Page 37 - Model Airplane International - Issue 175 (February 2020)
P. 37
1:48
Before the wings are assembled the navigation lights have To save some tricky masking later, the surrounding area was With the wings assembled the leading edge gun inserts needed
to be painted and installed. These were simply brush painted sprayed dull silver before installing the navigation lights. a lot of help with Mr. Surfacer 500, before being gently sanded
with Tamiya clear colours and the back with Tamiya brass to fl ush with the rest of the wing.
represent the dull ‘switched off’ look.
forming as they do, an integral part of the wing
structure. A common misconception is that
the whole undercarriage bay of the Mustang
was painted in the ubiquitous Zinc Chromate,
The completed wings all fi lled, sanded and polished back.
The ailerons and fl aps would be left off to be painted that curious yellowish green shade, however
natural metal and installed after painting. it is believed to be more correct to depict it
featuring the main colour as painted aluminium
or bare metal with only the spar wall and ribs/
stringers painted in Zinc Chromate. To that
end I opted to make a lot of work for myself
by airbrushing the entire undercarriage bay
section with Mr. Color Super Metallic Chrome
Silver, before some inventive masking to allow
the aforementioned sections to be painted
Tamiya XF-4 Yellow Green. It must be said
that despite the amount of work involved the
fi nished item looks very neat and far more
interesting than just painting the entire section
one shade. With the undercarriage bay
fi nished it just needed the formation lights to
be painted and fi tted to the inside of the lower
starboard wing before the wings could be
assembled.
The inserts along the leading edges for the
The parts that make up the empennage are all equally detailed and fi t together perfectly. The Once the wings were installed, the lower leading edge/cowling piece was an easy drop fi t requiring
rudder and horizontal stabilisers are two parts each while the elevators are one-piece mouldings. nothing more than a drop of extra thin cement and a light sanding along the seams.
Issue 175 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 37
