TEXHILL
The effect of patching and worn finish after everything was given time to dry.
The decals have been applied and further washes were used to ‘dirty up’ and blend in the decals.
Drilling out the engine vent holes gives a more realistic touch.
The underside all finished showing the stains and wear.
silver was added to certain conduits and wiring to add a bit of variety to this area. I then used Tamiya smoke to lightly emphasise panel lines and add gun port exhausts stains.
The under surfaces were masked out, ready
for the upper surface colour, in this case a faded application of Model Masters Olive Drab. Instead of using post or pre-shading, I was able to achieve the same effect by lightly spraying the initial coat and then going back over with more colour along the panel lines. Since the undercoat was a light gray, the area with less paint applied will naturally be lighter. Being generally lazy and impatient, I find this technique to be a tremendous time saver.
A coat of Johnson’s ‘Klear’ was applied
undiluted from the airbrush in preparation for the oil wash. Since the actual aircraft was quite worn, the wash was liberally applied in to the panel lines – brown oil wash on the bottom and black on the top. After a short wait I then used a cotton swab to drag the wash backwards, in the direction of the air flow. This both emphasised the panel lines and created a well used effect on the aircraft’s surfaces. At this point, the effect may seem a little exaggerated, but after a matt top coat, it will all blend in nicely.
After allowing everything to dry overnight, I
applied the decals. The decals were from AeroMaster sheet AMD48430 ‘SE Asian Mustangs Part 2’. They went on beautifully and did a fine
job conforming to the surface with just a little Micro Sol – even on the compound curve area where the sharkmouth was applied.
To add a bit more detail, holes were drilled out
on the engine cooling vents beneath the exhaust manifolds using a pin vice. This is a very easy step that adds much to the overall finished product. A final matt coat blends everything together.
The spinner of Hill's final P-51B consisted of
red, blue, and white bands, representing the colours of the three different squadrons in the 23rd Fighter Group under his command. I achieved this by first spraying the spinner with PollyScale Reefer White, then, using a template meant to measure drill bits, I pushed the spinner through so that only the bottom was exposed and sprayed it blue. I then repeated the process with a smaller opening to paint the red propeller tip.
Final weathering was applied using the silver
artist pencil again to add paint chips and worn areas. These have to be applied after the matt coat is done as the Future/Klear would have been too slippery. The formation lights were undercoated with silver, and then Tamiya Clear Red, Blue, and Yellow used to finish them off. Finally two 250lb GP bombs and the dorsal antenna mast were added, with thin fishing line used for the aerial wire and the plane was finished.
To paint the spinner's different colours, a size-template for wood dowels was used as a mask.
The finished spinner. FEBRUARY 2015 • VOLUME 36 • ISSUE 12 37
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