Mustang Build

Last time I was up at Boeing was before they put up the big building, what, must be close to 25-30 years ago.  Got to take a w/e and run up there again.....sometime. Only about 250 miles from here.

Nice belly pics Radial.

Goldhammer's pics are epic as well.

This is the only museum 51 pic I have. I got it at Boeing's Air and Space museum outside of Seattle. I have a TON of other aircraft including some sweet WW1 stuff.
Caproni Ca 20, S.E.5, Sopwith Triplane, Camel, Fokker Eindecker,  Dr1, DVII, Albatross, Newport 27, Spad, P-47,38, 40, F4U, Yak, Ki-84, Spit, 109E, and that's only the WWI and II subjects.

I got some closeups of Erickson's P51D tail and flaps and gear bays that I sent MC.  If you need them, just holler and I'll email.

Paul-  with the 1/24th horse, if you haven't already, might cross over with the going big GB going on now as well.

Here are some of the pics I took at the 8th AF Museum last week. I had a hard time focusing on the Mustang as the camera focus bounced off the Stearman next to it. Tried to get some tail and rudder pics, most did not take. Of course cockpit pics were not possible. Some pics of the Rolls Royce and the Allison sitting on the floor. Got dozens of nice pics of the B17 and the Bf109 there too.

Cheers,

Bob

Here's my over due update. All have had future applied to them. The B is at a stand still until I get copies made of the decals. A-36 will start decaling tonight or tomorrow.

B:

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A-36:

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That is a nice fit Andy. I wish I had such good luck with the cowling on my Revell. Oh well  I'll get back to it before long.

I like the idea regarding the guns, should look nice.

A lot of nice work going on here! I've got a quick progress update for your viewing pleasure...Cut out the molded gun barrels after trying (in vain) to drill out the center to add a little interest to them. Before...

And after...

I just plan on cutting a length of brass tube, won't be much but should look better than the mold would have.

And here she is with the wings on. I'm pretty happy with the fit. Shouldn't really require any filler in the wing root which is enough to brighten up any day! (hey it's the little things in life)

-Andy

Great work Brandon, pic is up in the gallery!

Great looking work Brandon!

Steve

Well done sir.  looks great and the photos do the bird justice as well.

<Matt

Looks great Brandon!

-Andy

Beautiful build Brandon.It really turned out great 

Thank you for participating, you really did justice to that classic pony.

Cody will get your pic up as soon as he can.

Steve

Super build :-)

Theuns

really nice work- love the dropped flaps.  well done !

I'm calling this one done. I may go back and weather the exhaust stains and gun smoke streaks, but after doing a lot of looking, I see few WWII aircraft with noticeable exhaust streaks when parked before a mission (as this one has drop tanks attached, it would be prior to a mission).

Anyway, here is the 1/48 Tamiya P-51B Mustang in Don Gentile's Shangri-La markings. I really, really enjoyed this build. I had fun painting the stripes, and I tried out some new techniques (masking part of the canopy glass while it was already installed, toning down the brightness of the stripes with a mist coat of buff).

Te kit is mostly stock. The only AM piece is the harness, which is an Eduard PE piece. I think it was sorely needed and completes the cockpit.

Enough talk - you'd all rather look at the pics than read my rambling, I'm sure. I took these shots with my new camera, so for a change you aren't getting cellphone shots, and since it's the finished product, I actually took the time to color correct, and these photos are accurate to what the model really looks like.

I think I like the fourth photo for the front page, since it shows the flaps down, whereas the front quarter views just look like part of the wing is missing.

If I do end up adding exhaust streaking (did they clean them on the ground after missions?), I will re-shoot a photo for the gallery.

Thanks for looking, all!

-BD-

Groot - those are looking great. I tried to paint my drop tank lines, and I failed miserably. Gave up and used the decals. Fortunately they came out OK, but yours look better. Well done, sir.

-BD-

I'll try to have an update by tomorrow night. Didn't realize how far I got from my last posted pictures.

