"It's Life Jim, but not as we know it" It's the 453rd Museum's 1/32 P-51D Mustang by Revell.

[VT Red Sox Fan]

@SafetyDad—all is good & I am sorry if my humor was taken the wrong way—I actually was impressed with the data plate  & I thought I saw an engine related stencil under one of the ground crews arms—well done! Best, Erwin

Edited August 1, 2021 by VT Red Sox Fan

[SafetyDad]

5 hours ago, VT Red Sox Fan said:

@SafetyDad—all is good & I am sorry if my humor was taken the wrong way—I actually was impressed with the data plate  & I thought I saw an engine related stencil under one of the ground crews arms—well done! Best, Erwin

 

Your humour came across well @Erwin - my reply was intended also to be humourous, with a slightly regretful tone. It's hard sometimes to achieve this online.

Absolutely no harm done. 

 

Cracking P-51 there @The Spadgent 

 

SD

[The Spadgent]

9 hours ago, SafetyDad said:

 

And I tried SO hard to present a reasoned middle ground with my pictures so as not to be the party pooper here!

 

Actually, if you click on the last pic and enlarge it, it seems that the data block stencil has been applied  on top of the 'Desert Rat' artwork. Does that mean that this aircraft was painted and then stencils reapplied? 

Or was the data block too important to be painted over and so only this was reapplied after the repaint? 

 

 

SD

Thanks once again for the insight. I have taken the plunge. 🥳

8 hours ago, hendie said:

Just another WOW I'm afraid Johnny.

Cracking sticker job

Thanks hendie. I’m still catching up on  your thread by the way. Half way through. 😍

8 hours ago, corsaircorp said:

Looking in my files, the stencilling is present on the aircrafts, but have been rarely re applied over the nose checkerboard and not at all over invasion stripes..

The way I did on mine...

No worries then...

infos coming from motorbooks on P-51

Spendiferous pony my Dear Spad...

Maestro @giemme seem to have enjoyed the hum decals....

Sincerely.

CC

After this and @SafetyDad’s info I have made some changes while waiting for the rain to stop.

6 hours ago, VT Red Sox Fan said:

@SafetyDad—all is good & I am sorry if my humor was taken the wrong way—I actually was impressed with the data plate  & I thought I saw an engine related stencil under one of the ground crews arms—well done! Best, Erwin

Yup me too. Left that one on. 😍

1 hour ago, SafetyDad said:

 

Your humour came across well @Erwin - my reply was intended also to be humourous, with a slightly regretful tone. It's hard sometimes to achieve this online.

Absolutely no harm done. 

 

Cracking P-51 there @The Spadgent 

 

SD

No regrets. Isn’t that what Ace Frehley says. 🤟 And thanks.

[The Spadgent]

Home from our hol’s a bit early what more can a boy ask for than a rotten French door.😩 

and that’s the good side. I’d thought about replacing them but after many quotes of multiple thousands of pounds. 😔 I have decided to fix the ones we have. Wish me luck. 🤪

Any hoo while trying to force the incessant drizzle to stop with my eyes I read the wonderful info you guys had gathered and made a decision. I’ll try to remove the stencils on the stripes and checkers.

Micro sol applied and cocktail stick deployed.

Each one took a fair while to tease away but eventually they yielded.

The next challenge was decals on decals. 🧐

sorry for the trauma Giorgio. 😊😅

After a while we are here.

Even some on the wings. 🤪

But tis a trifle to the de al whisperer.🥸😂

even managed to get rid of the one on the rat. Not the plate info don’t worry. 
so as it looks like my drizzle stopping mind powers are working my next task is my 1:1 scale door.

🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞

Send happy thoughts. 🤝

 

Johnny.

[Biggles87]

Great nose decals. You get a wonderful sense of achievement when something like that works well ( well, I do anyway ) my best decal results were the chequered cowling on a P47 and the spinner spiral on a ‘109.

Good luck with the doors.

 

John

[VT Red Sox Fan]

Johnny, great job--I like the idea of using a cocktail stick to circle back and solve the decal on decal issue--looks smart!  Best, Erwin 

[Sturmovik]

That's a neat looking Mustang. How big is that aircraft compared to a 109 in the same scale?

[The Spadgent]

On 01/08/2021 at 12:53, Biggles87 said:

Great nose decals. You get a wonderful sense of achievement when something like that works well ( well, I do anyway ) my best decal results were the chequered cowling on a P47 and the spinner spiral on a ‘109.

