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

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.  =]

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.  =]

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?

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.  =]

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.  =]

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.

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.

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.

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.  =]

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.

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. =]

That's beautiful work and on a beautiful plane. I have one question that I've had for a little while and I'll go ahead and ask it now. Why do you apply the metallic paint over a gloss black undercoat? Is it something you have to do with Alclad paints or is it necessary with any brand of metallic paint? I've only done 1 or maybe 2 NMF aircraft but that was years ago when I was a kid and my overall modeling skill was nowhere near what it is now. Is that gloss black undercoat only necessary when you are painting the metallic body of an aircraft or some other vessel or would it be necessary on anything metallic, for instance, when replicating the NMF of an automobile engine? And would that procedure be used when doing any NMF, not just aluminum? And....and this is the last question, I promise.....does gloss black have to be used for the undercoat or can any color be used?

I've been away for a while mostly posting this build on the NMF Group Build V but I wanted to at least catch up this WIP to where I am now.  I'll be skipping thru some of the boring stuff so you don't fall asleep while perusing this post.  So here goes:

2013-09-06 18.06.32 by brittvallot, on Flickr

Laying down Alclad's Gloss Black.  I've noticed that you have to really keep your brush clean before putting this stuff down.  So long as I maintained my brush, I haven't had any trouble.  It goes down beautifully.

photo 1-1 by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

This is the Duraluminum put down over the wings.  I've made sweeping motions over along where the ribbing is that supports the wing.  I find less is more here.  Allowing some of the black to show through is helping this metallic color look like metal. I think it's less convincing when someone blasts away making a completely uniform colored panel.  I took my time to touch this up and make it a little more refined.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Here's the Polished Aluminum.  With all of Alclad's color selection, you may only need two or three for the most part to pull of many NMFs.  Maybe four depending on what you're getting into.

That being said....I actually have four I think. =]  The ailerons, elevators, and rudder are done in White Aluminum along with the one panel in the front under the cowl.  Wings are in Duraluminum.  Fuselage is in Polished Aluminum and the panel next to the exhaust stack is in Magnesium.  Come to think of it...I did the exhaust in their Exhaust Manifold and the cover in Semi Matte Aluminum.  Crap. lol.  But honestly, to pull off a convincing NMF you could really do it in about three.  By masking off the panels you're working on and carefully putting down what you need and lightly buffing the surface as you see fit based on wear and tear of your aircraft, you can create a lot of contrasting panels without spraying each one a different color.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Here's a few more pics of all the aluminum color painted and buffed.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

I'll stop there for tonight.  More later on.

I only use water based washes....no issues so no need to experiment with others.  They will work fine right on top of the Alclad surface.  Lately I've been using Flory washes on the panel lines.  Its clay based and wipes right off with a damp paper towel (I use round coffee filters...no lint).  I use The Detailer wash on cockpits over a dusting of Testor's Gloss coat.  I'm not sure its necesary, but it works for me and I like the results.  Alclad doesn't need the gloss coat for The Detailer wash

Thanks for the compliment.  That Jug now belongs to a relative of the original pilot.  How often do us modelers get the chance to do that....

Joe.  

Thanks Joe!  Much appreciated. =]  I just finished looking through your post.  It definitely helps me to better predict how some of these different alclads are going to lay down next to each other.  I really enjoyed seeing how your anti-glare color came out.  That's pretty much what I'm aiming for too.  

I did have a few questions about fine tuning with alclad.  I understand there's no need to seal it, but what about any washes you put on it (panel lines etc).  I'm somewhat unclear on that point.  Also, I've heard that "the Detailer" is a water based wash that doesn't require you to put a seal down first with alclad but what about afterwards.  It would seem to reason that it needs something after right?  Which reminds me...the alclad clear gloss...did that detract any from the original alclad finish?

Oh! and FINE looking P-47 you got there.  I always enjoy seeing your mini dioramas you have them set on.  Definitely looking forward to making a few of those.

bvallot

This is my first NMF so I'm a little anxious to see how it turns out.  I have been told to make it perfect and I'm not taking it lightly.  This is the most I've ever fretted about the surface of anything before.  I'm still obsessing about certain spots and how they'll turn out.  

Hey Bvallot.   I don't know if you've started your NMF, but It sounds like your going to use Alclad.  Here's how I do my NMF's with Alclad.  Once I discovered this stuff I never looked back.  Scroll down to the bottom of Page 1 and I have a step-by-step tutorial in there.

 http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/151736.aspx?sort=ASC&pi240=1

......and its looking great.

Joe

You'd be correct sir! This is my first NMF so I'm a little anxious to see how it turns out.  I have been told to make it perfect and I'm not taking it lightly.  This is the most I've ever fretted about the surface of anything before.  I'm still obsessing about certain spots and how they'll turn out.  But you're right about the Tamiya 51, it practically builds itself. =]

It is usually best to get it put together and seams cleaned up before paint.  I think I see some Alclad in the background, doing a NMF w/it?  If so, you don't need me to tell you how important it is to get the surface as smooth as silk.  At least with the Tamiya 51, my recollection from building it was the wing roots required no fill/sanding and the fuselage went together real well.

Thanks Reasoned. =]  I've only just recently got into modeling scale aircraft.  So I do my best to learn everything I can and pay it forward when possible.

I happened to get a few more things moving.  This is my first mustang I'm building and I can't say enough how happy I am to be building this Tamiya.  Save for the aftermarket cockpit that gave me a few worries, this has been such a joy to build.  Simple, smart construction.  Here's just a few photos.  Nothing special going on here.  Just sharing a sweet build. =D

2013-08-21 20.30.45 by brittvallot, on Flickr

Here I cut off the tabs off the flaps that are received by the wings.  Drilled out some holes, glued some brass rod for some added strength (lessoned learned from my corsair), and refit the tabs a little higher to deploy them in the up position.

