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352nd Bluenosed 1/48 Tamiya P-51B w/ the some fixins


BlueNosers352nd

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While bouncing back and forth between this build and the 1/48 A-36 Apache build I've managed to get a little more done on the Bluenosed P-51B.  Did manage to replace the molded gun barrels with hypodermic tubing.  Don't know about anyone else, but I always seem to beat up the molded ones while sanding the leading edges of the wing.  So this hypodermic tubing should be tough to mess up too much.  Got a little whoopsie 😖 on the fuselage that hopefully fixes easy, then I'll start assembling the wings this afternoon.

 

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Pre-wing assembly by Jim Fox, on Flickr

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Wings are on the Blue Nosed B of Bodney.   Think I am going to attack the missing screw (from sanding) around the cowl pieces with fine drill bits.  Got some on order as my set is missing a few of the smaller ones.  Might do some searching for smaller hypodermic tubing tomorrow, maybe with that I can replicated the ring shape Tamiya has. 

 

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Wings are on the Bluenosed P-51B by Jim Fox, on Flickr

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  • 3 weeks later...

Trying to get back into the swing of things after vaca.  I remember that I hate masking canopies.  I prefer bare metal foil but it's not so easy to remove after it's been on a while.  Plus leaves a residue.  I do not like using Tamiya tape.  It's so hard to see edges.  Plus I am not 40 anymore (almost 48), glasses need upgrading too, hands a little more shaky.

 

BTW, did I mention I hate masking canopies? :banghead:

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Just now, Johnson said:

Glad you got back on the pony! The cockpit looks excellent!

 

BMF? I use Alclad2, but need to be careful when masking, as others have found.

 

Best wishes,

Thank you!  That's what I am leaning towards as well.  Just yesterday I watched Primedmodelworks on YouTube.  He has some interesting techniques both on this Boneyard Mig 17 and P-38.  More specifically his Boneyard Mig..........with the oxidation technique he used.  Kinda almost gives you that hazed nmf look that some of the well worn stangs had on them.  Got a mule drying right now that I am going to practice a couple things on.  See what happens.

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Who else gets bogged down when it comes to painting their model once assembled?   Granted I am waiting on some Alclad to show up, but I always tend to put painting off.   I can build a cockpit, assemble, clean seams and then when I get to the painting phase..........bam..........mental road block. :shrug:

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24 minutes ago, BlueNosers352nd said:

when I get to the painting phase..........bam..........mental road block. :shrug:

Different people, different roadblocks... With me it's the masking. I love the painting but to get there I have to force myself to get on with the masking.

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25 minutes ago, BlueNosers352nd said:

Who else gets bogged down when it comes to painting their model once assembled?   Granted I am waiting on some Alclad to show up, but I always tend to put painting off.   I can build a cockpit, assemble, clean seams and then when I get to the painting phase..........bam..........mental road block. :shrug:

Same here sometimes , espacially with those bare metal thingy’s 

 

hold on , Jan

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  • 2 weeks later...

I sprayed some tests last night to see what to use for the Mustang.  Don't have a huge selection of Alclad/Mr Metal.

 

So as a reminder, this the plane I am shooting after...

49068694138_f734e2178d_z.jpg

 

Here are a couple shots of the test..... (from left to right:  Alclad Aluminum, Alclad Polished Aluminum, Alclad Duraluminum, Mr Color Aluminum, Mr Color Chrome)

 

This was shot over Mr Color GFX II + Mr Color Leveling Thinner + Mist coat of leveling thinner

49459779767_c08f91184e_z.jpg

 

This shot also include a wing section with just Mr Surfacer Gray 1200 (or maybe 1500) + Mr Color Leveling Thinner

49459779857_6592346268_z.jpg

 

I know pictures can be hard to tell in picture rather than in person.  Alclad Polished Aluminum (#2) looks way to dark to me, maybe I don't have enough coats?  Almost would call it a steel color.  Obviously the aircraft looks well worn and faded/oxidized.  Honestly, based on this test, I am leaning to Duraluminum (#3) for the fuselage as it's a little warmer than Alclad Aluminum (#1) which looks a little cool.  Mr Metal Chrome (#5) almost looks like Duraluminum with maybe less metal effect.

 

Anyone ever done a Mustang in Duraluminum?  I'm a bit worried that it might be too dark.  Not sure what would happen if I mixed Duraluminum and Aluminum to kinda get an in between.  Hopefully it would lighten up a bit with some weathering techniques to get it oxidized..........not that I know what that technique would be yet.

 

Thoughts?  Again, I know it's hard to tell with a picture and not in person.

 

First Mustang ever with Alclad.  Really wanted to try KColor's Chrome 61 (after watching someone's video) but it seems to be back ordered.

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I've used Alclad Aluminium and polished aluminium and got good results. But (and you may already know this!) that masking Alclad can be difficult, and I've read (someone on Britmodeller) that polished aluminium is worse in that respect. I think Paul @Dansk may have used Alcald over gloss black in his 1/48 Eduard Mustang build and had masking/lifting problems. This may have been caused by the gloss black primer (which is recommended) but the silver has less of a key to bind to. This is only my conjecture and I mean no disrespect to Paul in his excellent work. You've done some great experiments above, it may be worth doing more involving masking. I'm hoping that I may have time in this GB to build an Eduard P-51D-5 as Cripes a Mighty 3rd and I'm also considering using Duralumium for the fuselage, so will be following with interest!

