Accurate Miniatures Mustang Mk.Ia

[TJ]

225 Sq. RAF

[moparmadness]

Great representation of an early RAF Mustang TJ! I really do like all the FAA and RAF American birds in British service. Corsairs, Avengers, P-47’s, Etc… I think it’s because of the camouflage.

[stikpusher]

Nice! A Mustang in RAF desert came is not common at all.

[Joe Rix]

Gotta love Accurate Miniature kits. Marvelous build TJ. Love the scheme. Certainly not one you see rendered very often.

[TJ]

Thanks fellas. Joe in reading about the British Mustangs I found out they were in such a need for them that they took American P-51's painted Middlestone right over the OD and put British Roundels on them. So its kind of a mix in terms of the paint

[406 Silverado]

That paint work came out fantastic Johnny! Excellent build and just gorgeous camoflage work. I've had a couple of the AM kits through the years. I used to have an Avenger in the stash and I think I gave that to Greg several years ago. I do still have a Dauntless in the stash and REALLY want to build that up. Too bad these guys went belly up because these kits were really ahead of their time.

I would LOVE to get ahold of this kit:

[Medicman71]

Very nice!

[stikpusher]

May 19, 2023 5:17:24 GMT -5 TJ said:

Thanks fellas. Joe in reading about the British Mustangs I found out they were in such a need for them that they took American P-51's painted Middlestone right over the OD and put British Roundels on them. So its kind of a mix in terms of the paint

From what I’ve read, once the ANA paints were standardized and began to be distributed in 1943, Lend Lease aircraft built for Britain were supposed to be painted in the US closest equivalent, rather than the older US DuPont made RAF matched colors. So on a Mustang for example, it would be Olive Drab ANA 613 and Sea Gray ANA 603 over Light Gray ANA 602, or Light Gull Gray ANA 620

[TJ]

May 19, 2023 5:31:35 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

That paint work came out fantastic Johnny! Excellent build and just gorgeous camoflage work. I've had a couple of the AM kits through the years. I used to have an Avenger in the stash and I think I gave that to Greg several years ago. I do still have a Dauntless in the stash and REALLY want to build that up. Too bad these guys went belly up because these kits were really ahead of their time.

I would LOVE to get ahold of this kit:

I've built 6 Mustangs from AM.  I have 4 Dauntless 2 Avenger and 4 more Mustangs in the stash. Missed out on the Corvette

[tcoat]

May 19, 2023 5:17:24 GMT -5 TJ said:

Thanks fellas. Joe in reading about the British Mustangs I found out they were in such a need for them that they took American P-51's painted Middlestone right over the OD and put British Roundels on them. So its kind of a mix in terms of the paint

During the research for my build I learned that the Mustang, probably the most iconic of all American fighters in WW2 and beyond, was never ever intended to be a US aircraft in the first place. It was initially designed and built to meet a British requirement for RAF service only (well France was going to order them as well but fell through for ... reasons). The US AAC had zero interest in it and rejected it even for consideration as it did not meet their performance specs.  The high altitude performance was so bad that the RAF only used the first production runs for low level reconnaissance and ground attack. It stayed that way until 1942 when some British pilot said "Why don't we try a Spitfire engine in one". The RAF sent one over to the Rolls Royce plant and they threw a Merlin it it. That changed EVERYTHING! The US finally took notice and by the middle of 1943 they started to actually use the things. Of course as soon as that happened then the  RAF orders were  cancelled and the US took all that were produced. The rest is history.

[tcoat]

May 19, 2023 9:12:48 GMT -5 stikpusher said:

May 19, 2023 5:17:24 GMT -5 TJ said:

Thanks fellas. Joe in reading about the British Mustangs I found out they were in such a need for them that they took American P-51's painted Middlestone right over the OD and put British Roundels on them. So its kind of a mix in terms of the paint

From what I’ve read, once the ANA paints were standardized and began to be distributed in 1943, Lend Lease aircraft built for Britain were supposed to be painted in the US closest equivalent, rather than the older US DuPont made RAF matched colors. So on a Mustang for example, it would be Olive Drab ANA 613 and Sea Gray ANA 603 over Light Gray ANA 602, or Light Gull Gray ANA 620

From what I learned researching the paint on these things I am convinced that no two had the same colours even if built on the same day! They reached a point where they were pumping them out so fast that what ever they had was what they used and the "standard" was more of a guideline to get close enough to.