1/48 P-61 Black Widow, "Moonlight Serenade" - Revell kit - Work in progress

Hi ManSkirtBrew, 

Good to see that you've started your build! 

I know very well what you are going through with all that flash and ejector pin marks which this kit is full of. It's a real b#%ch, but worth it in my opinion. :) 

Since you are doing the "Moonlight Serenade" bird, check out a YouTube video called "Not Quite Black" or something like that. Might be of use to you to create a more interesting finish. 

Best, 

Nikola

I just noticed that you have the gunner's seat wrong way round. 

Nikola

I just noticed that you have the gunner's seat wrong way round.

Oh! Thanks for noticing. I haven't glued them in yet! It was just for the pic :)

Phew! That's a relief. :)

My advice is to paint them separately and then CA them to the cockpit floor.

Best, 

Nikola

MSB,

Off to a noble start on a notoriously difficult kit. To answer your question, I'd say that molding issues like you're seeing aren't really the norm. But keep in mind this kit has been out since the 60's, and it has been rereleased countless times. The molds are pretty heavily worn by now. You saw for yourself the Bandai kits were very crisp... pick up some newer kits and you'll notice the same thing. 

Best of luck! And thanks for sharing.

Nikola

My advice is to paint them separately and then CA them to the cockpit floor.

My plan exactly. Thanks for the advice. I'll take any and all.

Oh hey thanks, it's very much appreciated. I'm about to start painting the interior. Some threads I've read talk about it being a darker color than the stanrdard zinc chromate, but the pictures I've found of the interiors seem to be a light shade of green like most other WWII birds. What's your take on it?

Link for example.

Painting has finally begun!

More progress, including gratuitous well-organized desk shot.

Got the fuselage halves together. Looking at the glazing in the final product, I'm a little sad about how much effort went into the interior and how little will be seen, so I hope at least someone enjoys it :)

And yes, I know the gun bay should be yellow as well, but I made the decision to forego absolute historical accuracy for the enhjoyment of not repainting it.

I was going to leave the radar out, but I couldn't resist...

Reference:

Make sure you add weight in the engine nacelles and everywhere else you can. Otherwise it's a tail sitter for sure (if you don't use the clear peg from the kit or some other support). 

Thanks, it's on my list. I need to pick up some lead from the local tackle shop.

My canopy looks eerily familiar to Nikola's. Man the fit is awful.

Two of mine are also cracked in the box :/

I'm not sure why, but I'm working on detailing the engine--90% of it will be hidden in cowling. I started off trying to model the fuel lines, but the copper I had on hand is a little too big for scale. I ran with it anyway, and I have to say it's pretty nice and I don't hate it.

But then I found some stranded 16gu wire and that seems more to scale. So I used th 18gu solid wire to make the feeder ring, and am using the smaller stranded wire for the individual cylinder feeds. More to come...

Thank you! I like sharing because I know how much I like looking at other peoples' work.

I've become obsessed with the copper ring I'm modeling on the engine (I'm assuming that's the fuel lines, but please correct me if I'm wrong).

I've seen it in many different configurations for the same engine. For example:

Notice how the center ring goes around all of the electronics on the second one, but behind them on the first. Obviously I chose to model the first style, but it's interesting to see all of the variations.

What you are referring to as copper rings and fuel lines are actually components of the Bendix low-tension, high-altitude ignition distributor and harness system. The lines running from the distributor ring to the front and rear of each cylinder are ignition lines to carry power to the spark plugs.

Okay, few more for you. First, after getting all of the ignition wires (thanks, KnightTemplar5150) bent into place:

Then after painting them black, which made me a little sad I have to admit. I left just a bit of copper peeking out at the ends to suggest the connectors I've seen in many reference photos.

And here's the other engine with the larger wires for comparison. This one is very deeply hidden in the cowling, so only a tiny arc of it will be visible anyway.

Very nicely done.

Night Fighter

Very nicely done.

Thanks! I'm up to the part where I have to sand all of the putty I had to apply to fill all the huge gaps and misfits, without rubbing off too much of the raised detail.

It's kind of making me wonder if I should just scribe all new panel lines and rivets, or just leave it be and let this kit be what it is. I'm thinking it's going to be that second one.

Total aside, I was just watching PLASMO paint a 1/48 P-51 interior, and I notice the seat seems like twice as big as the one in this 1/48 P-61. Is that a scale accuracy issue with this kit, or is it just my eyes?

Mine then his:

It's difficult to tell about the seat accuracy. I tried to see if a 48 scale pilot would be able to sit in the seat and I found that I had a little trouble.  I'm guessing that the seat might be off just a little but not by enough to worry about.

Hi ManSkirtBrew, 

I wouldn't worry much about that at all. Just enjoy it as it is a very fun kit to build, as you probably already know :).

Use it as a good practice kit as you will learn a lot from it due to it's well known issues.

That's how I approached it anyway. :) 

Best, 

Nikola

Little more work inside the wheel wells before buttoning up the booms.

Keeping my business running during this pandemic has kept me pretty darn busy, but I found the time to paint the frames on my canopies and start installing them.

Nice work on your kit. I'm fortunate enough to have sevearal of the older Monogram kits from many yerars ago. I have yet to build one but at least I won't have to worry about the molds being so used up.

Looking forward to further details.  Hope you haven't given up.