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Finished - Airfix P-51D in 1/48 (or An Aeroplane Made Of Plasticene)


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Firstly, let me say this:

 

I am aware that I'm knocking out WIP's at a rate which far outstrips the rate that I'm delivering RFI threads.  However, plans are afoot to sort that out.  Honest.  Currently being build is a 109G-2 with paint issues but these are being resolved as I type, a Dakota with serious paint issues (as in it won't stay on the aircraft), and.... this:

 

Thanks to @Steve 1602 I got my hands on an Airfix P-51D Mustang, which seems to be all the rage these days.  I don't know an awful lot about them (for example, I was peeved to find that Airfix had done a bad job on the moulding of the rear fuselage that meant that the fin was offset....  Yeah, I know) so I've been finding quite a lot of things out as I've gone along.  Throughout the build so far I've come across a few challenges (mostly fit) but nothing too difficult.  I've done a small amount of scratching and adapting as I've gone, but nothing wild yet - I'm getting a bit more adventurous as I progress through the stash so it will come in its own time.

 

She's going to be largely finished in natural alloy and furnished with some  very nice Warbird decals.

 

Otherwise, nothing amazing, but here we go:

 

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This is representative of the fit issues I've come across - annoying but not difficult to solve.  There has been quite a lot in the way of grinding seam lines down as a result, but I think I've got the majority of that sorted.

 

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Coming together here; annoying internal ejector pin marks, but I was able to fill most of these.  Two are still visible in the cockpit but I think you'll have to know that they're there by the time the canopy is in place to see them.

 

 

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I debated just drybrushing the IP, but decided to have a crack with Airfix's decal first.  It turned out pretty well, so I left it on.  I also added some detail with paint (see later).

 

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Here's the tub; the eagle-eyed amongst you will spot the short-shotting of the port fuel gauge, a feature which I've spotted in a few components, unfortunately, but filler has been my friend in visible areas (notably behind the rear wheel well).  I scratched some battery leads from copper wire and (I'm quite proud of this) used one of my own hairs as an earth-strap.

 

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You can see here the detailing on the IP a little better.  By the way, Airfix's colour shout for the batteries and tank was for a sating black, but this looked awful so I added a little dark grey to a matt black and went with that instead.  I know that the seat cushion is spurious but I wasn't going to hack it up and do anything to correct it because that would mean faffing with seatbelts, which is a pet hate of mine.  Lazy, I know...

 

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Getting the majority of the airframe together.

 

 

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Here are some shots of the cockpit interior, which is basic but I think looks okay.

 

As always, thanks for reading, and any comments or suggestions will be gratefully received.

 

Cheers,

 

JRK

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  • 2 weeks later...

I haven't made a huge amount of progress on the 'Stang for a few days, as boring things like work, family etc have got in the way.  Annoyingly, I was convinced that I took a picture of the first stage of painting and then found that I hadn't, which rather took the wind out of my sails.

 

However, you can just tell from this photo what I did before I started the NMF:

 

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I started with two very thinned coats of matt white, and then painted a few panels (on the wings, fuselage, cowling, tailplane and fin) matt black before applying the NMF (which is still drying) and from certain angles, such as the one above, you can see the variation this gives.  It's my first time trying this and it seems to have worked reasonably well.

 

An Eduard mask was also ordered this weekend, so with a bit of luck I can fit the canopy soon.  Other jobs that aren't far off are: finish the NMF (allegedly you can polish this paint, but I've learned enough not to try it on the actual model...), apply what little coloured paint it needs and build the undercarriage and drop tanks.

 

Although I subtitled this thread "an aeroplane made of plasticine" due to the very soft (and startlingly reactive to Extra Thin cement) styrene I came forewarned and thus far have managed to avoid dissolving large parts of the airframe with over-zealous applications of cement, even resorting to carefully-applied tube glue in a place or two in order to prevent catastrophe. Similarly, due in the main to very accurate moulding and clean sprue gates I haven't got carried away with abrasives, and the join lines responded well to a nail-polishing bar.  It's coming together now and so far has been a very enjoyable build (in marked contrast to the poor Gustav that I'm battling with at the same time).

 

Thanks,

 

JRK

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just a small update after getting back from my adventures yesterday - I've got to the stage of having got the major parts of the airframe sorted, so it was time to have a crack at some of the other bits and pieces.  I got the canopy mask on, painted the airscrew and spinner, assembled the tanks and undercarriage legs and painted the insides of the undercarriage doors.  There's still a bit of grinding to do on the tanks' seams and the tyre tread needs a bit of work but she's coming on.

 

 

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Another small update with some minor progress.  I've got the undercarriage mostly done, the tailwheel is painted and affixed (as are the drop tanks), the cockpit brace has had the lightening holes drilled out and has been painted and fitted along with the rear deck, the inner undercarriage doors are on, the glue on the forward part of the canopy / cowling is drying as I type and the gear legs and outer door panels ate together.

