Alan P Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 That looks incredibly good. Really brings out the quality of the kit cockpit as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 Great work on the cockpit, very realistic. Stay safe. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 Fantastic!!! Brilliant work on those internals. 👏👏👏 Johnny 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted April 11, 2021 Author Share Posted April 11, 2021 Exhausts drilled out. Turned out OK, although still too thick for the scale but I did not dare to use a larger drill. This was pushing it already. Best, Nikola 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 If you have a round pointed needle file you may be able to open them up a little without damaging them. An alternative would be a fine pointed scalpel blade used like a drill bit but this is a little more risky. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 Looking very good, I like a lot of people have two of those in the stash so will hitch a ride on this one. Cheers Dennis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Bunting Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 Looking nice, I suggest a few sizes bigger bit, a very sharp one, and just ream out the end. You will get a thinner edge and less risk to shattering the pipes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted April 13, 2021 Author Share Posted April 13, 2021 Thanks for the suggestions guys. Appreciated. I'll see if I'll dare to drill further since the plastic is kind of on the softer side and I am afraid that I'll mess it up. Best, Nikola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted April 19, 2021 Author Share Posted April 19, 2021 Hi gents, Fuselage buttoned up. The fit is very good and it all went together without any fuss, except that the top part of the fuselage required some extra pressure. Good engineering by Radu Brinzan. Best, Nikola 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Bunting Posted April 19, 2021 Share Posted April 19, 2021 Looks really good and glad to hear it comes together nicely. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted April 20, 2021 Author Share Posted April 20, 2021 7 hours ago, Bill Bunting said: Looks really good and glad to hear it comes together nicely. Cheers. So far so good 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted April 20, 2021 Share Posted April 20, 2021 It really is a well engineered kit. I particularly like the way they have added the pipework to the cockpit underside rather than just part of the wheel wells. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 Question guys - did early D's have the entire wheel well in YZC or just the structural elements? Thanks in advance. Best, Nikola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 (edited) I found this (an excerpt from a much longer text by Dana Bell): ''By 1944, the AAF was receiving complaints about corrosion in a number of aircraft, including the Mustang. Some unspecified action was required, particularly to reduce dissimilar metal corrosion between structural members and skin panels. Some manufacturers gave the structure a coat of yellow zinc chromate before adding the skin. Some left the structure unprimed and gave the inner surface of the skin a coat of yellow zinc chromate. It's not clear how North American handled the problem, but there is one undated color shot of a P-51D (or K) production line showing the entire wheel well primed in yellow. This is just a general explanation - it won't help you know what color the wheel wells would be on any particular aircraft. But you can make your own informed decisions based on the date you suspect any particular aircraft (and not just a Mustang) was manufactured.'' ''Desert Rat'' is from 1944 so I guess YZC all around. Not 100% sure of course. Best, Nikola Edited April 21, 2021 by Nikola Topalov 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 (edited) He also says: ''As part of the cost- and time-savings measures, all other non-cockpit interior areas were left in unpainted aluminum finish. Since there were several grades of aluminum present, this led to corrosion issues on the Mustang, and at some point (I've not been able to pin down a date or place in production) wheel wells began to appear in overall yellow zinc chromate. I know for sure that this happened late in P-51D production. The problems had certainly been identified during B and C production, and fixes were ordered, I just can't find proof that these earlier models actually got the fix. If, for any reason, a second coat of primer was applied to the wheel well, it would have been green zinc chromate (by that time, the same as Interior Green). I haven't seen evidence of that during WWII, but it could have happened. As for aluminum lacquer with a yellow spar, that's the one option that didn't happen and actually makes the least sense. The object was to save money and time, so most corrosion control finishes were eliminated. If aluminized lacquer WAS used, it would have been used to overspray the entire well. (Leaving the main spar in yellow in a lacquered well was made more difficult by wartime shortages of both Magic Mask and Parafilm.) I'm afraid "current thinking" is wrong on this one - there is no evidence of aluminum lacquered wheel wells with a yellow main spar, while there are plenty of photos of overall yellow P-51 wells. You've got to ask yourself how the manufacturer would have been able to paint the well aluminum without getting any overspray on the spar, or why anyone should even attempt such a thing.'' Best, Nikola Edited April 21, 2021 by Nikola Topalov 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Bunting Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Nikola Topalov said: was made more difficult by wartime shortages of both Magic Mask and Parafilm. lol!!!