Classic Airframes P-51H build

She's looking good, what else do you have to do to her ?

Bud

Hey guy

Great looking  'stang! Look almost finished. Make sure you post finished pics.BTW we are all interested parties. That is what its all about here. Pics

Thanks for sharing

Zip

Thanks for the kind words, gents.

Dubau wrote:

She's looking good, what else do you have to do to her ? Bud

Primarily decals and slight weathering.  Most pictures of the
P-51H show the aircraft looking quite clean.  I also have to
Finish the 75-gal drop tanks that will go on it, and stain &
varnish the wood base that i will be mounting it to.

I'm building it for my Granpa's birthday.  He logged hundreds
of flight hours in this bird over the Aleutian Islands.  I have
about a week to finish it in time.

I really like the extra-flat color of the nose.  I don't think I'll
clear coat that part, even with a matte spray, because it still
adds sheen (like the propellor).  That is, unless someone can
recommend a VERY flat brand of clear coat.

Well I think your Granpa is going to love it. Do me a favor. After you are all done and you post some more pics, please let us all know what your Granpa says about it

Bud

Your Mustand looks really good!  I've got the kit in my stash.  Any problem areas to watch out for?   Thanks for sharing!

Looking good.  Not many kits of the H to choose from.

Regards,  Rick

more progress pictures. click to enlarge.

I'm almost done with details.  I used Microset & Microsol for
the first time, and I was quite impressed!

The rear antenna are pieces of 5-mil steel.  I superglued them
to the surface, but the bond was weak and ugly.  I ripped them
off and I'm going to try and anchor them in the structure somehow.

Something to do tommorrow.

Melgyver wrote:

Your Mustand looks really good!  I've got the kit in my stash.  Any problem areas to watch out for?   Thanks for sharing!

Problems.... hmmm...the kit is pretty darn good. 

Lots of flash on the parts, naturally.  You do have to install the propellor a
bit early in the game, which required some new prop-masking techniques!
I avoided any issue related to landing gear. Probably the biggest challange is
the vacuform canopy that actually wraps part of the fuselage (in front of the
cockpit).  That means you close up the cockpit early, and mask the canopy
often.  The seam is hard to see in these photos, but in the last set it can be
seen pretty easily.

Progress Update:
I drilled some holes for the antennas tonight and superglued them in place.

There'll be no goin-back now!

Bonded, sanded, puttied, and masked for silver-coat

The Result, in faborable light

The Result, in UN-favorable light

As you can see, the antenna-to-surface bond is fairly clean and smooth,
but unfortunately I have mild roughness accross the general area. 

At least now the antenna masts are a rigid part of the airframe, and
won't be easily knocked off.  I couldn't possibly send my Grandpa
something that could fall apart like a cheap piece o' crap! :)

Despite my efforts to sand the paint smooth, it always has a tendency to
leave sharp edges were paint was removed, and not a smooth profile taper.
I was thinking of giving the model another coat of clear-gloss, which will
maybe soften the roughness of the area, and then I'll try light sanding and
another silver coat over the area.  Any thoughts about this approach?

Lastly, how strong will the decals adhere to the model once they have been
clear coated?  Is the use of masking tape on them still a no-no?  Thanks.

Sheesh - I just can't walk away tonight!
I spent another hour on the project, with good results.

I just finished the secondary gloss-coat over decals.  The effect
on the problem area has been a great improvement.

With Flash ON: noticeable reduction in surface "wrinkles"

With Flash OFF: blurry!  darn these coffee hands.  But actually,
it quite resembles what the model looks like under natural light, and not
zoomed-in to 3X scale.

I'll forget about that next silver-coat idea.  At this point, I think I've done
about the best I can without driving the project over the rework cliff.
All models have their flaws, so why should this be any different!

The Lesson Learned?: always bond antennas to the surface BEFORE paint.

Project Finished!
Just in time to make the critical shipment date.

It looks better in person.  Some details don't show very well in the
photos, such as a faint yellowish exhaust stream on the fuselage. 

Building this model has involved a lot of "firsts" for me:
- First use of Gloss coats to reduce decal silvering
- First time using Decal Set & Sol system
- First pastel chalk wash, thanks http://www.world-war-2-airplane-model.com/
- Use of better putty-masking, thanks to Swanny

The result is the BEST model I've ever made.  The online community
is incredibly helpful.

Thanks guys.  I was quite pleased with how it turned out. Hopefully
he feels the same.  I'll be biting my fingernails until I get his opinion! LOL


And yeah, my Grandpa is indeed a very accomplished man.
He's a WWII Ace, actually.  He eventually became a Colonel.

espins1 wrote:

What paints did you use for the bare metal finish?

I used Model Master Silver enamel (spray can), with several
acrylic gloss-coats followed by a single acrylic matte coat.  The
panel-line wash & weathering was done with a water & chalk mixture.

The nose was painted flat black, but never clear-coated.  All of my
paint tests showed that even a matte coat adds a significant sheen to
the black.  The contrast of the shiny body to flat nose makes the model
much better, I think.

WOW for all your 1st,  you did a GREAT Build

2

Bud

Dubau wrote:

WOW for all your 1st,  you did a GREAT Build 2 Bud

Thanks, Bud.

Like I said, there is so much help online!  That "WW2-model-airplanes" website
that I mentioned above is very well written, with lots of great pitcures.  Also, Swanny's
tutorials are of the same caliber.  Then there's the "tips & techniques" section of these
forums.  It's amazing that you can find an answer online to almost any question you have.

Dubau wrote:

Do me a favor. After you are all done and you post some more pics, please let us all know what your Granpa says about it

Well, the results are in!  And they are good

My Grandfather could NOT stop talking about it.  He left me a 2-min voice mail at
work, a 3-min voicemail at home, and when I finally got him on the horn I couldn't
get a word in edge-wise!  That sure makes all the effort worthwhile.

Models make great gifts

That's GREAT to hear............. I don't know if I am more happy for you for building a Great Model or for him on getting a Great Model

WTG and Well Done

Bud

I owe my grandpa alot, (1) for being a cool guy and great influence, and
(2) for his service in arguably the most important war of the century.
Besides, he's taught me so much about wonderful airplanes!

Here is one last picture group to close the thread: the shipping apparatus.
The "hanging" model with base attached had to be shipped 1000 miles. 
I thought about this problem for most of the build, envisioning packaging
ideas, and eventually came up with something fairly simple.

The base is strapped to the middle panel.  To PACKAGE: Blue sides fold up,
and slide into box container.  Fill with packaging peanuts.   To REMOVE: pull
the yellow handles up and unfold.

Cheers,
Steven