Good luck with the doors.

 

John

Thanks. Nothing gives a better sense of achievement than a spiral nose decal. 👌

21 hours ago, VT Red Sox Fan said:

Johnny, great job--I like the idea of using a cocktail stick to circle back and solve the decal on decal issue--looks smart!  Best, Erwin 

Thanks it was the sharpest/bluntest thing I had to hand, ❤️

20 hours ago, Sturmovik said:

That's a neat looking Mustang. How big is that aircraft compared to a 109 in the same scale?

Thanks. As for size it’s going to be pretty much the same. I think the 109 was just under a meter shorter than the Mustang.

[The Spadgent]

Hey guys.

Progress on the mustang has drawn to a bit of a stand still I’m afraid. As it seems Milo my youngest, now a sparkly new teenager is growing taller by the second. Cruel to keep him in his back bedroom when I had the top room all to myself. Alas all things must pass and the big switcharoo was undertaken this weekend. It was with heavy heart I gave up the grotto. Not all bad though as I have always liked the back bedroom as it looks over the wisteria. Say hello to the new grotto. This is mid transition.

The stash came out of it’s Natural habitat.

The kit to life ratio is strong with this pile. 😩😩😩. Lovely though eh. ❤️❤️❤️  How on earth will I fit it all in??? 
The bench has found a new home!

A long way to go but getting there for sure. 😇

The French doors got fixed.

Cleaned out the rot.

Luckily it was rotten only in one beam that came out, let’s say quite easily.

Said beam got replaced and a new rain bar added. Primed and puttied but she works!! Look at that line of drips. 🌧😅

Well at least there is some 1:1 scale modelling going on. 😊

The cabinets get moved in next. Time to give the kits a bit of a dust.

I have a music festival this weekend so it’s looking slow on the Mustang front but at least I’m edging towards having a place to build her. 
watch this space.

 

Jonster. 🥸

[JJ2016]

Hi mate, that stash is absolutely nuts !! It makes me feel like I'm slightly in control of my own life maintaining a stash of 3 at a time !! Some really good kits in there. 

 

Good luck with the move, hope the new space is full of good vibes !! I'm enjoying the Mustang build.....

 

Cheers

 

JJ

[VT Red Sox Fan]

The ‘stash looks great and I love the Wildcat in the background—I also think you should start a 1:1 home improvement blog to help us all out with the rest of our families who just don’t seem to be as enamored as we are with bronze green vs interior green under Florywash discussions 😂Good luck with the moves—I know we will all be envious—best, Erwin

Edited August 10, 2021 by VT Red Sox Fan

[Jeff G]

What a wonderful addition to your WIP, a 1:1 scale door! It's so nice to see other modelers dealing with such things, sometimes you think everyone else is modelling 24/7 and you're way behind with things like that! Great job on the door, that's not easy stuff. Can't wait to see your final set up, and the Mustang as well!

[thommo]

Many years ago, we had window sills in an old house that were rotten like that.  I just dug out as much of the rotten stuff as I could, treated it with stop-rot stuff, bogged it up and painted over.  Sold it 2yrs later.   Methinks your solution was much better!

 

We were so naive when we bought that first house, and the next 2-3 after that.  If there is a real-estate mistake to be made, we've made it! 

 

Our final retirement home (our next and hopefully last), we might get it right?  But Covid has seen house prices go bonkers here in Oz, esp. on the south coast of NSW where we want to retire, so maybe we'll be staying put?

[Jeff G]

Well, thought you should know your thread has convinced me to buy the model! Found it for a decent price in a store I didn't even expect to while shopping with my wife and son. Seems to be the reboxed version from a year or two ago. Now where to put this massive box...

[The Spadgent]

On 10/08/2021 at 00:51, JJ2016 said:

Hi mate, that stash is absolutely nuts !! It makes me feel like I'm slightly in control of my own life maintaining a stash of 3 at a time !! Some really good kits in there. 

 

Good luck with the move, hope the new space is full of good vibes !! I'm enjoying the Mustang build.....

