Mustang Build

PJ,

 I use the same, but haven't tried putting Mr. Surfacer through an airbrush yet, maybe I'll not do that!  Can you get a diagnosis from them and get extra teflon bearings if that is in fact the issue?

Groot

The light was not good for pix, but here is my Stang's office. I just addesd lead foil straps.

Ahh, that's right Theuns, You already did that killer 104. I forgot about the build you did for the Century GB, so your already beyond my Alclad abilities.

I hope that Alclad site did help though. It helps me to see the differences in their offerings.

PJ,

Thank you for that link, I didn't realize the wings were puttied and basically painted. I couldn't figure out what I was seeing when I looked at the hundreds of pictures of the flaps for my build. The, what I thought was NM, never looked right, but that certainly explains it. The fuse looks NM though.

Do you know about the stabilizer and elevator?

The more money and time I put into this Hase kit, the more I want to get it just right, which then takes more time and makes me want to do better, which takes more time. It's like looking into a mirror at a mirror, it goes "To infinity, and beyond"... sorry, I can get carried away.

MC

The fuselage and tail feathers were NMF except the rudder which was canvass covered and doped then painted silver. The flaps, ailerons and gear doors were NMF.

Groot

I replaced the needle bearing and is working fine now so I highly suspect Mr. Surfacer in causing the damage to the Teflon bearing. I will not run it thru my AB again.

Well, I'm moving very slow here. We are getting the house ready to put on the market, so I'm doing more work on the house than the build.
I received everything except the decals "Moonbeam McSwine" with the 352nd Fighter Group, 487th Fighter Squadron. One of the "Blue Nosed Bastards of Bodney"
I started with cutting the flaps out to show them extended. There are some modifications needed here. The 51's flaps tucked under the wing fillet when retracted so I will have to scratch that little piece to fill where I cut it out. Also I needed to at the leading edge of the flap which shows while in the extended position. I need to thin the plastic some to simulate the wing skin and a few more items need to be done. Most of the major stuff has been completed and the rest can be done after the wings are attached.
The flap is obviously taped on to simulate were it will sit.
This my first real attempt at scratch building.

 

 
I will also be scratching some detail for the Packard Merlin. Although there are thousands of pictures of the engine, 99% are of no help. What I really need is a good picture of the rear of the engine including the firewall tank, (oil?) and the plumbing and linkages. Hard to find a good, clear detailed picture under the bonnet, of a non-racing pony.

Steve

Thumbs Up all the way guys!  

Theuns-  Excellent interior!

Steve-  Glad to see your build is really taking off there!  Looking good my friend!  My Uncle has been renovating his house and that's been his priority above models.  The guy has a collection of 450+ so its driving him crazy not being able to at least build something! LOL   Hope you have a quick and easy sale man!

As far as your engine pic dilema I have to say...  you are right slim pickins.  I dunno if this will is any help...

Try Here:  Rich Palmer's Mustang Restoration  Full restoration pics.  Over 1800 of them!!!  I linked you to the engine section though.  

The "PIC1, 2, 3" links are not as good but may be ok for some ideas.

PIC1

PIC2

PIC3

MC

Great job on that flap scratch building. Here is a great site and a picture that shows the Mustang's flap details and even the painted puttied wing details: www.cybermodeler.com/.../flaps1.shtml

As for the engine details, don't fret none and just use gizmology   to add details. Cody gave you some pretty detailed pictures to help out. The main thing is to just add things in there and busy up the engine compartment.

Posting to see if I might join the Mustang GB. I should have my first GB done, a Bf109 F4 Trop in 4 to 6 weeks (with some patience and luck) and wish to follow on with a Mustang. I already have a Tamiya 1/48 P-51D Mustang 8th AF and PE sheet here in anticipation of the next build. I have been following the thread with keen interest. As fate would have it I'll be spending a few days at the 8th AF museum in GA in late April. Thanks!!

Radial9

Posting to see if I might join the Mustang GB. I should have my first GB done, a Bf109 F4 Trop in 4 to 6 weeks (with some patience and luck) and wish to follow on with a Mustang. I already have a Tamiya 1/48 P-51D Mustang 8th AF and PE sheet here in anticipation of the next build. I have been following the thread with keen interest. As fate would have it I'll be spending a few days at the 8th AF museum

I got you down my friend, and welcome to the light side of the Force.

It would be awesome to get some pics of a Pony. You probably can't get inside the cockpit, however if possible, some pics of the floor and seat/belts would be great. I've looked everywhere and I can find a 1000 pictures of the instrument panel (I just learned they call them "IP"  here in the forums), but everyone seems to neglect the seat and floor. The production Pony's cockpit floor was wood, or at least plywood covered.
Also some detail of the stabilizer/elevator, tail fin/rudder, flaps (if extended), and ailerons.

I will be going to the Smithsonian in the fall, if everything works out, but that will be too late for this particular build of mine.

Steve

Thanks Steve.... consider it done unless something goes a-muck. Looking at your Beoing Build too. I have a B25J in the closet with all the goodies (including a nice sporting set of fun jugs for the nose) for my grandsons bedroom ceiling. Mom's gunna love it!

Radial

Welcome aboard. Hey if you could take lots of pictures and post some here. I have gone by there several times and never had the time to stop in. I heard of a two-day model show hosted on the property and as a contestant you get to sleep amongst the displays. I don't know if they still do that. They also have a huge B-48 on the side facing I95. If you have a chance drop by Robins AFB which is not too far away. Robins has a fantastic museum too and it's free.

