Thanks dudes...
I've been working on this one along with the P-51. I go back and forth between the two. I decided to knock out the engine first. I rigged it with .10 plastic styrene rod and some copper speaker wire.
If you would like to see how I wire up my radials, see the link below.
http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/149327.aspx
Other than a mildly annoying belly seam, the airframe presented no issues. This kit has great fit. To ensure there are no wingroot gaps, I always glue the top wings in position first and once dry, I add the lowers. It works everytime.
A few weeks ago I was watching a review of AK Interactive Xtreme Metals on You Tube. They are enamel based and appear quite durable. The reviewer was pleased with them, so I was intrigued as well. I decided to grab a few, namely Duraluminum, Aluminum, Dark Aluminum, and Matte Aluminum for a test run in comparison to my usual Alclad. I started with their black microfiller primer. It went down smooth with a matte finish.
I then gave it an overall coat of Duraluminum. I was pleased with the coverage and did not experience wingroot pebbling like I do sometimes with Alclad.
Now it was time to add some different shades of aluminum, namely dark and matte to break up the monotone silver. Here is where I discovered the downside to this product. The enamel takes quite a while to dry, cure if you will. I found that it scratched easily with a fingernail, so I had to wait a few hours before it cured enough to be taped over. Alclad dries almost immediately. For someone like me where my bench time is at a premium, it's an issue. I used post it notes to tape off the panels where I could. This is like three days of work....lol.
I used Gunze Olive Drab and added the anti-glare panel. I faded it a bit with some XF-57 Buff.
Next I added the 56th FG red cowl band then the yellow rudder for the 62nd FS.
Soon I will be painting in the invasion stripes and markings.