 

Cheers

 

JJ

Thanks. Yes I trimmed the stash down and it just somehow creeps back up again.  I might have to have a cull. 😩

On 10/08/2021 at 02:04, VT Red Sox Fan said:

The ‘stash looks great and I love the Wildcat in the background—I also think you should start a 1:1 home improvement blog to help us all out with the rest of our families who just don’t seem to be as enamored as we are with bronze green vs interior green under Florywash discussions 😂Good luck with the moves—I know we will all be envious—best, Erwin

Thanks Erwin. Still mid CraZy move tied up with camping and festivals. It’s all happening at once! 😲😀🥴

On 10/08/2021 at 02:37, Jeff G said:

What a wonderful addition to your WIP, a 1:1 scale door! It's so nice to see other modelers dealing with such things, sometimes you think everyone else is modelling 24/7 and you're way behind with things like that! Great job on the door, that's not easy stuff. Can't wait to see your final set up, and the Mustang as well!

Thanks. Glad you appreciate the door. Bit of a forced hand and a proper brown trouser moment when I pulled the beam out. 😮

On 10/08/2021 at 03:20, thommo said:

Many years ago, we had window sills in an old house that were rotten like that.  I just dug out as much of the rotten stuff as I could, treated it with stop-rot stuff, bogged it up and painted over.  Sold it 2yrs later.   Methinks your solution was much better!

 

We were so naive when we bought that first house, and the next 2-3 after that.  If there is a real-estate mistake to be made, we've made it! 

 

Our final retirement home (our next and hopefully last), we might get it right?  But Covid has seen house prices go bonkers here in Oz, esp. on the south coast of NSW where we want to retire, so maybe we'll be staying put?

It’s always the same with DIY. I have done the same myself but this one was far from fixable that way.

On 14/08/2021 at 03:29, Jeff G said:

Well, thought you should know your thread has convinced me to buy the model! Found it for a decent price in a store I didn't even expect to while shopping with my wife and son. Seems to be the reboxed version from a year or two ago. Now where to put this massive box...

Ooooh lovely. Are you doing a WIP? 
 

Sorry for the delay chaos. It’s all gone upside down.  Back soon. 😀🤟

[Quiet Mike]

Top work on the French door repair @The Spadgent!

Hope you're settling into the new modelling den. My youngest is 18 and now towers over all of us at 6'2"  😲   (The last 5 years went very quick btw!)   With the eldest cycle racing in France and his younger brother heading off to Falmouth University, I wonder if it's too early to think of relocating out of my modelling 'naughty corner' yet? 😄

[opus999]

Johnny -- just read through this having been away from the forum for a long time.  I could say a lot, but I'll just say this has shaped up to be a gorgeous build!

 

I may have missed it -- I confess I skimmed some sections to get through 9 pages -- but how did you do the scuffing on the floor boards?  They look so real!!!!

 

I probably lit up your inbox with all the "likes" I threw at this thread... sorry about that.  

[Jeff G]

On 17/08/2021 at 05:58, The Spadgent said:

Are you doing a WIP? 

I'm not sure! I'm finally heading back to work in a couple weeks after working from home since last March so I think my progress might get a little slow moving and boring for people to follow. Not that I've been building models during work hours at home..🤐

[The Spadgent]

On 18/08/2021 at 16:41, Quiet Mike said:

Top work on the French door repair @The Spadgent!

Hope you're settling into the new modelling den. My youngest is 18 and now towers over all of us at 6'2"  😲   (The last 5 years went very quick btw!)   With the eldest cycle racing in France and his younger brother heading off to Falmouth University, I wonder if it's too early to think of relocating out of my modelling 'naughty corner' yet? 😄

Thanks. Yes the years are flying by. In the immortal words of ferris bueller. “ Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it.” 😎

On 20/08/2021 at 17:53, opus999 said:

Johnny -- just read through this having been away from the forum for a long time.  I could say a lot, but I'll just say this has shaped up to be a gorgeous build!

 

I may have missed it -- I confess I skimmed some sections to get through 9 pages -- but how did you do the scuffing on the floor boards?  They look so real!!!!

 

I probably lit up your inbox with all the "likes" I threw at this thread... sorry about that.  

