Mustang wing painting

I've heard that, at some time, some of the crew chiefs stripped the paint off the wings, including the filler, however I've never seen any photos of this. Along the same line, while I know the rivets were filled, does anyone know if the panel lines were also filled? Would the entire upper wing be absolutely featureless except for the filler cap and weapons access covers?

Essentially, yes. Which is good news for Dragon P51 owners. I'll dig out a couple of books later to be extra sure, but I remember reading they officially left the factory with what NAA termed a sealed wing.

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Don--Here is a link for the 20th FG with quite a few pictures. In all the pics with Mustangs, it certainly looks like they're bare metal, or at least not color painted (may have a clear lacquer coat). Hope this helps. Michael

I thought the camouflage painting of the upper surfaces of a Mustang was a seasonal thing. Green or blue in summer, bare metal in winter. ( scrubbing the paint off was a real chore for ground crews )

Chris

Panel lines are fairly visible in this pic.

Thanks to all who have provided info thus far. I'm still not absolutely sure which way I will go with my Dragon P-51. This last picture, while it is of a "B" model (wings received the same treatment as the "D"), clearly shows the presence of panel lines. I'll continue to evaluate info that RMS'rs post on this but I am leaning toward taking the middle-of-the-road approach; filling the wing rivets while leaving the panel lines. Thanks to all who have responded re filling, not filling the wing panel lines.

Once the Allies achieved air superiority, there was no need to add the extra weight of camouflage paint, especially on bombers..

I have been looking in Mustang in Action, where page 39 tells that all mustangs had primed and painted wings,but Scale and detail, Mustang in color and a couple of other books doesn't show any info on this. In Action has a picture of a plane on the assembly line with wings primed.

My personal belief is that all planes left the factories with primed wings, weather camouflaged or not,but that those planes that had tehir camouflage removed probably had their wings in bare metal finish too. I have almost