453rd BG Museum Build - P-51D Mustang - East Wretham (Green Nosed) 370th FS "CisCo" (using the Tamiya 1/48 kit)

[bigbadbadge]

Nice pipework Terry andcthe filler pipe too, ingenious,  great work,  hope you make a swift recovery and can enjoy the grape juice when harvested.

Chris

[Biggles87]

Agreed on the imaginative use of the Christmas wrapping, I’ll be looking on the Christmas fripperies in a new light when the time comes.

 

John

 

[Terry1954]

The long awaited (2nd) procedure on my right leg went ok, but the post op fall out meant I couldn't sit for any reasonable period of time. Walking was fine, and resting the leg horizontal ok, but anything in between was a no no, so very little modelling has happened. Things seem to be getting back to normal now, and more has at last happened on the P-51.

 

On 8/2/2023 at 12:37 PM, Graham Boak said:

I used to use that kind of detail to poke fun at the idea of going that far in 1/72.  I still think it pretty absurd... but need another example now.   Let me think for a moment - does it have the right thickness for the cord for the pilot's microphone?

 

Things do seem to have gone a bit OTT in the detail stakes of our hobby I agree Graham. When I get round to making that 1/72 Arma Hobby kit, perhaps I should apply some scale mud deposits on those embossed logos on the rudder pedals ................ 🤔

 

On 8/4/2023 at 4:28 PM, giemme said:

I'm glad the oxygen pipe turned out great, Terry

 

Lovely detailing you have added all around, top job

 

As for the interiors color, in my build I used Tamiya Cockpit Green XF71, adding some Tamiya Flat Yellow. 

I used the same mix to brush paint over the pre-painted PE parts, as their color looked completely different. HTH

 

Ciao

 

Thanks Giorgio. I'm tending to follow your lead on the internal green, and will be sorting that pre-coloured green for sure!

 

On 8/5/2023 at 3:35 PM, bigbadbadge said:

Nice pipework Terry andcthe filler pipe too, ingenious,  great work,  hope you make a swift recovery and can enjoy the grape juice when harvested.

Chris

 

Thanks Chris, recovery is going well!

 

On 8/6/2023 at 1:01 PM, Biggles87 said:

Agreed on the imaginative use of the Christmas wrapping, I’ll be looking on the Christmas fripperies in a new light when the time comes.

 

John

 

 

I tend to look at many things with a modelling eye these days, as it's surprising how useful odds and ends can be!

 

I decided to re-do a little of the rear cockpit detail as my first attempt looked a bit shoddy. The battery packs got some further detail, and a better attempt at attaching the cables to the batteries. Not 100% true to scale I'm sure, but given where this all sits, visible enough to need a bit of license ........

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the last picture you can see I bit the bullet and started to place the pre-coloured etch, deciding to mask it all for painting.

 

With that decision made, I went for it big time. I should at this point add that masking the pre-coloured etch is fraught with challenges, as the colour very easily removes itself when the tape comes of - I tested some on the fret that I was not planning to use.

A quick consultation with Giorgio @giemme confirmed that clear coating the etch carefully should prevent that happening.

Tests I subsequently did showed that to be true. ...... so far.

 

 

 

And a quick check to make sure fuselage halves come together ok, with no interference with the IP etc. There will be more, finer detail added after paint has been done .........

 

 

 

With that, all the pre-coloured etch was masked, and we now have the first signs of paint in the form of MRP's fine black primer........

 

 

 

 

Might as well do the seat housing while we are at it

 

 

..... and since we have an airbrush still with paint left, lets prime the undercarriage bay..............

 

 

This is what we have tonight, after removing the masking from the green side panels.

 

The detailed pre--coloured black panels are masked off in these shots, ready for the interior green but before that we need to mask off those small details on the pre-coloured green (very pale) side panels. I've also given those another coat of varnish for good measure.

 

 

If this approach doesn't work, and the pre-etch loses some of it colour detail, we are back to good old basics!

 

More should follow in a few days.

 

T.

 

[bigbadbadge]

Glad the recovery is going well Terry. 

Those battery leads are a fantastic idea and certainly look the part.

Fingers crossed t for the masking of the PE too.

Great work

Chris

 

[Fritag]

 

37 minutes ago, Terry1954 said:

Things seem to be getting back to normal now

 

Good to hear it, Terry.  Sounds to have been unpleasant. But hopefully now in the rear view mirror…

 

39 minutes ago, Terry1954 said:

pre-coloured etch, deciding to mask it all for painting.

