Tamiya 1/48 P-51D - 'Little Midget'

[DannyB]

So here's my main build for this group build.

 

Thankfully a perfectly timed classified in the for sale forum and some brilliantly prompt postage I got my hands on one of tamiya's masterpieces. Here's the box shot.

 

 

And the extras for this one.

 

 

To make this one a little more interesting and because tamiya's stock decals are thicker than a thick thing I've gone for a set of superscale decals, my subject for this build will be Pilot Lt. James G. Bartley's P-51D from 1944, otherwise known as 'Little Midget'. Here's a shot of the real thing showing the right hand side which carried the name 'Missy'.

 

source

 

I've never used superscale decals before but from close inspection the quality and clarity looks really good, can't wait to try these out!

 

 

Here are some shots of the beautiful level of detail in the original plastic, and having built 2 of these already they go together effortlessly so this one is really going to be about the markings and overall finish.

 

 

 

Studying images of other P-51s I'm going to endeavor to replicate the finish of a clean but well used metal finish. Not too sure which way to go with it but I'm currently thinking of using aclad II airframe aluminium over a mottled black finish. I love nmfs and enjoy working with alclad so I'm looking forward to experimenting with it. And, there is of course the big chequer board decals to play with too!

 

Cheers

Dan

[DannyB]

My start on this has not been as I had hoped and I certainly haven't gained the traction this week!

 

But, good news is I should have a clear weekend and now all of the pieces have been removed from their sprues and cleaned up there shouldn't be anything standing in my way. 

[Air-to-Air]

13 hours ago, DannyB said:

But, good news is I should have a clear weekend and now all of the pieces have been removed from their sprues and cleaned up there shouldn't be anything standing in my way. 

Looking forward to it, looks as though it is a beautiful kit.

Edited October 28, 2016 by Air-to-Air
Poor expression

[stevej60]

Great scheme Dan,look forward to seeing these Tamiya beauties come together in this GB.

[DannyB]

Thankfully I managed to get a good amount of bench time today to really get this one started.

 

Though with my F-51 build going at the same time my desk looked a bit more like production line, and halfway through the morning it was a little chaotic!

 

 

Anyway, with the cockpit all done today things are really starting to take shape.

 

 

 

I haven't gone too crazy in here as my aim with these 2 builds is more about experimenting with the final finish i pushed through pretty much out of the box. I used tamiya's suggested mix for the interior green (2 parts XF3, to 1 part XF5) and I'm actually pretty happy with the result, especially as I normally avoid their mixes. It was then followed up with a liberal dry-brushing with a humbrol silver and finally a dusting of rust orange from the tamiya weathering set. It might not be super detailed or researched to the last degree but for overall effect I'm happy.

 

 

Surprisingly tamiya don't include any decals for the instrument panel or the harness in the 8th Air Force boxing of this kit but fortunately I had these left over from the 9th Air Force boxing that I had used in the last group build, which really finish this cockpit off.

 

I started buttoning up the 2 sides before I finished this afternoon so by the end of the day tomorrow I might have a finished a good chunk of the construction work! I had forgotten how beautifully this kit goes together.

 

As per usual, and as always in the spirit of a group build, any comments are more than welcome.

 

Cheers

Dan

[Lomcevak]

Hi 

 

I really like the details on the sides, well done 

 

I dont feel too bad now about the lack on instrument panel on my tamiya 1/72 then as you are saying that you have the same problem on this 1/48. I guess I'll have to just go without one... snif snif...

 

 

[DannyB]

Thanks

 

To be honest I was really surprised by tamiya when i realised they didn't include the ip decal in this boxing! After finding it in the 9th AF version I wonder if they had realised they mistake with the first release and had corrected on the next one. 

[Keeto™]

That cockpit looks great!

[DannyB]

Hi, my name's Dan, and I'm an idiot!  

 

 

 

I was buttoning up the fuselage last night, had it all clamped up around the cockpit, but one clamp fired itself off! While in the process of re-clamping it I completely missed that the tamiya thin had run down the panel lines below the cowl and managed to put my fingers firmly it. AGRH!!! 

 

Going to just leave everything on the desk where it lies for the week, and try to rectify this mess calmly at the weekend. Still so annoyed at myself. 

Edited November 2, 2016 by DannyB
managed to drop off the worst of the damage

[wellzy]

great build love the cockpit ,will keep up with the rest of this build .

 

Les

[Bedders]

I feel your pain, but judging by your cockpit work, you'll be able to sort it.

 

V nice choice of subject. Wish I could get hold of some D-model 353FG markings in 1/72!

 

Justin

Edited November 2, 2016 by Bedders

[DannyB]

Cheers Justin, haha you have more confidence in my abilities than I do!

 

My initial plans were to build this one pretty clean, much like the source image, but now I might need to rough it up a little to help cover up what I can sand out.  

[Air-to-Air]

If all else fails you can call it "battle damage".

As Plasto's images showed, in real life the aircraft is nowhere near as smooth as is represented in kit form.

But I understand your frustration and wish you the best for a recovery that you're happy with.

