I have read that NM Mustangs had their upper wings painted silver as opposed to leaving them NM. Can anyone supply details?

Due to the need to maintain the laminar flow characteristics of the Mustangs wings, North American puttied and smoothed the wings of the P-51 at manufacture. This was then painted with silver paint on the natural metal finished examples. This is why it is an error to show any panel lines or rivets on an in-service example, indeed the only real panel lines would be any access panels.

Cheers

Tony

There's an interesting discussion about this Here

It was also briefly discussed (with Pictures) when Jean-Luc did a build of Dragon's 1/32 P-51D Here

Hope this helps

Gentlemen,

Thanks. This makes me wonder if I should build a Mustang with OD or Dk Green uppersurfaces. I also wondering the ground crews may have removed the paint while they were in service. I recall a documentary where Bud Anderson tearfully remembered that his ground crew removed the green paint on Old Crow with gasoline, when he hinted that the green would not work well with snow on the ground.

Last question: Any recommendation on paint color to do this?