Revell P-51B/C

Couldn't agree more.  It's Kleenex or paper towels for me.  Once I get them wet, they can be shoved into any shape and crevice out there and they'll stay right up until the day you easily take them out.  Can't beat the stuff.

Eric

PS.  WW2Psycho, this thread is about 4 1/2 years old.  LOL!  Did you ever finish your P-51B/C?  Pictures, man!  Pictures! 

stikpusher

I use the cheapskate method to do that. Toilet paper packed into the wheel wells, a couple of drops of water, then add more TP and water as needed. Tamp it into any exact positions needed. Paint and let dry. Once it is dry, the stuff practicly falls out.

I'm doing that right now on the F-80.  It just seemed to be the most effective way to protect all of those openings and the detail inside.

I use the cheapskate method to do that. Toilet paper packed into the wheel wells, a couple of drops of water, then add more TP and water as needed. Tamp it into any exact positions needed. Paint and let dry. Once it is dry, the stuff practicly falls out.

Ran into  problem unrelated to the model itself.  Used Loctite Fun-Tak mounting putty to fill the wheel wells so I could paint the underside.  Bad choice!!   I could have used chewing gun and got the same result.   There is no Fun to this Tak.   It's very difficult to remove and I should have considered a different method to mask the wheel wells on the P51B.   All I have going for this model now is my own OCD.

Yeah, the canopy was always touchy.  I found it worst around the rear panels.  Back in the day, I didn't care.  Today, I use white glue to attach them and to help fill the gaps.

The Monogram P-51B was one of the more recent kits I finished.  It's of the shark-mouthed version flown by Tex Hill.  The entire kit just fell together.  I was having a string of bad luck with several kits in a row.  I got the 1/48 P-51B to get back into the groove and boy did it work!  In spades!  The entire kit was absolutely perfect.  Great fit.  The ONLY issue I had was the fit of the canopy.  I did the best I could on it but after a while, I just settled for "good enough".  Not overly happy with it but it was one of those deals where if I had fiddled with it any more, I think I might have made things worse.  

Aside from that little snafu, the rest of the kit went together flawlessly.  I'd snap another one up in a heartbeat and maybe I'd see if I could pick up a vacuform canopy.

Eric

VN750

Hi, I'm a first timer here and I'm resuming modeling after about 50 years.  Got about four models (3 were Monogram) under my belt at this point and I'm presently working on the Monogram P-51B Ding Hao, copyright 1999, kit # 85-0136.   The box has a Monogram Classics label but is otherwise identical to the Ding Hao you have posted.  

The fuselage halves don't fit well even when the alignment pins are lined up and a lot of sanding is required and the canopy falls a little short on fit.  It's not as bad as the Monogram/Revell JU87 which had fitting problems so bad the law of diminishing returns set in and I canned it.    The kit at this time is still doable and I'm approaching it as a chance to improve my skills.   Had to remove one side of the interior details to allow the pilot to fit in because the fuselage halves wouldn't come together.   As for the instrument panel the decal details were to faint to use so I put a white base on the instrument panel, followed by black and sanded it using a sanding sponge just enough to reveal the instrumentation.  

I'll try that Future wax suggestion next time

The label and copyright date give a hint to the cause of the poor fit.  By 1999, the molds were already approximately 30 years old.  I've heard others who have bought more recent boxings of the old Monogram kits report similar problems.  I haven't seen those kind of fit issues with the earlier pops, like the white box pops from the Seventies.

The "Monogram Classics" label was a marketing gimmick implemented in the 90s, if I remember correctly.  The box art from the time of the kits' issue was used, and I think an embroidered patch was included in the kits, too.

Do keep at it and let us see your finished piece!

Hi, I'm a first timer here and I'm resuming modeling after about 50 years.  Got about four models (3 were Monogram) under my belt at this point and I'm presently working on the Monogram P-51B Ding Hao, copyright 1999, kit # 85-0136.   The box has a Monogram Classics label but is otherwise identical to the Ding Hao you have posted.  

The fuselage halves don't fit well even when the alignment pins are lined up and a lot of sanding is required and the canopy falls a little short on fit.  It's not as bad as the Monogram/Revell JU87 which had fitting problems so bad the law of diminishing returns set in and I canned it.    The kit at this time is still doable and I'm approaching it as a chance to improve my skills.   Had to remove one side of the interior details to allow the pilot to fit in because the fuselage halves wouldn't come together.   As for the instrument panel the decal details were to faint to use so I put a white base on the instrument panel, followed by black and sanded it using a sanding sponge just enough to reveal the instrumentation.  

I'll try that Future wax suggestion next time

Oh! Any anyone who could take these last two I've done, which practically all the parts seem from different scale aircraft entirely, and make museum quality pieces have my upmost respect. And is why I love reading these forums.

Some day!!!

Well it is related... not a complete left turn away from the original posting. ;-)

I'll second Stikpusher.  There's a reason some of us have got a Monogram Mafia avatar in our signatures.

