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Ancient Airfix P-51D 'Fool's Paradise IV'


Ventora3300

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Here we go - I have the green light to inflict the original tool Airfix P-51D 'Fool's Paradise IV' on this GB - sorry, chaps. Dependent on time, I may bring in newer tool kits as I go along.

 

I've got the Red Stripe Bag 'boxing'...

 

xjlzxsR.jpg

 

The kit comes in silver-grey plastic, only 30 parts. Raised detail outside but absolutely zero detail inside the cockpit area, other than two pins for the pilot to perch on. That said, the pilot has gone AWOL so I'll need to set up an 'office' that will tempt him back.

 

awcFZYO.jpg

 

All the gen on the 'North American P-51D Mustang' - I fancy doing a check on how this lines up with the wealth of reference material made available here.

Cq3lm4a.jpg

 

Ditto for the colour scheme given for this particular aircraft...

 

AKRrTQ1.jpg

 

 

Edited by Ventora3300
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Had some spare time today so got this old kit started. Using Tamiya extra thin:

 

Stand assembled (!) - needed the holes in the base drilled out slightly to get the pins in.

Prop spindle into the rear of the spinner/prop (meant to be the 'cuffed' version?) - looks like a much larger hole but if you push the spindle in, it seems to locate into a smaller hole inside. Checked for 'spin' in the dry fitted fuselage halves, of course.

Main wing halves assembled and I will be doing this wheels up so undercarriage doors fitted - pins at the top of the doors (there for location if wheels down) were removed as per the 'locate and cement' instructions. Also, the 'strut' across the inboard edge of the wheel wells needs to be removed to let the large inner doors mate up.

Stabilisers fitted to the fuselage halves.

Large undercarriage doors fitted to the fuselage halves - curved corner forwards to match up with the cut-outs in the wings. Dry fit of the wings was very good.

Exhaust stubs fitted to the fuselage halves - they seemed to be along one edge of the 'carrier' plates and I put these so they are along the lower edge of the raised area on the fuselage

Drop tanks assembled - I'll need to check that 'smooth' tanks, i.e. without the horizontal seam, are correct. 

 

The canopy will show up the yawning hole beneath once the fuselage halves are together so doing something about that will be the next job

 

zTaI2T7.jpg

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I did "Fool's Paradise IV" in a more modern way a few years ago. Lucky you, no need to deal with those crooked landing gear legs, surely-to-be-broken control column or blimp antenna like I did with my kit! The paint scheme has also gone through some evolution during these past decades. Enough chat, bring me 🍿 and let me watch! V-P

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13 hours ago, Paul J said:

LIke this! Will you be removing the raised panel line around rear fuselage and "hinge lines" for the control surfaces or leaving as is?

Thanks for these hints - now that you mention it, I'll have a look at those.... I also had in mind doing some sort of mod to represent the oil and air outlets on the underside of 'the doghouse' as apparently this was a key feature in making the Mustang so fast. 

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Oh wow ... I don't think I've ever seen this kit before. By the time I started modelling, it had been replaced by the 1974 tooling, which probably benefited from research for the 1973 1/24 scale "super-kit": It got the dorsal fin fillet correct, canted slightly to port. This older kit doesn't have the fillet, which may be for the best ... one less thing to get wrong.

 

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Funny the 1974 tooling should get mentioned (thanks @klr) - I managed to lay my hands on one of those as well, 'Cripes A'Mighty'.

 

OHbcZ6f.jpg

 

TeZmoas.jpg

 

woaPcGY.jpg

 

This kit has a good cockpit interior (for 1/72) and I quickly assembled this to act as a guide to some quick scratch-building for the older kit ('stick' omitted for safety!)

yNHsA7p.jpg

 

Edited by Ventora3300
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14 hours ago, John D.C. Masters said:

Ah yes...archeology!  Looks like fun!

I did apply the word 'fossil' (to myself) in the Chat.... Thinking back, I'm sure I started collecting these old kits for 'nostalgia' builds before the current series of new tool kits came out from Airfix. I have got the latest 1/72 kit on order now so I will burst into the 21st Century sometime soon.

