1:48 Eduard P-51D “finless” Mustang

[elger]

good stuff!

[Thom216]

Nice work on the painting and wood effects!

And Eduard put a lot of detail into this, so very nice.

[81-er]

That wheel bay is very nice, John

 

James

[Farmerboy]

Great work on the wheel wells, especially masking the zinc chromate, l have built an Eduard Mustang and the only criticism l would have is that the location points for the main undercarriage legs is not as positive as you would hope, not a deal breaker but something to watch out for!

[mark.au]

It warms my heart to see a properly painted Mustang wheel well

 

[shortCummins]

10 hours ago, elger said:

good stuff!

 

10 hours ago, Thom216 said:

Nice work on the painting and wood effects!

And Eduard put a lot of detail into this, so very nice.

 

10 hours ago, 81-er said:

That wheel bay is very nice, John

 

James

 

4 hours ago, Farmerboy said:

Great work on the wheel wells, especially masking the zinc chromate, l have built an Eduard Mustang and the only criticism l would have is that the location points for the main undercarriage legs is not as positive as you would hope, not a deal breaker but something to watch out for!

 

2 hours ago, mark.au said:

It warms my heart to see a properly painted Mustang wheel well

 

 

thanks Chaps 👍

[Biggles87]

All of the above comments from me.

My first Eduard P-51D was a Weekend edition and unfortunately because the Weekend boxes are quite shallow and other bits I had ordered had been stuffed into the same box, the ends of the undercarriage bay rear wall were damaged, one end bent and the other broken off!

Looking forward to more.

 

John

 

[shortCummins]

1 hour ago, Biggles87 said:

All of the above comments from me.

My first Eduard P-51D was a Weekend edition and unfortunately because the Weekend boxes are quite shallow and other bits I had ordered had been stuffed into the same box, the ends of the undercarriage bay rear wall were damaged, one end bent and the other broken off!

Looking forward to more.

 

John

 

that's a shame John

 

Eduard (eduard.com) have a couple of overtrees sets for £9.52, so perhaps not all is lost?

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

when I decided on the scheme for this build...

 

I had a feeling that I "knew" the aircraft but couldn't remember why?, earlier today I was looking back through some old photos when I came across this...

 

it turns out that in 2015 I saw a replica(?) of the aircraft I'm building, I saw replica because I think it had the extended tail fin/fillet however I haven't any photos that show the rear of the aircraft.

 

isn't it funny how "things" turn out?

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

 

[Farmerboy]

The green on that undercarriage door looks a bit dodgy!!!

[Biggles87]

Correction to my last, it was an overtrees set which was why the box was more shallow than the other editions.

 

John. 

[shortCummins]

 

The identification lights were painted with Tamiya clear yellow, green and red…

 

…and then covered with some aluminium tape (the sort of sticky tape used to join underlay for laminate flooring).

 

 

I’d read a couple of accounts that warned of “issues” with the ointment of the wheel wells, causing the top of the wing to not sit properly on the lower wing, machine gun section too small causing a “step” when fitted to the wing, wing roots have a gap between wing and fuselage.

So I was a little wary however, when “dry fitting” the top and lower wing (held in place with masking tape) this was the result…

 

…the machine gun section (gun barrels drilled)…

 

 

…and wing roots, the tape hasn’t applied enough pressure hence the gap.

 

 

As you can see I had no issues, perhaps because I took time to ensure the wheel well parts were fully seated? So I applied extra thin and fixed the wing(s) to the fuselage.

 

 

The fit/engineering is excellent, if you’re thinking of building a 1:48 Mustang, GET ONE OF THESE!, you won’t be disappointed especially as the weekend kits (3 versions) are under £20.

 

 

 

Next, I’ll be adding the other bits’n’bobs to the airframe.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[Bertie McBoatface]

You are building this one steadily and very well. Keep it up!

[shortCummins]

 

The gunsight and light?, fixed to the IP covering…

…there are two lights? supplied however one of them was sacrificed to the carpet monster when it pinged from my tweezers.

 

This is the Quinta 3D decal IP, I’ve painted the “line” transparent yellow as it’s supplied as a white line…

 

…IP, cover and foot pedals completed.

 

The IP sub-assembly fitted to the cockpit…

NOTE: you can see where I’ve swiped some putty along the wing root to close the, tiny, gap.

 

Rear radiator vent(s) fitted…

 

…front scoop also attached.

 

 

 

Next, I’ll be preparing the airframe for paint.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[Biggles87]

The fit does indeed look very good, even the wing gun inserts, well on the upper surfaces anyway but you can’t have everything. The gun inserts seem to cause problems on most Mustang kits, the last one I completed was from Meng and they were terrible!

Nearly ready for paint, you are a quick worker, well by my standards anyway.

 

John. 

[81-er]

You're making a great job of this one, John, and that wing fit looks pretty good to me. I can definitely see one of these joining the stash after I've moved

 

James

[shortCummins]

21 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

The fit does indeed look very good, even the wing gun inserts, well on the upper surfaces anyway but you can’t have everything. The gun inserts seem to cause problems on most Mustang kits, the last one I completed was from Meng and they were terrible!

