Here some main building steps of Tamiya F-51D 1/48 scale kit.
First kit review. Standart Tamiya kit quality. Nice sharp detail and panel lines.
Decals are Aztec decal “Latin American MUSTANGS 1” – 48/72-014.
Cleaning of the main parts.
All gauges are drilled on instrument panel.
Kit gives decal instrument panel. I punched all gauges with a proper size punch tool.
And all drilled gauges are filled with a decal gauge.
Some mould marks are difficult to sand.
I hide the marks under a thin plastic card instead of difficult sanding application.
Pilots body and head are from F-84G kit. Arms from Aerobonus USAF Fighter pilots. Legs parts under the knees will be invisible inside the kit.
Ready for painting.
Painted with proper Vallejo acrylics. Diluted only water. And sealled under Tamiya Acrylic Clear.
Deail painting with brush and sealled under Microscale Flat Coat.
Same steps applied to the pilot.
All parts glued with Tamiya Extra thin and strengthen with a CA glue from inside. After dried all surfaces are sanded until the surface looks like satin.
Fasten belts are from Tamiya masking tape. Decals over aft compartment are hand made.
Black plastic tape applied from inside of canopy.
Ejection marks closed with plastic parts.
Exhaust parts detailed with help of drill bit.
Base primer applied.
I masked underside.
Then first color upper side.
And the second color. Uhu Tac was used as masking material for camouflage painting.
Note the engine cowling and canopy frame have different color and shape camouflage.
Tamiya Clear is airbrushed to all surfaces. After the clear coat dried El Salvador decals applied. Then another clear coat over decal.
Weathering was made with various brown color oil paint.
Now its time to Salt weathering.
Tamiya Smoke airbrushed over salt. Then all salts cleaned. And the final look.
Flat coat airbrushed all surface after salt weaqthering. Detail painting done.
Vallejo acrylic metal color for landing gear and external tanks.
And last painting step. Chipping. I made this effeck with Vallejo acrylics and a fine tip brush.
I replaced guns with injection needle instead of kits one. This is more realistic.
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