Not trying to be critical here just an observation, but if your plane is "too weathered" it removes the believability if the subject matter. People identify with a subject when it's plausible. "Hairless Joe" is a well known subject of the 56th FG and while it was used extensively it was still pretty well maintained, after all Maj Schilling was the Group Commander.
This is a hobby it's perfectly fine to do things any way one wants. You said it's your first plane and I'm sure it's been a learning experience and you had fun.. that's the important thing![8D]