Mighty 8th GB 1-Nov-2010 - 31-Oct-2011

Bish--Thanks for the kind words.  As for the kit, it is very well done for the most part.  Outstanding surface detail everywhere.  Two comments: 1) the front section of the fuselage is molded in clear syrene and is difficult to glue and clean up; 2) the model needs a lot of weight in the nose to sit right.  Even with 50 grams, 10 nickels, hidden in the dead space under the dorsal turret it was still tail heavy.  I managed to get a hold of powdered lead and have filled several voids under the navigator's station, the forward part of the front wheel well and the forward portion of the campartment under the dorsal turret with the lead.  I fixed it with thin CA.  I have my fingers crossed the the CA has not ruined the cockpit windows as it did flow through the inside of the nose a bit. 

As for painting the wings off, that is definitely the way to go with this kit.  The wings fit beautifully into recesses in the fuselage,  No seams at all and no need to glue them!

Below is a link to a review that was very helpful on some of the trickier aspects of the build.

http://www.ipmsusa2.org/Reviews/Kits/Aircraft/hasegawa_72_b24d/hasegawa_72_b24d.htm

I noticed the same thing with mine in regards the front section, which is also clear. I noticed it is slightly wider than the rear part it attachs to, leaving a small lip. In my case i was glad of the clear part as it made converting fron a J to an H alot easier. I did post a couple of pics a few pages back.

I noticed the same with the nose weight, mine doesn't have enough. But seeing as i will build a Dio for it and glue it down its not such an issue.

jbrady

Can anyone tell me if they see a white stripe on the landing gear door in this photo.

I've seen two different artist's rendering of this airplane one shows the recognition stripe on the top of the wing only, the other shows it on both the top and the bottom. For the life of me, I cannot tell if there is a white stripe in the shadowed area of the wheel well door.

Do you know when the picture was taken? The reason I ask is that to my eyes, it looks like there are invasion stripes on that gear door.

yeah but theres none on the fuselage.

Scorpiomikey

yeah but theres none on the fuselage.

Yes.  Looks to me like a single white stripe. 

Don

lewbud

jbrady:

Can anyone tell me if they see a white stripe on the landing gear door in this photo.

I've seen two different artist's rendering of this airplane one shows the recognition stripe on the top of the wing only, the other shows it on both the top and the bottom. For the life of me, I cannot tell if there is a white stripe in the shadowed area of the wheel well door.

 

Do you know when the picture was taken? The reason I ask is that to my eyes, it looks like there are invasion stripes on that gear door.

I believe it was sometime in the summer of 43. This airplane was lost in April of 44... never had invasion stripes.

Well my Mig15 for the Korean War GB is going very well, over half way done with construction, most of it being done it one day. I wont have my mustang till after xmas for this gb, but there is nothing stopping me from working on it after the mig.

Very nice work everyone! I wish I could do as well as some, well all, of you guys!

jbrady

 

lewbud:

 

 

jbrady:

Can anyone tell me if they see a white stripe on the landing gear door in this photo.

I've seen two different artist's rendering of this airplane one shows the recognition stripe on the top of the wing only, the other shows it on both the top and the bottom. For the life of me, I cannot tell if there is a white stripe in the shadowed area of the wheel well door.

 

 

Do you know when the picture was taken? The reason I ask is that to my eyes, it looks like there are invasion stripes on that gear door.

 

 

I believe it was sometime in the summer of 43. This airplane was lost in April of 44... never had invasion stripes.

If it's a P-51B/C (which I think it is...but with the cowl panels removed and the prop in profile, it might be a P-51A), then it's almost certainly from '44. First, since the first operational flight of the P-51B didn't occur until December 1, 1943 at Boxted (354th FG). Second, because that poor 'Stang looks pretty banged up, so it's obviously seen several missions. 

I hate the filling and sanding stage so much! Like painting. Like building. I even kind of like scratchbuilding. But sanding and filling just...no. 

Last night I finally got the P-47 over the hump, masked the cowl/cockpit/gear bays and started priming. Yay!

