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A Different Way To Get Olive Drab | The Inner Nerd

The Inner Nerd Scale Modelling

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Finding Olive Drab difficult to vary?

In this video, I build, paint, and weather Eduard’s brand new 1/48 scale P-51B Mustang, focusing on creating realistic USAAF Olive Drab without overcomplicating the process or drowning it in jargon.

This is a mostly out of the box build (OOTB), with a few carefully chosen upgrades, where I cover:

Interior painting and cockpit detailing
Creating realistic wear on a wooden cockpit floor
Primer, surface prep, and subtle texture building
Layered painting techniques for Olive Drab
Masking and painting D-Day invasion stripes
Decals, carrier film removal, and blending
Oil paint weathering, fading, staining, and chipping
Final assembly and finishing touches

The goal with this build is simple:
make Olive Drab look interesting, believable, and lived-in, using techniques that are accessible to intermediate modellers and beyond - no unnecessary acronyms (OPR), no magic products, just solid fundamentals.

🛠️ Kit & Build Details

Kit: Eduard P-51B Mustang
Scale: 1/48
Scheme: USAAF D-Day aircraft with invasion stripes
Build style: Mostly out of the box
Aftermarket: Eduard 3D printed seat (Type dependent on canopy)

Paints, Materials & Techniques Used
AK Real Colours & MRP lacquers
Mr Surfacer & Mr Color varnishes
Acrylic ink layering (white & sepia)
Oil paints for fading, shadows, streaks, and wear
Masking putty, epoxy putty, and controlled rescribing
Chipping using oils, acrylics, and pencil work

Tools & Accessories

The model stand used throughout this build, along with other workshop accessories featured in the video, are available on my website:

https://www.theinnernerd.com

If you’ve got a 3D printer, you’ll also find downloadable workshop accessories under the Workshop Accessories section.

Supporting the shop is the best way to support the channel and you get something genuinely useful in return!

If you enjoyed this build and found it helpful, consider subscribing for more aircraft modelling videos focused on painting, weathering, and technique over hype.

🛩️ Next up: Airfix’s brand new 1/48 Westland Lysander

Thanks for watching!
Matt | The Inner Nerd

20 Comments

@TheInnerNerd Creator 1 year ago Pinned

Hello there. My next video is my 100th upload! And to celebrate, I'm making special comparison videos, harking back to when I very first started my model making journey at the age of under 10. I want to know what kit YOU started your journey with and how many models have you made in your career?

Model stand and workshop accessories available at www.theinnernerd.com

@BradleyCampbell-e9x 7 months ago

AND spray equipment. Pressure pot vs binks no 7 paint guns of the era, each changes slightly depending on the number of coats, the under coat being painted over. . . So don't get worked up if your model looks off.

@johnshallman508 7 months ago

great job - but... go to all the length to capture stains, streaks, weathering, fading etc but don't do anything about the seams on the wings. they were always filled.

@wrinkledm 7 months ago

Just a suggestion on Micro-Set / Solve bottles. Use a couple of your old Tamiya cement bottles and transfer the solution into them.

@BobMuir100 1 year ago

Hi first timer and impressed with your video so I have subbed etc. loved the sanding twix coats, so rare but does add so much to the finish!!
I don’t do any weathering etc but enjoyed listening to your chat. I like planes to be ‘factory fresh’ all shiny and beautiful!! A very unpopular view but each plane starts off like this! It’s my intention to create a dealership with shiny planes just waiting for folk to visit and kick the tyres!!!
Great looking build…..great skills.
Bob
England

@ModelNerd 1 year ago

That looks fantastic - very effective and subtle weathering. One question - what is the advantage of using acrylic ink for your mottling layers compared to (say) acrylic paint? Does it behave differently?

@shimshal179 1 year ago

Bonjour, magnifique réalisation, j’ai bien aimé les techniques apportées pour les vieillissements ( White Spirit, peinture à l’huile , puis tapotement ) cela donne beaucoup de perspective. Merci de me donner autant de plaisir à regarder vos vidéos
Cordialement
Philippe

@MusicMachine1970 1 year ago

The cockpit floor had a black anti slip painted covering which quite quickly wore through to the ply wood base

@keithgraveson3172 1 year ago

Fantastic build and so many tips and ideas even at my age I havent discovered.

@TJsModelBench-jb4xt 1 year ago

I found that mineral spirits can be used to soften the overlying film on the Eduard decals; still though, they’re difficult to remove without pulling away small bits of the decal. Perfectly fine if you’re building a war-weary aircraft. If I were building a factory fresh finish, I’d probably use aftermarket decals. ✌🏻❤️

@NediamNori-ht1oe 6 months ago

you probably know already, but the best way of peeling the upper layer of the decal off seems to be using regular masking tape...

@joes_props 1 year ago

„Tickles your fancy bits“, „with a twiddle of yer knob“, „no skid marks“… 😂 by gum, this video had me laughing! The build is absolutely smashing!

@WW2Wayfinder 1 year ago

Wonderful! Eduard are in my opinion (which isn’t worth much) are the best manufacturer out there and to see their kit brought to life like this is so impressive!

@septiccalling8341 1 year ago

Glorious! Absolutely top notch......really nice to see you again 👌🏻👍🏻👏🏻

@AshenShugar0965 7 months ago (edited)

I really learned a lot from this video. And had quite a few laughs along the way from the commentary. Loved it. Great job. And I subscribed!
My first model at around 10 yo was an Airfix Hawker Hurricane. I remember cause I wanted a Spitfire but my dad bought it for me.... followed by various Airfix kits including HMS Fearless. How many models I have completed in my life now at 60 yo? Anyone's guess. But still going strong with my favourites being 1. Sci-Fi, 2. Ships, 3, Tank transporters, 4.Tanks (thanks to a Tamiya 1:35 T34/76 motorised kit which I have since found and built again). Your techniques will help me up my game. Thank you.

@RV9plt 1 month ago

You have inspired me to get this kit, Awesome results

@jr7392 1 year ago (edited)

I really like the ink effect on the OD scheme. I usually use black-basing and them "doodle coat" with several different colors to give that variability in tone and opacity, followed by a blend coat. BUT, for some reason, this technique does not seem to work well with the green colors. There's a fine line between too much and not enough when adding the blend coat and greens really seem to have an extremely fine line when it comes to that so I think the ink technique will be the go-to for these schemes.

As far as the decals go, there is always the "nuclear option" of solvaset to get it to snuggle down in the details, but not sure how this would affect the carrier film removal.

For exhaust streaks, you might try really, really thin paint in IPA. I use Tamiya paints mostly but it should work for the AK real colors too. 95+% IPA and 5% or less paint with low pressure. It takes quite a few passes to build up but the nice thing is that any one bad pass with the airbrush or shaky hands isn't going to ruin anything. However, you must be careful since you're spraying IPA right on it and if you spray too long in any one spot, the IPA will soften the paint underneath and the air pressure can blow it away, ask me how I know... The IPA does evap fast, so a second or two between passes (or just a blast with air only) takes care of that issue.

@CarlHackman 1 year ago (edited)

Looks great, mate. Hopefully I'll get to a similar level one day. I'm only on my 5th model at the moment so, a long way to go LOL. By the way, I can't remember the first kit I ever built as a kid, bit after a 50 gap, and return to the hobby, my first kit was an Airfix Spitfire PR.XIX in 1:72 scale. (I count starting modelling from that kit ;) )