Florin,
I must say that your battery really looks quite good.
Joel

It will barely be visible, but at least it's there!

Three millimeters were added to the fuselage fuel tank, its length being 3 millimeters off (36 mm compared to the correct 39).
The floor section is gone because it was inaccurate, a new one will be built in its stead.

Work at the new floor sections has made another correction imperative: the console on the left cockpit wall was suspended 1.5 millimeters above the cockpit floor when it should have been on it (in the real aircraft there are cutouts in the left floor section where the console sits).
It was duly removed and will be relocated to its accurate position.

The new floor is a two part affair: on top is the part that will receive the "plywood" sections and under it is the top of the wing

The console has been lowered to where it should have been in the first place...

Florin,
Truly outstanding work on those cockpit sidewalls. The end results will be worth all your efforts.
Joel

Thank you for the trust placed in me, hope my Mustang won't disappoint!

Florin,
From the level of detailed work you've displayed in this thread. I'm quite confident that it's going to be an award winning model.
Joel

Must confess, I build for myself and do not seek awards.
That being said, the Mustang has a new, more accurate floor section, and as you can see it is quite different from the previous attempts. The rough look of the black paint on the floor is deliberate, in real life the paint was mixed with quartz sand for an anti-slip effect.

Florin,
Nicely done floor effect. One the seat, sidewalls, and details are added, it will really be a major improvement over the original kit "pit".
Joel

Can't wait to close the fuselage halves together, but there still is much to do

Superb scratch building and super detailing Florin. Your build is turning out to be a very accurate scale representation of the real thing.

Ernest

As much as possible. The fun is both in doing the research and then in applying the knowledge in scale.

The floor/top of the wing fuel gauges:

Florin,
I'm really impressed with the level of detail you're achieving. Those 4 fuel tank gauges on the floor would honestly be something that I would have over looked.
Joel

There are only two fuel gauges, the ones that can be seen through the holes. The knob immediately to the left of the control column is the cold air control, while the one behind the right fuel gauge is for the cockpit warm air. And yes, I know, I'm insane!

Florin,
Thanks for the clarification. In 1/48 scale at best they would be just a hole and a raised piece of plastic.
Joel

The Aires cockpit for the Trumpeter P-51B was originally designed for the Hobbycraft Allison powered Mustangs and is a botched attempt to render a "B" cockpit.
Hopefully this is the last correction and it is trivial, it concerns bringing the instrument panel to P-51 B standards by adding a rectangular piece of paper 2.5 by 6 millimeters with 6 holes in it. The pieces of wire for the switches will be the final touch. In real life these switches would activate the guns and the offensive payload.

And this is the instrument panel with some paint on

Surface control lock, a tiny part that comes in front of the control column:

Florin,
The IP looks as real as it can get without being real. I'm more then just impressed.
Joel

Not satisfied with the way the picture turned up, lighting was far from ideal, the instrument panel looks better in real life.

Florin,
Now I'm really impressed, as I thought it looks quite good in that picture.
Joel

Thank you for your constant companionship, Joel, I really appreciate it! Without you this build blog would be nothing more than a monologue...