opus999 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 (edited) P-51B | Monogram | 1/72 Don Gentile, Pilot, US Army Air Corps I finished this on 11/13/2019. This is a kit that was a freebie from an ebay vendor that messed up an order and sent it along as a way of saying "sorry". I wasn't too interested in working on it because of raised panel lines. But it has a good shape and I had an ideas of how to approach the panel lines. It was still factory sealed too! I almost felt funny taking the cellophane off. But everything inside was beautiful and intact. I decided to do Don Gentile's "Shangri-La", which I'd done twice before as a kid: once as a 1/32 Revell and once using this very same kit in 1/72. I'm sure there are several among us that remember the dramatic artwork of Shangri-La on Revell's 1/32 kit... that image made such an impression on me that I had to make Shangri-La with this kit. So I got the Kits World decals with Gentile's markings. The kit was a lot of fun to put together, the fit was actually pretty good and the detail was pretty nice where there was detail. The cockpit only consisted of a chair and a control stick. The chair was well detailed, the control stick wasn't. The wheel wells were another place where there was no detail at all. I fabricated a new radio for behind the seat and fabricated all the detail in the wheel wells. Everything else was OOB. I wish I'd thought of getting new wheels, because while the detail is pretty good, they aren't accurate. I've been getting resin aftermarket wheels for a while now, I really don't know why I didn't think of it this time. I also tried a new technique this time where I used airbrush stencils rather than marbling a "pre-shade" coat. It worked very well and was a lot faster. I made a paper rubbing of all the surface detail and then sanded all the panel lines and rivets off. When the painting and decals were done, I used the paper rubbing to measure where the panel lines should be and drew them on with a 0.2 mm pencil. I think this is the first time I've gotten them to look exactly the way I want. Also, a really big "Thank you!" to @Corsairfoxfouruncle for helping with some research and kindly providing the right drop tanks! Paints: Mr. Color Olive Drab and Medium Gray > Model Master Ford Engine Red > Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Silver for gears and Gear Wells > Mr. Color FS34102 for cockpit > Mr. Color GX113 dull coat Decals: Kits World KW172002 WIP is here. And for fun, I still have the Monogram kit I built when I was 13 or 14 years old using Micro Scale decals from the late '70's. Here they are side by side. Thanks for looking. Comments, questions and constructive criticism always welcome! Edited November 16, 2020 by opus999 47 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Great job on the golden oldie ! Wulfman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Beautiful work and result! The paint job and panel lines look great, I’m going to have to try using pencils on my next build, which has raised lines. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapam Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 I'm blown away by how good that looks! Your method with the stencils and drawn-on panel lines is quite ingenious! Something I may want to try one day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 I really like what you've done with this, I think a similar fate awaits my one, this has long been a subject I've wanted to model since seeing it depicted in the Look and Learn kids paper probably 50+ years ago now. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 You keep doing the great work I don't mind helping. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swralph Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Very nice.😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverkite211 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 That came out really great! Nice work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 A great build and a beautiful result! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opus999 Posted November 17, 2020 Author Share Posted November 17, 2020 23 hours ago, Wulfman said: Great job on the golden oldie ! Wulfman Thank you sir! 23 hours ago, billn53 said: Beautiful work and result! The paint job and panel lines look great, I’m going to have to try using pencils on my next build, which has raised lines. Give it a try! I find it much easier and more controllable than washes. 22 hours ago, kapam said: I'm blown away by how good that looks! Your method with the stencils and drawn-on panel lines is quite ingenious! Something I may want to try one day. Thank you! 21 hours ago, stevehnz said: I really like what you've done with this, I think a similar fate awaits my one, this has long been a subject I've wanted to model since seeing it depicted in the Look and Learn kids paper probably 50+ years ago now. Steve. You should! I'd love to see it. 16 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: You keep doing the great work I don't mind helping. Thanks! 16 hours ago, swralph said: Very nice.😀 Thank you, I'm pretty happy with it! 13 hours ago, silverkite211 said: That came out really great! Nice work! Thank you! ...and thanks for all the input too! 2 hours ago, 2996 Victor said: A great build and a beautiful result! Thank you, Sir! It was nice to have you along too! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventsislav Gramatski Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Nice to see this one finished, the build thread was pretty interesting. I think detailing the wheel wells was well worth it in the end! As to the overall result, to me, this looks more like a real airplane than a scale model. I really like the subtle panel lines! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Engraving lines you did great body lifting for this oldie. It looks perfectly. I have a soft spot on this Mustang - some plus forty years ago I also did "Shangri-La" using Monogram P 51 B and ESCI decals, here it is I have not improving it more than some dirt remove and fresh varnish to fix decals...And I did not known these years, that the wheel hubs were red. Regards J-W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opus999 Posted November 18, 2020 Author Share Posted November 18, 2020 5 hours ago, Ventsislav Gramatski said: Nice to see this one finished, the build thread was pretty interesting. I think detailing the wheel wells was well worth it in the end! As to the overall result, to me, this looks more like a real airplane than a scale model. I really like the subtle panel lines! Thanks! Glad to have you along. I'm really glad I did the wheel wells, they look so much better! 4 hours ago, JWM said: Engraving lines you did great body lifting for this oldie. It looks perfectly. I have a soft spot on this Mustang - some plus forty years ago I also did "Shangri-La" using Monogram P 51 B and ESCI decals, here it is Thanks! You probably did yours about the same time I did my first one. It looks very nice! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Great job on the old Monogram kit! I'm really impressed with the drawn on panel lines, they look perfect. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark4700 Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Fantastic build. The weathering is spot on for my taste. Very believable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opus999 Posted March 18, 2021 Author Share Posted March 18, 2021 20 hours ago, Cookenbacher said: Great job on the old Monogram kit! I'm really impressed with the drawn on panel lines, they look perfect. Thank you! I've been working hard to perfect the pencil technique and I think I've almost got it... 12 hours ago, Mark4700 said: Fantastic build. The weathering is spot on for my taste. Very believable. Thanks! I tried really hard to match all the photos I had of Shangri-la. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now