 

🤞.

 

Such bravery deserves a reward   There is presumably a good reason for risking all?

 

Nice detailing Terry, bravo sir.

[giemme]

Good to hear you are on the meand, Terry!

 

Excellent job with the cockpit and the PE parts so far!  TBH, I glued in some of the black ones only once all the rest of the painting was done. KUDOS!

 

Ciao 

[mark.au]

Good stuff, the detailing on the batteries, etc. is really going the extra mile.  I'm curious as to why attach the PE prior to painting and the requirement to mask it instead of attaching it after painting?

[Biggles87]

The battery wiring connections are great.
As you are going the extra mile ( or two ) with the cockpit detail will you be adding the trunking either side of the seat?

 

John

[Brandy]

Good to hear the leg is on the mend. You'll be skipping merrily to the pub in no time.

 

Ian

[TheBaron]

Sorry to hear of your undercarriage problems Terry but your interior regions are looking superb.

[Terry1954]

Now that I can sit down for more than 15 minutes at a time, I've managed to do a little more on the Mustang.........

 

On 8/13/2023 at 9:09 PM, bigbadbadge said:

Glad the recovery is going well Terry. 

Those battery leads are a fantastic idea and certainly look the part.

Fingers crossed t for the masking of the PE too.

Great work

Chris

 

 

Thank you Chris. FYI, the battery leads are actually lead wire that I managed to pinched the ends and drill small holes in. A bit of a tip for our car modellers I reckon, or maybe I stole the idea from them!

 

On 8/13/2023 at 9:30 PM, Fritag said:

Good to hear it, Terry.  Sounds to have been unpleasant. But hopefully now in the rear view mirror…

 

Thanks Steve. I keep telling Mrs T how unpleasant it's all been and how I've suffered, but I'm not sure the message is getting through . Hopefully moving on now at last though🤞

 

On 8/14/2023 at 7:28 AM, mark.au said:

Good stuff, the detailing on the batteries, etc. is really going the extra mile.

 

Thanks Mark, a real compliment coming from a master!

 

On 8/13/2023 at 9:30 PM, Fritag said:

There is presumably a good reason for risking all?

 

On 8/14/2023 at 7:28 AM, mark.au said:

I'm curious as to why attach the PE prior to painting and the requirement to mask it instead of attaching it after painting?

 

Probably madness on my part, but I much prefer painting smallish parts like this "as one" and picking out detail later on. I wanted the sidewall detail to blend in together. You can both stay relatively calm though as you will see, my madness seemed to work ......

 

On 8/14/2023 at 4:41 AM, giemme said:

Good to hear you are on the meand, Terry!

 

Excellent job with the cockpit and the PE parts so far!  TBH, I glued in some of the black ones only once all the rest of the painting was done. KUDOS!

 

Thanks Giorgio. It would seem that both approaches work............

 

On 8/14/2023 at 7:47 AM, Biggles87 said:

The battery wiring connections are great.
As you are going the extra mile ( or two ) with the cockpit detail will you be adding the trunking either side of the seat?

 

Thanks John. Not entirely sure what trunking you are referring to, but if I can find a reference, and it's obvious, I might give it a go?

 

On 8/14/2023 at 3:22 PM, Brandy said:

Good to hear the leg is on the mend. You'll be skipping merrily to the pub in no time.

 

Thanks Ian. Not much skipping required when our back gate is a mere 9 paces along a small alley to the gate of our local pub beer garden ........ 

 

On 8/14/2023 at 3:30 PM, TheBaron said:

Sorry to hear of your undercarriage problems Terry but your interior regions are looking superb.

 

  

 

After the last post (no not the bugler one) I began to doubt my sanity on masking the pre-printed etch, but I did give them all a couple of coats of clear to be sure so on went some AK US interior yellow green. First time I've used this range, and it goes on beautifully, and .................... the masks came off beautifully. 

 

Port side with black panel mask removed and masks taken off the small black signage of the top piece.

 

 

Starboard side, busier, but seemed to work as well............

 

 

And a cruel macro close up showing where some touching up will be needed around the printed panel at the top. Looks like my masking was a bit off.

 

 

Some paint on the seat also

 

 

 

Rudder pedals painted and fixed behind IP. They sit perilously close to the cockpit floor, so may need lifting up a bit.

 

 

A couple of shots of the main cockpit floor/insert. The masking on that was very fiddly, and you may spot areas needing clean up, wiring especially.

 

 

 

And finally a couple of shots after checking everything still fits.

