P-51B Restoration -- Monogram 1/72

[opus999]

Here's a model I did back when I was 13 or 14.  In November of 2020, I built a new one using the same vintage kit (Seen here).  Here's a photo of them both together:

 

 

It's the one on the left.    Here it is by itself.  The best my 13-year-old self could do:

 

 

After the other build was done, I put the old "shangri-la" in the freezer over night and had this the next morning:

 

 

And then put back in the box until now.  Since my Typhoon is on hold waiting for some parts, I thought I'd work on this one and get it off my desk.

 

I soaked it in Simple Green before I put it away and that got all but a couple really stubborn bits off.  when I dusted it off a couple days ago, I decided to use Mr. Levelling Thinner to clean those last bits off

 

 

I've wanted to do a P-51 with a malcolm hood and I ordered decals to do "Berlin Express".  However, when the decals came, I found I liked one of the others ("Geronimo") better because it was natural metal with OD uppers.  I haven't seen many natural metal P-51B's so I decided to do "Geronimo" instead.

 

The first task was to remove the molded in radio as I did in the other build

 

 

A quick zip-zap with the Dremel and problem solved!

 

 

I then painted the interior with Mr. Color FS34102, which I think is pretty close to interior green

 

 

I confess to being lazy.  I've been scratch building some interior details and they turn out OK.  This time I thought I'd find some aftermarket detail so I wouldn't have to scratch build.  Plus the cockpit will be much more visible with a Malcolm hood, so I thought better quality detailing was in order.  I found Eduard made a photo etch zoom set for Academy's P-51B/C and I purchased that.

 

The cockpit assembly is a model in and of itself!  All I had time for last night was the starboard cockpit wall,

 

 

The cockpit wall looks much better in real life.  I also made the radio,

 

 

and the top part of the IP

 

 

Tonight I had big plans to finish off the cockpit, but I was just too tired after work to hit the bench.  

 

I

[Jackson Duvalier]

This should be fun to follow, your last Monogram Mustang turned out really well.

 

I think the best upgrade from your 2020 Shangri-La, time-and-materials-wise, would be some nice resin wheels or maybe a wheelset from a Hasegawa P-51B or a Tamiya P-51D.  The 1/72 Monogram P-51B is a splendid little kit but the stock wheels detract from the verisimilitude. 

 

 

[opus999]

19 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

This should be fun to follow, your last Monogram Mustang turned out really well.

 

I think the best upgrade from your 2020 Shangri-La, time-and-materials-wise, would be some nice resin wheels or maybe a wheelset from a Hasegawa P-51B or a Tamiya P-51D.  The 1/72 Monogram P-51B is a splendid little kit but the stock wheels detract from the verisimilitude. 

 

 

I agree with you wholeheartedly, except I forgot to mention that between missing parts and breaking gear legs while trying to get paint off, I decided this will be a gears-up build.  The kit comes with a stand, so that helps.

[opus999]

Had some time to continue working on the cockpit.  First I added the seatbelts, supports and handle to the seat (which is nicely molded to begin with):

 

 

 

Then I set to working on the port side wall, which had 14 (!) pieces.

 

 

 

It looks really cool in real life.  I will need to leave it off until I'm ready to button up the fuselage so I don't knock any pieces off when I'm trying to make the shelf for the radio behind the seat.

[opus999]

Well, I finally got a little time to work on this.  My goal was to get the fuselage buttoned up today, but I didn't quite make it.  I'm surprised at how many little time consuming tasks there are preparing the cockpit.

 

The first thing I did was glue the seat in.  There was a lot of trimming and fitting involved because I used so much tube glue when I was 13 or 14, that the mounting posts on the fuselage and the areas of the seat where they go were deformed.  I had to work to get those cleaned up so I could properly attach the seat. After that I created a shelf for the radio behind the seat, dry fit it and painted it.  Then, I attached the bottom part of the IP to the top part and mounted it in the fuselage.

 

Like so:

 

 

 

Pretty good so far!

 

I then created a new stick, painted and installed it.  Then glued the radio to the shelf I made and glued that in as well.

 

 

 

I glued the other sidewall assembly on the port fuselage half and dry fit the two halves together.  The cockpit additions look really cool -- I'm gambling that you can see them clearly through the Malcolm hood.  Boy I hope it pays off!

 

 

 

 

 

I finished the day with removing the tail wheel doors, since this will be a gears up build.