Decided to go back to Mr. Surfacer 1200 this time around. Planning to hit the topside tonight.

Also got a start on these guys. Too bad they're turned brass, not aluminum...wouldn't even have to paint them then!

Its a B, its got the little chin scoop which means its running a merlin. A's ran with an alison which had the scoop on the top.

It's a B  Serial # 43-6646, "Ill Wind" 334squadron, 4th Group out of Debden, assigned to Captain Nichoals Megura. The plane was lost on 29 May 1944 while piloted by Lt. Vernon Burroughs. Megura was shot down by a P-38 during a furball over southern Sweden later in the same week. Burroughs spent the rest of the war as a POW. Megura was interred in Sweden.

Scorpiomikey

yeah but theres none on the fuselage.

That's why I asked when the picture was taken.  If it was late enough in 44, the stripes on the upper surfaces would have been painted over while those on the under surfaces remained.  Since the plane was lost before the invasion, it's a moot point.

ww2psycho  Thats fine, good to get the builds spread out through the course of the GB.

Doogs Looking good, fingures crossed on the decals this time. And i am with you on the filling and sanding. Thats always the nit i look forward to lest.

Bish: I am admitting defeat by the AM kit I'm building. I just don't have the skills to complete it yet. Can you change the kit to the Tamiya P-51 B?  Same squadron and station. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Bish

Doogs Looking good, fingures crossed on the decals this time. And i am with you on the filling and sanding. Thats always the nit i look forward to lest.

Gonna be a cross of aftermarket and Tamiya decals this time, not 17-year-old Monograms questionably preserved...and I'm planning to gloss this one up like nobody's business...so if they don't work I should probably just start using stickers.

The Jug actually wasn't bad at all with the sanding. Needed some more love than I'd anticipated, but it may as well be perfect next to the Academy P-38 its sharing the bench with.

jbrady - sorry to hear about the AM P-51B. You'll LOVE the Tamiya -B. I'm loving this Jug, but the -B is seriously the most seamless, trouble-free kit I've ever built. Also HIGHLY recommend some Ultracast exhausts. Most the rest of the kit's fine, but the exhausts are so prominent, and the Ultracast ones so much better than the ones in the kit...and you get two sets, so you can use the second on another Tamiya -51 down the line.

You're right about the Tamiya kit. I sat down with it for about 45 minutes and assembled the entire airframe and cockpit without glue. Reading reviews of Tamiya kits then building three of them, I wondered why everyone raved about them. I had problems with all of them. Now that I've run up against another manufacturer I understand. Compared to what elses is out there Tamiya kits are a breeze.

Thanks for the tip about Ultracast... I just ordered the eduard cockpit detail kit and mask. Maybe I'll see if I can get the exhaust also. I thought to use the exhaust from the Am Kit... much better than the Tamiya but no where near the Ultra Cast.

jbrady  No problem, i have changed the front page. Pity about the AM kit. Are you planning on tackeling it at a letr date for somthing else. I haven't done any tamiya aircraft yet but i do have a few and i have only heard good things about them.

Bish: I don't know what I'm going to do with it. Looking at it with a calmer head this morning The only thing I really have to do is figure out how to straighten the center section of the canopy and remove the decals. The pic doesn't really show how transluscent the white stripe is and the fact that the no step area on the flap is 5 little fragments of red that just looks wrong. I'm going to leave it on the side of the bench and look at it for a while.

That is often a problem with larger light decals, especially yellow and white. I have taken to just painting them on as they are often a feature of German aircraft. But from that angle the kit looks very nice. If you can sort those minor problems i think you will have a nice one. Can you get an After market canopy for that.

jbrady

Bish: I don't know what I'm going to do with it. Looking at it with a calmer head this morning The only thing I really have to do is figure out how to straighten the center section of the canopy and remove the decals. The pic doesn't really show how transluscent the white stripe is and the fact that the no step area on the flap is 5 little fragments of red that just looks wrong. I'm going to leave it on the side of the bench and look at it for a while.

 

I agree with Bish - it doesn't look bad at all from the pic!

