P-51B Mustang III; Finished

[georgeusa]

In an effort to eliminate my shelf of doom (shelves really) I discovered this kit and a Hobbycraft 1/48 Bf-109 C. The 109 is almost complete and for the life of me I dont know why I didnt finish it. I also found this kit with a number of the parts started and painted. I think this kit was put up when I moved some stuff around and just forgot about it. It should be a quick build. Here is the box art and the parts in the box. The cockpit needs to be put together and some more detail painting done on the parts before the fuselage can be built up. I started with the cockpit floor as only the seat and instrument panel have had their base coats. I painted the cockpit floor to resemble the plywood floor. I left it natural wood but I know that was usually painted with black paint. I just was trying to see if I could come close to creating a plywood look. The instrument panel was dry brushed to highlight the details and the cockpit given a light wash to muck it up a bit. Then, Eduard harnesses were added. Once the fuselage is closed, however, I dont think much will be visible. I am pretty happy with the wood effect. I dont know if the camera caught it, but in real life it looks pretty good. There are a few injection marks on the floor, but they will not show once installed in the fuselage. I am sure for the time this kit was made, the detail in it was sufficient. However, I also have the Tamiya and Zoukei-Mura 1/32 Mustang and the difference between the kits is night and day. However, the cost of this kit was about ¼ of the other two. Next up, I buttoned up the fuselage and the fit was quite decent. I was worried, but needlessly. I was correct about how much would show inside the cockpit once the halves were joined. I tried to trick the camera using the flash in the dark and even then there is not that much detail that will show. The wings have already been put together as the tail planes and propeller. After I clean up the fuselage join, I will be attaching those to the kit. Then, there is not much else that needs to be done to this kit before painting commences. As always, all comments welcome.

[Biggles87]

Hi George, I'm often tempted to get one of these to fill the gap in my 1/32 Mustang collection. I believe it's more accurate ( or easier to correct) than the Trumpeter version, but requires work and/or aftermarket sets to bring it up to a decent level of detail. I assume that apart from the harness you're building it straight out of the box, looks like a quick build, expecting to see the finished article soon.

John

PS where's the Typhoon??

[georgeusa]

John,

I haven't given up on the Typhoon. It is in the non-interesting sanding all the seams and getting them cleaned up before I go any further. I should have a new update on the Typhoon after this weekend. Thanks for looking in on this one though.

[georgeusa]

Update 1. The fuselage joins were cleaned up so it is time to add more to the kit. First up were the tail planes.

These went on with a minimum of fuss and a good join requiring just a spot of filler.

Next I tackled merging the wing assembly with the fuselage. Now the kit instructions would have you put the air intake on first and then fix the wing assembly to the fuselage. I tried as hard as I could to figure out how to make the wings go over the air intake, but to no avail. So, the intake was taken off . . .

You can see the filler line from where the intake was and the wing assembly is being put on. And, here it is attached and in place.

The next part to go on was the engine cowling. Since I am not going to expose the engine (I have the Tamiya and Zoukei-Mura kits for that) the cowling was glued in place. There is a rather large gap where it fits next to the cockpit.

The next concern regards the propeller assembly.

The gaps here are not pleasant or pleasing and have to be remedied.

After the wings were assembled to the fuselage I had a look at the gun portals.

This also is not pretty and will have to be dealt with. Some tubing and making the holes more circular than oval will be done.

Finally, I glued the nose intake on and guess what, not pretty gaps. Do you notice a theme here? More filler was applied.

So I am at a stopping point as the putty has to dry and I need to search for some tubing that I can use for gun barrels. There does seem to be more than a few places that needs filler. However, I am not bashing this kit as it does go together well, just not perfectly. I chalk it up to the age of the kit. As always, all comments welcome.

[HOUSTON]

George. ..

what else is there to say. Neat start

YOU ARE making MY Favorite War bird. .

[Biggles87]

Yes, good start George, will you be sanding off the rivets and rescribing it? That's when the fun really starts.

