Tamiya 1:48 Pacific P-51D Mustang (Complete)

Thanks Jim! I'll do my best to keep my thoughts organized here.  Some of the reasons why I know very well, but admittingly there are gaps in what I am still learning about Alclad and NMFs.  To keep it simple, it helps to understand how a lacquer paint like Alclad is laying down on your surface.  There is very little pigment when compared to enamels or acrylics.  It also bonds very tightly to your plastic surface where as the others are really more just laying on top. That's partly why it's so important to have a pristine surface when painting with Alclad.  So if you can imagine the same way an old printer would print different gray scales with a greater or lesser concentration of black dots, then you can start to see how this lacquer Alclad lays down on a Gloss Black surface.  Having that shiny surface underneath is partly what allows that metal "color" to appear to have more of the characteristics of actual metal.  These "aluminum" colored pigments reflect light of their own as well, but it's the gloss behind the Gloss Black that helps this out.  As far as other NMF type paints, I can't really speak about those.  I would imagine to some extent you might see some benefit in having that black done.  Certainly, you should test it out on something first.  

Here's a site you might want to give a look through: www.swannysmodels.com/Alclad.html

But no matter the subject, when painting with Alclads it's best to have that gloss black down not just black.  Check out their site. http://alclad2.com/

Hope that helps. =]

Thanks, bvallot. I've never used Alclad. I may have used lacquer paint before but it would have been from a rattle can. I've never shot it through my AB. Enamels and acrylics seem to be a little more user-friendly, at least to me. I've heard how lacquers are a harsher paint....for lack of a better term...due to the solvents in them I think so I'm a little apprehensive about using them for the first time but I will eventually. I'll check out the website.

I hear ya.  I mostly paint with Tamiya acrylics.  They allow me to layer my colors in an easier manner that doesn't take as much headache to plan out and be careful of the order I'm painting in.  Lacquers are "hotter" is probably the term you're thinking.  If you put down a lacquer on top of something like acrylic without sealing it, then you could have a bad day.  I've been getting away with using a lacquer dullcote as a flat but it's going on top of future...sooooo...it's been working out for me.  Otherwise it's probably not such a good idea.  But they work out just as well.  Just depends on what you need it for.

But acrylics are definitely more forgiving and they're my first go to paint for modeling.  =]

Yeah, I've always thought Tamiya acrylics are excellent for airbrushing, not so much by brush, though. My favorite acrylic now is Vallejo. The paint is good for airbrushing especially if you use the Model Air paints and I personally think Vallejo is the best acrylic paint I've ever tried applying with brush. I used to prefer using enamel for brushing as well as airbrushing because that is what I was most familiar with using since Testors enamels were always the most available when I was growing up. But now, although I haven't replaced my enamels with acrylics I'm using the acrylics almost exclusively.

bvallot, I am following your P-51 tread with a special interest because I am currently working on one. Did you decide to model an early warning system? If you have, you may want to note that it would require a few changes in the cockpit. Like you would need an light, dimmer box, alarm, and a change out the detonation panel for an AN/APS-13 control panel. That is because your cockpit would only supports up to early block 20-NA instruments. By the end of block 20 they were regular production!


Keep up the good work. I am looking forward to the finished product.

Unfortunately Shipwreck these are all inaccuracies that I'll have to live with to some extent.  I'm not too sure yet what changes I can get away with making to the cockpit at this point in the build.  I only discovered the APS-13 in photos after I had closed it all up.  I think i would have even like to handle the actual device on the tail a little different than I will now.  I think I'd like to thin the wall along that panel on the tail and poke a couple of holes with an exacto knife to pass through some very thin brass wire.  I could secure them to a thin strip of plasticard or some other similar means and close up both halves.  I'm not crazy about drilling a hole on the top side that's going to potentially get bigger than I want for little tiny bits of wire.  =[

If you have a better way of accomplishing this, then I'm all ears! =D lol.  It's something I'll remember for next time though.  Each new plane I build, I take the opportunity to learn all I can about them and as this is the first mustang I'm building...I've only just encountered this device.

But I appreciate the info on the block 20.  Some of these features I'm aware of, but as I'm not a pilot or mechanic of P-51s, naturally there are gaps in what I know about them as they progressed thru the different variants.  Always happy to learn something new!! ;]  I will be looking into it though.  I'm a stickler for accuracy.

