Bedders Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 (edited) Hi folks, Seems my models are like London buses: you get nothing for ages and then two come along at once. Whilst finishing off my Seafire I was also bringing this to a conclusion. I've always liked the yellow & black checkerboard markings of the 353rd Fighter Group, and have long wanted a Mustang in those markings. But in1/72 scale, decals for Slybird P-51s are very hard to find, particularly with the excellent Barracudacals set now discontinued (or so it seems). Still, I found the website of Draw Decals who provide a set for a warbird two-seater which is painted to resemble The little Witch, which was flown by Lt Don Schoen in early 1945. The kit is the 1/72 Airfix, which is an easy build. I filled in the wing panel lines, modified the fin fillet to the earlier Swayback style, and added cockpit rails. Otherwise it's pretty much out of the box. Paint is Alclad Polished Aluminium for the natural metal areas, and plain Aluminium for the wings. Tamiya olive drab on the nose and black on the rudder. Here are some piccies: Ths spinner is Xtracrylics RAF Trainer Yellow, lightened a touch to match the decals as best as possible, with Tamiya black rings. A bit fiddly but it came out OK. I kept weathering to a minimum: a thin pin-wash, a couple of streaks here and there - nothing major. I was originally thinking of displaying the model wheels-up, with radiator door slightly open and flaps partially deployed. Then I changed my mind, but by then the flaps were stuck on. This presented a dilemma: as Mustangs were parked with flaps either up or fully down, how to display an accurate-ish model with flaps only partially lowered whilst on the ground? So I decided to add the pilot, and display the aircraft as though he's got flaps for take-off, with clamshell doors closed. Pity the propeller isn't spinning... Don't read the data panel: there are some inconsistencies... I also realise that I should have blanked off the flare tube for this particular aircraft. Doh! The nose decals behaved very well with a bit of help from the Microscale solutions, though I did have to cut them a couple of squares-worth to make them conform better. The fuselage codes are slightly incorrect in terms of style for the original Little Witch, as they are spot on for the modern recreation. I chose to chop them up and reassemble the pieces make them look slightly closer to the originals, i.e. a narrower font. Doesn't look too bad. The serials are a mixture of Draw Decal and Kits World. Other stencils are from the kit. Here's the slighly reshaped fin fillet, which was a relativley straightforward job. I also scribed the horn balances on the elevators. Photos of the modern Little Witch can be found at the Website below. https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?90644-Lt-Don-Schoen-(353rd-FG)-to-be-re-united-with-quot-The-Little-Witch-quot Which is where I also found the pictures of the original aircraft: Number four for the year! Hope you like it. Justin Edited December 12, 2017 by Bedders 34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 Lovely work. If that's the kit pilot you've done a particularly fine job of painting it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 love the checkerboard nose...superb work all around! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lasermonkey Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 Beautiful job! That really is a stunning build in every way. Cheers, Mark. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnie Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 Well done Bedders. A stunning build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 Fantastic Mustang Justin, excellent details. What did you use for the shiny section surrounding the exhausts? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 👍 Excellent a 353rd Fighter Group Mustang. Dont get to see those all the time ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerrardandrews Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 Very Nice model, did the joy stick break😊 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squibby Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 Great little mustang build, well done! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 Beautifully done! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelh Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 (edited) Didn't get the Slybird thing. Thought it was a new manufacturer. Googled it and 'aha'. But it's just Airfix and their really nice P51D. Beautiful job. I see you filled the wings perfectly. As for the clam shell doors being up and the propeller stopped you argue the pilot just landed and is about to pull the hydraulic release lever. Edited December 13, 2017 by noelh 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmouredSprue Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 Lovely model you've got. Very nice indeed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael51 Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 (edited) A beautiful build. And