Black and white ID bands
Having previously masked off the invasion stripes and applied the white coat, it was time to complete the process with the black bands. The masking may seem straightforward, however the curves around the fuselage led to some tricky challenges.
This Mustang also has black ID stripes on the wing and tail upper/lower surfaces. Here we see the masking being applied. The wing has by this stage also been sealed with Future (for decal and panel washing).
So at this point, painting is pretty much finished. Due to my preparation and care with masking, I did not have any issues with paint lifting (thankfully).
Here we see the completed underside. Again the different shades of Alclad are quite distinctive.
Undercarriage
One area of construction I had not completed was the main undercarriage legs. The Dragon kit items a generally ok in shape and size, but lack much detail which I believed would benefit the finished model greatly as the P-51 undercarriage is very visible.
A closer shot of the lower half of the main landing strut. The use of commonly found items like solder wire helps us provide an extra level of detail to lift the model.