 

 

I'm really pleased with how the cockpit came out.  I need to have a closer look at the Eduard Zoom cockpit sets that might be available. Some of the older kits in the stash could really benefit from them.  

 

Tomorrow I hope to glue the fuselage halves together.  I also need to assemble and attach the gunsight.  Since this build will be on a stand and I have to fill the landing gear wells with Apoxie sculpt, I think I need to add some counter balance to the back.  The putty isn't that heavy, but just to be on the safe side!  Besides, I will need to sculpt the tail wheel opening to look like closed doors.

Edited January 16, 2022 by opus999

[Thom216]

Big improvement in the 'pit. I hope you can see it clearly too.😀

[Jackson Duvalier]

Have you selected a pilot figure?

[stevehnz]

In a fit of wickedness, I thought that if you didn't fancy a stand, a diorama of this resting wheels up on the turf as Gentile left it after its last flight would be an option, but then you'd have to deform bits most of it & well, best left to the really depraved among our numbers.   Lets go with the stand eh?  

Steve.

[opus999]

11 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

Have you selected a pilot figure?

Drat.  I didn't even think about it.  I've only done 2 gears up models in my life, so these habits run deep. I don't think I have any pilot figures in the spares since I usually just pitch 'em.  Oh, and the seatbelts on the seat are wrong too. 

 

I also realized last night that its going to look funny without a spinning propeller too. 

 

Hmm.... going to have to rethink this.

 

10 hours ago, stevehnz said:

In a fit of wickedness, I thought that if you didn't fancy a stand, a diorama of this resting wheels up on the turf as Gentile left it after its last flight would be an option, but then you'd have to deform bits most of it & well, best left to the really depraved among our numbers.   Lets go with the stand eh?  

Steve.

I like your thinking!  In both respects, but especially with the stand  

[Johnson]

On 1/11/2022 at 4:45 AM, opus999 said:

The best my 13-year-old self could do

And a lot better than this 13 year old did! 

 

Nice build, I like the cockpit. Who makes the seat belts, they look good (sorry if I missed this info...)

 

Cheers,

[opus999]

4 minutes ago, Johnson said:

And a lot better than this 13 year old did! 

 

Nice build, I like the cockpit. Who makes the seat belts, they look good (sorry if I missed this info...)

 

Cheers,

Thanks!

 

The seatbelts came with the cockpit set which was an Eduard Zoom photo etch set.  Sprue Brothers lists it as "EDUSS717".  I bought a set of Luftwaffe and RAF steel seatbelts from Eduard a while ago and have used them on all my RAF and Luftwaffe builds.  I really like the steel seat belts because they look nice and I can bend them into shape fairly easily.  

[TheRealMrEd]

So far, it looks really great.  You may just inspire me to dig out one I started a few years ago and finish it up.  I'll be looking in!

 

Ed

[Jackson Duvalier]

Steve raises a valid point-- a bookend diorama presentation of "Functional Shangri-La (Morning, 13 April 1944)" and "Post-Photo Op Shangri-La (Evening, 13 April 1944)" would be proper sassy, Opus.  Have you the cheek for such a manoeuvre?  😀

 

It'd save the trouble off finding and painting a pilot figure, just thinking out loud here.

 

Also, shame on you for binning your unwanted figures.  😲  There are starving children in Britmodellerstan who would commit unpeakable acts to have access to well-moulded 1/72 aircrew.

 

As a personal aside, my 1988 "Miniature Masterpiece" boxing of the Monogram Mustang became my first crash diorama.  In a jungle.  With 8th AF markings.  🙄

[mark.au]

1/72 scale, huh?  Wow! 👏

[opus999]

19 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

teve raises a valid point-- a bookend diorama presentation of "Functional Shangri-La (Morning, 13 April 1944)" and "Post-Photo Op Shangri-La (Evening, 13 April 1944)" would be proper sassy, Opus.  Have you the cheek for such a manoeuvre?  😀

That would be neat.  I've never done a diorama before.  I'm curious to see how I would fare.  🤔 

 

I think I neglected to say what the subject is going to be -- I plan on making it "Geronimo", which is a natural metal w/ OD uppers of the 357th squadron.

 

19 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

Also, shame on you for binning your unwanted figures.  😲  There are starving children in Britmodellerstan who would commit unpeakable acts to have access to well-moulded 1/72 aircrew.

