mark.au

Will this do? 😎 Gonna need a bigger case… Cheers.

Looks really good! I’ve never seen the upper Stars and Bars on the starboard wing before, is it that way on the real warbird? Edit, never kind I see that you’ve seen that

You did a much better job on the radar than I did on mine. Looks great!

Yes, definitely hot water because that melts the adhesive sufficiently. You’re correct, the key though is the Mr. Mark, Tamiya decals are designed to work with that rather than the MicroSet/Sol combo. You’ll be pleasantly surprised, I’m sure, at how Tamiya decals perform if you use this approach.

Tamiya make the best decals if any of the mainstream kit producers. Most people don’t know how to use them though. Hot water Mr. Mark Setting Solution Leave to set. More painted-on than Eduard’s without the BS carrier film.

Off to a great start. That’s an interesting technique for detailed parts, sort of reverse dry brushing. I’m looking forward to seeing how you go with this one.

Thanks, gents. I've continued with the overall assembly, bouncing back and forth between the fuselage and wings. I still haven't made up my mind on whether to paint the wings separately or not but the time to commit is fast approaching. After a check on the seams and attaching the gun shrouds I covered them with a bit of YZC. I did this for two reasons; the first as a check on the seams themselves and how they'd look under paint but also as a final filler, although microscope in depth it still adds to the overall effect. Anyway, as I won't attach the flaps and ailerons until later, I'm calling the wings finished for now. As for the fuselage, the major remaining works were in the instrument panel and its combing. I used the kit PE for the IP which looks quite nice but I wish Eduard would make them a little less shiny. Of specific note [for me, at least], I managed to get all but one of the minute PE levers and toggles on without loss! After inserting the IP assembly into the fuselage, it's ready for the windscreen and canopy. And so, the current state of play on the fuselage... I have assembled the tail feathers and they appear to be a good enough fit that I can paint them separately as well. I think it will make the tail stripe decals infinitely easier to apply if the tail is unassembled when I do it. Having said that, I have't completely ruled out painting them - it would make the easier, too. There's going to be a two week pause on this one now while we take a trip overseas. As it happens, we're going to the same place 2Lt. Harvey was heading to on that ill-fated day in June, 1945. Cheers.

Looks really good James, that scheme is brilliantly executed.

On to the wings. We begin with the main gear bay. I started with a repeat of the above experiment on a NMF. After that, I forgot to take any photos until I’d finished 🤦‍♂️. I hand painted the stringers and for a bit of visual interest I made a couple of them green. Several restorations have shown that the stringers could be either colour, though most commonly they were yellow. Next I assembled the wings and began the critical task of filling the panel lines, just like the real thing. To me, a P-51 has to have smooth wings. I used PPP because I want the ghost of the puttied panel lines to show, also just like the real thing after some use. And, after a little work with a 1500 grit sanding stick… Next, I’ll finish the assembly and may even get some paint on them (assuming the fit is good enough that I can paint them separately from the fuselage). Not pictured is the fuselage which I’ve already joined, cleaned and replaced the lost rivets. I’m enjoying this kit, it’s as good as the Eduard 109s and it’s helping me forget the 110… Cheers.

Thank you Alistair and everyone, much appreciated Cheers.

I did a little experiment with a NMF. I was about to load up some Testors Metalizer when I realised I doin't have anything to clean up with so instead, I loaded some Vallejo Metal Magnesium (a bit dark for aluminium plate the only one I have at the moment). I sprayed that in the radiator intake area of the fuselage sides and before it was completely dry Idry brushed some SNJ aluminium powder to shine it up. The result was excellent, but a little fragile so I then added a thin coat of clear gloss. The progression is below, the photo bottom right shows the finished look. I think there's potential there for further experiments as the amount of powder varies the sheen and an additional mid-sheen top coat coupled with a touch of post shade should render a very nice finish. If nothing else, it'll be fun to try it out. Then it was time to bid the cockpit detail farewell before closing up the fuselage. Next up will be the close and then I can start on the wings. Cheers.