For the stripes and the no-step area, you may want to try (with a clear coat on top) sanding down the decal areas with some really high-grit sandpaper (1200+), then masking them and spraying the color on top. That should really help the solid up the white, and give the red no-step area a more seamless appearance.

For the canopy, Squadron sells vac canopies for the AM P-51A and A-36, not sure about the -51B, but I'd bet they do. May want to look into that option. I kinda hate vacform canopies, but sometimes they're the only way to go...

Ok I got a question on P-51Ds.  I've read from a couple sources and also from a couple builds that all the panel lines on the wings (except for the gun access panels) were puttied and sanded smooth on the real thing and then painted silver in an effort to reduce drag and improve performance.  On the Tamiya instuction sheet it also says that the fuselage was left bare metal but the wings were painted silver.  I'm wondering if this was done to every D, or just some?  I'm not having much luck researching it.

There's a massive thread somewhere (ARC Air forums I think) that goes into extensive detail on this.

It's not all the panel lines, just the ones along the leading edges of the wings, maybe say a third of the way back.

I was just wondering if would be something worth doing on my build or if I could just get away with doing the         wings natural metal....I'm thinking I'll just skip the trouble and leave the wings how they are.

redraider56

I was just wondering if would be something worth doing on my build or if I could just get away with doing the         wings natural metal....I'm thinking I'll just skip the trouble and leave the wings how they are.

Personally I'm a big fan of breaking up NMF finishes as much as possible...alternating panels, different sheens, and so for that reason I'm all for the lacquered wings.

Of course, "Hun Hunter ~ Texas" has RAF Dark Green on the wing surfaces, so it's a moot point for my upcoming P-51D...

Yea I was gonna alternate colors on panels like the gun access panels and what not.  I just dont feel like filling some panel lines and risk messing up the wings (I tend to mess up often).  Now that you mention it, a silver lacquer color might look good on the wings  but I dont know yet.  I also think the color scheme I'm doing should break up the natural metal finish pretty good....

I'm doing the middle plane "Jasper Joker II"

DoogsATX

 

Of course, "Hun Hunter ~ Texas" has RAF Dark Green on the wing surfaces, so it's a moot point for my upcoming P-51D...

Actually, according to one thread I found, the panel lines were filled-in in the factory and were even done so on OD over gray B models, so I would think they would be done on all models after that, including camo Ds.  I think, though, some planes may have been stripped down to bare metal in the field.

Here's the thread I got this info from...http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=21362&st=0

redraider56

 

DoogsATX:

 

 

Of course, "Hun Hunter ~ Texas" has RAF Dark Green on the wing surfaces, so it's a moot point for my upcoming P-51D...

 

 

Actually, according to one thread I found, the panel lines were filled-in in the factory and were even done so on OD over gray B models, so I would think they would be done on all models after that, including camo Ds.  I think, though, some planes may have been stripped down to bare metal in the field.

Here's the thread I got this info from...http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=21362&st=0

Oh yeah, I'm still going to fill the seams - I meant the aluminum lacquer paint on the wings vs. bare metal...

Finally got Hairless Joe under some real paint tonight, and have some meaningful progress pics to share!

First...the .50 cal blast tubes. These are the Master turned brass tubes...love them! 

Next, the canopy. Amazingly zero issues, and the masks came up without a problem of a single incident of paint lift!

Some bombs...

HJ all primed up and ready to go. Masking the cockpit was a PITA. There's a very fragile PE/styrene throttle grip in there, so stuffing the cockpit was out of the question.

The underside with its first coat of MM enamel Medium Sea Gray. Going to move on to tonal variation next. The port wing is left unpainted because its going to get the NMF treatment.

Looking good once again Doogs. What are you useing for the NMF on this one.

Alclad. Airframe aluminum on the canopy and blast tubes. Duraluminum (so far) on the gear doors, gear struts, a bomb rack. I'm planning a hodgepodge of Airframe Aluminum, Duraluminum, Dark Aluminum, White Aluminum, and Semi-Matte Aluminum for the wing and flap.