Martyn C

Hi I started this last year for the USAAF group build, but never made the dead line. I will try and get this wrapped up while building the tamiya 51 if time allows. A quick overview Acadamy 1/48 P-38 Lightning Quickboost Allison Engine This model is based on Californian Cutie of the 55th FS 20th FG at Kingscliffe in 1944, piloted by 1st Lt Loehert So, the kit And thats that for the moment, C&C welcomed Cheers Mart

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Hi Quite some time has passed since I have worked on this P-51, but in the last month I have started to get the ball rolling again. The cockpit section has been painted with a mix of Mr Hobby and Tamiya with HK products and Mig washes being used. I have used the Barracuda cockpit set radios/battery and throttle quadrant, and also some of the cockpit stencils, and mixed in with these is the eduard cockpit photo etch. I decided to spray the wheel wells with the basic structure painted chromate yellow and the natural ali skin unpainted, of which I used ali alclad. To do before sealing up the fuse Add seat harness Fit radiator dog house Add Barracuda gun sight Fit the remaing coolant/oil lines and carb trunking With thanks to JamesV for the use of his studio, here are the results so far Lots of work to carry on with, but at the end of play today, this is it Mart

Just finished this new release of the Airfix Spitfire PRXIX in 1/48 The kit is fantastic to build with only the need for some small amounts of filler on the underside wing / fuse join,and I am still unsure about the canopy setup. The kit has been sprayed with a mix of Mr Hobby and Tamiya acrylic paint with Vallejo varnish. The decals being made up of a few different sets. Pre-shade was made with a few different shade of brown and green in a grafitti fashion, then German grey for the panel lines. With thanks to JamesV for the time and use of his studio we came away with these shots of the finished item. So for the confused, yes this is a PRXIX in BoB camo, why????? Well in the summer of 1968 a film was being made in England, France and Spain called the Battle Of Britain. Spitfire Productions Ltd had the contract to supply the aircraft for the filming and Spitfire PR XIX PS853 was just one of the XIX's used in the production, though still owned by BBMF at RAF Coltishall. So, instead of the common PRU blue I chose to use this machine as the subject (PS853), but allowing artistic licensing to have Airfix's camera bays open, and chose to spray the propeller set-up marking on the backside of the blades. PS853 shot by Tony Clarke during filming in 1968 Many thanks Mart

Anyone have a set Robin Olds '' Scat II '' P-38 decals they would like to part with in 48th. Rgds Mart

Evening Many thanks for the interest in the build Pete, the CC scheme would have been a nice touch, though I have just seen that another guy is doing a 72nd model in those colours, so that choice has been narrowed down somewhat. The Tamiya 51 has been on the backburner, will continue with it soon. This last week has seen the cockpit painted, then paint-stripped, painted again and paint-stripped again. I'm happy with what i've got now with the limited detail, only the resin IP and control yoke to finish. Mart

A small amount of progress.... Mr hobby U.S interior green has been blown in around the carb duct and inlet and outlet for the rad's The Allison and pilot seat have been painted, final touches and shading to follow A dry fit of the booms to wing to check how good the joins are, and in-fact they are very clean fit Dry fit of the motor, score marks from my blade can be seen Mart

Afternoon Joining this group build after a spell of many months away from the hobby. Chosen scale model is Acadamy's 1/48 P-38 in which you can build the various version's ie " Droop Snoop ect ". Add-ons include Aires Quick boost Allison engine True Details P-38 Wheels True Details Pilot Seat I've a few chosen schemes running around at the moment, one being 1st Lt Richard Loehert 20th FG 55FS " Californian Cutie " from USAAF Station 367 Kings Cliffe. It seems as though the choice is limited in 48th for 8th AF P-38 decals. The kit The only item i'm using from the True Details cockpit is the pilot seat. Dzus panels for the engine area cut away and sanded allowing Mr Hobby U.S interior green to be sprayed, also the cockpit pod had a coat aswell The main cockpit items, even though they are not as nice as a resin pit, the detail is still apparent The quick boost engine has had a coat of German grey, very close to the dark grey in which Allison sprayed them originally, detail to be added Mart

Don Red.......Tracer Black.....Armour Piecing Blue......Incendiary Silver....AP Incendiary Un-painted......Ball General rule for U.S fighters, every 5th round was a tracer. Mart

Don Don't know if these are any good to you for reference, but here they are Mart

Hi Mike The manual I have is a Aug 1944 copy, but it has all the revised page to cover the F-51D & Group 2 TF-51D aircraft, in essence a bumper E&M manual, no difference in the P-51D & F-51D except the extra hardpoints under the wings, some instrumentation & associated wiring on the F. ( Though I bet some of the South American F-51's had some none standard mods put in them!!!! ) I, like you have yet to see an original photo with the Kapok cushion fitted, it may be personal preference of pilot if he wanted one fitted. Col. Glenn Duncan of the 353rd FG looking into his office, no cushion fitted, but the slots are in place either side of the seat for one to be fitted. . Modellers choice!!! Mart