[DannyB]

23 hours ago, Air-to-Air said:

If all else fails you can call it "battle damage".

 

'battle damage' haha I like it! 

 

I'm planning to get in some more bench-time this weekend so I can get this moved on a lot further. My little airfix one has gone together quickly over the week, so this will be my priority. Hopefully no more cockups too!  

[DannyB]

I don't know whether to keep this one going here, or move it over to the KUTA group build!

 

Finally got some work done on my 2 P-51's this weekend. Since the last time I got everything buttoned up, wings attached and repaired my little boo-boo. 

 

This is where I started this weekend.

 

 

 

First thing was to get the gun sight sorted, then mask the canopy and get that attached. Then mask up the wheel wells all ready for a coat of mr surfacer black next week.

 

 

I then moved my attention over to landing gear, wheels and gear bay doors. Starting off with a base of black I then used xf16 on the landing gear and wheel hubs, and the interior green mix for the gear bay doors, which were then finished off with a dry brush of humbrol metalcote. Pretty happy with these bits so far, just need a wash to bring out the details, use some foil on the gear legs, and paint the tyres.

 

 

This is pretty much where I've managed to get to this weekend. The gear bays are all masked up and ready to go.

 

Sorry it's taken me a while to get this one back on track! 

[Blitz23]

Making some sweet progress.

[wellzy]

That`s good new`s 

[DannyB]

Cheers guys, I haven't managed to spend anytime at my table this week but I've been given some free time this weekend to get a bit more done!

 

For this build, I'll be happy if I get to the point on Sunday where the primer coat is on, I've now got some mr.surfacer 1500 black, and the sub assemblies are a little further on.

[DannyB]

Managed to get a little bit of time at the table over the weekend and last night to help move this one along.

 

First up was getting everything ready for it's coat of mr. surfacer black.

 

 

Enter my some-what budget spray booth!

 

This is my first time using mr surfacer 1500, having only every used 1200 as a primer before, and all I can say is wow! Why did I never try it sooner! It sprays beautifully, settles beautifully and once fully dried really tough.

 

 

Here she is first coat down with no buffing, a lovely soft satin finish.

 

I had a go at polishing the drop tanks with 8000 and 12000 micromesh and noticed that I could get a varied shine, without too much scratch marks. So, this got the old brain-cells whirring, knowing that alclad airframe aluminium relies on a gloss base coat what happens if I vary the finish instead of the colour. Does it give a constant colour but varied amount of reflection? 

 

 

 

It only bloomin' work!  I'm really pleased with these, they've got that roughed up metal look, shiny in parts but then matt in others, can't wait to get some grime on these. Though now I've just got to get the rest of the airframe right!

 

And, here's one of the flaps using the same process, though this time I masked the outside of the flap before polishing the primer to get a good clean line. Not quite as obvious as the drop tanks and tbh I think they might of needed a coat of gloss to make them really shine but definitely brings a bit of interest to the finish.

 

 

I love NMF but it's a real bugger to photograph sometimes.

 

I've also been trying to buff the airframe but not having much luck, so masked off the wings last night and plan on putting down a coat of x22 gloss over the primer before that gets painted.

 

Onwards and upwards as they say, really hoping I can get this and it's stable mate across the line before Christmas. 

 

Cheers

Dan

[Air-to-Air]

Good to read about your interesting experimentation. Some nice photography too. You've sold me on Mr Surfacer, I can see myself acquiring some to have a try myself.

[DannyB]

Thanks.

 

Yeah, if you hadn't noticed, I've been super impressed with the 1500.

 

I've used 1200 before and had ran out, so this time decided to give the 1500 black a go because whenever I've used the grey primer on resin I've always ended up base coating it in black. So, to save a step the black was really appealing.

 

I thinned it 50/50 with mr color self leveling thinner, you could probably get away with thinning it a little less, maybe 60/40 or even 70/30, as 50/50 did feel possibly a little too thin and I really had to watch I didn't let it pool.

[DannyB]

Well, it was time this weekend to get some shiny paint on this on.

 

Like the drop tanks I had tried to polish the primer to a nice reflective gloss, but it just was getting shiny enough and my patience was starting to wear a little thin!  I'm not saying you can't do it, I've seen some people get some cracking results, just that I couldn't be bothered! So, I masked the wings off and sprayed my x22 mr color mix on the fuselage.

 

 

 

Pretty happy with the result, not a shiny as the humbrol enamel gloss, but more than enough for this one.

 

Time to crack out the alclad! I started off with airframe aluminium and then free-handed semi-matt aluminium over the wings.

 

 

 

While I was at it I masked off the rudder and aerial to keep them black, I also managed to get on and get the spinner masked up and sprayed.

 

 

Next up for this one will be masking off and spraying the anti-glare panel, then time for a gloss coat and starting to get the decals down. The microscales decals do scare me though, and I've not quite figured out how this is going to work around the nose! 

 

 

To my mind slicing back in to the rows is just going to end up with uneven width squares, and how do you overlap the black squares over the yellow without the yellow squares behind overlapping the black. 

 

Might just be a job for the daco strong! haha 

 

Cheers

Dan

[exdraken]

looking good!