Nearly ready for paint, you are a quick worker, well by my standards anyway.

 

John. 

thanks John

 

this kit is just falling together, what a difference to the Kitty Hawk Gripen!, I'm really enjoying this build.

 

3 hours ago, 81-er said:

You're making a great job of this one, John, and that wing fit looks pretty good to me. I can definitely see one of these joining the stash after I've moved

 

James

thanks James

 

this is one of the best kits I've built both in terms of detail and engineering(fit) I can see one or two more of these, different versions, in my future 

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

Before I can apply the primer I need to mask the cockpit and wheel wells, before I can mask the cockpit I need to apply some aluminium colour for the “inside” of both the windscreen and canopy, so these were masked, using the Eduard mask set and given a coat of Xtreme Metal AK478 white aluminium.

 

 

 

Once dry the windscreen was fixed to the aircraft, Eduard supply 3 different canopies, I’ve used one of them as a mask for the cockpit, I “tacked” it in place with some PVA glue.

 

 

I also tacked in place the landing gear covers and used the masks from the Eduard mask set for the identification lights.

 

 

Now that the masking is in place I gave the seams a light coat of primer to check if any “work” was needed?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, I’ll be “fixing” the seam lines, re-scribing some panel lines and adding some rivet/fastener detail.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[81-er]

Nice work, John. I've used the same trick of gluing a spare canopy on with PVA on my P-38 build

 

James

[shortCummins]

22 hours ago, 81-er said:

Nice work, John. I've used the same trick of gluing a spare canopy on with PVA on my P-38 build

 

James

thanks James

 

I've had a look at your P-38 and your doing a cracking job, I'm really tempted by one of the Tamiya Lightenings, I quite fancy a "J" although the "F/G" version would allow for more obvious weathering?

 

I really must get through my stash, my "self imposed" rule of only adding to the stash once a model has been built, is proving quite hard to live with.

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

Edited November 26, 2022 by shortCummins

[shortCummins]

 

The “chin” seam line was filled with some sprue-goo, sanded flush and then polished.

 

A “ghost seam” had appeared toward the rear of the fuselage so that was attended to also.

 

There were a couple of seam lines that needed attention.

 

 

 

 

I thought that the seam along the top  cowl was a little too proud, so it was sanded a little flush.

 

Unfortunately the detail for the top of the cowl, rivets and fasteners, are a little weak so I “enhanced” them with my “Rosie the Riveter” tool and added the Dzus fasteners.

I used some tape to try and ensure the fasteners would be in a straight line.

 

 

 

 

Next, I’ll be applying the primer.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

As we all know(?) the Mustang’s wings had all of the rivets filled with putty and then painted an aluminium colour whilst the fuselage body had the aluminium polished (assuming no camo applied).

So I’m going to use two types of primer, Mr Surfacer 1500 black for the wings and Mr Color GX2 gloss black (50/50 Mr Levelling Thinner) for the body and other shinny bits.

 

I first applied the Mr Surfacer 1500…

 

 

 

 

…followed by the GX2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, I’ll be applying the painted aluminium colour.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[Farmerboy]

Are you going to fill the panel lines on the wings?  I never bother because it really is a faff.

l am a recent convert to SMS acrylic lacquers, they are very good and compatible with Mr Color, interested to see how you get on with your metal work!

,

[81-er]

Nice progress again, John, I'm looking forward to the NMF going on this

 

21 hours ago, shortCummins said:

I've had a look at your P-38 and your doing a cracking job, I'm really tempted by one of the Tamiya Lightenings, I quite fancy a "J" although the "F/G" version would allow for more obvious weathering?

 

I really must get through my stash, my "self imposed" rule of only adding to the stash once a model has been built, is proving quite hard to live with.

Thank you  It's a great kit, and that's all the more evident building the Academy P-38M alongside it, and also having started the Xtrakit Saunders Roe SR.A/1 as well! There's a fair few options besides NMF on J-models & later, particularly if you look further afield than US aircraft. 

 

I've been trying to limit stash growth as it's both far outstripping my completion rate, and because I'll be moving very soon. Then Telford & Black Friday happened, and the stash grew by 10 kits  At least 5 of those are the cheapy Revell Snap-fix Star Wars ones

 

James

[shortCummins]

17 hours ago, Farmerboy said:

Are you going to fill the panel lines on the wings?  I never bother because it really is a faff.

l am a recent convert to SMS acrylic lacquers, they are very good and compatible with Mr Color, interested to see how you get on with your metal work!

,

I'm going to leave the wing panel lines as is, Eduard has produced them without rivets so that's about the "lack of detail" I'm happy with.

 

I've not tried SMS paints, and in truth will probably stick to MRP (my preferred paint), Tamiya & MrColor unless they have a specific colour, probably RAAF?, that I can't get however I have heard nothing but good reviews about them and now that Scale Model Shed has signed up as a distributor they "should" be easier to get hold of here in the UK?

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)