House quests having left and neglected matters having been caught up on, I was able to spend some time completing this model.

Arguably one of the most famous airplanes that fought in the European Theater, Col. James H. Howard’s North American P-51B Mustang “Ding Hao!” Col. Howard, who was awarded the Medal of Honor, was one of the relatively rare pilots who had the opportunity to down enemy aircraft in both the Pacific and European Theaters. On the nose was painted a phrase he had picked up while flying with the Flying Tigers — “Ding Hao!” — fittingly, it roughly translates as “Top Good” or “The Best”.

Now that I have had the entire experience of building and completing this kit, I am convinced that if Arma had made this exact kit in 1/48 scale, it would also have been a real winner. The engineering and the level of detail would have propelled this model to the forefront of P-51B/C models. The Accurate Miniature models would have been left looking at retirement after decades of service to the grateful modeling community.

On this project, I used the following Vallejo Model Air colors: Interior Green (71.010), US Olive Drab (71.043), Black (71.057) and US Interior Yellow (71.107).

I used Tamiya Lacquer Flat Silver (LP38), which is now my substitute for the no-longer-available Model Master Steel.

Mr. Finishing Surfacer 150 Gray thinned with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner was used as a primer.

Hataka Orange Line (Lacquer) was used for the overall colors, and were Olive Drab 41 (Early) (C004) and Neutral Grey (FS36173)(C265). These were thinned with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. The combination of this thinner and these paints must be experienced to be appreciated. If Hataka was generally available here in the U.S.A., I would use it almost for everything, but alas it isn’t. At least yet. Hopefully it will be available soon in all of its many colors.

Finally, another product relatively new to me is Ammo Lucky Varnish-Mat (A.Mig-2051), which is acrylic resin, applies very easily and dries rapidly to a very flat finish. And, you can touch up with it using a brush.

I said in the recent past that I liked an occasional 1/72 scale project as they can be completed quickly. Well, not here. Arma kits in 1/72 scale take as long as the average 1/48 model.

And the result is a really nice model with tremendous presence on your display shelf.