Jump to content

1/24 Airfix Mustang IV, post-war RCAF


RZP

Recommended Posts

18 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

The instrument panel is amazing, as are the trim wheel/knobs.

I also have that P-51 book and had forgotten about the wingspar so I’ll dig it out of the pile when I’m ready to resume. As you say, although dated the series is still very useful, I have most of them, bought in a second hand bookshop in the ‘90s. I still regularly  use the Spitfire volume as one of my references. 

 

John

Thanks John for the kind words.

 

I had the books on the Spitfire, the Hurricane and the Mustang, but sold the first two. Regret it now. 

 

Richard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Jonners said:

I've just inundated your notifications box with 'likes'! Superb work, and all extremely well painted. Great thread.

Jon

 

Lol, thank you Jon for the likes...and the encouragement.

 

Richard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, mark.au said:

I love a good Mustang WIP, and this is a really good one.  How did you do the spinner?  Is that paint or decal?

 

Thank you very much!

 

Actually the spinner is both. It was painted yellow first, and then the black spirals were decals I printed myself, based on the 1/32 RCAF Mustangs set from Leading Edge. 

Edited by RZP
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mustangs normally had their flaps down while parked. Part of the shut-down procedure was to drop the flaps for a number of safety and maintenance reasons. I cut the flap sections from the wings and assembled the top and bottom parts. The flap had to be extended to fit under the wing root fairing, so again it was boxed in with plastic card. the leading edge of the flap was a slice of tubing that ran the whole length. The wing also had to have a small spar added along the back of the opening to strengthen and provide some rigidity.

 

spacer.png

 

More or less finished and primed parts, with the cutouts added and the entire surface re-riveted (is that a word?)

spacer.png

 

Edited by RZP
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just came across this thread and I'm most impressed!  It was great to see all the extra work and details you're putting into it. An added bonus was seeing it's from a fellow Kingstonian! 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Jeff G said:

Just came across this thread and I'm most impressed!  It was great to see all the extra work and details you're putting into it. An added bonus was seeing it's from a fellow Kingstonian! 

Thank you!

 

...and, seriously?! Kingston!? Are you a member of the Limestone City Model Club?

 

Richard

 

 

Edited by RZP
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The radiator area needed some attention. The tunnel for the outlet had to have a roof and walls added from plastic card and strips. 

 

spacer.png

 

The outlet flap was improved and detailed with a curved floor and ribbing, and some riveting.

 

DEU4zyEl.jpg?1

 

The intake itself was a poor representation of the real thing. I removed the radiator "matrix" from the kit intake part and opened it up (The kit parts are on the left). The Mustang intake splits top and bottom for the oil and coolant radiators. I used a photo-etch radiator screen from the Trumpeter 1/32 P-51B, which was actually about the right size. I built a curved L-shaped housing for the oil cooler, and it will sit low in the back of the assembled housing on the right. A rod was inserted at the front of the intake.

spacer.png

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On some post-war Mustangs, louvres were added to the sides of the radiator area to improve airflow and cooling. It was not a universal modification, and I have found at least four different patterns. Working from photos of RCAF 9253, I cut the four slots into the side of the fuselage with a scriber and Olfa knife, and then created the louvres with plastic strip. 

spacer.png

 

Richard

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • RZP changed the title to 1/24 Airfix Mustang IV, post-war RCAF

There used to be an Australian built P-51 at Duxford ( probably still is )which ‘ whistled ‘ in dives, perhaps it also had the Louvres.

I like what you did with the flaps, perhaps I’ll try that with mine, as you say they were always down on parked aircraft.

John

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There have been many theories around what causes that Mustang whistle at speed. The supercharger, the main intake, the gun barrels/fairings or the square openings for the shell casing ejection chutes have all been put forward as culprits. All I know is that it sounds amazing!

 

The louvred panels behind the wing root were introduced post-war in the States, and you can see them on USAF/ANG F-51Ds in Korea and in the States, and on some operated by foreign air forces. A number of RCAF Mustangs also had them, but not all. I haven't been able to find out where and when they were introduced, but I suspect it was at the overhaul facilities when they were brought out of storage and refurbished for service in Korea, and with foreign operators. They were inspected and in many cases dismantled down to the wingspar and rebuilt. It was then that the cockpits were supposed to be painted matte black, but that didn't always happen either...and that's another story. 

 

Sorry...way more info than you probably wanted. 🙂

 

 Richard

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is outstanding work indeed. I will be following on with much interest as I love these old Airfix 1:24 kits and you are doing a superb job in every aspect.

:yes:

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, RZP said:

Thank you!

 

...and, seriously?! Kingston!? Are you a member of the Limestone City Model Club?