Seriously, though, for as much as I like the old Monogram kits, and as many as I have in my stash, I do think that you have a point about new boxings of these kits.  You can find a lot of posts, here and in other forums, from guys building new boxings of these kits, and noting the signs of worn-out molds.  I have a good number of these kits, but almost all of them are second-hand, from eBay and from shows, and are older pops.  I have the P-47D bubbletop on my bench, for example.  It's the white box with photo of the finished model, from the 70s, and it has none of the issues you saw with yours.  It's actually a pretty good kit, and for its time, it represented a new level of detail in Monogram's kits.  I do recall, though, that either the razorback or bubbletop was found to be inaccurate as to the length of the nose, from the wing roots to the front of the cowling.  I think it's the bubbletop, which I think preceded the razorback in Monogram's catalog.  The blueprints they used in designing the masters had an error, and that was transferred to the sprues.  It was corrected in the razorback, apparently.  I think Thomas Graham noted this in his book on Monogram.

wrnchhead76

(Unrelated, yikes Revell kits are awful, haha, using them for practice before I spend the money on quality kits)

Well I am not sure. I built a p47, molds copyrighted in the 60s, and the flash and fit were AWFUL. Had to trim 2mm of styrene off of the back of the upper wing sections to mate them up, and the copyright 2000 p-51 I'm working on now...the canopy isn't even the right shape for the rest of the model. The fuselage halves fit terribly. Now, since I'm a super modeling noob, it's possible this is just how it is, and all these issues need addressed on any kit. Learning as I go.

wrnchhead76

(Unrelated, yikes Revell kits are awful, haha, using them for practice before I spend the money on quality kits)

Really?  To which kits do you refer?  Do you mean the old stand alone Revell brand, or do you refer to the current Revell-Monogram kits, or perhaps you mean Revell of Germany?   Yikes indeed.

I am working on my next build, a p-51. I tried your drybrushing idea, and it came out great! Definitely better than the decal, even though the decal set down properly. Drybrushing for me from now on!

(Unrelated, yikes Revell kits are awful, haha, using them for practice before I spend the money on quality kits)

The original kit had NO IP. Just two backing halves molded in their respective fuselage sides and a decal you were supposed to cut from from the decal sheet with its' paper backing and glue in place.

Decal is probably a carry over from the original kit, I don't think it had a detailed instrument panel.  

Hi, Wrenchhead!  Welcome to the forum!

I understand what you're saying about applying the decal, but I still like to use drybrushing on an instrument panel with raised relief.  I finally got the right size of Prismacolor silver pencil, and I've used that on the last couple of builds with instrument panels with raised detail.  Either that, or some flat white or flat aluminum paint.  But whatever works for each of us, is best.

I look forward to seeing your builds!

Hey all, first post. I read the forums often, (as is common, getting back into the hobby after 25 years, ha) and I noticed something here I can contribute.

Re: using decals on an instrument panel that has raised areas (very short cylinders basically) and a flat decal. When I faced this with my first build (which I am still working on), being a total noob, I decided to give it a go against all reason that the decals would work. Worst case, I knew I could just remove the decal. 

It actually works if you use Micro Sol on the decal. The solvent properties of that chemical, after probably 5 applications, caused it to adhere to the uneven surface flawlessly. I actually did take some pictures showing this, but my slightly off center placement of the decal REALLY showed up so I think I deleted the images, so unfortunately I can't show you the result. The gauges were on the tops of the cylinders, and the rest of the decal settled down between them, no silvering. 

This is a cheapo Revell p47, not sure if they are unusual quality (good or bad) or common. Might be worth a try to someone looking to get the benefit of the decal w/o buying aftermarket parts or too much extra effort. 

I really like the tip about using a drop of Future on the decal faces to create a glass effect, that's brilliant!

Not a problem mike, will do.

Sure, just throw it in with the Jug..

Hey hans, I've got the decal sheet for the revell B/C mustang, I wont be using anything other than the star and bars off it, your welcome to the rest of it if you like.

She met him once, had no idea who he was and why I called him "General" and "Sir"... She joined the CAF as well, but her motives were different than mine... She had a real habit of being "The Belle of the Ball" wherever we went, and CAF Airshows were no different... Her main thing was the Hangar Dance after the show...    She took that stuff & more outta pure Eff-in' spite...  Said so even.. Her words,"I didn't want you to have it.."  Ya believe that Shinola??  Someday I'll tell ya the story of her and me and Paul Tibbets & Bob Morgan..

Man... Some people are alive only because it's against the law to kill 'em...

aside from spite, what would she have to gain by taking such an item? is she a fan/friend of Tex's?

SWEET!  I'm all over that one...  I knew Tex personally (He was a fellow CAF Colonel) and wanted to do his Mustang for years... Went to his funeral back in 07...  Sad, man...

On another note, Tex autographed a "baseball card" of the CAF's P-40 for me back in 99, right?  My 3rd ex-wife stole it from my collection of AVG stuff during our rather messy divorce and STILL will not let me have it back...   That ain't all the Witch stole outta my military collectables, either... But that one irks me the most..

Hans von Hammer

Nothin' wrong with either of those kits... Gonna have to find the new one m'self now... Been wanting to do Tex Hill's Pony for years...

Youre in luck Hans, the kit comes with decals for Tex Hills bird...

http://www.revell.com/model-kits/aircraft/85-5256.html

Hans von Hammer

Nothin' wrong with either of those kits... Gonna have to find the new one m'self now... Been wanting to do Tex Hill's Pony for years...

Revell of Germany has a 1/72 scale P-51B with Tex hill's markings for his bird. I have that particular kit myself and the 1/48 scale P-51B/C pro modeler kit.

Hans von Hammer

The decal's an "either/or" thing... Either paint the panel & details, or sand the panel smooth and use the decal..

I'll respectfully disagree, Hammer, I've made an overlay for decal instrument panels by photocopying the decal, then using that to make the overlay with thin clear plastic (I use the stiffeners that are packaged in my new shirts).  I use the photocopy as a guide to punch out the holes for the instruments and scribe the outline of the panel  I can paint the overlay, then apply the decal to the appropriate area, or to another piece of thin plastic, and fix the overlay to that with white glue.

Regards,

Brad