Preddy's "Cripes A' Mighty 3rd" in 1/24

ghodges · September 11, 2024

Just finished the old Bandai 1/24 scale P-51D Mustang. I built this as a comparison to the 1/24 Trumpeter P-51D (in Preddy's later markings, see below here in the Airplane topic) and also as a trip down nostalgia lane. THIS was the model that started me down the road of being a "more serious" builder when I first built it back in 1976... for better or worse!

I added 3D printed drop tanks, seat, and exhaust stacks; as well as resin aftermarket tires and wheels. The kit fin filet had to be sawed off as this was an early "D" Mustang before they added it to the plane for greater lateral stability. I wanted the flaps down, so I had to cut them out and build them back up. I also had to scratchbuild the wheel wells as all Bandai gives you is the wing spar and a center bulkhead. I left out the engine and the gun bays, closing all of those areas up. All of that work can be seen in the "BUILD" topic area here if you're interested in that.

On to the finished pics!

Another item of note is that I "scracthbuilt" the under wing IFF lights and the wingtip lights. The dimples for the IFF lights in the wing tip were first painted with Tamiya clear colored paints and then UV cured clear resin was used to make their covers. To make the wingtip lights I carved the end of a thick plastic strip into a teardrop shape and pushed the end into some flatted clay to make teardrop depressions. I then filled the depressions with the UV resin and cured it. Those clear plastic parts were then popped out of the clay, the excess on their bottoms sanded off, they were painted clear green and red, and then glued to the wingtips for the formation lights.

The fuselage, flaps, and ailerons were painted with Tamiya rattle can TS-30 Silver Leaf and the wings were spray painted with Tamiya Gloss Aluminum to try to replicate their "puttied and painted" surfaces. I airbrushed AK lacquer Flat White and Tamiya Flat Black lacquer on for the D-Day stripes. The 352ndFG blue was done using MM True Blue. The markings for Cripes A Mighty 3rd are Mike Grant decals with stars/bars from the spares box.

All in all, it was an enjoyable build and gives me a modern day connection to the one I built back in '76. It also makes a nice companion to the Trumpeter 1/24 P-51D in the markings that Preddy lost his life in on 12/25/44. Both of them, along with the 1/24th Combat vacuform P-51B I built some years ago make for a great looking trio on my shelf!