P-51 Mustang GT-4

[Scale-Master]

I've played around with this idea of doing cars with warbird schemes before, and I've done it using a few different Hot Wheels over the years.
I'm using a Tamiya GT-4 kit that I cannibalized for other projects so it's perfect for exploring this concept in a larger scale. I have a general idea of what I think it should look like.
After tinkering with TS-17 and AS-12 silvers from the cans and not getting the look I wanted, I found mixing them together and airbrushing them made what I was looking for; a bright satin silver with mild flakes.

[Scale-Master]

The chassis was painted Zinc Chromate as the internal panels of a P-51 would be. I mixed the color from old Testors and Tamiya enamels and did some mild shading.

[Scale-Master]

The front of the hood and the nose were shot with Tamiya LP-8 Yellow.

[Scale-Master]

The suspension and drivetrain was done with other deviations from stock colors. I used mostly old original Alclad colors from the 70's.

The brakes were done with Tamiya acrylic clear colors for an anodized look.

[potsie]

Looking forward to progress on this. The start is already amazing!

[Deathtrap]

heheh... cool concept.
Some D-Day markings on it as well?

Paint job really looks sharp

[Scale-Master]

Thanks guys!

I drew up and printed some tailored checkerboard decals.

[corrrado]

Fantastic idea and great build!

[Scale-Master]

Thanks!

I airbrushed some AS-17 green on the rear emulating a scheme on some P-51s. (Yes, it is not exactly the right shade, but then this car is not the right airplane shape either.)

I also sprayed an anti-glare panel on the center of the hood.

[Scale-Master]

The insignias came from an old Testors/Scale-Master sheet. This era of planes did not have the red bars. I also Dullcoted the checkerboard nose.

[Scale-Master]

I made the invasion stripes using white and black Warbird/Scale-Master decal stripes from sheets SP002.

[Scale-Master]

I painted the middle set of louvers the same green as the anti-glare panel.
The outside hood louvers were done in another old Alclad exhaust shade to represent the exhaust pipes on the planes.

[Deathtrap]

This it's turning up to be a very nice car. I like the details of the louvers. And of course those D-Day marking. Giving the Mustang even more contrast.

You mentioned this was a model you used as a donar car. Will you be able complete the whole car, or is this just a body experiment?

[Scale-Master]

Thanks Deathtrap. The full interior (including part of the chassis) was used on another project. This will be fully finished but will not have an interior, and I don't think the missing section of the chassis will be an issue either.


The wheels were done in a blue tinted silver shade.


I made a few more custom decals too. One for the gas cap; I used the same design as on a P-51 filler.

It needed an appropriate name and numbers to follow the theme. The 88 is from the Tuskegee P-51 Little Freddie, but I beefed it up a bit. The numerals are tied to the name of this project.

[Scale-Master]

I designed decal sheets for over a dozen Tuskegee "Red Tail" Mustangs, so it was only fitting to me to make the rear wing red with the yellow stripes commonly used on the aircraft wings. The stripes are from an old Scale-Master / Develotech McDonald's T-Bird sheet. I just cut off the black pinstripes.
Colored trim tabs were common on the rudder, so I went with yellow end plates and some more custom decals tied to the theme.

The taillights were sprayed TS-74 Clear Red before being sprayed with TS-71 Smoke for a blacked out effect. The Red Tail theme was carried onto the center panel too.