I want to do a 1 48 scale P-51 in a late war bare metal finish
I know the finish on the fuselage was bare metal and the wings were painted flat aluminum to basically seal all the seams and rivets
to keep the airflow smooth over the wings
so what colors do I use ?
any help or advise will be greatly appeciated

I find that the very best flat aluminium finish I can get is from the Testors spray can. For the fuselage I like the various tones of Alclad.
I have found that I can get interesting variation by using different colours on the primer. Alclad is its shiniest on gloss black, but doing random panels in white, grey or yellow results in a multi-toned finish using only one metallic cover coat.
You'll need to get some metallic paints and experiment to see what works best for you.

If you want to go simple, I've had good luck with Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Silver right out of the can.


Shiny but not chrome, it fades from specific notice once the markings are on.