AIRCRAFT - Mustang Ranch... P-51 Group Build--ends 12/31/04

Steve, I thought about opening the gun bays (even painted and put guns in, but not the ammo belts). But decided to take the "easy out" and close them. I ALMOST dropped the flaps on her. But instead I just deeply grooved the flap and control grooves.
Buy the way, go ahead and add a "Filly" to me. I've decided to do the AM P-51A afterall.

excellent work all. great progress. going to be a little bit before i get into the second kit. but when i do. hahahahahahahahaha

joe

10-08-04
Hey, Blackwolf3945.
The 'Stang's exterior surface has plenty of lovely detail. It's very pretty looking.
The interior is sparse and the instrument panle is not very good. Very empty looking. I suppose I really should've gone for some aftermarket stuff, but I 'm heading to Duxford for the airshow in September and anticipate a melted credit card......

Anyways, the fuselage halves went together ok. The underneath where the vent goes (can't think of it's proper technical name..brain-freeze) is a bit rough but with sanding fits ok. The nose section directly behind the spinner is a separate piece which helps with any fancy painting, but doesn't quite line-up. It's only out by a fraction, but is noticeable. When you line up the panel lines, the top and sides of the piece are sitting jut proud of the engine cowling.

The wing-roots are a problem too. They don't fit and seem to be uneven. I solved this by cutting off the locator tabs and by lining up the "gun barrels". I glued the lower wing section in place first and then each of the top sections, dry-fitting, sanding and eventually gluing (with my trusty dychloromethane), bit by bit, each wing.
The dychloromethane is a kinda liquid glue that melts the palstic together almost immediately and is really strong once set.

Once the two sections of wings are together, you notice a gap about half a mil wide running along the wing root. Apply the Dy-methane, lift the wing in a bit and no more gap.This helps immensely when it comes to filling, filing and sanding later.

And so far, that's it.
Aword of caution...if using something like dy-methane, mind where you put your fingers. I made an ugly mess of hte 'Stangs tail, which I may doctor to look like battle damage
(any ref. pics??).

Liam

Good to see some more progress shots; Jeff, that Stang looks pretty good, dude. How long did it take you to put that thing together?

Tim, lookin' good. You gonna have the gun bays open on that?

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Mike, aka Butz, is here tonight for a build'n'bull and has his P-51B pretty much together and close to ready for paint. I just have to get my rear in gear and make a custom decal for the windscreen and he can button 'er up.



The kit is built pretty much SOB except tape seat belts and he also filled the cutouts on the inner edge of the flaps.


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well here is my test bed plane... I like Joes better.
I was learning how to mask over the Alclad.

Yessir, the Airfix 48th P-51D is, indeed, the Otaki/Arii kit. Airfix has released several of the Otaki/Arii kits beginning a few years back.

Not bad kits, but they're inconsistent; some of them fit very well, and some are for the circular file. Their Spitfire goes together not too badly, as does the P-40. There were minor fit issues, like what you've mentioned on the Stang, but they're quite buildable.

I think the P-51 is the only kit from that old Otaki line that I haven't built or started to build, so I'm actually kinda interested in hearing how it goes together...


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10-08-04
Building progresses! Airfix 1/48 Mustang P-51D.
I'm going to build this one OOB. No aftermarket stuff.
Cockpit is basic as is the engine. It's reasonably well moulded, but in two parts.

Got the fuselage halves joined together. This kit, I think and have been told , may be the old Arii or Otaki 1/48 Mustang. It must be Oriental in origin as all the sprues have "Made in Japan" stamped on them!!

There are some minor fit issues, a few small gaps but dychloromethane really seals those up!!
I'm gonna let her rest some fer a day or so an' ahm a-thunkin' I'll jest move aways along some fer a day or so, then round 'er up fer some hard work filin' an' sandin'.

See y'all later.
Begorragh.
Liam

Hey, good progress there Tim. Ahm still awaiten the Pony Express with mah box full a resin.

Regards, Rick

OK, here's the progress I've made so far:




I did start this one before the GB officially got going so I'm quite a bit along, that's why I'm thinking about doing the AM 1/48 P-51A too.
This kit is the Hasawega 1/32 P-51D I've used a resin cockpit and true details weighted wheels. And I'm using aeromaster decals.

QUOTE: Originally posted by BlackWolf3945 QUOTE: Originally posted by newtothegame I'm going to be trying to do Ridge Runner...Leon Well, pard'ner, if you wuz'nt doin' this 'fer a friend, I'd be first in line 'fer the lynchin' 'cuz this Stallion 'twern't no Zebra... There were three different Stangs flown by Pierce McKennon that were named 'Ridge Runner' and the only one which MAY have had full invasion stripes was the first one, which was most likely a P-51B. That's just an educated guess on my part; I dunno if it really was a 'Baker' Stang or not or if it carried invasion stripes, but the aircraft was lost in August of 1944 which makes it a good bet that the ship was a P-51B. I'll dig some and see if I can find out fersher. His second Mustang, a P-51D, could very well have carried partial invasion stripes but, again, I dunno fersher. The third aircraft, which you'll find a few photos of over in the Town Records, definitely did not have them. MUSTANG RANCH GB - Town Records Fade to Black...

BlackWolf,
You are an amazing resource! Thank you so much for the work you do for us. Maybe I'll try 1/2 invasion stripes halfway satisfy myself and my friend.

Thanks again,
Leon

it's always the obvious!

Thanks!

