Hello,
This week I started working on a project I've wanted to do for years. I had a beautiful 1/32 Tamiya P-51D sitting in the collection and, as expected, the Tamiya kit is wonderfully detailed. I've always wanted to build a diorama with all the engine panels removed and a chain/crain setup ready to remove the engine, with a bunch of tools and spare parts and panels laying around - somewhere in Europe in late '44 or early '45. I'm intentionally using a lot of German tools from the Tamiya accessory set thinking that captured and salvaged parts would have been taken advantage of.
Starting with a large 12x8 base I'm going to use PSP runway panels for one corner, a small cobblestone sidewalk and then grass and timbers for the area below and around the Mustang. Off to one side will be the workbend, gas tools and cylinders, fuel tanks, drums, crates and of course the brand new Merlin V12 engine on a pallet waiting to be dropped into the aircraft. If there is space I have a few left over trees from other projects to line the sides.
The aircraft is coming together slowly with the cockpit walls built, painted and weathered with Mig washes and probably too much wear-and-tear raw metal drybrushing.
The installed Merlin engine. The kit calls for this to be mostly black and I've tried to brush it up to see the metalic finish like the ones I've seen in museums. Most of the lower part of the engine will still be covered by the panel-less frame of the Mustang nose and various piping and exhaust cowlings. I will focus more on the detail and weathering on the top once the fuselage halves are joined together. The second Merlin is yet to be assembled...
The cockpit has been fun. Most of it won't be visible but I still used the fabric belts and a resin dingy as the kit part was fairly ordinary. Textile belts are really neat but tough to work with. I think the finished result is better than the PE ones in the kit though. My only real critisism of the Tamiya cockpit is the way the dial decals sit so far back behind the clear plastic lenses. They look good if you're looking directly at them, otherwise they're basically invisble. In hindsight I should have cut them all out and glued them to the front of the clear lens piece.
More of the belts, fuel tanks and radiators. I had some wooden floor decals but they were very thick and I decided to go for scuffed and dirty interior metal floor instead.
More to come soon!!