P-51D Mustang

A million years ago, when I was a young boy, one of my great passions was building scale models of WWII aircraft. I would save my pocket money (in the region of a bob a week, slang for a shilling, the equivalent of 5p in today’s money) and visit the local model shop with my friends to pick out the latest kits. Sometimes, at the weekend, we would cycle up to Biggin Hill airfield to see warbirds for real. I remember on one occasion there was a B17 Flying Fortress on the apron, which we were able to explore. Anyway, the point is, we loved these old planes and competed fiercely to build the most faithful scale models. The only references we had were modelling magazines and a few books, so any intelligence regarding correct colours and markings was considered intellectual property of the highest order. I think I probably built my last model in about 1978, give or take a year, but always felt it was something I would come back to in later years. And here we are. My first scale model build in about 45 years. A 1/72 scale Tamiya P-51D Mustang. It’s been great fun re-learning each step of the process and extremely satisfying to complete my first new build to a standard I think my young friends would have found acceptable (or at least worthy of only mild ridicule). It’s a great joy, in later years, to rediscover things you enjoyed when you were young. I shall be building more models!!