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

Bish

Looking very good there Doogs. That stuff you used to mask looks similar to the white tac that i use.

Looking forward to seeing the decals on.

Thanks!

I futured the whole thing this morning...think I may add a second coat before I head out for lunch, then hit the decals tonight or tomorrow morning. My only worry is the fuselage invasion stripes - the Tamiya decals have been mixed so far. The instrument panel was amazing, but the decals for the bombs were so terrible that I've opted to finish this one out with the wing pylons dry.

I'd have masked and painted the stripes, but that underbelly section of the P-47 is a bear to mask.

Are theinvasion stripes individual decals or one big decal. Is it possable to mask and then paint the white and then just use the black decals. I sometimes find white decals often show the colour underneath through them.

Ok, well i finished one of them. The colours are a little off. And the yellow isnt as good as id like it. (i hate yellow and white lol) A little bit of background information.

Pilot: Ed Heller.

Last Wartime rank:   Lt. Col

Aircraft: P-51D Hell-Er-Bust

486th FS, 352nd FG. Based and Bodney. "The Blue Nosed B@st@rds Of Bodney"

He finished the war with 5.5 aerial kills and was the top strafer of the 352nd FG with 16.5 ground victories.

*warning, following content may be completely fictional.*

After the war he was contracted by Japan to test fly their new prototype "Eggplanes" Modified versions of successful fighters. These aircraft proved to be a crowd bringer at air shows around the world. The following photos are of Ed Hellers personal "Eggplane". Painted to depict his WWII mount.

Hope you guys enjoy. Sorry there were no WIP pics. it just kinda fell together a bit quick. Basic construction is typical of hasegawa. Good fit. These ones are snap together kits. Painting instructions are fairly comprehensive. Instructions are precise and clear. Id recommend this kit to anyone wanted a bit of fun. Only problem i had with it was the NMF , like always lol.

As always C&C welcome.

Cheers.

Mike

Nice little build you got there Mike. Looks like a fun little build.

Front page has been updated with this and clebode's B-24

Im looking at doing one like this with a few differences.

The only differences are that the tail number is 413926 and instead of a B its an S. and no nose art name. Instructions says its 361st FG 375th FS Urban L. Drew.

Heres the pics I have of LOU IV.

Thet are some very nice looking Mustangs. Looking forward to seeing your build.

Im trying to figure out how to paint it. Apply the aluminum then decal then mask and paint the OD? or apply the OD before decaling? It seems that it might be hard to mask the green before decaling becuase of how it goes around the star, so Im thinking after the decal is applied it will be easier to mask over the decal.

is it alright if I drop in? I have a P-51b I will be building up into a Blue Nose...probably Lambie II. I will also be foiling this plane. I haven't foiled anything more complicated than a MiG-21, so I thought I would give it a shot with Revell's P-51b kit. Are crossovers alright? This fits with the NMF group build as well.

OWL

ww2psycho

Im trying to figure out how to paint it. Apply the aluminum then decal then mask and paint the OD? or apply the OD before decaling? It seems that it might be hard to mask the green before decaling becuase of how it goes around the star, so Im thinking after the decal is applied it will be easier to mask over the decal.

I've got a similar-ish build planned with Hank Brown's Hun Hunter ~ Texas P-51D:

I'm planning on doing the green (his was RAF Dark Green, not OD, but same idea) on the fuselage after I do the NMF and decals. I think. I've also considered scanning the decals and a 1/48 profile view and creating a masking template...

DoogsATX

ww2psycho:

Im trying to figure out how to paint it. Apply the aluminum then decal then mask and paint the OD? or apply the OD before decaling? It seems that it might be hard to mask the green before decaling becuase of how it goes around the star, so Im thinking after the decal is applied it will be easier to mask over the decal.

 

I've got a similar-ish build planned with Hank Brown's Hun Hunter ~ Texas P-51D:

I'm planning on doing the green (his was RAF Dark Green, not OD, but same idea) on the fuselage after I do the NMF and decals. I think. I've also considered scanning the decals and a 1/48 profile view and creating a masking template...

Id check the NMF of that plane. I heard or read somewhere that the bottom might have been a light green instead of natural metal. I got my nephew a diecast model of it and its light green and dark green.

ww2psycho

I'm planning on doing the green (his was RAF Dark Green, not OD, but same idea) on the fuselage after I do the NMF and decals. I think. I've also considered scanning the decals and a 1/48 profile view and creating a masking template...

 

 

Id check the NMF of that plane. I heard or read somewhere that the bottom might have been a light green instead of natural metal. I got my nephew a diecast model of it and its light green and dark green.

Interesting...though I guess with the blue/green debate over LOU IV and NMF/medium sea gray underside debate with Hairless Joe, anything's possible.

I have two wartime photos I'm using as reference, one of WR-Z and one of squadron mate WR-A. Both appear to be Dark Green over metal, with the characteristic darker metal band aft of the exhaust manifolds. Of course, with black and white it's impossible to be 100% sure...