The 210/410 canopies are always tricky but you have managed it very well. Looking forward to the paint, this one’s going to be a cracker.

Looks very nice! You get your radar alignment spot on, much better I managed.

I see a silk purse.

Great paint work. I still have my stash of MM Metaliser and although it’s literally decades since I used it last, I think it might make an appearance on my Pony. I hope it comes out as well as yours did.

Me too! So far, it is. I worked on the cockpit side walls today. First the starboard side following the same process as for the seat and fuel tanks sections yesterday. Then the port side. Here they are both finished. No wash, only dry brushing. Then, I did a fit check for the cockpit assembly. Well, mostly to see what it all looked like to be honest. I seem to have broken some kind of personal record with this one, not a single piece of PE pinged off into the never never. I didn’t use it all, but I did use most. It seems a bit of a shame most of that detail won’t really be visible once everything is closed up. Cheers.

Eduard make a few strange choices in their kits… 😉. For example… Re the piping colours; I am certain that those colour call-outs in the gear wheel are only appropriate for a modern warbird show pony. So far good on this one, looking forward to seeing it painted.

The black is my own mix which is slightly darker than NATO Black and has a smidge of light green in it to give it a bit of depth. I dry brushed with a generic light grey, very lightly and in multiple passes until it looked how I wanted.

Fuel tanks are same colour as the underside, RLM76. The only decals are the stencils which came with the kit, all of the markings are painted.

From the outset, on all models in the factory. Lovely work on a very user-friendly kit. I'm looking forward to seeing this one painted up.

Thanks, mate. This is the third Eduard kit in the last four builds; the first was a joy, the second far from it, I'm hoping we revert back to the joy side of the balance sheet with this one. I made a start today, beginning with the cockpit as usual. I followed the assembly instructions closely as previous experience has taught me that Eduard kits are far less forgiving than most when it comes to sequence discipline. The first stage or two are devoted to the cockpit floor, the pilot's seat and fuel tank/radio assembly. I didn't follow my usual process this time by forgoing the black basing as well as a wash, and instead using careful dry brushing to accent highlights to create the same depth. This saved me time and actually looks better to my eye. I tend to overdo the wash and this approach saves me from myself. Here's the result of a couple of hours on it (I must say that at this stage I'm erring towards joy on this kit - while fiddly it wasn't painful to fit all of the very small bits and pieces). One thing I didn't do is the the black-painted-floor-worn-to-plywood look; this airframe was relatively young at the time it was lost and I don't think it would have had time to seriously wear out. I did apply some dry brushing though, this being to simulate the dust and dirt carried into the cockpit on the pilot's boots. For that matter, the overall approach on this one will be for a relatively fresh airframe. Next up, the cockpit side walls and their various gubbins. Cheers.

This one isn’t giving up without a fight!

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated. I use this kind of paint. I mix if there’s not one that matches what I’m after; I thin with Windex and spray normally. The finish is strong enough to mask over 10min after application but soft enough to wipe away with a damp cotton bud. The colours above were mixed for use on this Ta156 scheme, but there’s a huge range and there’s often a pretty good match out of the tube. I’m sure any quality brand artist acrylic would work just as well.

And two weeks later, it is. There’s nothing like a clear bench with fresh plastic, here we go… Actual plastic gets cut and painted in the next update. Cheers.

Thank you and @vppelt68 for hosting, and doing such a great job at it too. See you there! The rear guns were quite easy, though a little tricky to fit with tweezers after the canopy is installed. The wing fuel tanks were a microcosm of everything wrong with the kit; no positive location engineered into the tanks or brackets. It requires the modeller to simultaneously line up eight pinpoint and very flimsy attachment points on structurally weak brackets if one is to get the alignment correct ( or close to it). Having said that, like a lot of the kit’s weak points [pun intended], it looks great when done; but I can’t help thinking that Tamiya achieve the same outcome with much less modeller angst. Thanks again for all of the kind words, much appreciated.