John

Edited October 25, 2014 by Biggles87

[georgeusa]

John,

I will not be sanding off the rivets and rescribing it. I really like building these old Revell/Monogram kits as they come out of the box with all their working features. It reminds me of when I first started this hobby as a youngster. I have in the stash, in 1/32 scale, a Tamiya, Zoukei-Mura and a Trumpeter that I can play with for accuracy and realism. This kit will also be used to see if I can get a bit better with the airbrush before I tackle some of the more expensive models. Plus, I like having examples in my collection of how trends have changed over the years. When this Revell kit first came out, rivets were popular and made the model more "lifelike". This trend has faded of course, but I think it should be represented in a collection. Or, maybe its just my justification for avoiding sanding which I hate!!

[spitfire]

It's nice to see one of these old classic kits actually being built, I do have a soft spot for them.

Cheers

Dennis

[Prop Duster]

I really like building these old Revell/Monogram kits as they come out of the box with all their working features. It reminds me of when I first started this hobby as a youngster. ... Plus, I like having examples in my collection of how trends have changed over the years. When this Revell kit first came out, rivets were popular and made the model more "lifelike". This trend has faded of course, but I think it should be represented in a collection.

Ya know, your "philosophy" hit home I hadn't thought of it that way,but realize I agree and have been doing it also.

Thanks for putting it into a coherent thought.

Now I can go back to my nap and dream of the models I goinna build....some day

[georgeusa]

Update mainly filling, sanding, more filling, more sanding. Okay, I did do a little painting other than filling and sanding. I painted the white portions of the plane, the propeller

And the tip of the nose of the aircraft.

Other than that it was how much filler will this kit take? The main fuselage and wing seams had already been filled and taken care of. The only thing left was the air intake that had to be removed to put the wings on. So it was reinstalled and, surprise, it needed some filler and blending in.

Next up was why it took this update is limited to mainly filling and sanding. The fit of the canopy pieces was abysmal. I was going to completely seal the canopy up, but that is not an option as to how badly they fit together. That and a piece of the main canopy is missing. Looks like it was either short shot or a tiny piece broke off of the edge. Here is how badly the side windows fit.

Both of them sit very proud of the fuselage and there are gaps, large gaps. So there was one go around of putty and Mr. Surfacer.

That was sanded down and lo and behold, it needed more work. Round two of filling and sanding.

It is getting close, but no cigar. So round 3 begins

After the third round of filling and sanding it seems to be blended in to a satisfactory point. However, the canopy itself is a mess. So out with the polishing pads and progressive sanding from 1200 to 3600 grit begins. A little Future and the clearness is restored.

Now, two things the photo reveals. One, I need to attack the inside of the window with a Q-tip to get rid of the interior dust. Second, I have no idea what that thingy is on the side of the windscreen and if it should be there or not. Anybody got a clue? Also, you can see how bad the canopy parts are by how straight the edge of the side window is; nice huh? I am trying to give this kit a break as the copyright on the lower stabilizer states it was made in 1980. So it is about 34 years old. Can’t wait to see how the front windscreen fits.

It fits worse than the side windows. It doesn’t even approach any hint of fitting to the fuselage decently. There are massive gaps and the entire thickness (and it is quite thick) rides up on the fuselage. There will have to be some massive blending in. Now the one ray of light here is I finally found Milliput in one of my local hobby shops. I hear about this stuff on this forum all of the time, but I have never found it locally. I was very frustrated with how hard a time I was having blending the front windscreen in with just filler. I cut off way too much from each stick and put it along the edge of the windscreen. So far not real impressed by how pliable it is. I’m thinking it is like using Play Dough and going on about as well. Then I added just a hint of water to the mixture and oh my goodness, did it ever change the texture and the ease in which it can now be molded and blended into shape. This stuff is great.

Here is where I get to stop and let the Milliput harden so it can be sanded into shape. And, I would imagine the front windshield will also need some polishing afterwards like the side windows. Once that is done, this kit is ready for some paint. As always, all comments welcome.

[georgeusa]

Window and paint update. I did some more work on the windscreen to try to blend it into the airframe.