Bish

Are theinvasion stripes individual decals or one big decal. Is it possable to mask and then paint the white and then just use the black decals. I sometimes find white decals often show the colour underneath through them.

They're neither and both! All are black/white stripes, but cut up in various ways...

Random question- I was just thinking ahead and was wondering what's the decalling process for NMF?  I'm guessing the decals just go right on the finish?  And if so how do you flat coat the decals?

Hey guys, I was looking through one of my old P-51 books that is fortunate to have a color  photo of a P 51B from the 354th FS (call letters WR) .  The top side color is a dark green with a hint of olive drab to it and it looks like the bottom was painted sea grey. On the tail the trim tab is a yellowish orange. I do not know if this is a unit marking or just a personal touch.  There is a color photo of  "LOU IV" fling lead and the camouflage pattern and color seem to be correct in your photos, but it was a early D model that did not have a fin fillet.  The book is called P-51 Mustang by William Newby Grant  from Gallery Books.  I hope this helps.

Little J - which 354th craft was it? I'm planning to build Brown's -51B as well as his -51D, and it's scheme was RAF dark green up top and bare metal beneath:

Got the decals on tonight. They look pretty good so far...we'll see come morning.

Alas, the Tamiya invasion stripes totally failed, so I'm going to have to mask. NOT looking forward to it, but it'll be good practice I guess. 

redraider56

Random question- I was just thinking ahead and was wondering what's the decalling process for NMF?  I'm guessing the decals just go right on the finish?  And if so how do you flat coat the decals?

It might depend on what you are useing. I use Alclad and the decals are just fine going straight on. And they looked just fine after wards. But i think it would be better if they were sealed in, but i haven't yet found a way to do it with spoiling the NMF finish.

Beginning to think I was never meant to complete a P-51 B. I tried to use the ID stripe decals included in the kit. Now I'm sanding them off... The delay means repainting the wings (glad I saved the OD I mixed up) then masking and painting the ID stripes... Anyone know if the the 4th group used 24 or 18 inch stripes?

Hey doogs, I found where I read that and I mixed the two up. The diecast model is light green instead of NMF, but that card that came with it does say it is NFM.

Doogs,  it is the P-51B  serial # 42-106950 with the call letters WR * P.   The normal pilot was Lt. Robert E. Hulderman  and she was lost on 11 September 1944 with Capt. Kevin G. Rafferty  flying her.   The plane has a Malcolm canopy, green top sides,  sides and tail are aluminum  and the bottom looks to be sea gray.  It also has ten kill marks on her.  I will try to take a picture of it . I just have to figure out that photo bucket.

jbrady

Beginning to think I was never meant to complete a P-51 B. I tried to use the ID stripe decals included in the kit. Now I'm sanding them off... The delay means repainting the wings (glad I saved the OD I mixed up) then masking and painting the ID stripes... Anyone know if the the 4th group used 24 or 18 inch stripes?

I believe they were 18". When I did mine I just copied the width of the decals.

Masking the ID stripes is actually really easy - certainly easier than the invasion stripes I'm about to try on the Jug!

Just lay the tape down on the top side - including the flap...since you're going straight it's hard to mess up.

Next, do the same on the bottom. 

Pinch the tape together at the leading edges of the wings, slice though with an exacto is you want to paint the flaps separate, and viola!

DoogsATX: I tend ot overcomplicate things. Now I'm worried about how far from the wing root the stripe was laid down.

Decals are on. Hoping to get a start on the invasion stripes tonight.

How do I post the photo bucket pics ?  

Doogs, before you start the stripes I found a color photo of Hairless Joe that clearly shows no invasion stripes on the bottom wings.  The only stripes are on the bottom half of the fuselage.  

Little J

How do I post the photo bucket pics ?  

On the photobucket page bring up the photo to its full size. Right click and select properties then copy the link to the photo.  Where you write your post, theres an image that looks like a film strip with a + in a green circle. Select that and paiste the link, then hit insert.

 on photobucket, hold the mouse over the pic you want until a menu box surrounds it and click on the image url thing. It should say "copied" ,Go to your thread, hit return for a new line, right click and hit paste .  it should be there when you submit teh post.

OWL

Little J - Photobucket's not that bad once you figure it out.

First - upload your photos to Photobucket. Arrange as you like by album, sub-album, etc. I use a Photobucket uploader tied into iPhoto, but whatever works for you.

Second - once your pics are on Photobucket, click on one's thumbnail to bring it up larger. You'll see a box off to the left with a couple different URLs. One for E-mail and IM, a direct link, HTML code, and IMG code. Click in the IMG code URL area and it should automatically copy the URL for you.

Third - on the forums, hit CTRL+V or Edit-->Paste to paste the IMG code into the text area. 

Third pt. 2 - another way of doing things - copy the Direct Link from Photobucket, then paste that into the URL box that comes up when you click the green film icon in the forum toolbar.

Fourth - post. Once you post, your image will show up.