Heh...yeah I should know better.   But frankly, the figures I see on the parts trees lately look pretty bad, with gaping holes in their torsos from sink marks and the like.  I'm not sure anyone would want them!

 

19 hours ago, mark.au said:

1/72 scale, huh?  Wow! 👏

Thanks!  

[opus999]

I've been thinking more about this build and realized that I keep thinking that my subject has a gray bottom, when it actually has a natural metal bottom.  That will make shaping closed doors out of epoxy putty difficult.  Well, shaping the doors won't be all that hard, but getting it to look nice with a BMF would be more of a challenge.  I can get after market gears, but they come without wheels or doors.  The wheels I can get, but doors -- not really.  But I have a solution, and a cunning plan.  but that will be revealed when my order arrives, hopefully later in the week.

[opus999]

Not a whole lot of progress was made this week, because (as I suspected), my bench time has been severely curtailed by going back to the office.  Plus, I was waiting for my landing gears and gear doors to arrive and they weren't expected until early next week. 

 

I did get the fuselage back together

 

 

The top seam is pretty good and won't require much work.  The bottom, though, isn't that good and will take some sanding to get into shape.

 

After this I focused on my Typhoon build.  I was surprised yesterday afternoon by the arrival of my "spare parts":

 

 

Yes, this was a cheaper and more complete solution than buying after market gears.  The doors can't be bought aftermarket, so I would need to fab some up, and I don't know how I would get the unique look of the inside of the main doors. Instead, I spent 10 bucks and bought this instead because pictures I'd seen on line showed the gears and doors to be at least comparable to the Monogram parts they're replacing.  

 

After my hair-pulling experience building the HB Bf109E's I figured the rest of the model would be a paint mule or something, but playing with it, I discovered that the fit is really pretty good and the shape is pretty good except for too much chord in the tail fin.  I set it aside for a rainy day -- I'll probably throw it together and hang it on my kid's ceiling.

 

The Typhoon is eating up all my time right now, but I might get some work in on this soon.

Edited January 24, 2022 by opus999

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

I have one of these sitting and ready to go for the Revellogram group build. Be nice to see how they build up. 

Edited January 28, 2022 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[The Spadgent]

As much as I think you should have kept your old model as it was I’m totally Along with what you want to do here so I’m in for the ride if that’s ok. Sorry it’s taken a while to get here.  It’s much the case of  “ after the horse has bolted” but if you do need any 1/72 air crew I have some spare that I have been saving up for our dear @CedB but if you can make use of them please give me a poke.  Great start by the way.

Johnny.

[opus999]

15 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I have one of these sitting and ready to go for the Revellogram group build. Be nice to see how they build up. 

Sure Dennis!  Nice to have you look in.  I did a '70s vintage Monogram P-51B OOB as Don Gentile's Shangri-la a little while ago: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235083442-172-p-51b-shangri-la-bringing-a-45-year-old-model-to-life/ The box was still shrink wrapped when I started!  It built up very nice with a little care in the wheel wells and cockpit.  I think it might be the best kit out there (except for perhaps the new Arma kit I keep hearing about).

 

10 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

As much as I think you should have kept your old model as it was I’m totally Along with what you want to do here so I’m in for the ride if that’s ok. Sorry it’s taken a while to get here.  It’s much the case of  “ after the horse has bolted” but if you do need any 1/72 air crew I have some spare that I have been saving up for our dear @CedB but if you can make use of them please give me a poke.  Great start by the way.

Johnny.

Thanks Johnny!  I found later that the Monogram came with a pilot.  I just overlooked him.  This one will be gears down/static display after all, however if I get around to building the HB kit for my kid's ceiling I'll probably use the Monogram pilot for it.

[opus999]

Now that the Typhoon is done, I've turned my attention back to the Mustang.  Monday night I glued the wings and horizontal stabilizers back on:

 

 

Fit wasn't terrific because of errors in the original build.  Mostly because of a lot of slopped on Testors tube glue.  I had to trim all of that off to ensure a good fit.  In the end I got a good fit everywhere except for big gaps in the horizontal stabilizers (which I couldn't figure out the cause of) and on the port wing.  No problems there... I can deal with gaps. 