 

Cracking on with the ancient kit, I really had some great fun creating some of the missing detail:

  • There is a hole for the tailwheel but no well for the doors. The tailwheel will be up so I cut out the space for the kit doors and glued them in each fuselage half. Will save me making a mess of scribing.
  • For the airscoop, I thinned out the intake mouth and cut in a bit under the fuselage to create the idea of separation from the fuselage underside.
  • For the exit from the airscoop, the aircraft will be in flight, with the moveable exit door 'closed' (so I'll scribe in) but there is still an exit hole which does not fully close up - all part of the 'jet' exit assisting speed, I think. Internal surfaces / rad etc. made up from plastic card.
  • There is also an oil cooler exit underneath 'the doghouse' so I cut a hole in (from looking at the details on some of the excellent build threads in this GB) and put some internal surfaces in using plastic card. Once the fuselage is together, there is a bit of surface shaping detail to go on.
  • Empty coaming area at the front of the cockpit formed from thin plastic card.
  • Floor, seat with cushion and IP made up from plastic card - In a moment of inspiration, after cutting the provided seat pegs off the fuselage interior, I trimmed one of them to act as the seat headrest.
  • Assorted gizmos attached to the sides of the cockpit, hoping some of them look like throttle and flap controls.
  • Radio deck behind the seat made up from plastic card and block. Fuel tank filler (?) is courtesy of a q-tip shaft - looks massive.

I think the IP may need to come forward a bit so the pilot can see the dials but hopefully some paint will lend a bit of credibility to this lot. Stick and gunsight will be added later.

19biyw1.jpg

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On 24/02/2020 at 12:58, John D.C. Masters said:

That's more, and better, work than I was willing to put into the Revell Mustang that I binned.  I am eager to see how this one looks!

Thanks, John. I just threw some bits in there to 'get the impression'. As you know, once you start zooming in on any pics, all warts are revealed!

On 24/02/2020 at 16:33, Cheshiretaurus said:

Very nice cockpit, 

Thanks, Cheshiretaurus. I did go a bit further than I normally do but much practice and refinement still required.

 

Paint applied to the cockpit with some red and yellow thrown in to make it more interesting. In the background, 'Cripes A'Mighty' is keeping pace.

 

 

 

7JU7zbG.jpg

 

Why didn't Airfix put the drop tank joins on the sides rather than the top and bottom? I had a brainwave to put seams on the drop tanks using thread - the thread held in place then extra thin cement run along it to soak through and stick to the plastic - one done and let's see what it looks like under paint.

SkWYYUN.jpg

 

The cuffs on the propblades weren't too prominent - it just looked like big thick blades hitting the spinner. I used a file to try to show a change in curve / boundary where the prop blades enter the cuffs and where the cuffs come down to the spinner, as in the pic below. I'll work on this as things progress.

swzJB9m.jpg

Edited by Ventora3300
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Wings, tanks and aerial mast are on and seam filling well advanced! I've built up the coaming at the front of the cockpit so that will need more shaping when it is completely dry.

 

ezjKcCy.jpg

 

On the underside, I've put in some plastic sheet to try to get some better shape around the main air intake and the oil cooler outlet.

Vy98hJn.jpg

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Coming along very nicely Mike!

 

Will you be making the second later kit? I'm guessing not with the time left. I used the 1974 Airfix kit about that time for a 361st FG, E-2S (Lt Uban 'Ben' Drew flying) and finished in Insignia Blue - as we were told they were back then. Never mind the accuracy, it looked lovely!

Edited by Johnson
SNAFU
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36 minutes ago, Johnson said:

Coming along very nicely Mike!

 

Will you be making the second later kit? I'm guessing not with the time left. I used the 1974 Airfix kit about that time for a 361st FG, E-2S (Lt Uban 'Ben' Drew flying) and finished in Insignia Blue - as we were told they were back then. Never mind the accuracy, it looked lovely!