Pete Its been flying since mid-summer 2011, it was in Germany back in September 2011 having some propeller works done at Meier's, not sure if its come back to UK yet.........Scroll down page.....http://www.meiermotors.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86&Itemid=18〈=en Mart

Damon The shadow shot was a 06:00 hrs job in the summer a few years ago. Pete I have just scanned the pilot seat section from the P-51 manual, pilots parachute acted as his " bum "cushion and the back cushion also acted as a life preserve Mart

Hi pete Will check, I have seen many seats with the slots for the back cushion in-situ, will have to have a root around in the books. To everyone............. Please take time to check-out this video, when we make our models it all stems from these few years, . Look at 2:24 for a fuel tank being toss-bombed at the train by a P-51 of the 357th FG Leiston on the centre righthand side of the screen, you see the 51 pulling up out of the film.And this film, one of the best original pieces put together of 8th AF Fighter Command operations, planes, pilots, FG's, as well as some Luftwaffe stuff, all shown here.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGrv8npGBnY Mart

Update 6/1/12........................yes, I know its not Sunday!!!! Right then, I have come to a bit of a holt on this project while i'm waiting for Postman Pat to deliver a selection of aftermarket items, ie Barracuda P-51 Stencils / Eduard late cockpit set / Laminated cockpit floor panels. This week I have had a go at the Packard Merlin, using this image from the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum, i reckon it's maybe the best source to go by as it still resides in its original wooden packing container from 1944 I chose not to go with the RR plated rocker covers from Barracuda Studios as this would be incorrect to the P-51 http://barracudacals.com/proddetail.php?prod=BR32004, although they do look nice, the Packard built Merlins never had them fitted. Once again Tamiya surface primer did its deed and prepared the Engine Block / Rocker covers / blower casing / Manifold inlets / Prop Spline / and all the other small ancillary items for the top coat, which was X-18 Semi Gloss Black. I then picked out all the boltheads and nut's around each individual item with XF-16 Flat aluminum using a fine brush and then running a good number of layers of Dark Mig Wash to blow out the shine, but leaving enough Aluminum to show paintchipping in a few areas, ie the Rocker covers, as those 2 items got removed and re-fitted often when the fingers needed checking. The engine was then assembled and a coat of vallejo semi-matt varnish applied. I have to say Tamiya have pulled out all the stops when the design team went about their work to create this 1/32 kit, i've scanned a few pages from my North American P-51D Maintenance Manual and it shows how close the resemblance is on the few areas that I have just painted and assembled. While I wait for said p/man, i'm going to add a few more pipes around the firewall - engine area just to fill it up, and make it a little more accurate ( Than it already is !!!! ). Having a good look through the parts and instructions, a friend of mine at work pointed out how far the seat cushion is out in scale,we both agreed, no big problem, just a little job of rounding it out to correct size, the image below shows the Tamiya version and how thick it is to the seat. Hawk-75 Seat / cushion. Some aircraft seat cushions are interchangable, as this one can fit in all P-40 series aircraft / P-47 / and of course the P-51, some of the Grumman Naval fighters also used this. This is true scale No major problems so far and not that I thought any would arise, it's a very enjoyable kit to assemble. Still I have not been able to choose the final scheme, in fact I am how leaning more towards a machine from the Scouting Forces, rather than a regular FG airframe. I close this weeks post with a few of my P-51 related images I have taken over the past years, except 1 !! Steeple Morden ( Station 122 ), a very fine Memorial stands on what was the home to the P-51's of the 355th FG 8th AF Taken from pprune and not my image, Steeple Mordens tower, RAF Mosquito buzzing the airfield out to the rear, chequered follow-me truck waiting for the call, good stuff. Once home to the likes of Preddy / Powell and Littge, all of whom flew with the 352nd FG 8th AF from Bodney in Norfolk, the tower today now stands in silent watch over the ghost of the " Blue Nosed sweethearts Of Bodney " P-51D Miss Helen casts a shadow in the old 78th FG gun butts at Duxford The 20th FG did operate P-51's as their last charge, but I think they are more well known for the P-38 antics and more of this when I do the Trumpeter P-38. Today a great little memorial stand on the edge of the old aerodrome at Kings Cliffe, in salute to the major players that flew from here. Autumnal P-51D, nuff said........................... Hopefully tomorrow will see the arrival of parts, and the start of the cokpit next week. Many Thanks Mart