P-51B "Ina the Macon Belle", Airdave, 1/33

[sparrowhawk]

Having finished the P-51D by Emil Zarkov, now it is time to go to the P-51B by Dave "Airdave" Winfield. I bought this kit in digital form to support the surgery for Hugo, but also because I think the history of the Tuskegee Fighters to be an extremely interesting chapter of WW.II. Last but not least: The "Red Tails" got a superbly attractive paint scheme.
As usual, I start with the cockpit area, working my way both ahead and back in the progress.
Dave has detailed the cockpit area quite well. Things go together smoothly.
A note about the joystick: I bent it from florist wire, glueing the grip on the top there, then covering the lowering part with waterbased "china white", then colouring it with water colours. Looks quite good. The joystick leans over a bit, because I glued it into the base with CA glue.
If anything, the interior of the cockpit won´t be too visible anyway, due to the "birdcage" canopy of the P-51B with all those struts.
On the last picture you see I had to erase the swastika kill markings from the fuselage: In Germany they are only allowed on historical photographs, but not on toys, as any model is considered from a juridical point of view.
Dave, maybe you can provide german modelers with a "political correct" version of this particular aircraft´s center fuselage? Would be great!

Cheers, Martin

[MacSongLi]

Great looking pilot's office. The joystick looks fantastic.

Gary