Trumpeter 1/32nd Mustang Mk.III, 249 Sqn RAF, Italy,.."Sharkmouth"

[tony o]

Hiya Folks,
I love building off beat subjects in Commonwealth service and here is another of my comparatively recent builds, this one is the 1/32nd scale Trumpeter kit as KH594/ GN-Y of 249 Sqn. RAF based in Italy in 1944.

 In the September 2000 issue of Scale Aircraft Modelling (Whose Aircraft in detail featured- Battle of Britain aircraft) there were some photos inside which had been sent in by Geoff Payne from Leeds, whose father flew KH594/GN-Y whilst serving with 249 Sqn. Of interest to me was the fact that this veteran mentioned that the Mustang III`s of this unit were painted Brown and Green just as I`d always suspected they were and also that his personal aircraft wore a sharkmouth! After all many Mustang III`s were delivered in brown and green and this was a popular scheme on Commonwealth close support aircraft based in Italy, many of which were converted from desert colours.
I just had to model this aircraft so using the photos which were so kindly sent in by Geoff, I attempted to hand paint the sharkmouth onto the model using Humbrol enamels (I may have replicated it a bit too big?) and the camouflage was also brush painted using Polly Scale Dark Earth and Olive Drab with Testors Light Grey underneath, whilst yellow i/d stripes were added to the wings and tail using Humbrol enamel Gloss Yellow. All decals came from the spares box and the name `Baby' was added because an illegible name similar to this appears in the photo.
As for the Trumpeter kit itself, it was nice in some areas but poor in others, especially the exhausts.! I would not buy another one at full cost but until Tamiya get around to the P-51B/C it is the only game in town for now,..... Anyway here is the model;

Personally I`m not very happy with the exhausts on this model and might change them if I can find suitable parts, but I hope you like it,

Cheers

         Tony

[efrick]

Hi Tony!

 

That is some absolutely stunning brush work! I was marveling at your airbrush skills, until I read your comments and realized that you acheived this finish...WITH A BRUSH! Just amazing!

 

Regards,

 

Ed

[Guest Kagemusha]

That's lovely, really like the different camouflage, not to mention the sharkmouth and eyes.

[JohnB]

Outstanding work! A great looking P-51 model.

[Mikester]

Outstanding effort, Tony!

[RalphSarc]

Outstanding build Tony. I did a 1/32 British P-51 Shark-tooth Squadron Aircraft a few years ago and loved the build.

Great job.

[Spitfire]

Fantastic, no way would I have guessed that it was brush painted.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[tony o]

Thanks everybody, glad you like it!

 

I don`t own an airbrush and to be honest I look at some of your work and weep because I`d never be capable of such great schemes,....but I`ve got used to brushes, enjoy using them and so continue to dabble away at my table in the kitchen where my lovely other half wouldn`t allow me to use an airbrush anyway, although rattle cans for colours like silver and yellow do come in handy,........applied outside in the back yard when the weather is suitable!

 

Cheers

            Tony

[Wingco57]

Tony,

you are a master wielding the hairy stick.

I like your build very much. The Trumpter B-version has had a lot of negative publicity but you show

that a decent model can be made. Must try that sometime too.
Cheers

Cees

[Steve Scanlon]

Brilliant this is a version of the Mustang I would love to build eventually, cant believe it is brush painted.

[JonathanReed]

Nice!  Beautiful looking Mustang!