Revell P-51B/C

wrnchhead76

(Unrelated, yikes Revell kits are awful, haha, using them for practice before I spend the money on quality kits)

Careful now... them can be fightin' words around here.... ;-) Seriously though, I suspect you are talking about the P-47D Bubbletop, as that kit is of 60's vintage. But in all fairness, that kit and the original P-51B are the kits where things like detailed wheel wells and cockpits started to appear. The molds are getting old, although the P-51B molds were reworked in the 90s. And with a little TLC any of those old Monogram kits can be built into show winners.

I'll second Stikpusher.  There's a reason some of us have got a Monogram Mafia avatar in our signatures.

Seriously, though, for as much as I like the old Monogram kits, and as many as I have in my stash, I do think that you have a point about new boxings of these kits.  You can find a lot of posts, here and in other forums, from guys building new boxings of these kits, and noting the signs of worn-out molds.  I have a good number of these kits, but almost all of them are second-hand, from eBay and from shows, and are older pops.  I have the P-47D bubbletop on my bench, for example.  It's the white box with photo of the finished model, from the 70s, and it has none of the issues you saw with yours.  It's actually a pretty good kit, and for its time, it represented a new level of detail in Monogram's kits.  I do recall, though, that either the razorback or bubbletop was found to be inaccurate as to the length of the nose, from the wing roots to the front of the cowling.  I think it's the bubbletop, which I think preceded the razorback in Monogram's catalog.  The blueprints they used in designing the masters had an error, and that was transferred to the sprues.  It was corrected in the razorback, apparently.  I think Thomas Graham noted this in his book on Monogram.

Haha that was not my intent. And I know this is kind of a thread hijack, also not my intent.

Well it is related... not a complete left turn away from the original posting. ;-)

Oh! Any anyone who could take these last two I've done, which practically all the parts seem from different scale aircraft entirely, and make museum quality pieces have my upmost respect. And is why I love reading these forums.

Some day!!!

Hi, I'm a first timer here and I'm resuming modeling after about 50 years.  Got about four models (3 were Monogram) under my belt at this point and I'm presently working on the Monogram P-51B Ding Hao, copyright 1999, kit # 85-0136.   The box has a Monogram Classics label but is otherwise identical to the Ding Hao you have posted.  

The fuselage halves don't fit well even when the alignment pins are lined up and a lot of sanding is required and the canopy falls a little short on fit.  It's not as bad as the Monogram/Revell JU87 which had fitting problems so bad the law of diminishing returns set in and I canned it.    The kit at this time is still doable and I'm approaching it as a chance to improve my skills.   Had to remove one side of the interior details to allow the pilot to fit in because the fuselage halves wouldn't come together.   As for the instrument panel the decal details were to faint to use so I put a white base on the instrument panel, followed by black and sanded it using a sanding sponge just enough to reveal the instrumentation.  

I'll try that Future wax suggestion next time

VN750

Hi, I'm a first timer here and I'm resuming modeling after about 50 years.  Got about four models (3 were Monogram) under my belt at this point and I'm presently working on the Monogram P-51B Ding Hao, copyright 1999, kit # 85-0136.   The box has a Monogram Classics label but is otherwise identical to the Ding Hao you have posted.  

The fuselage halves don't fit well even when the alignment pins are lined up and a lot of sanding is required and the canopy falls a little short on fit.  It's not as bad as the Monogram/Revell JU87 which had fitting problems so bad the law of diminishing returns set in and I canned it.    The kit at this time is still doable and I'm approaching it as a chance to improve my skills.   Had to remove one side of the interior details to allow the pilot to fit in because the fuselage halves wouldn't come together.   As for the instrument panel the decal details were to faint to use so I put a white base on the instrument panel, followed by black and sanded it using a sanding sponge just enough to reveal the instrumentation.  

I'll try that Future wax suggestion next time

The label and copyright date give a hint to the cause of the poor fit.  By 1999, the molds were already approximately 30 years old.  I've heard others who have bought more recent boxings of the old Monogram kits report similar problems.  I haven't seen those kind of fit issues with the earlier pops, like the white box pops from the Seventies.

The "Monogram Classics" label was a marketing gimmick implemented in the 90s, if I remember correctly.  The box art from the time of the kits' issue was used, and I think an embroidered patch was included in the kits, too.

Do keep at it and let us see your finished piece!

The Monogram P-51B was one of the more recent kits I finished.  It's of the shark-mouthed version flown by Tex Hill.  The entire kit just fell together.  I was having a string of bad luck with several kits in a row.  I got the 1/48 P-51B to get back into the groove and boy did it work!  In spades!  The entire kit was absolutely perfect.  Great fit.  The ONLY issue I had was the fit of the canopy.  I did the best I could on it but after a while, I just settled for "good enough".  Not overly happy with it but it was one of those deals where if I had fiddled with it any more, I think I might have made things worse.  

Aside from that little snafu, the rest of the kit went together flawlessly.  I'd snap another one up in a heartbeat and maybe I'd see if I could pick up a vacuform canopy.

Eric

Yeah, the canopy was always touchy.  I found it worst around the rear panels.  Back in the day, I didn't care.  Today, I use white glue to attach them and to help fill the gaps.

Ran into  problem unrelated to the model itself.  Used Loctite Fun-Tak mounting putty to fill the wheel wells so I could paint the underside.  Bad choice!!   I could have used chewing gun and got the same result.   There is no Fun to this Tak.   It's very difficult to remove and I should have considered a different method to mask the wheel wells on the P51B.   All I have going for this model now is my own OCD.

I use the cheapskate method to do that. Toilet paper packed into the wheel wells, a couple of drops of water, then add more TP and water as needed. Tamp it into any exact positions needed. Paint and let dry. Once it is dry, the stuff practicly falls out.

stikpusher

I use the cheapskate method to do that. Toilet paper packed into the wheel wells, a couple of drops of water, then add more TP and water as needed. Tamp it into any exact positions needed. Paint and let dry. Once it is dry, the stuff practicly falls out.

I'm doing that right now on the F-80.  It just seemed to be the most effective way to protect all of those openings and the detail inside.

Couldn't agree more.  It's Kleenex or paper towels for me.  Once I get them wet, they can be shoved into any shape and crevice out there and they'll stay right up until the day you easily take them out.  Can't beat the stuff.

Eric

PS.  WW2Psycho, this thread is about 4 1/2 years old.  LOL!  Did you ever finish your P-51B/C?  Pictures, man!  Pictures!