look like Invasion Stripes on the underside of the wing although the decal instructions don’t mention them. To that end, I painted my build with under-wing and half-fuselage stripes.
One of the main criticisms of my last build was that it was too clean. Specifically, that the Mustang needed some exhaust staining. Although the pix I found of “Jumpin’ Jacques” didn’t show a lot of staining. Taking a look at the pix above, and this pic, you can see that “…Go Buggy” didn’t have any staining either. I did add a more obvious wash to the tire treads, but it’s not very visible in the pix.
The painting was done with Alclad’s Duraluminum as a base coat. Panels were picked out with different shades and mixes of Alclad colors. MM emamels were used for the rest of the painting. Weathering was done with Flory’s washes, pastels, Pigma Micron pens, and the salt water technique.
There isn’t much more to say that hasn’t been said, so let’s get on to the pix…
Please feel free to share your comments or criticisms, I’d like to get your feedback on this build. Your thoughts are welcome, please fire away!
Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. Stay tuned for Part 3 of the saga…
-O