a pilot! Thank heaven someone else likes to put figures in their machines. Michael Edited December 14, 2017 by Michael51 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedders Posted December 17, 2017 Author Share Posted December 17, 2017 On 12/12/2017 at 3:29 PM, Cookenbacher said: Fantastic Mustang Justin, excellent details. What did you use for the shiny section surrounding the exhausts? Cookie, the exhaust shrouds are just Alclad Polished Aluminium, left nice and glossy. The slightly differently coloured panels aft of the exhausts were given a bit of thinned Tamiya Smoke to bring them out a bit. On 12/12/2017 at 9:09 PM, Gerrardandrews said: did the joy stick break😊 Course it did! In fact as this is so predictable on Airfix Mustangs I've adopted a new approach of just lopping off the handle and lower boot and attaching them to a piece of stretched sprue. Justin 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearmatt Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 Justin, great build and as far as I can see, you did everything right - you didn't take a different color for the armament panels on the wings, filled in the wing panel lines, canopy sits nicely on the fuselage and imho the color matches pretty well. Best part for me: the checkerboard decal - perfect! (And this is a very nasty one to get it right). One little drawback, the fit of the windshield...could be better ;-) I've built the Airfix kit too and it doesn't fit well indeed. (But the big plus is that you can add it at the end, thus, avoiding masking..) Oh, and good pictures too btw. I really like your little witch Cheers Ben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedders Posted December 20, 2017 Author Share Posted December 20, 2017 6 hours ago, bearmatt said: Justin, great build and as far as I can see, you did everything right - you didn't take a different color for the armament panels on the wings, filled in the wing panel lines, canopy sits nicely on the fuselage and imho the color matches pretty well. Best part for me: the checkerboard decal - perfect! (And this is a very nasty one to get it right). One little drawback, the fit of the windshield...could be better ;-) I've built the Airfix kit too and it doesn't fit well indeed. (But the big plus is that you can add it at the end, thus, avoiding masking..) Oh, and good pictures too btw. I really like your little witch Cheers Ben Cheers Ben, You're right about that windscreen. Might have to fix that. Photos taken on the iphone believe it or not! Justin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearmatt Posted December 21, 2017 Share Posted December 21, 2017 10 hours ago, Bedders said: Photos taken on the iphone believe it or not! Oh I bet... sometimes I cannot believe it myself :-) If you have good light conditions, no moving subject and no need of depth of field, then the iphone camera holds itself incredibly well. Ben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niknak Posted December 21, 2017 Share Posted December 21, 2017 A very nice p-51. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazontipede Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 What a superb little Mustang! The checkerboard scheme really suits the '51. Here's a noob question for you. How on earth did you mask the spinner to get such precise stripes? (Please tell me it wasn't using a set of French Curves to cut Tamiya tape!) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedders Posted December 23, 2017 Author Share Posted December 23, 2017 On 22/12/2017 at 12:01 AM, Gazontipede said: How on earth did you mask the spinner to get such precise stripes? (Please tell me it wasn't using a set of French Curves to cut Tamiya tape!) I wish I could say I had a clever bit of kit that helped me to plot against reference points on the curvature of the earth (or some such) but it was a bit more bodge-it & scarper than that. I painted both bits of the spinner yellow. The backplate is all yellow so that was easy. The conical section is black-yellow-black so I masked off the lines using v thin strips of tape and filled in the gap with masking fluid. Then sprayed the black, and hoped for the best. Came out OK for 1/72, though the close-up pics reveal all the imperfections... Justin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazontipede Posted December 23, 2017 Share Posted December 23, 2017 Oh, okay gotcha. It's just that I've seen talk about a variety of methods to get neat stripes on spinners including using balloons with pinholes (stretched over the spinner to make masks) converting low speed electric drills to turntables (to rotate the spinner while a fine brush is held steady) and so on... It all seems a bit fraught for someone with my (lack of) skills. So I'm looking for all alternatives as I fear I may wind up having to do some stripey spinners at some point in the not too distant... I think you are perhaps being a bit harsh on yourself too, it looks like a pretty damn fine job to me, especially in 1/72. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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