Larry Z. Daily's 1:48 Tamiya F-6D Mustang Build

Larry Z. Daily’s Personal Page

Tamiya 1:48 F-6D Mustang

This is the eleventh build in my Mustang series. I didn’t originally intend to model more than one F-6, but the more that I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that the collection — which is intended to model an example of each version of the Mustang flown by the U.S. in World War II — wouldn’t be complete without the F-6 variants. For the F-6D, I chose to model aircraft serial number 44-14699, nicknamed Shady Lady. The aircraft was flown by Lt. Slonneger, assigned to the 109^th TRS 67^th TRG and was coded VX-W.

The Build

Prototype:
Model: F-6D (converted from a P-51D)
Serial number: 44-14699
Nickname: Shady Lady
Pilot: Lt. Slonneger

Kit: Tamiya 1:48 P-51D Mustang

In addition to the kit, I also planned to use the following aftermarket parts:

True Details 48453 P-51D Cockpit set - seat only
A.M.U.R. Reaver PE4805 P-51D Mustang Cockpit and Radio Set
UltraCast 48009 P-51D Mustang Detailed Exhausts
UltraCast 48139 P-51 Mustang Corrected & Detailed Flaps
UltraCast 48136 P-51 Mustang Hamilton Standard Cuffed 4-Blade Propeller and Spinner
UltraCast 48132 Mustang Wheels, Diamond Tread
Scale Aircraft Conversions 48142 Mustang landing gear
Master Models AM-48-139 P-51D Mustang Armament and Gunsight Detail Set
Eduard 49216 P-51D Detail Set - included the F-6 camera ports
Kits-World KW148151 Decals

	(1) I had originally planned to use the True Details cockpit on this build. I’ve built quite a few Mustangs, however, and at this point I have lots of extra bits and bobs laying around. As I studied all of the stuff available in my parts box, I ended up deciding to use a mix of A.M.U.R., Eduard, and True Details parts. Here are the cockpit sidewalls after detailing, painting, and weathering.
	(2) The A.M.U.R. Reaver detail set provided the top of the fuel tank, the battery, and the radio set. The IP and other details came from the Eduard set.
	(3) I really love the True Details seat.
	(4) In this shot, the main fuselage painting is pretty much done. I puttied and sanded the unneeded panel lines on the wings along with the seams where the fuselage halves came together. Then I hit the model with a coat of Alclad II Black Primer. After another round of sanding and another coat of primer, I masked and painted the control surfaces with Alclad II Semi-matte Aluminum. After that was thoroughly dry, I masked the fuselage and control surfaces and sprayed the wings with Mr. Color Super Silver. Once the wings had had several days to dry, I masked and painted the anti-glare panel in front of the cockpit using Vallejo Olive Green. Next, I used a mix of Alclad II Magnesium and Aluminum for the darker metal around the exhausts. Then the rest of the fuselage received a coat of Alclad II Aluminum, with some panels misted with Dark Aluminum.
	(5) One last view into the cockpit. In this photo, I haven’t installed the seat yet, but will soon.
	(6) Shady Lady near completion. I’ve added the UltraCast prop and spinner, unshrouded exhausts, and the True Details seat. The decals went on without a hitch, well, one hitch. There’s some kind of raised vent cast onto the Tamiya fuselage right where the Lady herself was to sit (it’s not there on the prototype). I didn’t really notice it until the decal was going on and by then it was far too late. I had to do some persuading with a brand new #11 blade and a fair bit of Walthers Solvaset to get her settled down. I don’t think it’s too noticeable, but if you model Shady Lady remove that vent before painting.
	(7) Shady Lady is done. None of the photos that I’ve seen of this aircraft showed drop tanks under the wings, so I might just leave them off. I haven’t decided, though, whether I’ll add thme and, if I do, whether I’d use the teardrop shaped 75 gallon tanks or the 108 gallon paper ones.
	(8) The ports for the cameras are visble at the rear of the fuselage.
	(9) As you can see, I decided on the 75 gallon tanks. These are Eduard Brassin parts. I modified the attachment points to make the tanks a bit more secure.
	(10)
	(11) I used Tamiya soot-colored weathering powder to add some subtle stains behind the exhausts and the guns.
	(12)