Model Airplane International - June 2018

Issue 155 - http://www.modelairplaneinternational.com 39

the exact shade of yellow to use so plumped

for a WEM enamel which is actually a shade

designed to represent the ID bands and panels

on WW2 Japanese aircraft, but for me it was a

perfect match. Thinned with lacquer thinners it

sprayed brilliantly to a tough and

opaque fi nish.

The painting continued with the invasion

stripes, painting the white fi rst then the black.

Revell supply and suggest black decals are

used for the invasion stripes but I thought it

would look better and save headaches later

on by painting them on from the start, I always

prefer to paint them on as it looks far better to

my eye.

The rest of the paintwork was

straightforward enough, though some

references suggest the top Olive Drab panels

The wing gun inserts are neatly moulded but just look so odd

with solid gun barrels. On the left here you can see where I

drilled them out and dry fi tted some brass tubing to replicate

the hollow barrels. I would use aluminium telescoping tubes

from Albion Alloys on the fi nished model at the last minute.

The gun inserts fi tted quite nicely only needing a modicum of

persuasion and a little sanding to ensure a neat transition. The

joins fall along natural panel lines so don’t fi ll and sand them.

For some reason the lower joins were nowhere near as good as

those on top of the wings. A small amount of putty was used to

fi ll the gap but only enough to leave the panel line showing.

The radiator intake took a bit

of sanding to get a smooth

fi nish, even here you can

see a small pin hole that

needs some putty to

remedy it. The insides

were airbrushed

Chrome Silver before

and after assembly

as well as the outside

parts of the intake lips.

This was probably the worst fi tting part on the entire kit, once

installed I ran some medium superglue along the join before

setting it with accelerator and sanding it smooth. The black line

you see along the join is actually the superglue.

Cleverly, the horizontal stabilisers are handed and will only fi t in the correct way. You can see here the

neat “tongue and groove” fi tting moulded into the attachment tabs ensuring you cannot get it wrong.

Once installed you can see just how good the join is, they really were a fantastic fi t and required

nothing more than slotting into place and applying glue along the seams.

P-51.indd 39 04/05/2018 16:01