I had some time to throw a little more onto here about what's been going on here with this mustang.  So here we are:

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

A ventral view of what's happening underneath.  A shot of the radiator and some weathering.  The higher shine is the polished aluminum masked off and painted over with the duraluminum.  I'm not sure how often this look occurred, but in the WW2 photos of the aircraft I'm modeling this is what is seen.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Here's showing the beginning of the painting process for the markings.  Instead of using the Hasegawa's decals for this I just masked off these areas and painted them myself.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Here are the blue fields for the the insignia.  The stars and bars are the only parts to this that are decals.  I started doing this on Boyington's Corsair I did a while back and really like it.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Here I've masked and painted the angle lines (for lack of an actual term...*help here)  I still need to paint on the numbers denoting the angle.  You can also see how I dressed up the paint on the cowl.  I started with Tamiya's OD green right out the bottle...something I rarely do.   I kept the coats light allowing some of the metal to show underneath in high maintenance areas, but added a little flat black to the OD green and came back over riveted areas, the sides, and across the middle to darken key features  and show where more direct sunlight would weather this paint.  I always try to keep in mind less is more...especially with acrylic paint.  It's so easy to build up the thickness when layering several colors.

And here's the top with both sides painted.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Next I'll bring up the decals and nude art for this mustang when I can come back to this.  =]

Merry Xmas everybody. =]

I'm back with some more to post. This is just about caught up to where I am alongside the group build I'm in.  The decals that I am applying are from the Hasegawa kit.  They're not bad compared to what I've seen from others.  I'll weather this some and do my best to take some of the brightness out of the decal.  I'm pretty happy with it for the most part though.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

I've also already begun to weather this mustang.  I'm trying something new here that I've seen around.  The Detailer is an acrylic wash I'm using.  Pretty satisfied with it so far.  Very forgiving and easy to manipulate. =]  I've got it in black, brown, and rust currently.  I figure I can manage most things with just those to start with for now.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Here's a view of the right side with that vent that always leaks oil.  I played with this for a while trying to find something I liked.  There aren't too many photos of Harry Crim's mustang and none of them were from the right.   So after studying photos from mustangs in WW2, I took some liberty and decided on something somewhat conservative as I didn't want it to be a main feature of the build.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

That's that for now.  =]

Looking really good. I've used The Detailer but only for picking out panel lines and such. Did you use it to get varying shades on the NMF?

Thanks Jim.  And no, the variation came mostly due to very light application of painting with Alclads.  After one coat is setup, I'd mask off the area I'm working with and paint again with the same light sweeping motions.  Eventually what I come out with is slightly heavier layers of pigment that will throw the light around differently allowing for the tonal variation.  =]

After some time away from this mustang, I decided to take this weekend to knock out a few things I've been thinking about for a while.  Instead of making two different rods, I went with one strip of brass rod that I've filed down at the end so there is a step.  This rod is what opens the radiator door.  On the real thing there's a rod that fits into a sleeve for it, but here the scales would be too small to place a tube here.  I'm sure it may be possible to find a hypodermic needle close to scale, but I'm making due with this.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

The difference can be seen where the shine is.  It's less obvious here, but there is a slight step where the distal end is smaller in diameter. 

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

And here it is installed.

Most of the upper surfaces have been weathered.  The undersides still need some attention.  I hope to wrap those up tomorrow night.  =]

Bvallot, I must say I'm loving that NMF.  I've been using that Detailer wash for years in my cockpits and gear bays and have yet to find anything better for this.  I usually mix the black and brown to come up with a dirty look.  You should try the "Flory" wash on the exterior.  It leaves a nice grungy war-weary appearance and is also user friendly. I got mine from Sprue Brothers (and I'm about due for a refill).   I can't wait to see this one done.  

Joe    

Thanks Joe.  I've been hearing more and more about the Flory wash, and it's obvious how nice it works.  I've been wanting to try it out.  I don't think my local hobby carries it.  I'll likely order some here from Sprue Brothers as well.  I haven't considered looking there yet so thanks for mentioning.

Your welcome.  Go with "Black" and "Dark Dirt" for our purposes.   I usually slosh the two together on the model.  The black comes in handy for darker colors, like OD or IJN/IJN greens.   Experiment....

Joe

After some time away from the mustang, I've given some thought as to how I would approach some of the last touches regarding any weathering and sealing before calling it done.  While I wait for some supplies to come in the mail, I went ahead and picked back up on weathering the radiator and engine area on this mustang. 

