Southern Italy, summer 1955 and a vintage P-51D Mustang, whose cousins once flew combat operations against the Regia Aeronautica, now serves to train pilots of the Italian Air Force as a gunnery trainer.
This is the first build I have made for the primary intention of entering a model show competition. Unfortunately many regional show contests have broad categories where small models like mine struggle to compete against 1/24 monsters. However the Northern Show in North Shields always has seperate scale categories and I was keen to build something to enter this.
Sun Details of the Czech Republic have produced a number of resin engine sets in 144th and they add an extra touch, rarely possible in the smaller scales and I hoped would give the model a unique touch.
The starting point is the Platz P-51d - a superb injection kit that all but falls together. The engine compartment is sawn away ready for the engine.
Without too much fettling, the engine was fitted and the whole thing primed. (I dumbly forgot to mask the cockpit area so this needed some repainting afterwards).
The decal scheme came from this excellent aftermarket sheet of Heroes Models of Italy. I chose this scheme as it minimised the necessary paint work while still having some eye catching markings.
The base kit actually comes with decals for the anti glare panel, but I decided to paint this after varnishing to keep a matt finish.
With decals on, I painted up the engine and fitted a simple base for transport to North Shields
Where she earned me my first gold
Then I was able to complete the scene. I alwsys like to include figures and accessories to an aircraft vignette, but this can often fall foul of competition regulations, so I left them off for judging.
A couplenof mechanics, some tools and general clutter brought the scene to life. I also added a wooden block base and some nameplates from Name It Plates to set the scene and memorialise the achievement.
With that it was complete:
Thanks for reading all this way. Thoughts, comments and nice summery pasta recipies always welcome.