A Japanese modeler has published an article on the web in which he covers his build of the particular airframe. He used Mr. Color 65, "India Blue", which seems to mirror the color photos of other ships from this squadron and the blue used in the unit crest. The address below will redirect you to that article:

http://www.webmodelers.com/201511iwama.html

KnightTemplar,

Thanks for the reply. I'd seen the site in Japanese and I have a bottle of the Mr. Color blue on the way. I also searched through paint lists and found a listing that Model Masters French Blue was a good sub for the Mr. Color blue.

I just like to model from photos of the prototype when I can. Thanks for mentioning the squadron insignia. I hadn't thought of that and I've now found a color image of it. I've yet to dig up any color photos of Mustangs from the 46th, though.

Best,
Larry

As I was scrolling down these posts I was going to suggest MM French Blue, but I see you beat me to it.

Dana Bell's Air Force Colors, Vol. 3, page 26, list the blue as medium blue.

richs26 - it sure does. I'd forgotten that I even had that book (and Vol. 2). In neither one, though, does he mention medium blue in the discussion of colors. Back to beating on Google to see if I can come up with the right set of search terms to give me a color photo of a Mustang from the 46th.

I really like your idea for this build.

I wish I could be of some help. I couldn't find any color photos at all of that fighter group.

Here are a couple of links I'm sure you found the first time you tried to search. They're all I could come up with.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.wp.scn.ru%2Fcamms%2Far%2F165%2Fpics%2F3_94.png&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwp.scn.ru%2Fen%2Fww1%2Fo%2F165%2F3%2F26&docid=Mc1NHNCl5VtILM&tbnid=MNPCRbA-nQXerM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjfkZOhyrHWAhVhyVQKHd-uCsoQMwg2KA8wDw..i&w=1280&h=723&bih=1331&biw=2280&q=46th%20FS%20of%20the%2021rst%20FG%20on%20Iwo%20Jima&ved=0ahUKEwjfkZOhyrHWAhVhyVQKHd-uCsoQMwg2KA8wDw&iact=mrc&uact=8

http://www.7thfighter.com/album/var/albums/Iwo-Jima-Post-Invasion-Ops/342-FH-3A-42225-unk_46th_fs_21st_fg.JPG?m=1389673192

Well, it has taken me a long time to get to this point (work actually expected me to do my job, if you can imagine), but here's where I am with Mary Alyce at this point.

Happy modeling,
Larry

Wow! Your NMF looks awesome. What kit is that?

Chemteacher,

Thanks for the kind words. This is my second attempt at a natural metal finish. I learned a lot from the first one. The model is the Tamiya 1/48 scale kit.

Best,
Larry

Almost there. There are a couple of small things I want to touch up and I need to finish and install the Brassin 75 gallon drop tanks, but Mary Alyce is pretty much done.

Larry

I'm thinking that this build is done. I may add a bit of chipping to the blue stripes and spinner, but otherwise, Mary Alyce is complete.

Best to all,
Larry

I like it Larry!  Great NMF finish.  Where did you get the grass?  It looks very convincing.    

Thanks! The grass is a grass mat made by Busch. It's made for model railroad scenery.

Wow very impressive! Love the look of this aircraft with the blue.

RadMax8,

The blue squardon markings were part of what attracted me to this aircraft. My Mustang collection currently includes red, yellow, and white, so the blue stands out.

Best,
Larry

Beautiful!!! 

The NM looks fantastic and great work all 'round! 

Thanks for the kind words, ChemTeacher and Gamera. I'm just getting started on a P-51K. I hope to do even better on the NMF.

Larry

Well done!

Nice photography as well!