317 FS, 325FG P-51D . . .

Nice paintwork, Frank! (on the horizontal stabilizers and elevators).  Sorry

Wow! Now that is great masking and painting. 

Jim 

Stay Safe.

Thanks, Jeaton and Fox. I'm really pushing myself on this build. I'll try to finish the rear fuselage over the weekend, then I'll start the NMF.

I have one of these cutting boards to help me cut the Tamiya Tape to the exact width I need to make the mask for the checkerboard. A handy little thing.

Those Infiniti boards are great.  I would say you nailed it.  Nice going.

Wow - nice work on the tail so far...

That's a paint job to be proud of Frank!

Sprayed the airplane and various bits with Mr Color Gloss Black as a primer for the NMF. I'll let the stuff sit for a day or two for the paint to fully cure then shoot the NMF. I'll buff the black primer with a 6000 or 8000 Micro Fiber pad so the primer is really glossy. Trying to decide if I should use AK Xtreme Metal or Alclad for the NMF.

Great work Frank.  Looking forward to the next update pics.

Sorry, keavdog, but no updates for a while on this build. I was out on the paint bench this afternoon preparing to seal the paint and decals with Alclad Semi-mat Clear and when I was shaking the bottle some liquid splashed from the bottle onto the nose of the Mustang. The effect was immediate. The lacquer ate through two layers of paint right down to the primer. I'm going to set this build aside for a while and move on to something else. Something quick and easy. Thanks for looking in.

Bummer.  It happens.  Wishing you luck when you get back to it.  

OK, I'm calling this one done. After splashing Alclad Semi-Matt Clear Coat over the nose, I just focued on just finishing the airplane. So, here it is, a Checkertail Mustang. The NMF is AK Aluminum. The yellow is Tamiya Flat Yellow combined with 20% Tamiya Orange to get the proper shade of yellow. The nose of the Mustang is Tamiya Flat Red. The national insignia are from the kit decal sheet, they snuggle down really nicely with Micro Sol. Te rest of the decal are from Eagle Strike Checkertail Clan Pt. 3. I hung everything that came with the kit under the wings, the bazooka rocket tubes and a couple of bombs. All of the Mustangs I have built have had long range tanks under the wings, so this a little different.

This is the Airfix new tool P-51D kit and it's really nice. I like it better that the Tamiya P-51D.

I have another Checkertail on the bench, this time a Merlin P-40F.

As always, comments and constructive criticism are welcome.

That's a nice looking mustang!  Sorry about the splash but I'd say that's a nice recovery. Congrats. 

Turned out nice Frank - that tail is quite the eye catcher.  And yes, looks great loaded for bear instead of paper tanks.

Thanks, John. Thanks, Hoss.

Very nice, Frank, especially on the checkerboard.  Very similar to one I'm working on now from the 52nd Fighter Group.

Gary

Nice work, Frank.