 

 

 

Everything will get tidied up where there were oversprays and creep, then a coat of varnish to seal it all in, before adding some remaining details and giving things a bit of a pin wash etc.

 

We have multiple visitors coming tomorrow, offspring and grand offspring, as my eldest two sons are 44 on Saturday so it's party time, and not much will happen again till early next week.

 

All comments welcome.

 

Terry

[hendie]

that's all looking rather marvelous, Terry.  I didn't envy you on the PE masking but you have managed to pull it off (no pun intended)

[giemme]

Top job with those interiors, Terry!  

 

Ciao 

[Hamden]

 

Cockpit looks very good Terry looking forward to the next update now!

 

    Stay safe                Roger

[antonio argudo]

Terry, very nice that you are putting the effort in detailing that cockpit, I feel I should advice you for some inaccuracies I see, the battery rack was black  instead of interior green, you can see here in some NAA assembling line footage, also there is no big ball but the fuselage fuel tank  gauge, hope it helps to achieve more accurate rendition, keep the good, cheers

 

[antonio argudo]

 

[Biggles87]

The last post by @antonio argudo ( I thought he might show up, he likes Mustangs) has saved me the trouble of looking out some photos.

The trunking can be seen in his last photo running down the left side of the seat support then across to join another piece on the other side. I don’t know how visible it will be in 1/48 but it is easily seen in 1/32.

, 

John

[antonio argudo]

1 hour ago, Biggles87 said:

The last post by @antonio argudo ( I thought he might show up, he likes Mustangs) has saved me the trouble of looking out some photos.

The trunking can be seen in his last photo running down the left side of the seat support then across to join another piece on the other side. I don’t know how visible it will be in 1/48 but it is easily seen in 1/32.

, 

John

Cheers John, who does not like Mustangs? 😅

these are the ventilation system drawings  from the manuals

cheers

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2023 by antonio argudo

[Terry1954]

No further work today but I should reply to some helpful input!

 

22 hours ago, hendie said:

that's all looking rather marvelous, Terry.  I didn't envy you on the PE masking but you have managed to pull it off (no pun intended)

 

Thanks Alan. Pulling it off, no matter how gingerly I did it, was stressful!

 

22 hours ago, giemme said:

Top job with those interiors, Terry!

 

Appreciated Giorgio!

 

22 hours ago, Hamden said:

Cockpit looks very good Terry looking forward to the next update now!

 

Thanks Roger. Not quite the next update, but Antonio has come forward with some helpful stuff.

 

15 hours ago, antonio argudo said:

Terry, very nice that you are putting the effort in detailing that cockpit, I feel I should advice you for some inaccuracies I see, the battery rack was black  instead of interior green, you can see here in some NAA assembling line footage, also there is no big ball but the fuselage fuel tank  gauge, hope it helps to achieve more accurate rendition, keep the good, cheers

 

Antonio welcome, and thank you for that! Had I known about the fuel tank rack before it would have saved some very tricky masking. All of the references I saw for that were mostly other models! It seems almost every model P-51D has it that way ......... 🤔

 

I should say I was not aiming for total accuracy (way too unnecessary for me in this scale) but to achieve a look of "busyness" , and so the ball was supposed to be a representation of something I could see in a number of reference pictures, but none of them were clear enough to show what it actually was. Now I can see clearly what it is meant to be, I may try and alter that part.

 

I think the colouring can be easily sorted if I decide to do that (I quite liked the look of the green rack!), and I note that the green goes farther back than I have it, and one or two other colour fixes I can do.

 

There is even a little more detail I could add in the back there. I'll think on that.

 

And John, @Biggles87, I can now see what you mean. I might have a crack at that, depending on how visible it will be.

 

And Antonio, if you have any decent pictures of the cockpit floor, from the seat back forward, that would be helpful. 

 

Many thanks.

 

Terry

[antonio argudo]

2 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

if you have any decent pictures of the cockpit floor, from the seat back forward, that would be helpful. 

 

Many thanks.

 

Terry

No problem Terry,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2023 by antonio argudo

[The Spadgent]

Looking fantastic Terry. I can’t remember 100% but I do think I had too and fros with the frame colour when I did my museum mustang. Some were green, some black if I recall.  Glad your legs on the mend too. 
 

Johnny. 

[bigbadbadge]

The cockpit internals are looking fantastic Terry,  gonna be awesome when all put together.  Great work.

Chris

[81-er]

I somehow missed this one, Terry, but I've had a very thorough catch up now. Excellent work so far, I'll pull up a pew for the rest. I hope the legs are ok now?