2013-08-22 21.39.31 by brittvallot, on Flickr

I did decide not to place all the hoses and such like I normally would.  It's getting covered and I'm in a bit of a rush to get this done.

2013-08-22 23.13.21 by brittvallot, on Flickr

I've closed the wheel bay up here as this will be set up in flight.  Honestly, the best fit I have ever seen here.  Normally this part takes a LOT of modification and headache.  But here...beautiful. =]

2013-08-22 23.15.24 by brittvallot, on Flickr

And that's all for now.  I am a bit stumped as to whether or not I should paint the wings and fuselage my gloss black coat now....and then mate them after, or just glue everything in clean up my seams and paint after.

Any thoughts...?

Looking good and interesting info on the antenna.

The latest on my mustang WIP.  Finally got the fuselage halves together.  I test fitted like I was OCD and still happen to have some trouble.  I would eventually discovery it to be the fat part of the Aires cockpit tub.  I left it thinking it wouldn't be a problem, buuuuut...it happened to me.  Maybe next time I'll be luckier.

Mostly just some surface attention...taking care of seams...and I set a place up to anchor my brass tube that receives the rod to mount it.  I decided to place it aft of the radiator instead of in it so there isn't any room for the landing gear.  No worries...cause it's getting closed up. =]

photo 1 by brittvallot, on Flickr

photo 3 by brittvallot, on Flickr

photo 2 by brittvallot, on Flickr

Now that I've gotten to this point I can start moving this thing along. =]

No worries guys.  After a few ways of changing my search, I happen to come across it.  I'm posting what I come up with here to help any future Mustang builders looking to find out too. =]  Here's an excerpt:

AN/APS-13 Tail Warning Radar Antenna

Radio Set AN/APS-13 is a lightweight radar set which gives an airplane pilot, or any other aircrew member who can see or hear it, a visible and audible warning that a hostile airplane is behind or approaching from the rear.

The usable range of this set is from 200 to 800 yards, and within an area extending up to 30° on both sides of the airplane and from 45° above it to 45° below it. The set doesn’t work above 50,000 feet or below 3100 feet. Ground reflections determine the lower limit.

aps-13-ant1-70 by brittvallot, on Flickr

aps-13-components1-70% by brittvallot, on Flickr

P-51DK_05 by brittvallot, on Flickr

Quick question! I've been looking ahead to consider other parts that need some thinking about and stumbled on to this along the tail of this mustang.  They appear to be antenna.  I'm guessing that since there is no radio line running to the cockpit that this is possible something to replace it.

Anybody out there a mustang expert on this?

Screen shot 2013-08-09 at 12.29.48 AM

Screen shot 2013-08-09 at 12.30.11 AM

If you're looking at the top 1/3 of the tail, then you'll see what I'm talking about. This one here obviously has the line so it's got me thinking it was just one kind of bandwidth...?

Thanks Joe!  Yeah, it's the been the subject of some debate for me lately.  I need to get this part finished up so I can marry these two fuselage halves together finally.  I added a few more odds and ends to build up this radiator section and set a couple of holes for later pieces to follow.  Then, I put a coat of Alclad's Gloss Black down. 

photo-2 by brittvallot, on Flickr

photo-3 by brittvallot, on Flickr

photo-4 by brittvallot, on Flickr

This pic is a little difficult to see.  I included it here anyway since it was a view to the scoop and radiator

photo-5 by brittvallot, on Flickr

Looking great.  I usually leave this area in NMF too.  

Joe

After a busy week, I took a some time last night to work on the radiator a bit more.  It's starting to come together.  Still needs a little tweaking and fitting.  I'm beginning to think that I will leave it all in a NMF.  

photo-1 by brittvallot, on Flickr

Yeah, I'd actually been considering lightening it up a bit still.  I started with the orange to provide the base color while dry-brushing a lighter color over it.  I do think it needs a little more attention before i call it done.  I'm also trying to consider the dirt and grime that would work itself into the wood as well.  That's how I reached the outcome you see so far.

I do appreciate the input.  =]

I've somewhat haphazardly ground into the floor with my rotor tool's sander.  I'm trying to create a wood grain texture from the plywood floor.  The Erection and Maintenance Manual called for silica sand mixed with matte black paint to be put down as a skid surface, but these would eventually wear out like everything else.  I personally wanted to see some of the wooden characteristics of the cockpit and opted to include it.  I painted it a Tamiya Clear Orange which i find works real well as a wood color.  The deeper crevices will appear darker.  I'll come back over this with a flat khaki to lighten it up some afterwards.

Actually your plywood floors wouldn't be Orange, they would be a blonde color just like your workbench surface which looks to be particle board.  The plywood used would have been fir and pine plywood from the Pacific Northwest, not a teak color.

I have a question for all you Mustang experts out there.  I've seen several instances where the scoop and radiator door are left in the natural metal finish and some with the interior green.  Question is:

Which was it? Was one a practice during a certain time period? What's the skinny here?

Began building up some of the radiator while I'm waiting for some mesh I ordered to come in through the mail.

2013-07-30 19.19.24 by brittvallot, on Flickr

2013-07-30 19.47.11 by brittvallot, on Flickr
There's a piece here that's a little shorter. It was making it poke out funny. I've since fixed it after I saw this photo.

2013-07-30 21.47.09 by brittvallot, on Flickr
All of this is just a rough fit. I can't put any of this together yet until I paint the inside surfaces....and double check some things.