Tcoat Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 (edited) 4 hours ago, Dana Bell said: Hi all, Beyond the tech orders and specs, in early 1942 Wright Field gave North American Aviation an exemption from priming its California-built P-51s, AT-6s, and B-25s. The company didn't have the painting facilities to keep up with production needs. Primers served three purposes - corrosion control, static electricity reduction, surface preparation for finish coats. For P-51Bs this meant that you'd see very little interior color other than the natural (unpainted) aluminum. The cockpit was painted to reduce glare, and the faying surfaces for the fuselage structure were primed with a single coat of yellow zinc chromate to reduce intergranular corrosion with the skin. (The structure was usually painted with a hand roller to save time and primer; once the skin was attached, the primer was hardly visible.) The main wing spar was primed with yellow zinc chromate to reduce corrosion and cut down on static buildup - remember that the fuel tanks were just aft of the spar. Despite growing evidence of corrosion problems in Mustang wheel wells, Wright Field continued to deny that there had been any negative reports. Eventually, at some point in production, primer and finish coats were added to the main gear wells, but not until long after Gentile's crash. I hope this helps with your project - certainly an interesting and unusual presentation, and I look forward to seeing the results! Cheers, Dana That makes the most sense of anything I have seen yet! My only other question would be why the brace with lightening holes, stringers and formers in the picture would be so much lighter than the interior of the skin? I can't see it just being lighting since there is such a stark difference. Is it possible the skin was primed and the structure bare metal? The engine supports certainly look to be bare metal in the same picture. Edit: Base up this info and pictures of original coatings I think I can just mix and match and be close enough. Edited April 24, 2021 by Tcoat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcoat Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 Cockpit built OOB other than the addition of the lever to the right of the seat and a harness. Instrument panel has nice gauge bezels but no other dial detail but a dry brushing and some bits and blobs of paint look OK when closed up. Whole thing still needs some grunge and flat coat to finish it off. The mix and match wheel wells are going to meet my goal perfectly once weathered. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark.au Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 The fuselage skin interior would have certainly be left unprimed, and as Dana said, everything else in the tail too. This is a bit late as you’ve done such a great job in the cockpit but Mustang cockpit floors were made of wood with a black non-slip coating applied. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcoat Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 36 minutes ago, mark.au said: The fuselage skin interior would have certainly be left unprimed, and as Dana said, everything else in the tail too. This is a bit late as you’ve done such a great job in the cockpit but Mustang cockpit floors were made of wood with a black non-slip coating applied. Yep I made the decision back at the start that I wasn't going to worry about the wrong floor or wheel wells. The focus of the display will be more the damage and those areas are secondary to that. Going to do a bit of priming in the broken section since they would have had to put a barrier between the different types of metals. Will add a littlie more definition as well. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 Just caught up with your build Tony, I've got the easier one lol! Great progress so looking forwards to more 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcoat Posted April 25, 2021 Author Share Posted April 25, 2021 9 minutes ago, woody37 said: Just caught up with your build Tony, I've got the easier one lol! Great progress so looking forwards to more I am almost ready for exterior paint. No doubt there could be some differences between both our . do you know what paints you will be using for the olive and grey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcoat Posted April 25, 2021 Author Share Posted April 25, 2021 So far so good. Foil for torn skin won't go on until just before painting. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andwil Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 Nice work so far. One observation, if I may, you have the seat belts very neat, I suspect following Gentile’s (hasty) exit from the wreck that they would be tossed aside. AW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcoat Posted April 26, 2021 Author Share Posted April 26, 2021 9 minutes ago, Andwil said: Nice work so far. One observation, if I may, you have the seat belts very neat, I suspect following Gentile’s (hasty) exit from the wreck that they would be tossed aside. AW Good point but they are firmly fixed in place. Maybe whoever took the canopy sections off and pumped the landing gear down put them back nice and neat out of force of habit. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcoat Posted April 28, 2021 Author Share Posted April 28, 2021 Heavy aluminum tape (real duct tape) in place. Inner exposed glue surfaces coated in floor polish to remove tack. Looks silly now but once paint is on and it is torn an buckled it will look much better. And since front will be cowl off and tarped up needed someplace to put nose art. Will just put it on ground with the "salvaged" pieces. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 What a great build. Doing a fine job. Jim will have a lot of mustangs. I need to get mine started. I’ll tag along if I may. Johnny 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcoat Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 Well, it is green. Closed canopy just used as a mask. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 Looking really good, the duct tape is ideal for the job. Almost makes me want to break one of mine. John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcoat Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 7 minutes ago, Biggles87 said: Looking really good, the duct tape is ideal for the job. Almost makes me want to break one of mine. John It is almost the perfect size in scale. Normally I would just follow panel lines but since the Mustang has that one great big side panel just aft of the cockpit and that was just too much I had to add a new line. Won't be real obvious to anybody other than the experts. At least that is my hope. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcoat Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share Posted May 1, 2021 Tinted gloss coat to start the weathering and give a good base for decals. Cant get a good picture with the gloss since it throw the colours off. The grey is much darker and not so blue in real life. Aluminum torn and buckled. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Looking great. I love the crumpled underside. 👏👏👏 johnny 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcoat Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share Posted May 1, 2021 46 minutes ago, The Spadgent said: Looking great. I love the crumpled underside. 👏👏👏 johnny Thanks. I liked the crumpled outer skin but the exposed innards didn't look right. Not going to bother with structure since it will be sitting on that section anyway but decided it at least needed to be at least closer to the right colour. Still have to make up all the mangled parts (scoop, rad, hoses, etc.) that belonged there to throw in the scrap heap. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 This is becoming brilliant. Started as a great idea and has matured into a serious 'contender', very much still enjoying this immensely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcoat Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share Posted May 1, 2021 23 minutes ago, perdu said: This is becoming brilliant. Started as a great idea and has matured into a serious 'contender', very much still enjoying this immensely. Thanks! Since we are still in lockdown I have had loads of time Think I am going to watch for sales and pick up two more of the kit. One will be the same as this build. One will be in flight just a few feet above the ground and just before impact. Also going to watch for a decent priced Spit to do his first aircraft. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcoat Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share Posted May 1, 2021 weathering done but needs another coat of dullcoat. Now onto prop, canopy and tarp over engine. 13 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigdave22014 Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 I'm very late to this build, but I'm glad I've caught it. What an excellent execution of your idea. The metal tape gives a very realistic look to the break, specially with the internals that you've added. Outstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Looking pretty stunning - I love the rough edges. Great stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 This Is modelling, tremendous work. I am glad you shared your concept with me/us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 (edited) Looks good. Giving me the urge to try something like this too. Could be the basis for a Crashed/hard landing GB? Edited May 2, 2021 by Marklo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcoat Posted May 2, 2021 Author Share Posted May 2, 2021 7 hours ago, Marklo said: Looks good. Giving me the urge to try something like this too. Could be the basis for a Crashed/hard landing GB? OH A GB would be cool! I even know what I would build. Back in 1970 my dad took me to an auction that included many aircraft and thousands of other items (story about it here http://www.spitcrazy.com/simmons2.htm or just Google Ernie Simmons auction). Dad bought a Bren Gun Carrier for $50 and I got an old shotgun to restore (I was 11) for $2. What stands out in my memory to this day however is this: I never thought of modeling this until just now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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