 

Richard

 

 

Sadly I moved to Sudbury a few years ago, so I'm not. However I'm back every 2 or 3 months visiting so it still feels like home to me! It was really disappointing when Leading Edge decided to close up their storefront.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hope life is good in Sudbury! Yes, with Leading Edge closed it makes finding even basic supplies harder. There’s a war gaming store here that carries the full Vallejo paint line, and some model construction tools and glues, etc. Still though, Leading Edge is badly missed. The closest stores are now Ottawa and Toronto...and I’m not thrilled travelling to those COVID hotspots right now. My bank account is happier though. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once all the cockpit, radios and other interior parts were shoehorned in, the fuselage was carefully closed up and glued. The nose required some serious attention for a number of shape and detail problems. The most visible was the shape of the top of the engine cowlings. The kit cross-section was too round, and the top of the nose needed to be flatter and bulked out with shoulders so that the cowlings would look like there was a Merlin in there. I built up the shape with laminations of plastic card, and filled with Milliput and Tamiya fine putty. It took several sandings, refilling with putty, and more sanding until it looked muscular enough and matched the cross section templates more closely. 

 

This was the point where I thought, "Crap, what did I do!?"...or words to that effect.

 

spacer.png

 

After a few hours of work, I primed it to see where I was...not bad. Some pitting and holes had to be filled but almost there. 

While I was at it, I cut a sliver of card to glue in the exhaust opening to reduce the size vertically, to make it narrower. The exhaust shroud of course had to be correspondingly reduced in height.

spacer.png

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

After a couple of night's work, it started to look more refined. I also filled and reduced the "pinch" behind the carb intake under the prop. As it comes in the kit the "pinch" is too pronounced, and has a nasty fit problem caused by the way the chin intake part and the cowling panels come together. 

spacer.png

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once I was satisfied with the finish, I rescribed all the lost detail and added rivets and Dzus fasteners from Archer details. They are basically resin details on decal paper, very easy to use and a tremendous help to restore or add detail. Of course, all of this is now unnecessary because of the beautiful one-piece cowling top part available from ModelMonkey. 

spacer.png

 

The fit of all the parts forward of the wing are really dodgy, and require a lot of putty, plastic strips and card. Not difficult, but a lot of time and work, and swearing. The fit forward of the underside of the wing is especially bad.

 

spacer.png

 

Edited by RZP
  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

After I was satisfied with how the fuselage looked, I sprayed a coat of gloss black on the fuselage. It acted as a primer to cover up some scratches, but I also intended to carefully sand back the rivet detail on the kit. Since the plastic was light grey, I hoped that the rivets would show through as I sanded them back to reduce how prominent they were. Airfix kindly tried to make the riveting flat-headed rather than rounded, but it was a bit too much. I didn't want to lose it completely, just knock it back a bit.

 

The final step before declaring the fuselage ready for primer coats was to install the windscreen. In a lot of ways, this was the scariest part of the whole build so far. The fit was not good, and required a fair amount of Milliput and VERY careful sanding. I decided on Milliput because it could be shaped with water, and I figured it would be safe on the clear parts.

 

spacer.png 

Edited by RZP
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks great Richard, good idea re the rivets.

I must get some more of the Archers rivets, got some for model railways  and using on locos I have built and am very pleased with them, but going to get some  for 32nd scale Spitfire builds and better get some in stock for the Mustang too now after seeing your fantastic engine cowling. 

Great work and on the windscreen panel too.

Chris 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks again!

 

Archer now has 1/24 scale sets of rivets, Dzus fasteners, small panels etc. They weren't available yet when I started, so I used the 1/32 versions...they look close enough for me. 

 

Richard 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One last post for today. After sanding and polishing all the surfaces it was time to paint. The wings were done first with a coat of Tamiya grey primer straight from the can. It went down perfect and smooth. Next it was Tamiya Silver Leaf decanted from the can and airbrushed on. It looked close to the silver/grey painted wing finish as applied to Mustang wings. A circle was masked on each wing to provide the background for the 24" RCAF roundels, which also had a 1 1/2" silver surround...for a total diameter of 27". When that had cured dry and rock hard after a couple days, I sprayed Model Master Guards Red for the standard red search panels on the horizontal stabilizer and the outer wings. The fuselage and underside wing centre section then had a thin coat of gloss black applied.

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

Edited by RZP
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, RZP said:

Hope life is good in Sudbury! Yes, with Leading Edge closed it makes finding even basic supplies harder. There’s a war gaming store here that carries the full Vallejo paint line, and some model construction tools and glues, etc. Still though, Leading Edge is badly missed. The closest stores are now Ottawa and Toronto...and I’m not thrilled travelling to those COVID hotspots right now. My bank account is happier though. 

Yep! Just a little too cold and too much snow for my liking. Is that Nexus Games downtown? I may have to check out whichever store it is when I'm back next. Oh Leading Edge...it was fantastic when they moved from their smaller location to the big one, but both will always have a special place in my heart!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...