Thanks Charlie. I'm feeling the second kit will also get done - as per the kit 'Cripes A' Mighty'. A bit more work as I was going to do that one wheels down. The blue I'm going to start with on both is Humbrol 14 French Blue, to see how it looks. Good luck with your late starter P-51D - I've also got one of those in the post. All the best. Mike

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2 hours ago, Ventora3300 said:

The blue I'm going to start with on both is Humbrol 14 French Blue, to see how it looks

That's what I'd go with. I made Cripes A' Mighty a few years back and used a darker blue (Blue Angels Blue I think) and have always regretted it.

 

2 hours ago, Ventora3300 said:

Good luck with your late starter P-51D

Thanks Mike, I'm up against it. Decorating looms...

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Humbrol 14 'French Blue' is on the spinner and nose but will be masked back and either 66 or 155 Olive Drab put on the anti-glare strip. For the NMF, I'm trying brush coating 191 'Chrome' - looks good in real life and I'll try Silver on the control surfaces to give a bit of variation.

Canopy frame painting is in progress, stick is ready to paint and a pilot has been found.

 

ge5RBHm.jpg

Edited by Ventora3300
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More painting in progress on the ancient P-51D - got the Olive Drab anti-glare strip masked off and using Humbrol 155 (a bit greener than 66). Canopy frame, pilot and stick painting in progress and I've done the rudder in 11 Silver since it is a fabric covered surface - thankfully, you can see a difference in shade to the rest of the fin which is my version of NMF. Those old transfers have been given a coat of Liquid Decal Film so fingers crossed.....

 

IrBX2MF.jpg

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On 04/03/2020 at 16:00, Johnson said:

Best of luck with the old decals!

Thanks, Charlie. Your good wishes did the trick - old decals behaved themselves!

 

Pilot and stick are in and I added a rudimentary gunsight using a piece from the kit sprues. Canopy frame painting is complete. Prop blades have their yellow tips.

 

688TwNT.jpg

 

I dotted in the fuel tank filler caps on the wings and port fuselage in red and there was an adjacent detail on the port fuselage which I think is perhaps a coolant or oil filler cap (black). I scribed in a channel behind the cockpit to represent the rail on which the 'hood' slides back.

lPUHav7.jpg

 

Canopy is now on and this gives a good view of all the key transfers - all behaved beautifully except for the star and bar below the starboard wing. Matt Cote on the prop, spinner, anti-glare strip, exhaust stubs and gun barrels and Satin Cote everywhere else. Wingtip navigation lights were 'dotted on' with the flat end of a small drill bit. I wasn't sure at first but to the naked eye, the Humbrol 14 French Blue is a pretty good match for the blue of the decals. 

VG7TNwc.jpg

 

Starboard side view.... The Humbrol 191 has done a decent job of masquerading as NMF. You can't see it here but I had to 'draw in' the front air intake below the spinner with a thin black marker as no detail was provided by Airfix on this kit. Exhaust stubs were given a dry brush with darkened bronze to give a hot/burnt look. The shrouds around the stubs could have been given a darker shade to distinguish from the NMF of the surrounding cowl panels.

qb4asD4.jpg

 

View of the underside with recognition lights under the starboard wingtip. I also put some black on the intake grilles under the nose - Airfix just have a set of raised dots there rather than holes. No oily stains or sooting around vents or gun barrels on as yet. One of the wing tanks has picked up a bit of grit while the paint was wet but I can give that a smooth off later.

YxgXEJb.jpg

 

Engine run!

si0zUZc.jpg

 

I think I can call this finished now. I really enjoyed this one and it was engrossing getting into all the P-51 details. The P-51 really is a clean looking aircraft - I'm a confirmed fan, now. I'll put some of these pics in the Gallery to keep the GB statistics up. Thanks to Patrice @TEMPESTMK5 for hosting and the BM community for all the encouragement during this build.

Edited by Ventora3300
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Nice job on what is, in fairness, a pretty horrible old kit - it looks like a cartoon caricature of a Mustang.

 

AW

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6 minutes ago, Andwil said:

Nice job on what is, in fairness, a pretty horrible old kit - it looks like a cartoon caricature of a Mustang.

 

AW

Aww, you'll hurt its feelings! The canopy looks a bit high (must check the dimensions) so maybe that is what is giving it a 'cartoon' quality. A bit of light weathering will maybe make it a bit more realistic. I've always loved the factory fresh look.

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