Here's what I've started so far...

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

More to come.... =]

Back with an update.  I still have to fit the fuel lines to fix up and match them to the wing surface.   But for now I have just about everything done for this one...

I managed to fit the cockpit with the APS-13 light.  I drilled a very tiny hole to set the base of it into the dash.

Here's the APS-13

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

The antenna is made from very tiny brass rod.  To solve the problem of inserting them I used a brand new exacto blade and made a very small hole straight down.  The sharp tip ensures the hole's low profile.  The light on the dash was made from a female end of a pin that connects a fuselage part.  It was originally the pin part to the P-40 I'm working on.  I cut it out from the cowl flaps and thought I might make it of some use.  So, I filed and sanded it down into shape and I think it worked out fairly well.  It's a bit difficult to tell here with the light.  It'll be more visible when I'm completely finished and film it in the light box.  I'd like to have gotten the thickness down a bit more...but I think it's a good first attempt.

Radiator...

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Didn't want to overdo the weathering here.  I kept it simple and let what I'd previously done with the NMF surface to stand up on it's own.

Glass for the gun site.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

I haven't finished the wooden base yet.  I've got a piece of oak to cut and stain, but for now I've got it on a temporary stand.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

I put a coat of Alclad's Light Sheen which did take the shine down some.  If you compare it to photos of war time P-51's, it's actually a pretty good fit for what you come out with.  I also, used Alclad's Flat Klear Kote on the anti-glare surface and markings.  

=]

Shes a beaut Bvallot.   Looks dead on for an operational P-51.  You should hook that prop up to a motor....

Joe

Very sweet work Bvallot, hadn't seen that antenna setup before, great scratch work!

NICE the NMF look weathered and natural

Thanks guys.  =]  Yeah, Reasoned...I looked far and wide to ensure I had everything right for this build.  I still have two more things to add to the undersurface.  I'll highlight them in the next post.  I save the most delicate parts for last after I've gotten everything ready to mount it.

Joe, I'd like to do something like that in the future for smaller dioramas.  I lucked out with my wildcat and the prop fits on it just so that it will spin easily.  I've been trying to play with this one so that it loosens up a bit.  I'd like to take a couple of photos with the prop moving.  I think it's too late to do anything more about it now huh?  Do you know something about hooking it up that I don't?!  Any tricks out there?

My Wildcat prop spins freely too.  I used my airbrush (empty) to make my prop move when I took pictures of it.  I just took a bunch pictures and kept the good ones.  Check it out....

Look out! the runaway pilotless Wildcat!...............

Joe

Ha!  I did the same thing.  Kept my airbrush on it why I shot away with the camera.  =]  I guess it's useless hoping to always be that lucky....maybe I'll find a way to standardize it so it will always do that.  

Didn't Jim have a radio line that was rigged up funny?

Is there anybody out there that knows for sure how the fuel lines for the drop tanks were set up on these very long range escort missions out of Iwo Jima?  I have some photos to work from...but there are so many variations.  

Any help I can get is more than appreciated.  =]

One idea to make an easily spinning prop is to use 2 different sizes of brass tubing that just fit one inside the other.  The outer tube forms a bearing surface that allows the prop to spin easily, plus allows the prop to be removed for transport.  I am not sure if you could do it with the fuselage complete, but it could be worth a try.  Good luck

Beautiful build!

John

Thanks for the tip.  I've actually just recently been turned onto the albion tubes/rods that are fit to slide with each other.  Quite handy!  I may just try to fit some and modify the base of the prop and prop reduction box to accept one of these.

Thanks again wolfhammer1.  Any suggestions on the drop tanks?!  =]  Are you a mustang guy at all?

Alright, here it is.  Finally finished.  I's dotted and t's crossed.  I finally got my light box in to film with better than I'd been doing.  This post will be a bit pic heavy, but I wanted the NMF to show what it can do.  I had a lot of fun on this build and learned a lot from it.  I'd give this kit 5 out of 5 stars.  =]  It's a real winner.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Thanks for stopping to take a look.  =]  Any comments questions or tips are always welcome.

Simply glorious!! Wow, that is some spectacular work. Very impressive, thanks for sharing!!

Great job, BV!!

She's seen some mileage. Good job. Definitely needs a pilot, and a spinning prop. Bob

That is one gorgeous plane