NiceFit – I think most plastic fuel tanks, ordnance, torpedoes, etc always come in two halves, it is a matter of fit! Tamiya has the better fit. Squadron has a selection of True Details resin AMs on sale every month; I have slowly accumulated bombs, fuel tanks, etc at very cheap prices (less than couple bucks each). And thanks for posting those instructions. I took advantage of the Lucky Model recent sale and ordered the Tamiya P-51B Blue Nose with figures for about 1/3 of the listed price; you can see it here:
http://www.greatmodels.com/~smartcart/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=TAM92216
I also have the old Monogram P-51B, I expect SOME differences when it is time to build them lol I have never seen the P-51B at my Michaels.
Vetteman – No need to apologize at ALL for the shrink tubing idea. *I* wish I could take credit for it, but I read it somewhere (magazine, this forum?) couple years ago. What is important is the fact that it was a useful tip which helped fellow builders, which is the whole point of a GB : )
Kermit/Richard – Very well done and nice recovery! Bird looks great, look forward to more of your work!
Owl – Enamels take longer than acrylics to cure; how long depends on the thickness of the coats and where you live! (humidity and heat). I live in southern CT, and USED to say never got as hot as the South, except last week we hit 100+ 3 days in a row, with high humidity lol.. Anyways, I always let my enamels dry/cure for 2-3 days minimum. I use Testors/MM enamels almost exclusively. Just because the paint does not feel “tacky”, it does not mean it is cured. I err on the side of caution and let my pain dry/cure for 3 days; Future coats, also for 2-3 days. I have yet to peel off any paint after masking with those drying times. One last thing…. People thin different ways and use different thinners… I found out that on MY hands, the thinner from testors/MM works better than generic (and cheaper) thinners. Of course, never use lacquer thinner since it is too hot; I only use it to clean the AB at the end of a paint session. I remember the first time I tried out lacquer thinner as my “paint thinner’… I started to spray some ship sub-assembly, and saw my carefully puttied-sanded repair work melt before my eyes lol
From Swammy’s web site, a primer on AB:
http://www.swannysmodels.com/CJairbrush.html
There was a comprehensive article on FSM but I cannot track it down at the moment. Basically, the trouble-shooting guide states that the vast majority of “orange peel” effects are due to not mixing enough thinner with the paint or AB from too close a distance, as soulcrusher explained.
Sorry for the long post! Will re-start my builds this week. And congrats to La Furia Espanola (Spain) for winning the World Cup, and me and the Mrs for our 20y anniversary! Cheers all