 

James

[Terry1954]

A small setback after my latest treatment to my right leg, has frustrated many of our plans for the last few weeks. I managed to contract some sort of infection in my leg, which has completely scuppered plans for a round UK road trip. The infection seems to be subsiding now, so we are planning to start the trip around a week and half behind schedule, with the aim of ending up at the next BM meet at the Old Buckenham 453rd Bomb Group museum. Sadly, this particular build will in no way be complete in time (lets face it, it was never really going to make this cut, and we all knew that, despite Steve @Fritag generously conceding a number of handicaps in his Defiant build, in the form of perpetual holiday breaks, to enable me to catch up. 

 

Meanwhile, I've had to stick to some local stuff, in the form of a Classic Vehicle show in the next village. Those interested in what we saw, can click on the link for a full album of pictures (over 200).

The leading shot (and many others) for this album, is my all time favourite car, the Cobra. This one being the DAX variety.

 

 

Must build a kit of that car sometime............

 

Meanwhile, some other business........

 

Many thanks to @antonio argudo for further information on the cockpit area, to help in establishing some accurate details for the front area of the cockpit.

 

I've been able to use some of that Antonio, to correct and add a little more authenticity, but nothing too crazy for this one. See below.

 

On 8/20/2023 at 8:49 AM, The Spadgent said:

Looking fantastic Terry. I can’t remember 100% but I do think I had too and fros with the frame colour when I did my museum mustang. Some were green, some black if I recall.  Glad your legs on the mend too.

 

Thanks Johnny. It seems a subject fraught with conjecture. As you will see, I changed some things but kept some things as I had started to do.............

And as for the legs, if I do make it to Norwich (which I'm determined to do) I'll bore the legs off anyone who wants to listen about my own leg story!

 

On 8/20/2023 at 9:10 AM, bigbadbadge said:

The cockpit internals are looking fantastic Terry,  gonna be awesome when all put together.  Great work.

 

Thanks Chris. An awesome look is what I'm aiming for, lets see how it turns out though 🤔

 

On 9/11/2023 at 10:18 AM, 81-er said:

I somehow missed this one, Terry, but I've had a very thorough catch up now. Excellent work so far, I'll pull up a pew for the rest. I hope the legs are ok now?

 

Thank you James, and welcome. Legs ................ we'll see!

 

So (sorry Ian)................. Antonios suggestion that there was no large ball at the port rear of the cockpit was a fair comment, and I decided to correct that, by fabricating a small fuel gauge in the shape of what I perceive to be the real thing:

 

 

And placed it thus:

 

 

I've found some small "gauge" decals that I plan to put on the face of the dial.

 

Next thing to fix was the cockpit floor colour. Many references seem to imply black instead of cockpit green, so black replaced the original green.

I'm aware the floor was made of some sort of plywood, to the plan is to heavily scuff this to reveal the brown/tan wood, then I come to weather the whole cockpit.

 

 

Another view of the re-painted floor, with some additional detail, and the finalised oxygen house test fitted, but yet to be painted.

 

 

More work on the seat........

 

 

 

And then shown test fitted ...........

 

 

A few small belt details were left on the etch fret, which need to go on, before it's all sealed in with some matt varnish.

 

Some etch grill parts onto various under fuselage radiators .........

 

 

 

 

 

And the same parts with some black primer (MRP in this case)

 

 

 

 

And next, some work on the main undercarriage cleaned up, prior to removal of parts and etch replacements:

 

 

 

And now complete with replacement etch:

 

 

 

Eduard do give you etch for the brake lines, but I'm inclined to use fine lead wire for that I think. More on that next time.

 

And finally, a small piece of etch for the canopy support frame:

 

 

I should get a little more done before we leave for the adjusted road trip, early next week, but certainly no more work tomorrow as its my Birthday, and Mrs T is taking me to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton for a Birthday treat. 🥳

 

I've not been down there for a while and this will be an excellent opportunity to get some up close detail pictures of the Sea King to help in research for when I start the build of my other Birthday present from Mrs T in the form of this beauty........

 

 

Anyone especially interested in this release should seek out @Ex-FAAWAFUs and @Mikes OOB builds in the WIP section here. Both really great builds of a really awesome kit.

 

More soon

 

T

[hendie]

A smashing update Terry.  From scratching, to PE fitting, and even snake charming an oxygen hose - all great stuff 

 

Glad to hear the leg is on the mend - remember and take it with you on the road trip