Tamiya 1/32 P-51D - Kiwi Mustang
By Mike Swinburne
Completion of this came in just under the wire for a 2016 build - 7PM on December 31st. This is Tamiya's 1/32 P-51D kit depicting a #2 Sqn (Wellington Squadron) bird in the New Zealand Territorial Air Force (NZ TAF) circa 1953/1954. Mustangs flew for New Zealand throughout most of the 1950s in four territorial squadrons.
The kit was built out of the box with the exception of the following: Appropriate propeller blades from Grey Matter, resin rocket stubs from Brian Fawcett, a resin spinner from an Aires P-51 prop set sanded to shape and drilled to accept the GM resin blades (the Aires square blades are far too large to use sadly), and Ventura Decals set #V3275.
This P-51 had an unpainted metal fuselage and tailplanes, and silver painted wings, rudder, elevators, and spinner. The fuselage was finished in Alclad Polished Aluminum, with Alclad Dull Aluminum lightly sprayed in a few areas to simulate tarnishing or dulling metal. Panels around the exhaust are Alclad Dark Aluminum. The wings, spinner, and moving tail surfaces were airbrushed in decanted Tamiya AS12 spray paint. Anti-glare panel and prop blades were finished in Mr. Color 125 Japanese Cowling Color and Mr Color #58 for the propeller tips.
Thank you to Anthony Galbraith, who was very helpful throughout the build providing unpublished photos and additional information.
© Mike Swinburne 2016
This article was published on Sunday, January 01 2017; Last modified on Sunday, January 01 2017