Hello everyone,

A couple of years ago, a friend got me started on building aircraft (I generally build armor models). He also gave me some decals in case I wanted to build "a different" P-51. Years later, I decided to use his decals and plans to build this P-51.

The aircraft in question is an Israeli P-51, namely white 19, which was shot down over Sinai during Suez Crisis. The only clear photo of the plane I could find was this:



To build this kit, I bought Tamiya's F-51 kit, which supplies you parts to build a Korean War era P-51. I chose the F-51 for the late type propeller, I wasn't sure whether Tamiya's standard P-51D kit had this kind of propeller also supplied with the kit.

The cockpit, with the addition of Ultracast's resin seat.

Israeli P-51s at the time was old and handed-down aircraft, mainly from Sweden. I decided to apply putty to the panel lines on the wings, but I also wanted the age of the aircraft to show. After some thought as to how I could "improperly" cover those panel lines, I decided to apply Gunze's liquid putty. After only one application, I let it dry and shrink a little.



I also cut out the rudder, as I intend to replace the control surfaces with resin items from Ultracast.

After that, the entire thing was sprayed with primer. Then I painted on the black and yellow stripes that indicate the Suez Campaign. The "early" stripes used looked like this, while stripes of the British-French invasion force and "late" Israeli aircraft consists of thinner bars.



Then it was time to apply the camouflage. There are many arguments about the colors of the period. There are colored photos of another shot-down P-51 (number 73) that surfaced years later in the desert and the colors look like gray-green and sand. As a result, there are many color profiles of 19 with these colors. Further research reveals that that gray-green is actually a very faded dark blue. Strangely enough, the P-51s at that time were painted with sandy brown and gloss dark blue!

I used Gunze colors. They are not exact matches as I will go for heavy weathering.

The next stage is one of my favorite when building models... playing around with colors and adding different shades. The Israeli aircraft operated in a very hot and sunny environment, which (from personal experience) would wreak havoc on any painted surface in a short time. As a result I tried to create an unevenly faded surface.

The gloss dark blue reflects a lot of light compared to the matt sand color, so the shades and faded areas are a bit swallowed up in this photo. Sorry for that. I'm not the best photographer...

The project nearly was abandoned when I was about to apply the decals. Much to my surprise, the decals my friend had given me were not the actual decals for this aircraft. They were too large and for modern aircraft.

The project went into a week hiatus last week when I looked for solutions. I couldn't find any after-market decals for Israeli P-51s. I also found out I couldn't cut proper circular masks, so painting the decals was out of question (at least with my cutting skills). When I was about to give up hope, a fellow modeler friend said he could prepare the necessary decals but he wouldn't be able to print them. I was able to find a helpful friend from another city who could easily print them and cut them to size.

Thanks to them, last weekend the decals were applied:

aaaand this is where I'm currently at. About 80-85% completed. After the decals, I removed the blister on the roundel at the left side, repainted the star. The entire plane received a wash that I prepared by mixing Yellow Ochre and Raw Umber oil colors. A matt varnish was applied over everything. Then the blue was chipped a little to make the aircraft look even more worn out.

The landing gear were prepared and painted with Alclads. The rear wheel was cut off and repositioned according to the rudder.

I will now apply another coat of matt varnish, then apply aluminium chipping on the sand colored areas. The exhausts, antenna and the remaining tidbits will be attached. I hope it will be completed within the week.

Looking good.
What scale is it? I have the Ventura decals set with markings for this aircraft and a couple of Israeli spitfires too.

Did you do the fading freehand with the airbrush or use some kind of masking.

@Stephen: It is the Tamiya kit in 1/48 scale. (the F-51 kit, box no: #61044).

@Richard: Yes, the fading was done by free-hand airbrushing. I hate masking and try to avoid it as much as possible. I should also state that when I'm fading the model, I don't use only lighter tones. I also use darker tones of the main colors and go over panel lines and lower sections to increase the contrast further.

Emre! Beautiful build! Colours look spot-on after weathering.

