GB-64 1/48 Mustang Mk.IV - One Trick Pony (4 Viewers)

[fubar57]

Mental note made, pre 2020 only

 

[Crimea_River]

QUESTION: Did the RAF camo-painted Mustangs have red fuel caps?

 

[SaparotRob]

Don't think I like that decal system.
After seeing your experiences with them, I'll avoid getting some for a 1/32nd scale P-51D-5, and choose a different colour scheme !

The Eduard "system" reminds me of some decals I used many years ago, on a RAF Phantom, from a UK source, now defunct.
Can't remember the name offhand, but I still have some, and they were a "dry transfer" system. The decal was placed loosely in position, with a "low-tack" backing allowing precise positioning. Once satisfied on the positioning, the decal was then pressed down, and water applied over the thin carrier film on top of the decal, which was then easily removed, leaving a perfect image with a "painted on" look and no carrier film edges, especially effective on a "metal" finish, where a carrier film can nearly always be seen on, for example, lettering blocks.
Possibly the best decals I've ever used in over 60 years of modelling.

Sounds like decals I could have used way back when. I'm surprised a good concept like that didn't catch on.

 

[fubar57]

Sorry Andy. Went through all my books and no good shots of the area. I did see, in colour, RAF "B/Ds", with camo, showing red caps. Couldn't find an camouflaged RAF "D" showing the upper wing but saw an American one, O.D. on top, in colour with red caps

 

[Wayne Little]

Nice work so far Andy...!

 

[le_steph40]

QUESTION: Did the RAF camo-painted Mustangs have red fuel caps?

Apparently no answer Andy; it depends on your project. Among the photos of Mustang IVs from 442 Squadron found on the web, it seems that depended on the painter (who painted over or not the fuel cap)...
Google images
CANADIANS MEET SOVIETS

Regarding the decals, I hadn't any problem with these new decals from Eduard, I put them and I removed the film after some minutes (1h max) with some White Spirit and a cotton swab

 

[le_steph40]

442 Squadron RCAF, P-51D Mustangs

 

[Wurger]

In the B&W images it is difficult to state if these were of the red. The RAF Dark Green or the OD colour has a similar tinge.

However the colour pic and the B&W one may suggest these caps could be of the red,

the pic source: the net.

 

[Crimea_River]

le_steph40 thanks for your input. I have all the pics of the 442 Sqdn birds you linked and found them to be inconclusive. However your KeyAero link requires a membership so I can't see what you are pointing at.

Your info about the decals is interesting as other sources claim the decals need to set for at least 12 hours before attempting to remove the film. I will try your method on my next project as the only decals left to do on this one are on the top and I don't want to mess them up. It's frustrating that Eduard don't seem to provide any guidance on this issue, leaving it up to forums and YouTubers to figure it out.

Wurger yes I agree the B&W pics don't really give a good interpretation and that's why I asked the question. The colour pic you posted is a US painted machine and mine was painted at an RAF MU in the UK so I don't think I can take that as an example.

 

[Wurger]

I see. Andy. I have a look at the footage with the Polish Mustang III kites and it seems that none of them had the caps painted red. What is more the D-Day strips covered the area and neither the white nor the black had the traces of the caps. I'm getting believed that the RAF Mustangs didn't have it in the red but just the camo colours.

However there is a quite well-known enlarged shot of the Mustang III HB876. But she is not that important as the one in the background.

and here the smilar effect ...

the pic source: the net.

 

[Kalakan]

Thanks very much guys. I got a bit anal and decided to adjust some of the demarcation lines a little after looking more closely at reference photos. Here's the tape added for the adjusted lines.

View attachment 815383

The wider Ocean Grey section at the wing fillet was the major one and there was an adjustment to the upper and lower camo demarcation along both sides of the radiator housing. The others areas were minor. The grey was a bit tricky because I lightened Tamiya's bottled OG with a bit of white, which I always do, so I had to try to colour match it. Since it was not exact, I went over all the grey areas spraying irregular patches just to break up the colour a bit.

Once all this was done, I shot a gloss clear coat on, which will now cure for a couple of days before I start the decals.

View attachment 815382View attachment 815384

My experience with the new Eduard decals has been not great so far and I hope I don't muck them up like I did on my Wildcat. I'll experiment on the underside first to see if the whole peeling off the carrier film thing works better this time and if it's worth doing.

Thanks again for looking in.

This is indeed a nice looking bird Andy.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks for stopping by Gerry.

Wurger Wojtek, thanks once again. Good observation on the photo that you posted. The other complication is that some of these RAF camo schemes were painted at the factory in the US, as was probably the case with the Mk III's above. It's not clear to me whether or not these received red fuel caps. Regardless, the info I have read is that many aircraft, including mine, received British colours at UK Maintenance Units, either because the aircraft began leaving the US factories in NMF or because the US factory paint coverage required a repaint. Eduard calls up the US ANA colour equivalents on their profile but this to me is in question since the camo scheme is not the standard one painted at the factory but rather one of two known simplified schemes applied at the unit level.

At any rate, I think I will assume no red caps. Thanks for your help!

 

[Wurger]

 

[Gnomey]

Nice work so far Andy!

 

[Crimea_River]

Decal woes continue.

Removing the film on the "Edmonton Special" decal resulted in some minor loss of the delicate white script. The "B" went OK, but my tweezers nicked the yellow paint on the canopy, which didn't adhere too well to the clear part.

The "Y2" was a disaster whereas the adjacent roundel went without a hitch. The clear film on the former was very stubborn, resulting in a lot of unsightly chips on the decal and underlying paint. I stopped the work as it was just getting worse.

The decals on the flap look good. The no step decal has been peeled but I left the flap indicator as is.

The Y2 after touch-up:

This was the final straw and has made me decide to not tackle the remaining decals on the upper wings and starboard fuselage.

By the way le_steph40 I tried removing the film with a high-quality artist oil paint thinner and it did not work. Maybe it was the thinner, maybe it was the fact that the decals had set for more than 12 hours but, anyway, I was not successful.

In other news, the exhaust stubs were drilled out and installed but they still need final paint. It's interesting to note that at least one review of the first release of the Eduard Mustang pointed to flaws in this area. It seems that early releases used "slide moulds" which enabled the exhausts to be cast with hollowed ends. However, some of these moulds apparently did not quite line up, resulting in some of the sides of the exhausts being missing, resembling short shot castings. My kit did not have hollowed ends and I had to drill them out myself so it seems Eduard abandoned the slide moulds in this area on later releases.

Thanks again for following along and for your sympathy.

 

[fubar57]

That really sucks about the decals. I just found this and haven't gone over it yet If there is a next time, it may help or maybe not

 

[Wurger]

With Geo about the decals.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks for that fubar57 Geo. You just saved me a bunch of time as I was going to troll through the INFO Eduard database to see what they had. I will read through it and report back my observations at the dedicated post you set up.

 

[Jock Tamson]

Bummer over the decals debacle . Otherwise it's looking great. I've only got one Eduard kit in the stash and I'll check the dates to see if the decals are the same kind as you have. If they are I'm tempted to replace them with after market ones.

 

[Crimea_River]

Bummer over the decals debacle . Otherwise it's looking great. I've only got one Eduard kit in the stash and I'll check the dates to see if the decals are the same kind as you have. If they are I'm tempted to replace them with after market ones.

Stay tuned, you may not need to go that far. The removal of the outer film is optional. I'll be leaving the other decals alone and will post before and after pics in the next day or so.