G'day guys
now ive heard about using foil to cover the whole plane, but i dont really wanna go down that path right now.
so can anyone tell me, is there a Humbrol paint that is suitable to be used to paint an entire aircraft, say a Mustang used in Korea?
has to look nice n' shiny when dry.
cheers

David - you've a couple of choices, don't know about Humbrol, but both Testor (MM) and Alclad offer a "chrome" metalizer for airbrushing, Testor even has it in rattle can.

If that is what you are looking for, they also offer light aluminum, dark aluminum, and many other metal colors.

David,
I have tried the Testors Model Master "Buffing Metalizer" alminum, and it looked not to bad, depends on how long you buff it. I also did not try it with any top coating or anything. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics, that model has since gone to plastic heaven.

G'day guys
thanks for that
so testors "crhome" should do the trick?
skywrench give my condolences to the kits family.
cheers

Humbrol makes "metalcoat", both an unpolished and a polished aluminun. you can gently polish both when dry. Both are enamels and work rather well, and have a rather durable finish.
I believe most baremetal P-51's were actually painted in a silver dope, and were not actually baremetal.

G'day Dave
Silver dope...is that just, humbrol "silver" if i wanted to paint that colour?
and with this humbrol polished aliminium, how do you apply that, do you put some on a rag and polish the kit?
cheers

David,
That Humrol stuff Dave is talking about actually sounds like it would be closer to what I think you are looking for. Even after massive buffing the MM stuff really didn't "shine".
Oh, and when I said plastic heaven, I really meant to say it was in about 47 pieces in my trashcan after my cat knocked on the floor, and I stepped on it in the dark. Not that it was the best looking thing in the world. It actually looked better after I stepped on it..........

:-) sorry skywrench, shouldnt laugh.
just a quick question then... dids the P-51's have a actual shine to them, as in would i need to polish it, or where they simply silver?
cheers

There's another spray can option out there that's very popular with the guys over at Aircraft Resource Center. It's made by Tamiya in their spray lacquer line and is called Bare Metal Silver. AS-12 is the can identifier.

I've been having a heck of a time finding in here in the US as it's been sold out, but you might have some better luck.

That's a very debatable question.......
from what I learned, sitting back and laughing, during the three month flame war at another site, famous for flame wars.....
The wings were... 1. panel lines were filled and sealed and wings were painted. Even the bare metal ones had silver dope on the wing. Only panel line actually visible in the torrid of photos flashed before us usually showed only the access panels for the guns. I say usually, because some photos did indeed show unfilled panel lines. Most rivets were either invisible or barely visible in the most of the photos, but again a few showed them rather clearly, which started another round of name calling and insults.

Fuselage were....1. either highly polished, somewhat polished, or not polished just weathered metal, again supported by the colorful langauge, endless insults, and photos posted, depending on the time frame, and care and mantainence of the ground grews. Again, some photos posted showed what clearly appear to be a silver lacquer finish, which again started another round of more insults, name calling, and language that blistered even this old swabbies ears........
Now the above was for a simple question such as you asked, about WWII P-51's.

Now I'm no expert in the P-51.... not by any means, and I'm sure we have quite a few members here who know more about it than I do, but common sense..... yes ... we once had that..... would tell me that by the time of Korea, baremetal, and corrosion didn't mix too well. Might look pretty for a photo op, but in reality, corroding airframes fall apart at the wrong times, so I believe by Korea they were probably painted in a protective silver lacquer. Maybe not all, and maybe there were a few ground crews who had nothing better to do, between dodging bullets, mortars and attacking North Koreans and Chinese to take the time to polish the pilots P-51.

OH... the main spar in the rear of the wheel wells ... that was zinc-yellow...... the rest of the wheel wells were doped silver, and the doors dropped open as hydraulic pressure dropped, so in reality....... you can have the doors in an up position, or a down position, or any place inbetween.

Looking forward to seeing your P-51.....
Have fun.... build a model......
:-) :-) :-) OH... I apply metalcoat with an airbrush, but it can be brush painted also.

I have seen various Alclad products used on cars and airplanes with amazing results.

Yeah i heard about this Alclad stuff, looks perfect, but its damn expensive, i think ill give humbrols paints a go, polished aluminium etc...
cheers guys, thanks for all the help

If you are brush painting.... PM---- Flitzer and Merlin, for tips.... one or prehaps both of them brush paints the metal coat, and get amazing results, justa senior moment and can't remember which one.......