" that's going to be one big horse.

  a Clydsdale maybe?  lol

Theuns

I got you down Wirraway. At 1/24, that's going to be one big horse.

Steve

Hi.  Would like to chime in with the old Bandai 1/24 P51D.  I noticed no-one was building one.  I'll be doing the "Millie G" which is still flying, of course, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Moving right along Groot. Don't worry about taking some time off, we'll be here.

Hello all, I figured I'd drop in with a quick update as I won't be doing much modelling for the next couple weeks due to work and family obligations.  I finally managed to get the red painted on my birds.  Going over the OD proved to be a real pain.  2-3 coats of red in and I could barely tell there was any red on it.  Then I hit it with a real light coat of white and that made all the difference in the world.  
This is the first time I've really tried to replace any decals with paint and I'm pretty happy with the results.  I need to straighten up the red on the upper cowling and knock down some light ridges but that will be easy.  This is also the first time I've used Alclad and I'm thrilled with the results.  Anyone building the 51B will notice that there are no ridges along the nose and tail of the drop tanks.  Based on the few reference photos I could find they don't seem to be there.  So I sanded them all off.  I like the streamlined result anyways!  I also painted the red bands on the drop tanks.  The upper stripe that runs longitudinal on the drop tanks didn't turn out great on all of them, but they really won't be visible, so I'm not overly concerned about it.   In any event, pictures-

This one probably shows off the "step here" markings the best

Here are both birds with the spinner caps.

An overhead view

And an overhead sans flash

I also have the prop blades mostly done.  I painted them insignia yellow with Tamiya gloss black over.  I then went back and lightly sanded each one and then polished with Novus and they shine quite nicely.  I need to touch up the yellow in a spot or two where I sanded down to the primer, but I may just opt to cover that up with weathering as props tend to get beat up pretty well, particularly on the edges.  I'll toss on the prop blade decals hopefully this weekend and then attach to the spinners and hit with some flat to knock down the shine.  That's probably it for me for a little while.  

Groot

P.S. I think I'll probably go back and drill out the vent holes in the cowlings.  I'll be doing that after I clean the coffee table!

ww2psycho

Thanks it helps. I forgot to drill out the holes in the B for the pylons. I'm not going to put them on now.

Well at least you have a choice. My Revell has them molded on so I couldn't remove them without some surgery.

OK, a little progress tonight.

The newer Revell's panels are a much better fit that their older molds. After watching Plasticjunkie's nightmare I was a little concerned. The left wing machine gun bay and lower cowl closed right up. I just need a little sanding and very little filling. The fuselage seams need a little work, but not as much as I was expecting and The wing roots don't look like they need any work at all. The cowl nose, on the other hand, is going to need some work.

That's all folks.

Steve

Thanks it helps. I forgot to drill out the holes in the B for the pylons. I'm not going to put them on now.

ww2psycho

Does anyone know if the pylons for bombs/drop tanks could be taken on or off? if they were always on are they the same color as the under side of the fuselage?

The pictures I have seen show some with them on and some with them off. Granted the 51's missing the pylons are post war personally owned aircraft, however, that does tell me they were removable. Now, were they were removed in the field? I would say probably not.

As far as color, again the pictures I have seen does show the same color as the underside.

I hope that was helpful.

Does anyone know if the pylons for bombs/drop tanks could be taken on or off? if they were always on are they the same color as the under side of the fuselage?

Brandon, that is a sweet looking pony, very nice change from the usual NMF.

GT, you car guys amaze me with your skills, on aeries we can get away with some imperfections but not on cars....I must try my hand at a car oneday.

Theuns

Thanks guys. That pit looks pretty good to me Steve! You've done a great job on giving it some wear and tear. Seat looks great and love the dry brushing, especially the IP. I used kit decals for the harness and IP and they just didn't turn out right for me. They look way too bright and new compared to the rest of my pit. You nailed it though Steve Looking forward to seeing more.