🤣 I think this is a case of - do what you want and are comfortable with. Who really knows what supplies were at the factory that day - Line Mgr says -"I don't care! Get it out the factory door! There's 25 more behind it!", at the staging depot for updates and corrections (we called it the "hospital" at the auto factory I worked with) - The painter says "Hey boss, I ran out of YZC/ GZC and that one didn't get done - Reply "I don't care get it on the ship! it leaves tonight!", at the front line the crew chief says "Hey Capt. Jones I can't let this one go up, the wheel wells might corrode. Reply - I don't care I'll take here up now and tonight you can paint it with red barn paint for all I care, just fuel it and arm it 'cause I'm on for tomorrow too." A bit of fantassy for sure but unless there is a photo of THAT airframe on the DATE you are replicating, anything could be a little different from "Standard" It was wartime. Mind you I wouldn't go for "Barn Red FS# E I E I oh". Keep going she is looking very very nice so far and I look forward to seeing it completed, wheel wells and all. Edited April 21, 2021 by Bill Bunting 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tourist Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 9 hours ago, Nikola Topalov said: Question guys - did early D's have the entire wheel well in YZC or just the structural elements? Thanks in advance. Best, Nikola Nice work on your build! A few days ago someone asked me about the finish in the wheel wells for the P-51D-10, since it's the same as the P-51D-5 here's what I answered: "P-51D-10-NAs like all the earlier production blocks had less anti corrosion protection than later blocks. - Main wheel wells. Based on photos I have seen the main spar had a coat of YZC, the "roof" was left aluminum with YZC stringers, the front spar was also left aluminum with only the most inner part (through which the coolant lines pass) finished in YZC. The ribs were left aluminum. Various braces on the YZC finished parts were finished with tinted (green) ZC. The separation wall between the wells was YZC with the small vertical braces being green ZC. - Engine. The bearers were interior green. The firewall could be interior green or YZC, the oil tank was YZC or left aluminum, the header tank was YZC or aluminum. The frame onto which the cowlings attach were left bare metal. -Tail wheel bay. Like the main wheel wells it was mostly left bare aluminum, the various braces were YZC. Feel free to play with these, there was no exact recipe and details changed all the time as long as the basic principles of (minimal) anti corrosion were followed." 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 3 hours ago, Nikola Topalov said: As for aluminum lacquer with a yellow spar, that's the one option that didn't happen and actually makes the least sense. I'm afraid "current thinking" is wrong on this one - there is no evidence of aluminum lacquered wheel wells with a yellow main spar, while there are plenty of photos of overall yellow P-51 wells. Well, that's news to me! I've been making all my Mustangs exactly like that: main structural elements in YZC with everything else aluminium, as @Tourist wrote. Feeling a bit miffed to be honest...is this another modelling myth exploded, or just another 'we'll never know for sure'?🤔 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tourist Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 1 hour ago, Alan P said: Well, that's news to me! I've been making all my Mustangs exactly like that: main structural elements in YZC with everything else aluminium, as @Tourist wrote. Feeling a bit miffed to be honest...is this another modelling myth exploded, or just another 'we'll never know for sure'?🤔 What Dana means is that the aluminum parts weren't painted, they were actual aluminum with no finish. The RAF used to paint their Mustang's wheel bays (at least on the early Allisons) with an aluminum lacquer but that's about it. WWII USAAF Mustang had unpainted wheel bays which means natural aluminum with some primer applied to some parts according to the finish specs in order to limit corrosion. The later production blocks had more primed parts but still no painted wheel bays. A few photos show painted bays (one actually showing aluminum lacquer) but these were exceptions seen on individual planes. Post war the wheel bays were sometimes painted during reparations or overhauls. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 Getting some great info on wells and colours. I have started mine ( The museum’s ) pony now. It’s a great kit for sure. Any updates on this beauty? Johnny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted June 4, 2021 Author Share Posted June 4, 2021 On 6/2/2021 at 10:43 PM, The Spadgent said: Getting some great info on wells and colours. I have started mine ( The museum’s ) pony now. It’s a great kit for sure. Any updates on this beauty? Johnny Hi Johnny, The only thing I've done since the last update is the oob wheel well and I've joined the wing halves, so not much. With two little kids there is not much free time at the moment. Looking forward to your build! Best, Nikola 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted June 13, 2021 Author Share Posted June 13, 2021 Well gents, it's finally starting to look like an airplane. :) Wings are on, as well as the rudder, horizontal stabilizers, elevators and ailerons. Wheel well is mostly finished with some touch ups and details to be done, but that's basically that, OOB. The fit is very good, but I must say that the wings required some persuasion to fit in place since I had to do slight sanding and hard pushing in place (very tight fit). This is as close as I could get it. Some sandpaper will finish the job. The engineering of the stabilizer connection is interesting as they interlock between each other within the connection to the fuselage (pics below). Basically, there was no aligning required, although I think that the left stabilizer is off by a hairline. Not sure. I couldn't do anything about it though. Thanks for looking! Best, Nikola 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 Ooooh lovely work. I think you’re one step ahead of my build at the moment. I like that. “Snakes Indy, very dangerous. You go first “ 😉🤣 Johnny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 Precision assembly, very well done 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted June 14, 2021 Author Share Posted June 14, 2021 8 hours ago, The Spadgent said: Ooooh lovely work. I think you’re one step ahead of my build at the moment. I like that. “Snakes Indy, very dangerous. You go first “ 😉🤣 Johnny 🤣 Btw, even though I told myself to be careful and not to over-sand parts, I might have been an idiot and done just that on the top of the rudder. Could you please check your parts (when you get to it) to see if it is the kit or my pure genius? I can't remember how it looked when I dry fitted it. Thanks in advance. Best, Nikola 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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