 

Next up, I decided to dress up the wheel wells.  On my Shangri-la build, since it was straight out of the box, I could add all the detail before gluing the wings together.  On this build, I couldn't get the wings apart for love, money or applesauce.  Here's why:

 

 

See that big ol' indentation?  That's from the gobs of tube glue I used way back when. I don't know what I was thinking when I was in middle school, but I think I subconsciously believed that the parts would spontaneously fly apart, so I made sure to use lots of glue to prevent that.  The result? indents like the one above where the glue softened the plastic and it deformed.  I have an F/A-18 that has one wing turned slightly up at the end because of all the glue.

 

Anyway, I would have to add all the detail with the wings assembled, which means suffering.   

 

First, I had to try and fill in the seams where the wings met the fuselage:

 

 

I used apoxie-sculpt epoxy putty and smoothed it with a wet paper towel (since I wouldn't be able to sand it).  It turned out reasonably well.  Then I used my styrene to add the details:

 

 

 

It turned out OK.  Not as good as it would've been if the wings were apart, but it's the best I can do.

 

You'll notice I sanded the heck out of the bottom fuselage seam.  The join itself turned out fairly nice, The problem was that the plastic was sunken, so that there was a depression running parallel to the seam that I needed to fill with CA and then sand smooth.  I finally got it the way I want.

 

Tomorrow I need to sand the surface detail off, and hopefully I will have time to paint... but we'll see.

Edited February 4, 2022 by opus999

[Brigbeale]

How did I miss this one??

 

As a fellow ‘restorer’ I read this one with great interest having restored a pair of Matchbox P-51D’s from when I did them when I was a teenager. Some missing parts were made from styrene card/spare parts and sprue while others were 3D printed.

Although they’re looking nice in their silver colour, I kinda wish I’d known a bit more about NMF or BMF paints.

 

The cockpit detail is amazing so full credit to pulling that off

 

The wheel well detailing looks great also. It’s always a bit frustrating getting parts into an assembled wing and getting them to stay in position while another piece is added, so very well done on that as well.

 

I feel the same when the plastic is affected by what I call ‘ballistics grade’ assembly. My 35+ year old Matchbox Hurricane also has a kink in the wing but whether its the glue or storage - I don’t know, but I’m too sentimental about it, having survived two house moves,  to do anything about it and ruin it.

 

Keep up the good work!

Edited February 4, 2022 by Brigbeale

[The Spadgent]

Nice work on the wells. That IS a lot of sanding on the nose. A few wafts with some wet and dry and you’re away. 🙌

 

 Johnny

[2996 Victor]

Lovely work so far, Opus, and much kudos for taking apart your teenage build for a make-over of this magnitude. Geronimo will make a worthy partner to Shangri-La when you're finished.

 

Cheers,

Mark

[opus999]

9 hours ago, Brigbeale said:

As a fellow ‘restorer’ I read this one with great interest

I have to say that I don't think this one started in as bad of a state as some of your recent rebuilds!   So, I'm kind of lucky there.

 

9 hours ago, Brigbeale said:

The cockpit detail is amazing so full credit to pulling that off

 

Thanks!  I recently read an exchange on BM where someone poo-poo'd the use of such pre-painted cockpit enhancements because its someone else's work, really.  I can see that point of view, but I have to say that it look more amazing than I ever could've pulled off with styrene, and there's a tremendous amount of satisfaction when its done because its not easy to assemble by any means!  

 

9 hours ago, Brigbeale said:

The wheel well detailing looks great also. It’s always a bit frustrating getting parts into an assembled wing and getting them to stay in position while another piece is added, so very well done on that as well.

Yes indeed... on top of that was trimming, and retrimming pieces until they could fit in there.  Ugh.  It went more smoothly than expected, but toward the end I was more than ready to be done!

 

6 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

Nice work on the wells. That IS a lot of sanding on the nose. A few wafts with some wet and dry and you’re away. 🙌

 

 Johnny

Yeah! I made sure I had it where I wanted before bed last night. So hopefully there is just some polishing left to do and then onward and upward.

 

3 hours ago, 2996 Victor said:

Lovely work so far, Opus, and much kudos for taking apart your teenage build for a make-over of this magnitude. Geronimo will make a worthy partner to Shangri-La when you're finished.

 

Cheers,

Mark

I hope so!  I have to say I've looked at pictures and other builds of Geronimo and I'm excited by the prospect of a mostly NMF P-51B in the cabinet.  That's something I really haven't seen much.