Tamiya 1/48 P-51B "Berlin Express"

I just got done "Bald Eagle", a 1/48th Tamyia kit. Came out pretty good, I'll post some pics if i can take 'em soon. There's a lot of mistakes i've seen with that plane, not just the blue paint instead of OD, but also black stripes on the horizontal stabalizers (no no) and Blue/OD top colored horizontal stabalizers (another no no). I found a few pictures of the bird, and all confirm that, these for some reason published things, are errors.

And by the way, very nice work Rick. A+ on that!

Almost forgot...that almost reminds me, 1) there's a P-51D that's painted that way (Blue) owned by a gentleman in Philadelphia, Jim Beasley...and 2) there's also a big debate still over a few of the 361st FG, 375th FS P-51's, OD or Blue? A few flyable mustangs are painted with a light sky blue, others OD. Dragon actually came out with two versions of their 1/72 P-51D in this motiff, the sky blue being a limited edition! I wonder if we'll ever know!

brian

Well, there's that famous formation flight photo, too. I'm relying on memory, but I think it was a four ship, mixed B and D models, OD over metal. Well, I saw that color photo printed in black and white in a respected aviation/modeler's journal and they described it as blue paint over NM. But I'm sure we've all seen the color photo of that stacked formation and they definitely are OD. Tell the truth, I wish they were blue. I sure get tired of OD, and find myself avoiding it nowadays whenever I can. Not hard when my favorite period is 1950-1968, but I've done a lot, and still do some, WW II stuff on commission as well, so I'm also sick of painting the same old RLM hues.
tom

Fantastic build Rick.
Thanks for sharing that.

Mike

Very nice P-51B. Really there's no such thing as too many Mustang. Just keep building them ( and posting it here).

Beautiful build. I really like the whitewalls -- I didn't even know planes had whitewalls, but it certainly adds a unique look!!

-Jonathan

MikeV, nkm, Jonathan, Thanks for the comments. Really appreciate it.

Jonathan, They weren't true whitewalls as seen on autos, the crews painted them on.

Waltz41, another anomally seen on "Bald Eagle" was the color of the name. I've seen it done in both black & red lettering. Looking at photos, it appears to be black to me, but red makes a more attractive model. Oh Well .

Regards, Rick

rick, one quick question, what color/technique did you use on the exhaust? that looks pretty cool. later.

Trying to steal all my secrets are we Chris ? . Well I'm glad to pass on my vast knowledge to you Youngens, LOL. Actually, since these were resin replacements from Ultracast, I first primed them with Floquil grey primer, then sprayed them with ModelMaster Burnt Iron enamel. Let that set a day, then brush painted Vallejo Flat Brown acrylic, only on the stubs, & the hollow ends were painted with Vallejo Black. Let that cure & then gave the whole thing a wash with Citadel Rust Brown ink. This was all done before the exhausts were assembled to the model. They were among the last pieces added. Kinda a lot of work for a couple of exhausts, but they do look pretty realistic.

Regards, Rick

LOL, watch out old man!! i gotta try and knock some of that rusty knowlege out of that memory bank friend!! thanks, they do look very realistic. thanks for the tip. later.

Chris, your'e more than welcome. Always glad to help out where I can.

Regards, Rick