Zephyr91

Thanks Graham. I was abbreviating, my apologies. I have indeed altered every part of the fuselage depth now; after the nose which was the last bit to be fettled. I'd been avoiding it, but in the end had to address it as it still didn't have that "emaciated" look of the Allison variants. Regarding the underneath, thankfully I'd back-filled the radiator area with filler because very little of the original part exists after flattening that bit. At first sight, it still looks a bit "rounded" but it really is a lot slimmer than it started out. I may have to build the other one OOB just for comparison to convince myself ........ . I'll get some photos soon but I'm just in the midst of planning hols in France. Not driven over there since 2017 and the added complication this time is that we have a fully electric vehicle (no, not a milk float or mobility scooter!! ) so the charging opportunities have to be given a bit more attention than looking for the old "sans plomb" outlets. Thanks for commenting. Rob

As a break from cutting, filling, filing, sanding etc.. it was a welcome change to spray some primer .....includes small bits as well as main internal areas of fuse and wheel wells. I've only added PE parts where they were better than the kit parts. I hurried on and got some colour added The seat is a slightly odd angle but only blu-tacked at this stage because I hadn't put in the head armour with attached camera shelf. Need that in so that the seat can be properly aligned. As you can see, I opted to go with the plastic version rather than the PE because the latter was a bit wide and also the frame above and behind the seat was too 2D. I suppose this is just my preference, but the PE seat does look quite fine and wouldn't look amiss if someone chose to use it. I DID use the PE seat belts as they are quite nice. Due to the clarity of the canopy part I felt the need to "busy" up the area behind the seat. I was pleased to find that the camera is included as a small (albeit rudimentary) part in the kit, so didn't have to totally scratch that. The shelf needed extending with some plasticard back into the fuselage in order to hold a larger (than the camera) black box, which could be a battery (made from scrap). Certainly large wires (or small cables) are visibly attached to it in a couple of photos in the Wingleader book, so I made something like them from 5 amp fuse wire. Adding in a couple of PE "boxes" added to the busy-ness, and I was happily lost in that for an hour or 2 even though it can't all be seen. From a distance, it all doesn't look too bad I think. Seat still not stuck in as I wasn't quite happy with the height relative to the fuselage side. BUT I did get the fuse halves together! It was all going too smoothly. Those with good observation skills will notice the total lack of anything that even vaguely looks like the IP. That's because, in my haste to stick the fuse together, I entirely forgot about it! I think the translation reads somethig like "Oh, bother! One just can't get the staff these days!" I then managed to mess up the PE IP, so resorted to the plastic version here Very dark grey (faded black?) with dry-brushed silver to get the dials to stand out. Couple of dabs of colour for interest on what might be switches, then wrangled into position and all hidden away under the coaming and gun sight - so not really visible either. At least I know it has the IP included now Now I had been trying not to notice this, but I took a photo to try and show-off the wiring on the camera shelf. Didn't really show it properly, but what it did do was confirm what I'd suspected (and Graham @Graham Boak had mentioned) but I was trying to ignore and that was that the upper line of the fuselage in front of the windscreen was too sloped or not flat enough. It seemed to be close to the plans, but looking at all the photos it needed to be flatter. So I've done that with a fairly coarse file, but don't have a photo yet. I think it looks very close now to what I was after. I had to fill a resulting gap between the newly profiled front fuse and the windscreen, but that's also done. I now need to get to grips with all the re-scribing that's needed. Not my favourite job. Hopefully the major shape modifications and sanding bits are done now. Because I tend to get distracted easily from the re-scribing it may be a few days before the next update. Thanks for looking, and keep smiling Rob

