WWII American Warplane (Mustang), Grafix

I picked up this particular model from The Works, a well known store here in the UK but perhaps best know for selling discount books, for the bargain price of 99 pence. Occasionally if you have a rummage about you can find something of interest. They are also currently stocking Revell's - Mistel V Ta154 And Fw190 kit for an absolute bargain £20.

Miss Yelma

The model itself is based on the famous WWII American fighter the North American Mustang.

Box Art (and a bargain)

As you will see from my (now traditionally very poor) photos the kit is very basic, in fact the entire model consists of a grand total of ten parts. I'm guessing the model is built to approximately 1/72 scale although there is no mention of this anywhere on the box or on the instruction sheet (although why anyone would need instructions is a puzzle as the parts will only fit together in one way).

1st sprue

2nd sprue

Strange 3D decals

Using the powers of Google All Hail' Images I was able to find the actual plane the cover art was based on (the North American TF-51D Mustang 44-84847, Miss Velma, (N251RJ) to be precise).

As with the plastic cowboys this kit was bought on impulse (well, it was only a pound) and which I had only bought out of curiosity to use it as a desk ornament. However after making the kit I wondered if I could paint the model to a reasonable standard to enable me to use it in Bolt Action games along side my other 'proper' models i.e. ones made by Airfix and Revell.

As I had already glued the wheels/landing gear in place, in order to match the other Bolt Action planes, I removed the wheels with side cutters and superglued a small magnet to the underside of the model. As the mould line ran straight down the middle of the cockpit I applied liquid poly cement to the join and then sanded it down. I repeated this a number of times until I was happy with the result. 

After taking a look at the oddly designed decals, I decided to hand paint my own onto the plane as the originals are drawn in a 3D style complete with added shadow detail. Very odd as it's easier to produce a flat (and more accurate) pattern. The green & yellow checker pattern, the yellow 'go-faster strip' and the invasion strips were also painted by hand.

Completed hand-painted model

Again I'm not sure that the amount of time and effort that went into painting the kit was actually worth it in terms of the finished result but it was quite an enjoyable challenge.