There was a few more sanding sessions and applications of Mr. Surfacer 1000 until the frame and side windows looked like they might have fit the airframe at one time. Then the windscreen needed to be polished out to remove the sanding marks. Now it is ready to paint and the grey has been applied

So, the first coat needs to dry and then the frame masked to accept the green camo coat. There is hope for this kit yet. As always, all comments welcome.

[georgeusa]

Paint and decal update. After the grey coat had dried, the camo scheme was masked up and then the green applied. Oddly enough, there were not paint issues other than a couple of places that need to be touched up. I guess I held my tongue and body at the proper angle and the demons that rule the airbrush world were tormenting someone else!

Next up after the green had dried was a nice coat of Future to get ready for the decals.

The Revell kit has decals for a generic Mustang III with the 316 (Polish) Squadron. I also have the Trumpeter kit of the Mustang III and on their decal sheet are markings for a specific pilot (Eubeniusz Horbaczewski) also with the 316 Squadron. Now the Revell decals are okay, but the looks of the Trumpeter ones are much better. Also, the Revell decals are quite a bit older than the Trumpeter ones. So, I have made a decision to use the specific decals for Mr. Horbaczewski’s plane from the Trumpeter set and the stencils and national markings from the Revell set. This should be interesting.

Part of the reason I went with the Trumpeter set was Mr. Horbaczewski’s plane had a nice set of invasion stripes. Now I know I should have been industrious and just painted them on, but I wanted to see if I could get the kit decals to behave and look good. If they don’t, then they get removed and the invasion stripes are painted. The Trumpeter decals behaved like cardboard. Well, maybe not that bad, but they were very stiff and resistant to setting solution. A challenge!! I finally got the yellow I. D. stripe to bend around the curve of the wing after much persuasion. And, the invasion stripes are beginning to settle into all the surface detail. Or, rather, they are conforming to the rivet surface fairly well. The Revell decals are the complete opposite in behavior.

They are silvering up quite vigorously and trying to resist bending to my will. Normally, Revell decals don’t behave this way. I absolutely love the ones that come with their Tiger Meet kits and they are quite nice. I suspect part of the problem is the age of the decals. But, they will behave and will cooperate. Otherwise, I guess I will use the national markings from the Trumpeter kit. Anyway, the kit is starting to shape up. The decals applied have been sent to the corner of a shelf with a coating of Micro Sol and will stay there until they learn their lesson. As always, all comments welcome.

[georgeusa]

Decal update. All of the Trumpeter decals have been put on the plane.

They are not the most pliable decals in the world but they do respond somewhat well to the Micro Sol solution and after a while and some persuasion they do settle into the kit detail as evidenced by this photo.

All of the national markings from the Revell kit have been put on. (They take ages to soak as they are only about 35 years old.) With enough time and setting solution, the different decals are snuggling into the detail quite well. I am at the stencil stage.

Once all of the stencils are on, then the paint touch up process will begin followed by the weathering process. I have not made up my mind as how to weather this bird. Any suggestions? As always, all comments welcome.

[georgeusa]

Wash and weather stage update. The decals are in place and have complied with efforts to settle them down into or around the kit detail.

The next step is cover the kit with a layer of Future and then begin the wash and wear cycle. First up, the upper port wing was layered with Flory’s Dark Dirt.

The starboard wing and the rest of the fuselage received the same treatment.

Finally the lower surfaces got dirty

And then somewhat cleaned up

I am sad to say many Q-tips gave up the ghost in the weathering process.

The Flory’s web site recommends removing their wash with a good quality paper towel, but I get more control and it is easier using the swabs. The plus side with the Q-tips is the cost. One of the local drugstores had a sale of 2 packages, 500 each for $2.00. Bonus!!

The wash was sealed with a layer of Dull Coate and is drying. Next on the list, all the hangy down pieces, some chipping and then some pastels. As always, all comments are welcome.

[hendie]

George, I just caught this one. I may have seen it earlier but had forgotten all about it. Without doubt, you are the decal king my man. I have put on about 6 decals and I am completely scunnered with them. I don't know how you do it.

This is looking good.