OK. I shouldn't have mentioned it, but the tailwheel saga continues!! Quite nicely moulded but the top bulky bit and the lower wheel bulky bit are joined by the slenderest piece of plastic - which duly fractured under my (not so) tender ministratations to try and remove flash and mould lines. So that is now in the repair shop! At least I know where it is! Meanwhile, looking again at the cockpit internal side panels .... ....it's easy enough to trim the lower edges of the panels to allow the cockpit floor to be placed. The bit of detail lost was never going to be seen anyway. However, the fore/aft locating point was not entirely obvious. There was a small vertical edge marked on the fuse side that looked like it should serve the purpose. But trying that, it seemed that the seat would be far too far aft of where it should be. And there was nothing on the other side wall to indicate where that should be either. [Now, I checked this over several times but could't see that I missed something, but am happy to be shown what the clue was!] Hmmph. Plans not much help as they are external views. After a bit of searching I found this photograph https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/usa/aircrafts-2-3/p51-raf/type-f24-camera-mustang-i-63-squadron/ It confirmed to me that the seat back and armour plate are in line with the cockpit framing so maybe I could use that as a reference on the model. So taping the fuse halves to gether and dry-fitting the canopy I got this I'd been warned earlier by @Planebuilder62 that there was a potential canopy top-edge fit issue, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that (with almost no fettling) it went in very well. Lucky me! 😁 Of course that's without any glue, so it's bound to go down hill when adhesive is applied. So I marked on the fuse where the canopy frame was and was then, after disassembly again, was able to line up the internal panels. They have a notch for the behind-seat head armour which was ideal for this (armour is the small bit on the right in the photo with camera shelf attached at right-angles). Further use of blu-tac and tape seemed to confirm things lining up so I've gone with this approach. Now there's still a lot of filling, filing and sanding to do, but I need to get the fuse halves together to do that effectively, which means I have to do the cockpit. Wow! Actually getting around to doing a "normal" bit of assembly, hopefully! Calm down! it's only a little at this stage ..... Thanks for looking. Rob

disaster build - I don't think you need to cross out the first word! It's going far too smoothly so far .......... Enjoy. Rob

That's a very attractive scheme and wonderfully rendered. Rob

It's my fault for setting my mind a certain way to do this modification. As I said before there are some good bits such that I'm probably not going to use all the PE in the set for the cockpit, and keep with the plastic where I can. The basic shape isn't too bad. It's just that I felt the need to try something ......... Having said that, I think I need a nice modern kit to just assemble next time (Airfix Hurricane perhaps?) and work on my "finishing". Whatever transpires my immediate concern (whilst waiting for things to set/dry) was looking at the smaller bits in prep for later. That tail wheel (about which you might remember I have "form") looks a vulnerable to my hamfistedness and the Carpet Monster cheers Rob

Thanks chaps for the confidence. But it could all still end up that I create a pig's ear out of a sow's. I still feel very much like James' @81-er signature panel .........

I seem to be putting in the work without much visible progress. Here're some pics to illustrate I decided that the potentially heavy sanding and handling of the fuselage would damage any cockpit interior, so decided to PVA the halves together temporarily. Essential if I was to get the 2 parts to match in any way. Note that laundry drying has been sacrificed to support the more noble cause of model building . Whilst that was drying (and the laundry wasn't ) I made a start on the wing root shaping. Can't see the root shaping very well, but it is coming along. However, I can't finalise it until the fuse and wing are properly joined. I also removed the offending weaponry and filled the landing light cavities with sprue goo. The masking tape is to prevent removal of too much panel line detail. Then back to the fuselage .... The PVA is holding remarkably well. The long cut line I've filled with PPP. It's a bit easier to leave "clean" than sprue goo, but I did have a bit of shringkage so had to repeat it. The front vertical cut was sprued. The lower nose profile is beginning to be aligned with the front part of the wing root. Still quite a bit to go, but I'm pleased with it so far. But it could still all "crash and burn" ...... Once I'm happy with the fuse shape I'll separate the halves and start on the cockpit internals. But I noticed something I had't originally thought about ... (what do you mean, forethought and planning? ) The cockpit internal side walls, with some nice detail, are supplied as separate parts and stuck to each fuselage side. And of course, they overlap the part where I made the horizontal cut along the fuse.!!! OK. More trimming and filing 🙄 Better check what else is affected - cockpit floor, seat height, tailwheel mounting ................ Thanks for looking. More anon. Rob

