JimmyZ Posted September 22, 2018 Author Share Posted September 22, 2018 (edited) Hi all. It's been two weeks since my previous update. I have since finished the decal placement for the F-51D I tried to fix the gap on the underside of the nose where the two red teeth decals don't reach far enough. I couldn't quite get the color to march 100%, but this is close enough for me Earlier this week I started getting the exhausts ready by drilling holes into them. Looks a lot better than OOB, but not quite as nice as the Moskit metal exhausts I have no idea how to use the Moskit exhausts though. They clearly won't fit just like that, since their bases are rectangular. Does anyone have any idea how to use the metal replacement exhausts? Cheers Jimmy Edited September 22, 2018 by JimmyZ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted September 22, 2018 Share Posted September 22, 2018 (edited) If they’re white metal ? You should be able to file the base into shape ? If not you might have to cut and place the stacks individually ? Edited September 24, 2018 by Corsairfoxfouruncle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyZ Posted September 24, 2018 Author Share Posted September 24, 2018 On 9/22/2018 at 4:41 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: If they’re whit metal ? You should be able to file the base into shape ? If not you might have to cut and place the stacks individually ? Thanks. I'm hoping it's not the latter... I'll see if they can be filed into shape. Cheers Jimmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 I might be talking through my you know what, but I just wonder if they are supposed to be fitted from the inside? The length of the exhaust stacks lead me to think that. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyZ Posted September 24, 2018 Author Share Posted September 24, 2018 7 hours ago, tonyh said: I might be talking through my you know what, but I just wonder if they are supposed to be fitted from the inside? The length of the exhaust stacks lead me to think that. Tony You may be on to something Tony. Just wondering how it would look with huge gaps around the exhausts. Not to mention, that ship has sailed since I've closed the fuselages a long time ago 🤔 I've also checked, it cannot be sanded since the base, like the exhausts, are hollow. Running out of ideas here.... Cheers Jimmy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturmovik Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 7 minutes ago, JimmyZ said: You may be on to something Tony. Just wondering how it would look with huge gaps around the exhausts. Not to mention, that ship has sailed since I've closed the fuselages a long time ago 🤔 I've also checked, it cannot be sanded since the base, like the exhausts, are hollow. Running out of ideas here.... Cheers Jimmy A new option would be to buy a fourth Mustang and use the metal exhaust on that one, trying to fit them from the inside, and use the plastic ones on the already built one. What do you mean the base of the metallic exhausts is hollow? Shouldn't it be a solid piece? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyZ Posted September 30, 2018 Author Share Posted September 30, 2018 On 9/24/2018 at 4:47 PM, Sturmovik said: A new option would be to buy a fourth Mustang and use the metal exhaust on that one, trying to fit them from the inside, and use the plastic ones on the already built one. What do you mean the base of the metallic exhausts is hollow? Shouldn't it be a solid piece? Haha I think I'll hold of buying a fourth for now Guess I snookered myself with this one 😞 No, the base is definitely hollow. I also realised yesterday that I cracked the wing root. No idea when or how it happened, but I surely lost a bit of mojo there 😢 Cheers for now. Jimmy 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted September 30, 2018 Share Posted September 30, 2018 Sorry to hear that about the exhausts ... we all have the cracked wingroot as well once in awhile . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyZ Posted October 18, 2018 Author Share Posted October 18, 2018 Hi all. I thought I'd post some proof that I'm still working on these Mustangs. Here is a photo of the general status of the F-51D. I've also tended to the wing root crack on the P-51B. I had to edit the photo heavily for the Tamiya Surface Primer to show And then came usual sanding, except I had to be very careful, since the whole thing is painted and decaled already Then off course I had to repaint the section. Since I sprayed it will Tamiya rattlecan, I had no realistic options to mask off the rest off the plane. If I were to use tape to mask, it would create hard lines where the tape is sticked, because the rattlecan spray isn't exactly very controllable. So I decanted a little bit of the spray and applied with a brush. I still need to apply some clear in the same manner, after which hopefully the color will match. More on that later. I've also improved the OOB landing gear legs with the PE that I have. comparing to actual photos, it does indeed look a bit better I'll back with more soon. Cheers Jimmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 You always have the option of painting a non-skid walkway over the patch with Flat black ? That should hide some of the repair work. There is some evidence that some aircraft used these. That painted area under the mud is to close to the Fuselage to be a Theater I.D. Band ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweener Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 On 7/19/2018 at 6:26 AM, JimmyZ said: Correct. I have that exact same image on my computer that I use as a guide every time I have to fill a Mustang's panels. There also this great image of a P-51D in the factory with the wing painted with primer (after panels filled) before being sprayed silver. Cheers Jimmy Is that a Russian Texan I see? Now if only some company had the sense to release a modern tool AT-6B or D... