DannyB

Keep up the good work Tony, these are really looking great! How do you find the Mig panel line washes and what do you use to clean them up? I've been thinking of investing in some but can't decide how easy they are to use.

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.

Fortunately this build is going a little smoother than my 1/48 build! No nasty finger prints in this one! Wheel wells all painted up and fuselage nicely bought together. Since taking this picture, I've managed to get the wings together and attached the to the main fuselage.

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.

Nice work Steve.

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.

This one actually got off the ground today. Though it possibly didn't start all that well, do you remember the broken control stick from a few days ago? Well, I couldn't remember where I bloomin' left it!! I'm sure I put it in a 'safe' place after taking the picture of it, but for the life of me I couldn't find it! Luckily, languishing in my stash was a revell 1/72 P-47, I know it's not exactly the same and not even from the same aircraft but for the sake of this build it'll do, and after a quick trim down it fitted perfectly in the cockpit. Much like my 1/48 build, this build is more to do with the final finish, so the cockpit is out of the box and finished in the same way. And, for the scale, I'm pretty happy with the result. Also, started to get this one buttoned up this afternoon. It doesn't go together as smoothly as the tamiya kit but with a bit of massaging it has started to play ball. Bringing the 2 halves together I'm sure there was actually a little bit of warping going on around the front, so I'm really hoping that once that clamps come off in the morning it'll still line-up! You never know I might actually get the bulk of the construction work done on this one tomorrow was well! Hope you've enjoyed this update, it does feel good to actually get some modelling done for once. haha Cheers Dan

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

Looking cracking Dave! The more builds I see of this kit and the longer AMK take to get theirs to market, the more I wanna get one and break my own rules of what I'm willing to spend on a kit!

Stunning detailing! I'm always in awe of how effortless extra details can look when done well. One quick question, how did you mask the clear part in between the crew with all of that extra wiring in place? Your cockpit painting is incredibly clean.

Cheers Stu, I hadn't picked up on that so I'll start checking out the build numbers. Just seen your own dilemma, the orange peel, the orange peal could of come from too much paint come out too quickly. One of the biggest issues with aerosols is controlling the amount of paint and getting nice even coats. You might find the non-halfords silver is larger particles and thinner carrying fluid which has come out faster and flooded the surface. You could try and wet sand the surface and then polish with toothpaste.

Well, pretty much the same story here as with my 1/48 build. Nothing to see here! I have got everything off of the sprues and cleaned up though this week, with only a couple of war wounds from the airwaves razor saw, which again should mean I can get a clear run at this one over the weekend. My only question though is what colour cockpit do F-51's have? Airfix calls for interior green but I've found reference that shows black.

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.

It's such a pain the in backside, I still can't figure out why the manufacturers attach these tiny parts like this, along the edge of a very fine cylinder, surely it would be much easier to put the sprue attachment on the underside of the base! Much thicker part and see as it's the mating face clean up isn't anywhere near as important. Thanks for the tip Greg, there are still a few tiny parts to be removed and the airfix sprue attachments aren't getting any smaller!

Got a start on this one today, with the first job. Removing and cleaning up all of the parts. Over the last few builds I've always found my own weakness to be running out of steam towards the end of a build when I need to go back to the sprues to remove and clean-up some awkward little antenna or piece of glazing to finish off. I hate it, my least favourite part of modelling so I get it out of the way early! No real images of progress so far but the first victim to airfix's mega sprue gates The tiny control stick, snapped clean in 2 while trying to remove it, i was being extra careful too, I promise! I've just got a set of CMK razor saws for this very job to try minimising the risk of damage on the tiny parts and help speed up clean up on the larger parts, but no such luck! At least it's a reasonably easy part to replicate it with stretched sprue and evergreen.

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

That looks incredible John, are you sure it's not 1/48! And, that's exactly why I've opted for the nmf, and of course who can deny a shark mouth.

Can't wait to see you build this one Dave! Will be great to see how it goes together compared to the hasegawa tomcat.

Cheers guys Rob & Les, funnily enough I've got the hasegawa ramjet sat next to the bench, and it will be getting built just not in this group build. I do have to admit being quite taken by the hasegawa plastic, the detail is really nice and, once I get to it, it'll be interesting to see how it goes together compared to the tamiya P-51. Know what you mean, I nearly settled on the Dominican bird too but I have to be honest the camo pattern in 1/72 scares me more than the NMF.

Looking forward to this one, always see the hasegawa P-51D's for sale in this scale and would love to know how they go together! Great scheme too, you're certainly not going to miss it on the shelve once it's finished.

Haha a 'stang is an example of my terrible English! The abbreviated slang term for mustang that I picked up years ago, I blame my time spent living in the deep south of North Carolina.

Keep up the amazing work Bill, and keep on kicking cancers bottom. I've just caught up with all of your last few pages of posts and this is going to be awesome once it's done, that is of course if the missus gives you chance. I can't offer any oracle-like advice about the air-brakes or which shade of off-white the buc might of been, but your level of attention to detail and the font of information around here this thread is fast becoming an incredible resource! Don't let the wedding planning creep in too much to the modelling time, though after doing it last year, I'm pretty certain it will. I'm guessing if your daughter is having a Halloween themed wedding she'll be going for one in autumn (fall), if she does the colours are amazing, all of the turning leaves and soft sunlight will make for stunning photographs. Well worth it! (Congratulations to you and yours btw) *shudder* Cor! don't know where that came from, plastic sprues, glue, decals, nothing to see here!

Thanks for the heads-up Tony! Tamiya 'stang has been added to the shopping list, the difference in price is less than a fiver. Which following your build in the MTO is a price more than worth paying!

Thanks Patrice, funnily enough I found this article after posting my question. After reading though, I do fear I've answered my own question and the tamiya 'stang has gone back on the shopping list. Tamiya's isn't crazy money more and from what I've read I don't think there is any advantage to the ICM kit other than price!

Anyone out there had experience of ICM's P-51D? On the hunt for a new 1/48 mustang and these kits seem to be pretty prevalent at the moment and all available at a pretty good price. I've done a bit of digging and have seen a few comments that it's a carbon copy of tamiya's mustang but no real comment on how it goes together?! Are they worth building or is really just worth spending the extra and getting the tamiya?