Tamiya P-51B WIP

Thanks Watchmann! Appreciate the kind words.

Got a call last night from the recipiant. They made the presentation yesterday at a luncheon. It was a total surprise to him. He is very happy with it. He has started to save up the money for a ride in the real thing. It's #2 on his bucket list. He said it's going to cost $1700 for a 1/2 hour ride. Wouldn't mind doing it too but I know that will never happen. They're going to send me pics of the presentation. I'll post them as soon as I get them.

Jim  

Wow, that looks great, Jim.  Nice job

Well, she's finished. Delivered it to the guy who's making the presentation. He loved it and thought that the receiver would also. He's going to take pics of the presentation for me and I'll post them when I get them.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ypQM9CV5vQGdhxUS7

Jim  

I'm Baaaaaack!

Never got to spend that whole day at the bench. Did get a little done though. Got little bits of work done each day. She's basicly all done except the decals, weathering and the canopy. Was going to put the 2 auxiliary fuel tanks on but customer wants bombs so that's what I gave him. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zoHRPrmx9G6A5QRg9

Hoping to put the clear on today in prep for the decals. While that's curing, will finish up the canopy.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8nx7BmH4qJu4HveVA

Jim  

Got some more work done. My hands were shaking quite a bit while spraying the plane but I think it turned out OK.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/dCYndbDpNcG9Tio29

Finally got the PE I ordered and started using the placards on the landing gear. Looks pretty good.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/CVLRUXdGnijkgGJW7

Bombs and fuel tanks are done. Can't make up my mind which to use. Found research pics of the attachments for both so I can wire up either. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SDh2nyRKo9wFz8je6

Started taping up the canopy. I usually do open canopies unless there's not enough detail or room there to work with or I can't get or make anything that suits me. I do one direction first then another. I have no luck with masks. I've bought some and cut some myself with no luck.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/D8urV9S8nXAdVeg8A

Made the base today also. It is gravel now, with maybe a little bit of small shrubbery (courtesy of model RR supplies) for contrast. This will be the first time I anchor the model to the base. I usually leave them loose so I can use them for any new model I build that will go with that type of base for shows. Going to use pieces of wire to attach the wheels to the base.

That's it for now. Nothing on the calendar for tomorrow so it looks like I'll have the whole day at the bench. Anyone want to make a bet on that?

Jim   

Got the wing and tail surfaces mounted last night. This is the first time that I have not needed to use any putty on them. The fit was perfect. Added the radiator rear shutter, landing flaps and ordinance mounts. Made card stock fillers for the wheel wells to mask for painting.  

https://photos.app.goo.gl/G9hpSwKBWPPu9KPU8

Shot a coat of primer on everything to check for fit and/or mistakes.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XCFM6zzizaF7DwjH7

 Ready to shoot the gloss black in preparation for the natural metal finish. Looks OK to me. If any of you see anything I missed, let me know.

Have to help the wife install drapes for one of her coustomers tomorrow so I guess that means I'll put the paint on tomorrow night.

Jim  

Almost forgot, I drilled out the mg barrels.

Thanks Tojo and TJ. Put some more work into it today. 

Added a little more wiring to the wheel wells to spice it up a little.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/eKV64yvmbpb2oqmR9

Got the brake lines on and painted. Don't know why the rubber hose goes through the scissors. Seems wrong but that's the way it shows on the reference pic that I have.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/qQouEyAgBuM2Jqwt6

Drilled out the exhaust stacks and started rusting them up a bit.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/EdaGy9DWPRQDkExG7

Shot a coat of primer on the fuselage to check on the seams. Came out fair. Will go back and work on it a little more.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WogR9BVQ26ECVDrF7

Think it needs just a little more sanding without adding any putty. 

Been looking for generic German, Italian, and Brittish decals for the Museum models I'm working on. Found one place that had just what I'm looking for but discovered that he's out of business. I'll keep on trying. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

Jim  

Tried a new method (for me) of closing up the fuselage. Instead of using tape and closing up the entire thing at one shot, I closed it up in increments of about 2 or 3 inches at a time using rubber bands and small C-clamps and Tamiya Extra thin cement.  I've had these old Xacto C-Clamps for years. Used to use them on the stick and tissue planes. Never used them on plastic models because they slipped all over the place and could scratch up the plastic. Came up with the idea to mount felt on the connecting surfaces. It worked out pretty well. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xcZpBp7wtKYG1cNr9

The only place that may need just a little putty is under the oil cooler. I'll work on cleaning up the seams tomorrow. I think that the pit looks pretty good.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/h2apm3CseyYJfi7BA

Worked on the brake lines tonight. Gave me a hard time but I think it'll look OK after it's painted.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/k4eLsy5SfA8rjmhFA

Jim  

Well, my hands cooperated with me and I got the seat belts made up and installed in the pit. It was a nerve wracking afternoon.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/L1LyGesDUEF3SMWi7

Took me about 6 hours to get them done and installed. I really have to hand it to all of you out there who work with PE all the time and do such excellent work with the stuff.   I lost count of the number of times I had to fight the carpet monster. When I finished swearing like crazy and it got real quiet up here, the wife came up and when she saw me crawling around on the floor with a flashlight she said "UH-OH" and quietly retreated back down the stairs. 

Going to start putting the pit in the fuselage tonight. Hope it goes well.

Jim   

Got a little more work done on the pit, wheels, bombs and fuel tanks. The pit is just about finished with the exception of the seat belts. Hope that my hands will let me do them tomorrow. Those belts sure are small.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Pg6yKsiwMqupgz4H6

Going to put some wiring and piping in the wheel wells. Found a couple of good pics of the brake lines. Should be fairly easy to replicate down the legs. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2qW2UZkHuKsw5ZqM6

If all goes well with the seat belts, I should be able to close the pit up between the fuselage halves. I did some dry fitting on it today and it looks like there will be only a slight amount of putty needed along the top half behind the pit. Removing that little bit of plastic on the inside near the seat really brought the halves together.

Jim  

Looking good. Following along.

Ahhhhh, nuts!  Didn't work.  I'd need to look at my html manual.

But I have forgotten to say, nice build, nice progress so far!  I look forward to your next installment.

Welcome back, Jim!  I'll second Lawdog's suggestion-it's nice to be able to embed the images, instead of a link.

It's interesting-I went to your Google photo account, to see what the Sharing functionality is like.  Looks like it links to Facebook and Twitter, or lets you email a link (or the image?), or create a link.  But the link doesn't have the content for a webpage to read and present as an image to the viewer.

Hmm...that makes me wonder about creating a linked image, with the link Google Photos creates.  Let's see...

Thanks Lawdog. My wife doesn't want any more apps on her phone. My phone is an old flip phone and it isn't working well so my stepson is going to get me a new phone. I'll give your suggestion a try when I get the new phone.

Some of these PE pieces that go on the left hand console are really fun to work with. If you believe that, I've got some swamp land to sell. I can just about see them with the Optivisor on let alone pick them up and put them in place. This will be interesting.

Jim   

Nice to have you back Jim!  It's looking good.  Try Shutterfly and add their app toyour phone.  I take pictures with my I-phone and down load them right from my phone.  I then just copy and paste.  Very easy.