Well, there are worse things to be distracted by. Keep going Rob

Well, the saw has been wielded (weld? ). I hadn't realised that I'd been holding my breath for long periods until the wife asked whether there was anything amiss because she kept hearing long and loud exhales from the kit-bashing room! Obviously I must have been a bit tense! Anyway ..... One side done, the other poised when I suddenly remembered to gather evidence . Then .. Both complete without too much drama in the end. Sanded and tidied edges and lots of dry-fitting and comparing with plans. Still a lot to do, but it occurred to me that it might be easier to stick the parts back together if I made some plasticard tabs to help keep things together, and so that's when this photo was taken. I've since stuck the parts together and put them aside to set properly. Now this kit is a bit hit and miss, I'm beginning to find out. Some parts have excellent looking detail and fine edges, others not so much. But all parts seem to need tidying up; either seam marks or flash or sometimes very noticeable cyclinders which are from the moulding process I assume. Maybe it's just the copy I have, I don't know. But looking at the wing I was pleased to see that it appears to have the earlier (and hence correct for my needs) standard of leading edge root shape in planform, not the bigger "lerx" (for want of a better description) applicable to the C/D I think. But it doesn't have the subtle gulling seen on many photos of the real thing, so that will have to be addressed. I was tidying the lower wing piece when I noticed a particularly big bit of flash where one of the undercarriage legs would be. Expecting to just flick it away with my trusty blade, I was surpriseed to meet resistance Turning it over I found it wasn't flash, but a big blodge (key technical term ). Looks more like a slight moulding problem to me. Intrigued, I got out my other copy of this kit and it is on there too! Not personally encountered that sort of thing before, but not a problem. Good excuse to try the new(ish) micro-chisels received from Santa. I really like these. Can get at tough but tiny shape issues that would otherwise defeat me. Bit of over-kill for this but a couple of gouges ( careful!!) later and a bit of more traditional sanding had it on track again. Now to get the root gulling will require removal of plastic, and previous builders have noted that it would be prudent to backfill the area to help in case of breaking through. So I stuck the wing together, duly packed with Humbrol filler in the areas to be sanded...... [pic is actually dry-fit before including undercarriage bay and filler etc] ........then got totally distracted by the shape of the guns that are integrally moulded with the upper wing pieces.!!! Given that they are a key feature of the Mk Ia they just don't "look" good. Compared to photos, the bits from which the barrels emanate look too tapered, and the barrels and end caps just look a bit cruder than I would like. I don't think I could improve them "as is" by sanding/filling etc without a lot of patience and jeopardy/breath holding again! Hmmm. As already noted the resin replacements are the wrong type (external recoil springs) and, looking again at them, they look too tapered as well. A quick look on t'interweb didn't reveal any potential suppliers of replacements. I might just have to live with what's here. Then I looked harder at this photo [Apologies, I can't remember where I got this so can't acknowledge properly, but will take it down if requested. Meanwhile it's for discussion only] This isn't taken exactly underneath (totally inconsiderate of the photographer ) but it's as near a plan view as makes no odds. To me, the guns here look closer together than on the model. A check with the plans tends to agree with that view. After as much cross checking and other photo viewing as I was able, I came to the conclusions that - the model gun shrouds/fairings(?) are not the correct shape - the model guns are too far apart spanwise - the inboard gun is near enough (for me) correctly placed - the outer gun AND the leading edge landing lights (?) also are too far outboard OK. So the guns will have to be replaced and landing lights relocated. More filling, filing and re-scribing for the "To Do" list. Certainly getting practice in these techniques ....... I'll cogitate on this and go and have a go at gulling the wings......(that is legal isn't it?) More soon. Thanks for looking. Rob

I think my reaction would be

Cute post. And the cat looks good as well! Sorry. Had to be done. Sorry that you've been under the weather, but glad for your recovery. I can sympathise. Went to Dublin last week for a few days, including meeting up with daughter no. 3 who lives in Limerick. Got laid low with a very bad cough and missed some of the outings. Although mostly gone, it still lingers a little. But that's better than if I'd been near your cutie cat. Although I like cats I'm highly allergic to them ...... Enjoying the Spare Parts story. cheers Rob

Thanks Mark. Your confidence in the outcome is somewhat higher than mine at the moment. But we might have a laugh on the way - there's a very vulnerable looking tailwheel in there and given what I've managed previously ..... If all else fails, I'll just use the second copy of the kit and build it OOB and practise my airbrushing ....... cheers Rob

Nice collection. The general consensus seems to be that there might be some small issues . I wouldn't let Enzo see these otherwise there might be a bit of pressure applied to build them all. When are you doing them btw? I'd never intended to do a P-51 so soon (since my return to the hobby last year) but I've been "hooked" by these GB's so that my alleged main interest of (things 1940) has taken a back seat of late. If I had a collection like that I think I'd be tempted to do more .... Thanks for sharing Rob

Yes, I'm beginning to realise that now! Never mind, the fun will be in the trying. cheers Rob