 

Best wishes,

 

(edit - Oops, I already mentioned Alclad and masking further up - and forgot!)

Edited by Johnson
SNAFU
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7 minutes ago, Johnson said:

I think Paul @Dansk may have used Alcald over gloss black in his 1/48 Eduard Mustang build and had masking/lifting problems.

I'll have to do some more testing as well.  I was masking within a few minutes of spraying over the Alclad with Tamiya tape and had no residue or chipping on the tape.   The Mr Color definitely needs longer to dry.  Hard to see in the photo, but it pulled paint a lot on the Aluminum color.  Not down to black though.

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So the Mr Metal's I got are the buffable kind, didn't know that.  But that's because I really haven't done any modeling building for a while and I just didn't catch that part.  Which explains why when you put tape on it, even 24 hours later it still peals residue off.  Definitely buffs to a shine, but I will have to do a heavier coat as I buffed back to the black.  Something to play with another day.

 

24 hours later I didn't have pealing of Alclad under Tamiya Tape.  Now I didn't leave it on long like when masking for another color.

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I've actually be monkeying with this thing.  Prepping for a NMF is :wall:!    Spray, sand/buff, spray some more, sand/buff, spray some more.   Well I sprayed tonight and was looking at it going, ugh......gonna have to sand/buff again.  Decided to go eat dinner and came back in about an hour.  Mr Surfacer Black 1500 and Mr Leveling thinner is amazing!    Few random particles that found their way on to the paint, but no to shabby.  Still need to work out a proper panel line fill.  Still not sold on Mr Surfacer 500.  Usually use Super Glue but I've found that sanding to what looks perfect reveals a slight bump along the line when painting.

 

Now what shade of Alclad to paint the wings.  :shrug:

 

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Edited by BlueNosers352nd
typo
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Your panel line fill looks good to me. I used Mr Surfacer 500 on my F-51 and was left with a slight impression of some of the panel lines after priming, but that was the result I was hoping to achieve as this was depicting an elderly, well used aircraft.

 

John

PS I’ve used Tamiya flat Aluminium to represent the silver lacquered wings in the past.

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7 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

Your panel line fill looks good to me. I used Mr Surfacer 500 on my F-51 and was left with a slight impression of some of the panel lines after priming, but that was the result I was hoping to achieve as this was depicting an elderly, well used aircraft.

I used Mr Surfacer 500 on the A-36A I am also building for this STGB and I got the same issue.   What was actually weird was that after I sprayed it with Mr Surfacer 1500 Black and that misted some Mr Leveling Thinner over it, they actually looked raised.  I sand them down again and did another coat of Mr Surfacer 1500 black plus mist coat.  Now that it has dried it's slightly recessed.  But since that is gonna be OD/Gray I am going to leave it.  Get some weathering on there and hopefully it won't be so noticeable.

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Work continues on the Blue Nosed B of Bodney.  NMF is getting closer.  Think I'm gonna tweak the gun bay door color a little just to add something, although a lot of it will be covered by DDay stripes.  Some things could be better, but hey, it's been a while since I've completed a kit.

 

Fuselage:  Alclad Duraluminum over Mr Color GFX2

Wings:  Alclad White Aluminum over Mr Surfacer 1500 Black

Lost track of all the different colors used on the different panels/stabs/ailerons/etc.  Might darken the panel around the exhausts just a tad.  Doesn't seem dark enough.

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If you go back to the B&W photo of what I am attempting, the DDay stripes were in progress and the D of the code had not been moved forward yet.  So I need to modify the Eagle Strike decals.  Threw them in photoshop, tweaked and printed.  I think I got close.  The only thing that concerns me is the red on the originals probably had white printed first before the red.  Hoping it works ok.

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Modified decals....

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Decal Modifications

 

So now, what blue (or mixture) to use.  As you can see in the photo above, it looks highly faded. 

 

So below from left to right;

1)  Floquil Imperial German Uniform Blue (suppose to be close to the late war blue used on Blue Nosers).   This actually misted over the silver and not fully covered looked pretty faded.  May have to try a mist coat version.

2)  XtraColor True Blue.  Maybe with some white mixed it, it wouldn't be bad. 

3)  Model Master Enamel True Blue

49523247946_e7373dc346_c.jpg

 

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

 

Edited by BlueNosers352nd
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Well, at least this went good tonight!  Ever have one of those nights where you probably shouldn't be at the modeling bench?  Well that was tonight.  Fortunately though the Blue Nosed B finally got it's blue nose.  Judging by the B&W above, maybe it should be lighter, but this is what we are going with.  Started with Floquil's German Imperial Infantry Blue and lightened it with Model Master White.  Who knows the ratios.

 

A question, now that I've completely stripped the propeller and propeller cone.   What do you prime resin with?  Masked the tips on the blades, pulled the tape off and it went down to clear resin.  Alclad and Mr Surfacer 1500 Black were gone.  Had this problem once before with Mr Surfacer and resin.  Pretty sure it 1500 Black as well.  Do I dare pull out a jar on Model Master Primer use that and then wait 16 centuries for it to cure?

 

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I don't prime resin at all. Enamels stick best but acryl colours work fine, too. In my view priming is overstated. You don't need to prime each and every part. In order to find flaws you can also use two or more coats of the final colour.

Your blue nose looks great. I just think you filled too many panel lines on the wing. It looks smooth like a baby's bottom. Certainly good for the laminar flow, though... 😀

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