A historical note: many Israeli Mustangs came from Sweden, not Switzerland! According to my sources there were 73 Mustangs in Israel delivered from the following countries:

USA: about 30
Sweden: 25
Italy: about 18 were made flying from an unknown number of aircraft bought from a scrap dealer as spares.



Magnus

Hi Emre,

Great build and beautiful weathering. I like the chipping of the blue color.



Jelger

Thank you Jelger, glad you liked it.

Magnus, I tend to confuse the two countries all the time . Their Turkish names are even closer, so I always think of the one but write the name of the other. I will correct it now!

I came down with the flu last night and stayed home today. If I can muster enough energy, I will try to complete the model.

Hi there Emre,
Enjoying this great build.

I'm kind of interested in how you the cockpit floor.

Is it painted? or is it after market? To me it looks like cardboard or similar.

Cheers


Chris

Hello Chris,

The cockpit floor is painted. The color is Tamiya's "Wooden Deck Tan" (should be XF-78). It was then given a couple of layers of filters to give it a weathered look. I have found out that XF-78 works as a good base color for any wood effect you are after.

The P-51 was completed today, as I had to stay at home thanks(!) to the flu. It seems I will have to stay indoors for the weekend, so I might get even more model work done. Don't know if it's good or bad

Final photos:

Hello...!!!!

It's nice to see your models again Emre...!!!

Congrats & BTW...!!!

Diego

A very fine Mustang Emre! Congrats!



Magnus

A very nice Mustang indeed.

The canopy really looks spotless and shining. I like the sand in the tire pattern. Eye for detail!



Jelger

You should really consider entering this for model of the month. It's a beauty.

Emre, that's really a nice Mustang you made. I like the unusual colours on it. Israeli aircrafts of the early days are raelly interesting (Spitfire, Mustang, Avia etc ....)
This year I also plan to build my first Mustang and I'll take the same kit as you did, but mine will become a machine from the Uruguay AF in the early 1950s.

Happy modelling!
Torsten

Splendid work Emre.
That Mustang must be very close to how the actual plane must have looked, with the right balance between wear & maintenance.

Thanks for sharing all with us

Hi Torsten,

Tamiya's kit is a joy to build, goes together really easy and well. If you want to use them, Ultracast's resin parts are also really great.

Where did you get the decals for the Uruguay AF? Are those P-51s also in camouflage? (I don't like shiny metallic planes) Do you have references you can share? I can send you me e-mail address if that's the case.

Thank you Pedro. I am thinking of entering this model in a local model contest. A friend of mine suggested that I should add even more wear and tear, especially some streaking and more chipping to the dark blue. I can't decide whether to risk the model or not. What do you think?

Emre, the decals are on the sheet "Latin American Mustangs 1" from Aztec (No. 48-014 or 72-014). I bought it 2 years ago at an expo in Switzerland. The Uruguay machine is a colourful silver bird, all other ponies are camouflaged. There are further decals for Domenican AF in Dark Green and Sand with shark teeth (which I also MUST build), a completly black Domenican Munstang, 2 camouflaged (Dark Green/Medium Green) Salvadorian AF ponies plus an interesting FAS Corsair.
Got this sheet for 14 Swiss Francs, which is about 11 Euros. As I intend to build at least 3 of the Mustangs, it was really a bargain. Sorry, but I don't have any references other than on the sheet.
I would leave your kit the way it is, Emre. It's your build and you must like it. You know my opinion about weathering - you can easily do too much and spoil it ....

Torsten

Emre,

I agree with Torsten opinion on this. Your Mustang looks very authentical as it is IMO.
Besides weathering and its eternal question "how much is too much" is always a personal view. I bet if we both see the same object we describe it diferently

So congrats on doing a beautiful model on a rarely seen subject

Hi,

My father was the pilot of this P-51 number 19. He managed to do emergency landing and escape back to Israel by foot while the Egyptian army chasing him. It is still considered the greatest escape journey an Israeli soldier ever did.

Few days ago I asked him again about this incident. It was in 1956. He is still not sure what exactly happened, he was flying low dropping naplam on Egyptian forces and felt strong hit (maybe he hit something or was hit by anti aircraft). He started ascending but felt the engine lack of power so he looked for a good place to land.

Regards, Tomer