Tamiya P-51B - First Build in 10+ Years

Hey Doogs,

  Love the links.. Thank you for sharing them with us!! As for the inside frame work, I totally had a blonde moment.. DOH...

  MMmm wonder if you used the liquid mask and using a fine brush, trace the fram from the inside then use a larger brush to fill in..

  When I built my B, I kept the canopy closed... Bummer I know....

Flaps up,

Mike

Rangers Lead The Way

And, if anybody's interested:

Full gallery from unboxing to completion

Build Report 1 - Inspection & Cockpit

Build Report 2 - Main Assembly

Build Report 3 - Painting

I'm planning a fourth post on decals and weathering, but haven't had time yet...

SuppressionFire

Ultracast eh? Good choice in AM accessories. Have you checked out their web site or found the exhaust manifolds in your LHS?

Stumbled across their website somehow. Figured I'd take a chance this time around, and I'm glad I did. My past experience with resin was always less than satisfactory. Mainly Verlinden pieces that practically required a bandsaw to separate from the mold base. The manifolds came off with a few swipes of a #11 blade, and painted up they look gorgeous. I've got a close-up shot of them stored on the computer, may have to upload it later on.

Overall, I was so pleased with the manifolds that I went a bit crazy for the P-51D I've got sitting in the stash. Manifolds, pilot seat (WAY more detailed than stock), and a prop and spinner. Not looking forward to centering a drilling a hole in that last one, but I figure I can back the kit part up to it and use that as a guide.

Butz

 As for your canopy painting issue.. When I go to paint the canopies, I use the liquid mask and mask of the outter windows. I paint the interior colour first then the final colour.. So essentially you kill two birds with one stone..!!

Yeah - I took that approach first, then when I went to test fit the canopy pieces I realized that, the way it opens, the port canopy and top panel hinge out so the inside is highly visible. The interior-color-first route worked fine for the windscreen, rear windows, etc, but with these open pieces it very much looked like I painted the interior color on the outside of the part. Looking from the other side, everything was too smooth and glossy. I ultimately ended up masking the inside using thin slivers of Tamiya tape and just brush painting. But I sure wouldn't have minded if the Eduard mask had come with additional panels for the interior mask.

Everything is straight out of the box save Eduard seatbelts and Ultracast manifolds.

Ultracast eh? Good choice in AM accessories. Have you checked out their web site or found the exhaust manifolds in your LHS?

Great return to the hobby DoogsATX

Nice job. I like the markings.

 A true modeler, one who has ref pix to back it up..!! Well done sir!! Gotta love modeling huh? Never a dull moment

 As for your canopy painting issue.. When I go to paint the canopies, I use the liquid mask and mask of the outter windows. I paint the interior colour first then the final colour.. So essentially you kill two birds with one stone..!!

 Again, thank you for sharing

Flaps up,

Mike

Rangers Lead The Way

Wow, thanks all!

To address the couple of critiques...

The spinner cap seam was left there intentionally, based on the very visible seam in this pic:

I think the lighting may be accentuating it more in some shots than others. Of course, installing that spinner cap was also a comedy of errors that involved the toothpick I was applying CA with sticking to the prop assembly and pulling out one of the blades. Ugh.

The flaps may well be out of alignment in the pictures. I found when I was installing the that the fit snug and held their angles without adhesive, so I didn't bother gluing them down. Could be that one of them dropped a tiny bit while I was handling the model for the shoot.

There are plenty of other mess-ups, too. Most notable is probably that I didn't bring the red nose all the way back to the manifolds. This led to the checkerboard decals being off. Also had a nasty case of dusting (first model sprayed with Tamiya paints, which spray like a dream unless you put some distance between the kit and the airbrush...) on the underside, and a few cases of weathering gone wild that a quick shot of thinned base color managed to blend back in.

The one negative thing I can say about this model is that painting that canopy was a major pain! The outside was a breeze thanks to a canopy mask (where were those back when I used to build?!?). The nightmare came with the realization that I'd also have to paint the INSIDE of the canopy because of the way it opens up. Masking the inside with no raise framing to use as a guide? Let's just say I'm happy the next three planes in my stash all have sliding glass...

Looks good from here.  Thanks for sharing.

Regards,  Rick

Hey Doogs,

 First off, welcome back to the hobby..!! Secondly, you did one hellofa job on that Stang..!! After a 10 year break, I say you've found your groove and are back in the swing of things..

Kinda like riding a bike, you never forget..!! Over all job is outstanding, weathering is subtle yet effective..!! Paint looks very even as well as for the "soft edge" effect. I see where dcaponell mentioned about the fit along the prop hub.. Just keep that area in the back of your mind for the next builtd but to me, it still looks ok.. Looks to be even all around so..

 As for the second item dcap pointed out, I think he is referring to the port stablizer and not the flap.. Those look good but he left stablizer seems to be a bit lower than the right.. It happens to the best of us, believe me.. Hehe

 Just with these two minor pont outs and 10yrs since you last built, I'd say you are on your way my friend..!! Looking forward to seeing your Dauntless all done..!!

Thank you for sharing.. Hope to see you around these parts more often

Flaps up,

Mike

Rangers Lead The Way

Nice clean build.  A couple of minor things to check for on the next one.  It looks like the seam on the spinner cap could use a little work and the starboard flap seems a bit lover than the port one.  Tough to tell for sure without a straight on show.  Very nice finish.  Subtle weathering is nicely done.  Good job