Radial9

consider it done unless something goes a-muck. Looking at your Beoing Build too

Thanks, when were you planing on going to the museum?

I will put up the Boeing Build feeler/reminder the first of May and I'll start a sign-up sheet at that time. By a rough count, I must have 10 to 12 interested parties with just the mention of it. It should be epic if the interest continues to grow.

Thanks for the welcome gentlemen. Plans are now to be there the 22nd and 23rd of April. I will make every effort to get over to Robins AFB too. We should have the time.

Bob

OK, fellow Mustang builders I am need of a little help. I am looking for 2 Aero products propellers for my Twin Mustang. If anyone is building the Tamiya F-51 the prop blades are included in the kit. I am willing to pay postage if anyone has them. Or if anyone knows of an aftermarket source that would work as well. Thanks for your time on this.

Steve-  I am stopping by the Erickson Collection in Madras on the 13th of March, and planning on getting pics of everything I can.  They have a B17G, P38, F4F, F4U, P51D, P47D supposedly the only airworthy Oscar, an SBD (I think) and several others.  Planning on at least 2 - 4 gig chips and a box of batteries.  If possible will get what I can on the horse.

Google Madras Maiden (the old Chucky) and Erickson Aircraft Collection.  This is what he had of his own in the Tillamook Blimp Hanger and moved to central Oregon last year.

Goldhammer.... I will be very interested in what you find in Madras. We have trout fished on the Deschutes there for nearly 30 years. Will be there again this year end of July for a few days in our RV.

goldhammer

 I am stopping by the Erickson Collection in Madras on the 13th of March,

That's fantastic, I hope you can get the cockpit and other point of interest.
I would like to spend some camera time under the hood as well, but I would probably need to own one, or know someone who does for that.

Theuns,

Do you know a way to simulate that swirly pattern? The stressed skin effect is actually quite involved, which I'm just nuts enough to try on this bird. stressed skin

Radial-  I don't know what their summer hours will be but now they are open Thurs thru Sunday, 9-5.  Also an air show in August each year.

MC-  might try a very small dowel or pencil eraser with some rubbing compound on some alum or alclad paint for the "overlap swirls".  If you are referring to what I think you are it is called engine turning.  Just a little compound and make a couple of circles in one spot with it.

Goldhammer,

That might just work. Like trying to simulate chipped paint, there's nothing like really chipping it to make it look real.

Theuns

The light was not good for pix, but here is my Stang's office. I just addesd lead foil straps.

Theuns

Theuns,

That office is looking good. Nice work on the belts. I can never get them right scratching.

Sorry I missed your post. We must have been posting at the same time and I just missed it.

Nice work on the flaps Steve.  I'm really starting to get into my mustang build I'll have some pictures of the Merlin posted soon.  Interior paint can drive you nuts.  So far I feel safe painting the cockpit from the firewall to the back of the canopy is interior green.  

John

I never buy lead foil.....I go raid the local re-cycling bins and get the lead foil off the wine bottle tops LOL

Then I paint the foil ,cut strips and stick them on....simple and best of all it's free :-)

Theuns

I gotta start keeping lead foil..always forget!

John,

No problem. Go into the Tools menu of Internet Explorer - Select Compatibility View settings and add finescale.com to the list of websites with Compatibility View.

The same thing was happening to me, so this should fix it.

Steve

Here's some beginning work on my Mustang duo. First, my Malco Gasser. Photos I have show that the hood bubble extends further back over the cowl, almost to the base of the front windshield. So a bit of plastic surgery is in order:

I extended the hood bubble by about 3/8" with sheet plastic and putty to fill and smooth the gap. A number of seams and mold marks also needed to be dealt with. The front and rear lower panels in particular needed attention:

A bit more filling is in order to take care of some unnoticed sink marks and then it'll be ready for primer.

So in the meantime I'll start the P-51D. Opening up one of these Tamiya kits is almost like opening an Apple computer or iPhone. Everything is elegantly packed, with separate compartments for the sprues, the metal and vinyl parts and photo etch.

In addition to the 36 page instruction manual they even include a glossy folder with the box art printed on it that is handy for storing the decals; I guess that's what its for.

Here are the decals, the canopy masks, and some AM stuff for the kit:

I've got some Eduard PE

Probably this is all overkill. The kit already has so much detail. I'm really not sure if I want to do the gun bays and those cockpit stencils may be just too fiddly to deal with. We'll see.

So starting off with the engine:

I just couldn't bear to paint everything semi-gloss black as the instructions called out, so I rounded up all the 50 shades of black (just kidding!) and some metallics to try to get some variety and texture. The engine parts are very detailed, better than many 1/24 car kit engines.

They even include some photo-etch gaskets for the intake manifolds!

So here are some shots of the engine as it nears completion:

So far so good. I haven't decided whether to put in ignition wiring, I may wait and see how much room there is with the engine mounts and framing. 

More to come!

kenjitak

Nice job on both the Malco Gasser and the Merlin. I wish my Hasegawa engine had as much detail. I need to try to scratch most of it and won't turn out as nice as yours.

Cody ans PJ, Thank you guys soooo much for the help, that is great reference info.

PJ, that's probably just what I'm going to end up doing"gizmology", I like it.

Steve - No worries man!  I was surprised I ran across the restoration pics.  I haven't seen anything like that before.  Must be nice to restore a real p51 just for fun!

Ken- Cool to see a Car coming into the mix!  I also have the Malco Gasser but its hiding in the stash and honestly I forgot about it totally!   That's when you know that you're collecting a bit too much. :/ Great work on the 51 as well!