Aaah sorry for such a late reply. The boards. They were hand painted wood grain underneath with chipping fluid added then the matt black top coat. Then you just go at it with a cotton bud and water as if it were a tiny boot! 😇

On 21/08/2021 at 01:37, Jeff G said:

I'm not sure! I'm finally heading back to work in a couple weeks after working from home since last March so I think my progress might get a little slow moving and boring for people to follow. Not that I've been building models during work hours at home..🤐

Never mind that. Do it. (Although I’ve been having a bit of a time away myself) it’s great fun. Don’t worry about it and jump In. You’ll find the help you get is amazing. 😇

[Back in the Saddle]

Good to see you back! I thought things were quiet…😂

[The Spadgent]

How long? Too bloody long that’s what. 😬 Sorry guys. We seem to have booked all the holidays in the world. I feel like I have been living in my camper for months now. 😆🚌  got back from Cornwall last week but still had to get the room sorted.

The sun was out all the time 🌞 and we finally made it to Tintagel. It is a silly place. 🤪

And here’s Milo doing his best warlock impression in Boscastle.

🖤😈

Hope you are all well? I’ll need to catch up as I’ve been away from the forum too. We went away with friends so no time for just sitting and reading BM with a light ale. 🥲
The new cave is done to a fashion, I still have to paint and store some stuff in the secondary loft (I’ll tell you later) but I can at least get this pony out of her stable.

Here’s where the magic happens. 🤣

Yes I now sit on a box! 🤫

A quick spin and you can see it’s about a third of the size of my old abode.

But I’ve managed to squeeze everything in. Including my little Chesterfield. ❤️
Milo even left me a little gift. I’m sure @corsaircorp will appreciate it.

I think he picked it up at Cosford a few years ago. 
Any way let’s get back to where we were before all this madness happened. The Pony! 🐎

I tidied up the UC parts.

And the huge spinner.

She slips together really nicely. A real shame all that will be hidden.

The tanks got a scrape and tidy too.

The wheel tread got re instated with a scriber. Not too much trouble.

It’s a bit weird at the bench as everything is in a slightly different place but I’ll get used to it and the booth still fits which is nice and I can open the window to allow the fumes to disperse. 🤗

So everything got primed.

After drying I did a pre shade on the parts that needed it.

Now for some colour. Well if you can call grey a colour. 🤩

The Alu on these parts isn’t that shiny but the lights made it look like chrome.

Happy with the results mind.

Here’s the tail UC. You can see what I mean about the lighting. It almost looks like I’ve photo shopped it. 

The main UC.

The upper doors.

These will all get knocked back with some nice weathering. 
The flap stripes worked well when the masks came off. I just need to paint the silver hinge part now.

It does look quite white in the pics but it’s in keeping with the other stripes.  Just in case you’ve forgotten what the rest looks like here’s a shot in her new location. ❤️

And a dead one just for @CedB

The tail wheel hub got sprayed.

Along with the main wheels.

I finished up with the central section and tips of the prop.

wow!!! 😇

So there we are. I’m back in action. 💪There are other activities keeping me busy: There was an old water tank in this space a day ago. (I can fit some kits up there. 😹😼

The French doors got finished.

but this one needs attention too. 🥴

I started that today. Look at the filler. 😮🤫

 I’m planning on getting a shufty on with this and get it to jim before he forgets he sent it to me.

I want to get my missing RFIs done before the end of the summer too. Good news is the mojo tanks are full and I have ma bench back!!!! 🥸😆

Thanks for dropping. More soon.

 

Take care and as always, Happy modelling. 
 

Johnny.

[perdu]

Excellent

 

I hope the primer in that round got fired off safely, did my Range Safety Officer at Cosford and some things make the old flesh creep.

 

Love the door (French) Johnny, looks the bizz.

 

👍

[Biggles87]

Wow, a monster update. Good to see you back.

I like the Revell 'paper' tanks, some manufacturers over emphasise the corrugations in my opinion. I have an excellent book called 'Fighter Command' which is full of original WW II colour photos amongst which is a photo of a tank 'farm'  where they are all painted bright silver, thought you might be interested.

 

John

[Quiet Mike]

13 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

 

 

I can't let my better half see this photo, it's a touchy subject. I have a rather natty 1950s armchair in my 'den', unfortunately I'm a rather untidy soul, and my other little lockdown project of making reproduction french army bread bags with a cycling spin means it's burried under bolts of canvas and and linen, also piles of books on the arms ... I really need to sort it all out, to give the mutt somewhere to curl up if anything!

Glad the camper is getting use too. Ours had 12 days in Suffolk and Norfolk, and is busy most weekends in September too. (Goodwood Revival. Can't wait!)

 

[giemme]

Excellent progress, Johnny - both with the model and in the house!  

 

The new bench looks ace, despite of the size!

 

Ciao