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyZ Posted October 21, 2018 Author Share Posted October 21, 2018 On 10/18/2018 at 6:55 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: You always have the option of painting a non-skid walkway over the patch with Flat black ? That should hide some of the repair work. There is some evidence that some aircraft used these. That painted area under the mud is to close to the Fuselage to be a Theater I.D. Band ? Thanks for the idea! After applying some matte clear to the area, it is very close to being invisible, but not quite. I think after dirtying it up a bit (pin wash and dry pastels) it should blend in nicely. I also wanted to show the P-51D's canopy I've just glues to the "frame" and the replacement part which looks quite good. And on to the F-51, I realised the windshield framing is actually painted black, not silver, so I had to carefully fix that with the windshield already glued in place. And I was successful. Here I also dry-fitted the canopy. It's still too soon to be glueing it on. Cheers Jimmy 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyZ Posted November 12, 2018 Author Share Posted November 12, 2018 Time for a small update. I have actually been working on my Mustangs, bit didn't take too many photos. They are almost done, so I expect to post an RFI in the next week or two. In the meantime, here's proof that I have been working on this. Painted and dirtied-up bombs Spraying the propellers and spinners with clear to match the fuselages And gluing the canopies. I used tape to keep them firmly in place while the glue is drying. They tend to lift up slightly if not kept in-place. Cheers Jimmy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyZ Posted November 25, 2018 Author Share Posted November 25, 2018 (edited) Hi all. Phew what a ride it was building these Mustangs. Primarily because it took me 8 months to complete! But also, I picked up a few issues along the way, which is unusual for such easy to build kits, especially the Airfix Mustangs. But before I finished the builds, I had a few scary moments, as you'll see below. I re-post the last image of my previous post, because that's where things started to fall apart, unknowingly to me at the time. Two weeks after this, I removed the tape which held the canopy in place. I'm sure some of you may guess what was about to happen. Yep, you guessed it. Even though I knew this was a possibility, and had removed the tape very carefully. I thought this P-51D was about to be binned. But since the decal came off relatively easily, I had a "light bulb" moment, and decided to try remove the whole decal with tape. I'm sure I set the world record for the longest anyone has ever held their breath. That had saved the day, well sort off, if I could find a spare decal. These were my spare US insignia's. 1. An old Airfix set... 🤢 2. The P-51C's Academy decals. Well as far as Academy decals go, I would not take that road unless I had no other choice. 3. That left the Microscale decals. Usually they are my favorite to use, especially over irregular surfaces. But the color is slightly different than the Airfix decals. I decided to give it a go. It didn't turn out too bad, apart from a minor screw-up on the upper side of the forward facing bar. I covered it with a bit of "dirt", and I think unless your attention is called upon it, it shouldn't be too easily noticeable. With the day saved, I did a few touch-ups, like adding clear glue & glaze to resemble glass on the navigation lights. You'll also see I've opted for the paper drop tanks, which was used by the 334th at this time period, as is evident by squadron photographs I also opted for silver tanks, and not grey. They were both used by this squadron. As the paper drop tanks we single-use only, they were usually "clean" and new-looking, so I didn't dirty it up at all. I've also added the red rear-view mirror which is visible on the reference photos. This photo shows "Jan" completed. I've also completed the F-51D. I've opted not to fit the rockets. Did laziness contribute to that decision? Well you'll never know for sure 😀. The official story I'm sticking with is the subject photo shows it carrying bombs, but no rockets. I did fit the rocket pylons though. And here she is completed. And last, but not least, here is the completed P-51C. And that's it folks! I'll take out the big camera to take some photos for the RFI thread this afternoon. Thanks for watching and bearing with me for 8 whole months! Cheers Jimmy Edited November 25, 2018 by JimmyZ Fixed typing and spelling errors 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyZ Posted November 25, 2018 Author Share Posted November 25, 2018 Link to the RFI threads. I posted each one separately. Cheers Jimmy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SA80A2AR Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 wow. epic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedders Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 A beautiful trio. Great work. Justin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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