What if 1/72 P-51D Mustang D-Day 99th FS

[Swede]

This 1/72 scale Tamiya kit has been collecting dust for about one year now and during my vacation I finally got to build it.

I'm a very keen what-if modeller and decided to build it as a fictitious P-51D Mustang belonging to the 332nd FG during the D-Day invasion, since this very important event took place 75 years ago this year.

This is an aircraft in service with the 99th FS and the successful pilot has proudly painted 19 air combat kill markings, some of them shared and some of them his own. Except for the 99th FS identification code, the various stencils and the aircraft name, all decals are from the Tamiya kit.

This is the very first build where I've used Mikro Set and Mikro Sol all the way. These fluids really made all the difference! They are very easy to work with and the final result is just outstanding.

Compared to the Tamiya decals, the ones from LPS Hobby were a real pain to apply. From the very moment that I put the decal paper into the water the decal started to come off. And for the very first time during my many years as plastic modeller, I found myself forced to apply the stencil decals using a toothpick!

In contrast to the Tamiya decals, that weren't tiring to work with in any way shape or form, these useless decals really depleted me of all joy otherwise associated with plastic modelling.

But at the same time they do add to the final result and complete the final impression of my Mustang. This together with the cut out control surfaces, that ware glued into individual positions, in order to give the create an aircraft, this simply looks much better than an aircraft without all the stencils.

For this build I also used a cockpit set from Aires, something that really added to the final impression! This kit was very hard to paint and assemble, but the end result is just astonishing.

However I had some troubles fitting it to the Tamiya kit and didn't succeed completely with this step during the build. As a result the canopy doesn't look as good as it could have, since it didn't fit like a glove.

Still I'm very pleased with the overall result. The approximately 35 hours that it took to complete the build truly were worth the extra efforts that I took with this plastic modelling kit. The end result has exceeded all of my expectations.

However, even if Tamiya as usual had a top notch precision with this kit, they still could have given me the option of building the aircraft with the landing gear up instead of down. This would have given me the option of displaying this P-51D in a more interesting way. Now it can only be displayed siting on the ground, and that quite frankly just looks boring. They could also have added a pilot figure with this quite expensive kit.

Cheers, Morgan // Swede

[bell209]

Nice

[hughb]

Looks very colourful i like it. You've done a great job with the cockpit as well

[RayS]

Nice work Morgan, I have had one of these gathering dust for a lot longer than a year. I am a fan of the Micro series of solutions and use them a lot.
The cockpit looks very nice. With regards to the landing gear, with a bit of creative cutting of the gear parts it would not be hard to close the gear doors for a 'flying ' model. I have done it wit a few kits that were not designed for gear up.

I should find it and build mine, I was planning an RAAF scheme with it.

Thanks for sharing

[Swede]

Thank you so much!

Too bad that the cockpit is "hidden" by the canopy and that the canopy didn't turn out the way that I wanted it to. Maybe I'll cover it up, at least to a certain degree, although that would be a pity due to all the work on the cockpit kit.

Then again, maybe it is just my hurt pride that is talking...

Cheers, Morgan // Swede

[Swede]

Since I've finished my Mustang, I haven't been very happy with the canopy and have wanted to do something about it.

Simply covering it up would have been a very easy solution to the problem, but would also have hidden the cockpit, which has taken up so much of my time to get right. So instead I decided to open the canopy up and cover it up, and the result exceeded my expectations.

Again I've used cigarette paper to simulate the canopy cover.

I've also added new kill markings.

Of cause I could also do something about the wind shield, but I have to draw the line somewhere.

One idea that I have – if it is possible in this small scale – is to have a pilot sleeping on the wing and having his leather jacket covering the wind shield. But so far I haven't found any suitable figures in the 1/72 scale.

Thank you very much for reading!

Cheers, Morgan // Swede

[bell209]

That's come out very nicely

[RAAFBrat]

Without being unkind at all Swede, because a perfectionist I ain't, I far prefer your 2nd edition. Personally, having put all that work into the cockpit there's no way I'd have it any way but open, even if that meant improvising - which I have done a few times without anyone noticing. Likewise the Pilot figure - I'd not want him sitting inside obscuring all that detail . Most of my kits are older, so they often still have figures. I just haven't used them.

[RayS]

I also like it with the canopy open, you have achieved a great result with the tarpaulin!

I would not worry about the windscreen, it looks fine to me.

[Swede]

Thank you very much!

Next year when I have an airbrush I should be able to achieve even better results, since this one is hand painted. That is also the reason why I have built so many 1/72 models since my re-start into this hobby two and half years ago, to re-learn what I knew and could back then, when I still was young and had plenty of time.

Hopefully I'll get some more progress made on my 1/48 scale Boomerang soon.

Cheers, Morgan // Swede