P-51D “Mrs. Bonnie”
I usually have a few projects going on at once. While the Earth thing presses on, I've also started building a scale model of a magnificent WWII fighter aircraft, the P-51D Mustang. For those that don’t really follow this sort of thing, the P-51 is a beautiful machine, one that was praised by fliers and prized by collectors in the decades that followed WWII. Mainly, though, I’m motivated by the aesthetics - the elegance of its design, the compactness of its parts, and the opportunity to recreate the brutal level of wear and tear it received during the war. I’ve also seen this thing flying at air shows and demonstrations, and the noise it’s propellors make also inspires, especially when it comes to assembling and painting the Packard V-1650 Merlin engine, photos of which are included here.
I start with Tamiya’s 1/32 P-51D kit, which is a joy to behold, perhaps the best engineered kit I’ve had the pleasure to work with. While it would look just fine build straight out of the box, I can never leave well enough alone and love an opportunity to super detail and apply all manner of weathering techniques. A WWII plane like a P-51 offers this opportunity and then some.
My selection for the specific airplane to reproduce in scale form is largely driven by color scheme - I wanted to build something visually interesting. If it’s historic in some way, even better. Lo and behold, such a plane exists - William D. Dunham’s aircraft nicknamed “Mrs. Bonnie.” Dunham was born in 1920 and served in the USAAF and the USAF after 1947, retiring as a brigadier general. He died in 1990. He flew P-47s and P-51s during WWII becoming a triple ace during that time. A photograph of Maj. Dunham with his P-51D is included above.
