1/32 Dragon P-51K

Gallery Article by Mike Pattison on July 14 2015

 

      

OK, so it's a K with D stores - but that's the way I like it. And I played with the markings to make it more aesthetically interesting rather than historically accurate. The much maligned Dragon kit has got a lot of heart and this is something of a replacement for an earlier attempt of mine that got smashed whilst moving. Except for some seat belts and engine bay wires and gizmos, it's OOB. I reckon you've gotta do something about the engine bay (if you want it exposed at all) on account of the fact that the engine looks way too small for the plane and leaves a lot of dead air in the compartment. Either that or shell for a Tamiya.

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The kit falls together reasonably well with only a minimum of putty required and no real complaints except for the tyres. Whoever decided that these should be made of beige coloured rubber should be taken out and flogged to within an inch of their lives- try painting 'em and I dare you to disagree with me.

The finish is kitchen foil and a mix of Tamiya, Gunze and Lifecolour acrylics. Weathering was done with a mix of oil washes, pastel dust, Tamiya smoke and watery rubber black with a bit of silver pencil thrown in for paint chipping......thanks for looking.

Mike Pattison

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Photos and text © by Mike Pattison