 

I've had problem sourcing a couple of brushes that I need, so I'll have to find those before I make much more in the way of progress, but I'm happy enough so far.

 

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More to follow when there's enough progress to merit it!

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Looking very good so far! You might want to remove the rivets from the panel inboard of the guns and also the two rows of rivets in the chordwise panel behind that one, as they were a postwar modification to strengthen this area; it can be seen on many restored airworthy Mustangs as well as on many 1/72 and 1/48 kits- most likely because Mustangs used by kit makers were restored examples. See the  attached IPMS Stockholm Mustang walkaround for good photos of what this area should look like on a wartime P-51B/C/D. Good choice of kit, as the Eduard P-51D's have landing gear struts that are too long- IIRC the Mustang they used for research was suspended from the ceiling and the oleos were, of course, extended! Airfix and Tamiya got the landing gear struts correct.

Mike

 

https://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2005/12/stuff_eng_detail_p51d_02.htm

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28 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

Looking very good so far! You might want to remove the rivets from the panel inboard of the guns and also the two rows of rivets in the chordwise panel behind that one, as they were a postwar modification to strengthen this area; it can be seen on many restored airworthy Mustangs as well as on many 1/72 and 1/48 kits- most likely because Mustangs used by kit makers were restored examples. See the  attached IPMS Stockholm Mustang walkaround for good photos of what this area should look like on a wartime P-51B/C/D. Good choice of kit, as the Eduard P-51D's have landing gear struts that are too long- IIRC the Mustang they used for research was suspended from the ceiling and the oleos were, of course, extended! Airfix and Tamiya got the landing gear struts correct.

Mike

 

https://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2005/12/stuff_eng_detail_p51d_02.htm

Hi Mike, thanks very much for the tip - I'll do that.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks to Mike I was able to get those errant rivets on the LE panels sorted.  I've also finally managed to get some progress made with the paint, too:

 

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The colours above have only had a single very thin coat; subsequent to the picture being taken another coat has been added and those areas are looking better.  For some reason the red of the tail looks quite brown in the above pictures.  In the flesh it's much more vibrant.

 

Onwards and upwards....

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  • 2 weeks later...

A small update for this afternoon;

 

On 03/08/2020 at 00:23, jackroadkill said:

Annoyingly, I was convinced that I took a picture of the first stage of painting and then found that I hadn't

Only it turned out that I had....  Next time I do this I'll thin the black out a bit more, but other than that I quite liked the effect.  I'm tempted to also use a medium-dark grey in conjunction with the black, too.

 

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I'm pretty much, other than a bit of tidying up, at the stage where I'm ready for a gloss coat.  The paint difficulties had left some texture that I wasn't happy with but I think I've rectified this satisfactorily now.  The main colours are all in place and I think I'm ready to get the gloss coat on and start getting the decals on.

 

Here she is as of now:

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I seem to be (finally!) on the home straight with this build now.  There are a few bits of tidying up left to do, a couple of easily-broken sticky-out bits to fit,  tiny stencils to get on and then some weathering, but apart from that she's nearly there.  I was feeling a bit like I'd been going at it forever with no visible result, so getting the major decals on was a big fillip for me and I'm really pleased to actually being able to report some concrete progress.

 

I've learned a lot in the course of this build and you never know, she may have some further excitement for me yet.

 

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On 9/27/2020 at 3:09 PM, jackroadkill said:

A small update for this afternoon;

 

Only it turned out that I had....  Next time I do this I'll thin the black out a bit more, but other than that I quite liked the effect.  I'm tempted to also use a medium-dark grey in conjunction with the black, too.

 

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Interesting to see this technique returning for panel variation.  This is how it was done in the old days when Rub'n'Buff was your only man if you wanted to go beyond silver paint for natural metal finish, but you didn't want to go as far as aluminium foil.  Some modellers used dark green as the base coat for the strip round the exhaust fairing.

Edited by JosephLalor
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12 minutes ago, JosephLalor said:

Interesting to see this technique returning for panel variation.  This is how it was done in the old days when Rub'n'Buff was your only man if you wanted to go beyond silver paint for NMF.

Thanks - I came across it recently and thought I'd give it a go.  As it stands I didn't do a brilliant job, and I think that maybe a few shades of dark grey might have served me better, but it's not a disaster and as I'm new to all this it's given me an opportunity to learn a few things.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finished, at long last.

 

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RFI to follow.  As always, thanks to everyone who helped, offered encouragement and gave me the benefit of their knowledge and experience throughout the build, as well as everyone who viewed the thread.

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  • jackroadkill changed the title to Finished - Airfix P-51D in 1/48 (or An Aeroplane Made Of Plasticene)

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