John,

I will not be sanding off the rivets and rescribing it. I really like building these old Revell/Monogram kits as they come out of the box with all their working features. It reminds me of when I first started this hobby as a youngster. I have in the stash, in 1/32 scale, a Tamiya, Zoukei-Mura and a Trumpeter that I can play with for accuracy and realism. This kit will also be used to see if I can get a bit better with the airbrush before I tackle some of the more expensive models. Plus, I like having examples in my collection of how trends have changed over the years. When this Revell kit first came out, rivets were popular and made the model more "lifelike". This trend has faded of course, but I think it should be represented in a collection. Or, maybe its just my justification for avoiding sanding which I hate!!

I think I tend to agree with you. Sometimes it's nice to make a silk purse out of a pigs ear. Other times it's nice to keep a pigs ear around just to remind you what they were like.

[georgeusa]

Hendie,

Hang in there with the decals. What you don't see behind the scenes is the time between applications of the decals and setting solutions. I always do a kit in sections and make sure the section is fully finished before moving to the next section of the kit. I'm good for about 30 minutes at a time on decals, then I need to take a break.

[Nigel Heath]

Nice to see this one coming together, thanks for sharing.

[georgeusa]

Hangy on thing update. I am in the process of doing the final weathering and putting on all of the miscellaneous pieces left to complete a build. The main landing gear has been affixed. I did have to adjust the attachment points for the landing gear to fit into the wing, but it wasn’t an ordeal; just some quick passes with an appropriate drill bit. The landing gear seems a bit fragile though, I do not know if it will hold up over time. I then got it into my thick skull that the panels just below the exhausts might have to be modified. I though British Mustangs had panels with slits instead of holes. Apparently this was done on the Mustang IV, not the III. I found a picture of the aircraft I am attempting to represent with the pilot and others in front of the nose and the panel has holes, lots of them. How hard could this be? The kit represents this detail with raised dots that I weathered black, but I didn’t think they looked too good. Out came the micro drill and many holes later, both panels on either side of the plane were done. I goofed on a few and it is noticeable in the pictures, not so much when you are standing two feet away.

Next up, since I was in a correction mode (I thought I was going to do this OOB?) I went back to the gun ports in the wing. That is what they looked like after the wing was put together. Maybe I could do better.

I found some metal tubing and began to experiment. I cut 4 pieces each of different diameters.

Then slide them inside of each other to get this effect.

And then they were inserted in the wing.

Now I think this looks a bit better, but some touch up needs to be done still. I have finished the weathering on this kit, so the only things left are the tail wheel I broke off (contemplating how to fix it); the landing gear covers for the main wheels and tail wheel; the middle canopy; and the antennae. Hopefully I can knock all of this out tonight and close the chapter on this kit and another shelf of doom kit bites the dust! As always, all comments welcome.

[Biggles87]

Definitely looks better dirty George, good job on the gun barrels too.

John

[georgeusa]

I think it is harder to build a pristine aircraft as all the flaws will be there at the end of the build. With strategically applied weathering all sorts of goofs and blunders can be hidden.

[Darby]

Proper Retro! Like the days when we had to work hard to get a result and nice to see a reminder of those days. Keep the cotton buds (sorry Q-tips over there). Cut the fuzz off and use the stems to stir paint or if hollow plastic heat stretch them for tubing and other things. I've seen an example of stretched ones being used as turnbuckles.

[Nigel Heath]

I must say I do like the guns made out of the metal tubing, they look really good. Most impressive how you are clearing out your shelf of doom and scratch building to boot!

[hendie]

see - scratching again!

Did I ever get back to you on that tubing ? I can't remember. Anyway, it was K&S tubing - their tubing is designed to telescope with each diameter fitting into the diameter immediately larger

[georgeusa]

No, but oddly enough, while rummaging through the shelf of doom kits, I found 3 different sizes of K & S tubing and that is what I used above. Interesting stuff to work with. I'm trying baby steps, not anywhere near the level you and Nigel and now Rick are at.

[Nigel Heath]

You do yourself a disservice, your building skills an inspiration.

Cheers,

Nigel