djktrumpet Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I'm quite excited to start this! Here's a box shot - I'll be building Eduard's 1/48 P-51D, in markings of an aircraft flown by Lt James Hickey, out of Martlesham Heath. My late father was RAF groundcrew, and based at Martlesham until it became an American base in 1943, when he was transferred to work on Wellington bombers at Chipping Warden. So, a family connection, albeit a slightly tenuous one! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 1 hour ago, djktrumpet said: So, a family connection, albeit a slightly tenuous one! Best I can tell my only connection to Mustangs is seeing them at airshows, so that sounds a pretty close connection to me! The Eduard kit looks beautiful, enjoy, and welcome to the GB! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Good afternoon djktrumpet Welcome aboard .. It looks like the Eduard Poney will be very popular for this STGB Have fun with your build ... Best regards Patrice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Looking forward to seeing this one come together - the Varga nose art is lovely and the squadron artist did a good job in reproducing it! Here's the Varga painting: It appeared in Esquire magazine for February 1941. Cheers, Mark 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 9 hours ago, 2996 Victor said: It appeared in Esquire magazine for February 1941. Good Grief! She will catch her death dressed like that, in February 1941 there'd be no central heating. She needs a jumper on! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djktrumpet Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 I'm made a gentle start to this one, prepping some of the cockpit bits for painting. This really looks like a stunning kit, and I'm hoping I can do it justice! Beautifully moulded in hard grey styrene, and minimal flash of course - just the odd glide over with a fine file here and there. The seat alone is a little work of art, and I'm really looking forward to getting to grips with this build. As an aside, the boxing I've got includes some fabulous decal options, including the famous 'Big Beautiful Doll' - very tempting but I'm resolved to do "Lullaby for a Dream" this time. I feel there may be some overtrees purchases later though; one can never have too many Mustangs. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 Nice start! I love the beginning of the build when all that potential lays before you. 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 It's a fab kit, you'll enjoy it! It's typical Eduard, maybe a tad over-engineered but well-fitting and not difficult. Good choice to stick to your original subject! Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djktrumpet Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 1 hour ago, 2996 Victor said: It's a fab kit, you'll enjoy it! It's typical Eduard, maybe a tad over-engineered but well-fitting and not difficult. Good choice to stick to your original subject! Cheers, Mark Eduard provide alternative parts for the various variants represented by their decal sheet, and helpfully make the call-outs in the instructions as to which alternative you should use. However, that means I've had to do a bit of detective work to determine which bits to use for my chosen aircraft. It's serial number 44-15052, which makes it a P-51D-15NA, built at Inglewood. Fortunately for me, Option C in the kit is also an Inglewood-built D-15, so I'll follow the parts choices for that option, with the exception of the canopy. I found a colourised photo of 'Lullaby', which although not great quality, does show the canopy shape with the high point over the pilot's head, so I'll be using that part, again helpfully provided by Eduard! (Photo from www.littlefriends.co.uk) 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djktrumpet Posted April 4 Author Share Posted April 4 I used to like doing a woodgrain effect on the cockpit floor of my Mustangs, but now I find the wood was painted black. Anyhoo, I've stubbornly done some woodgraining with artist's acrylics, but will overpaint with some thinned black, maybe try exposing a bit in worn areas. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 That’s a great effect. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 It's a great looking effect, very convincing technique - I need to give it a try sometime! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djktrumpet Posted April 17 Author Share Posted April 17 So I managed to knock off one of the seat side braces whilst handling the cockpit assembly. Did I put it in a safe place so I wouldn't lose it? I did not. 😠 Not a particularly difficult job to knock something up from spare bits of plastic, but I really should know better! 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 1 hour ago, djktrumpet said: Did I put it in a safe place so I wouldn't lose it? I did not. 😠 Bugger, sounds like wherever it is it is in a very safe spot indeed! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 2 hours ago, djktrumpet said: So I managed to knock off one of the seat side braces whilst handling the cockpit assembly. I did the self same thing - they seem particularly brittle. A bit of Evergreen or Plastruct rod, or some brass wire, will get it sorted in no time. Cheers, Mark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djktrumpet Posted Tuesday at 18:11 Author Share Posted Tuesday at 18:11 Some progress made - I'm now pretty much ready to zip up the fuselage so here are some shots of the interior before it all gets hidden. Also one of the wheel bay, almost complete. That Eduard wheel bay really is a lovely little model in its own right! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted Tuesday at 18:39 Share Posted Tuesday at 18:39 Superb work on the cockpit and wheel bay, looking fantastic! Cheers, Mark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted Wednesday at 10:35 Share Posted Wednesday at 10:35 Some beautiful work there! 16 hours ago, djktrumpet said: That Eduard wheel bay really is a lovely little model in its own right Seems like one. Yours is beautifully built. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djktrumpet Posted Wednesday at 14:13 Author Share Posted Wednesday at 14:13 Well, here's a thing. I was gluing up the fuselage halves, and the port side has actually cracked, just by the hole for the antenna post. I don't think I'm particularly heavy-handed, and I've never had this happen before. Possibly a weak point created by opening up that hole, exacerbated by solvent cement, but a bit of a surprise (I've also got some sticky finger marks on there - clumsy!). I'll let it set up and then carefully fill it - should be OK, but I risk messing up all that nice surface detail. Bah! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted Wednesday at 14:26 Share Posted Wednesday at 14:26 2 minutes ago, djktrumpet said: Well, here's a thing. I was gluing up the fuselage halves, and the port side has actually cracked, just by the hole for the antenna post. I don't think I'm particularly heavy-handed, and I've never had this happen before. Possibly a weak point created by opening up that hole, exacerbated by solvent cement, but a bit of a surprise (I've also got some sticky finger marks on there - clumsy!). I'll let it set up and then carefully fill it - should be OK, but I risk messing up all that nice surface detail. Bah! What an absolute pain in the behind! Quite a few of my Eduard kits have fuselage halves that have a touch of the banana about them - inline-engined types like the P-51 and Spit. Hope the crack is an easy fix! Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djktrumpet Posted Wednesday at 15:12 Author Share Posted Wednesday at 15:12 40 minutes ago, 2996 Victor said: What an absolute pain in the behind! Quite a few of my Eduard kits have fuselage halves that have a touch of the banana about them I think Eduard are pushing the envelope on what's possible - fine detail, and thin mouldings, also generally very precise fitting. Which is great for us modellers, as they are producing some lovely kits, but I guess there's sometimes a payoff in terms of robustness of the parts themselves. A learning point for me, anyway - I'll be very conscious to avoid any hint of strain when assembling future Eduard kits! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted Wednesday at 15:29 Share Posted Wednesday at 15:29 10 minutes ago, djktrumpet said: I guess there's sometimes a payoff in terms of robustness of the parts themselves That's what I was thinking - some distortion is probably the payoff for the thinness of the mouldings. Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted Thursday at 02:25 Share Posted Thursday at 02:25 That’s frustrating! Fixable, but still frustrating! Wonder if the temperature of the plastic when it’s removed from the mouldings is a factor too? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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