QUOTE: Originally posted by newtothegame I'm going to be trying to do Ridge Runner, but it is for a friend and I am letting him chose elements - he wants invasion stripes. I don't know if Ridge Runner had invasion stripes (not on the decal directions), so I don't know if my historical inaccuracy will cause (here's my poor attempt at the ranch humor) a posse to be round up and there might be a hangin' Anyway, any pictures would be appreciated. Leon

Well, pard'ner, if you wuz'nt doin' this 'fer a friend, I'd be first in line 'fer the lynchin' 'cuz this Stallion 'twern't no Zebra...

There were three different Stangs flown by Pierce McKennon that were named 'Ridge Runner' and the only one which MAY have had full invasion stripes was the first one, which was most likely a P-51B. That's just an educated guess on my part; I dunno if it really was a 'Baker' Stang or not or if it carried invasion stripes, but the aircraft was lost in August of 1944 which makes it a good bet that the ship was a P-51B. I'll dig some and see if I can find out fersher.

His second Mustang, a P-51D, could very well have carried partial invasion stripes but, again, I dunno fersher. The third aircraft, which you'll find a few photos of over in the Town Records, definitely did not have them.


MUSTANG RANCH GB - Town Records


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What he said...

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wibhi, really glad you like the images. I know ya'll appreciate that kinda stuff, even if it's only just to look through and say, "that's cool"; and that's why I post it all...

Speaking of, there's a pretty good sized update in the Town Records. I've added images which show the aircraft that four of you are planning on building, so go check it out...

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By the way, glad to hear that some of you are progressing a bit on your builds.

And if you ask a specific question that I don't get to right away, please be patient. I've got several things going on within this GB alone, as well as other stuff, so I'm really doing quite a juggling act here...


MUSTANG RANCH GB - Town Records


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easiest way, right click on the image and from the pop-up menu select "save image as"
and save it to your HD.

youre not simple.. I need to know too... unless we both are simple... nah

Call me simple...how do i find our badge?

Ray

I spent most of the day working on my Hasawega P-51D. I really like the look of this resin cockpit. I'll have to take some photo's and post tomorrow.

AGAIN with the early submit!!
Big clunky fingers no good for tiny keyboard!!

Anyways, as I was saying, they recently got in he Vallejo Model Air range, which is pretty good too.
Send me your e-mail addy and I'll scan the cross-reference bit for you.
And you should look at http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/
They give the FS equvilancies. There's also a color chart in there somewhere.
However, approach with caution as I couldn't swear to the accuracy of hte eqvilancies.

Sometimes, as Oggy says, it's better to eyeball it.

Liam

woodbeck3,
I got it from my local hobby shop who stock the Vallejo range and they recently got in the Vallejo

It worked lol
Thanks Steve

whered ya get your Vallejo reference chart?

ok steve add the big beautiful doll to my miss marilyn 2. another revell monogram 1/48 p-51d.

joe

Re:Blades color, just checked the color chart again, and I must have gone cross-eyed looking at so many numbers.
The color IS 855... Black Glaze. I mis-read it to be 885.

Thanks,


Liam

part 2. second time I done that, hit a key on the keyboard and it automatically submitted...
Anyways, as to 1) did the American fighters that were used by hte RAF use chromate Green on the interior of their fighters and chromate yellow in he wheel wells? Or were the wheel wells done in chromate green too....

2) Airfix also have listed Humbrol 85 for the propellor blades. The Vallejo equivalent is listed as 855+522, which is basically pastel green plus a stain overcoat, which I use for RAF Sky. Surely this can't be right? The illustration has the blades colored black!

3) I'm doing hte Mustang as a machine from No.19 Squadron, RAF, Scotland, April 1945. The spinner has a spiral pattern on it. How do I do this??

Any advice greatly appreciated.
Liam

howdy, y'all.
Got a question for you. I 'm doing hte Airfix 1/48 P-51D/J26 Mustang. Now, having gone through the color charts, there's something here that don't make no sense.
Airfix are Humbrol colors. They list Humbrol numbers, but not he FS or BS numbers.

I use Vallejo Acrylics. I have a cross-reference chart, but at this stage I think it was put together by happenstance rather than acurracy (it really held me back withthe D-Day G/B).
Problem is two-fold.
1) They have the interior cockpit color shown as Humbrol 80. The Vallejo color eqvalent is number 891(FS34138) which seems a little light.

Still waiting on upgrades. Roll sez 2 to 3 weeks before delivery.

Watching the clock.

And Steve-O from Five-O,
Those reference pict's are da bomb. Tanks.....eh... thanks

Sweet Steve-O-Reno... I can't get enough of the ref. material that you're posting. Keep it coming.

As for the build... the main gear is painted and assembled (sans gear doors), fuselage is together, wings and horizontal stabs are on, carb intake and radiator intake are on, radiator door is on. After I get a little putty in just a few little tiny cracks I'll be ready to mask the cockpit and paint the little stallion. As for the color... I'm using Tamiya's polished aluminum out of the can... shot it on a test model yesterday and the drop tanks tonight and I think it's just right for what I wanted. At this rate maybe I'll get another (or two) started before the deadline. You know how it is... can never have enough 'stangs... right Chris? Anyway... thanks for reading.

Some more additions to the Town Records; this time a few more links.

One page shows a built-up Tamiya 48th P-51B and there's a few new links in the Walkarounds/Details listing. One of them is a 100+ image walkaround (non-standard restoration, but interesting to look through) and another consists of some scanned pages from an original P-51 construction manual.

More to come, including some progress shots of one of my P-51B's...


MUSTANG RANCH GB - Town Records


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Thanks 'pard, I try...

I just wish there were more than 24 hours in a day...


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steve, the pics that you are providing are excellent. just wanted to let you know that i, for one, really appreciate your effort friend. as my 3 yr old would say, danks!!!! later.