10/07/2026
Part 2 of filling in panel lines.
I have this idea of building the 1/32 Tamiya P-51D finished and marked as delivered by North American Aviation: Clean with national insignia, serial number, and stencils only. No unit or personal markings. Very light weathering. To do this, I will fill the panel lines and rivet heads on the top and bottom surfaces of the wing. The gap around the am******on and machine gun bay covers will not be filled. The panel lines at the edges of the panels under the fuel cells will not be filled in.
I am using the Tamiya 1/48 P-51D to experiment with filling in the panel lines on the wings. The kit instructions call for the wing bottom, which is one piece wingtip to wingtip, to be glued to the assembled fuselage. The left- and right-wing top surfaces are glued on next. For this project, the wings were assembled before painting. After painting the wings and the fuselage, the wings will be attached to the fuselage.
Here are the steps that were used to fill in the panel lines: fill panel line and let the filler dry. Wet sand the filled panel line. I started with 800 grit, 5000 grit, then finished with 12000 grit sanding pads. Using magnification, inspect the result to check that the filler was blended with the wing. If the filler was not flush with the wing, repeat.
First panel line filler: Tamiya Putty (Basic Type). This is a solvent based gray putty. I used a solvent based putty because I wet-sanded the panel lines. After sanding, I primed the wing with Citadel Chaos Black spray paint. The panel lines were still visible, so a second coat of putty was applied. After primer, the panel lines were still visible.
Second panel filler: Mr. Surfacer 1000. I have used Mr. Surface in the past for filling gaps, so I thought I would try it on this project. Unfortunately, the results were similar to the putty and the panel lines were not filled.
Third panel line filler: AK Real Color RC820 Aluminum. I was thinking (I usually get into trouble when I think) that the filler I was using was too viscous, so I tried the paint I am using on the wings as a filler. Same result: panel lines were still visible.
Fourth panel line filler: Bob Smith Industries Insta-Cure Super Thin CA glue and Insta-Set Accelerator. I have heard stories about using CA glue as a gap filler. The glue continues to cure over time until the glue is harder than the plastic. This makes it difficult to blend the wing surface with the CA filler. I gave the CA glue a try as I seemed to be out of options. The glue required a couple of applications using the Dspiae CA glue applicator to fill the panel line such that the line was completely filled. Even after a week between glue application and sanding, the glue easily sanded flush with the wing surface.
Finally, the panel lines on the wings are done.
The top picture is of the Tamiya wing after filling, priming with Chaos Black, and the ailerons painted with Tamiya Airframe Aluminum. The second is a picture of a North American factory P-51 assembly line that clearly shows the filled and painted wing.
