The P-51"mustang" Group Build. 2008

As promised some progress pics of the cockpit.  Sorry about the photo quality, my lighting wasn't quite up to snuff and there's a little blurring in some photos. 

The Eduard PE is a nice addition although I didn't use all of it.  The Ultracast seat is always good quality.  The wood flooring didn't quite turn out as well as I would have liked, but not much of it will be visible anyway once the fuselage halves close up.  

And that's the next step. 

wow Arki Great job with the pit, All that aftermarket stuff works really good, I am going to try to after market the heck out of a P-47, but thats for later. Again awsome work.

Fyuri wrote:

I'll be posting some WIP photos shortly, I've almost completed the assembly and it's almost ready for the exterior paint. This looks like it'll be the first one I actually get done. I'm going to try and find some decent Tuskeegee Airmen decals for it.

Fyuri,

Don't know what scale you're building here's a start Aeromaster sheet AN48799 for 1/48 and AN72226 for 1/72.  Available through Squadron and probably most internet hobby shops.

Was wondering if we were restricted to military a/c or could I inject some speed and color into this build?  I found a 1/72 kit of the Reno racer Red Baron and was wondering if it would qualify as well.

Wow, Arki.  Nice work bud.

Hey this is awsome I come home and theres a bunch of life in this GB!

lewbud wrote:

Was wondering if we were restricted to military a/c or could I inject some speed and color into this build?  I found a 1/72 kit of the Reno racer Red Baron and was wondering if it would qualify as well.

You bet that would qualify! That would be very interesting to see a racer in this.

For those of you too young to remember the Red Baron here's a little history.  She was a highly modified P-51D powered by a Rolls Griffon engine which turned two contrarotating props.  At one time she held the record for fastest piston engined aircraft at just over 499 mph.  She was lost in 1979 at the Reno Air Races after a supercharger bearing failed causing a shaft which drove the oil pump to fail.  As oil pressure dropped, the props turned flat causing the aircraft to crash in some rocks short of the runway.  Although the emergency teams were told by Bob Hoover, who was flying the pace plane that no one could have survived, they rushed to the crash site and saved the pilot, air racing legend Steve Hinton.  Steve Hinton survived and has gone on to a storied career in air racing and the restoration community.  Here's a couple of pics of RB-51 in her prime.

www.public.fotki.com/lewbud/group-build/redbaron1978mojave02.html

www.public.fotki.com/lewbud/group-build/redbaron197902enhanced.html

Enjoy.

Quick progress pic.  Hey, it finally looks like something resembling a P-51!  Fit of the resin fuselage to the kit parts was really good.  I do have some seam work on the fuselage, particularly on the rudder area (rudder not installed yet). 

Either I begin the seam work next or install the PE in the wheel bays.  Haven't decided yet.

Cheers 

dupes wrote:

Looking good, man. Interesting to me (especially since I've never done one) how they decide where to stop the resin parts and have you resume the kit parts...wouldn't it be easier just to finish the forward part of the fuselage, since they're basically giving you the whole thing anyway? Is that just a cost-saving measure for them, trying to cut down on the amount of resin?

My best guess is that the fuselage halves are modified tammy halves and not complete resculpts.  The made the fillet mod to the tammy halves and cast them up in resin.  Since it's a direct replacement, I wouldn't see a need to replace the top cowl panel or the chin scoop since the styrene parts should be drop-ins.

It's cheaper for everyone (manufacturer and customer) - and the fewer the parts you make, the less the chance you have of something breaking.

-Fred

I concur with Fred.  Comparing the original vs. resin halves they are virtually dead on matches minus the fillet.

The fit (minus my goofs) is eerily good.  Anyone who has worked with resin replacements/conversions knows that sanding and dry-fitting are a given.  With these I dry-fitted and didn't have to do a lick of sanding to mate the kit parts to the fuselage.  That tells me they cast from the originals. 

dupes wrote:

...wouldn't it be easier just to finish the forward part of the fuselage, since they're basically giving you the whole thing anyway?

As mentioned above, the Tamiya kit is engineered such that the top of the nose is a single piece.  This is actually a very nice feature in my opinion.  The real mustang has a riveted panel line right down the centerline of the nose.  On other mustang kits, this is right where the seam between fuselage halves is, so the builder has to blend the seam and also leaving a convincing panel line over the seam.  I have found this to be a difficult task, but it's a non-issue with the Tamiya kits.

Looking good, Arki.
I hope to re-start operations on my P-51A after I finish my B-58 for IMS3. 
When I stopped work on the P-51A I was just about ready to apply primer.

Hey everyone

I hope I'm not too late for this build. I've had a P51 kicking around for years I've wanted to build. Its an el cheap o  found in the dollar store. I decided it would be good to use for a test project. First I was going to foil it but then I stumbled onto something while watching "Dog Fights." A brief mention of a German captured P51.

Thanks to a few guys here on FSMF I have the paint scheme nailed down.  

Dirkpitt289 wrote:

Hey everyone I hope I'm not too late for this build. I've had a P51 kicking around for years I've wanted to build. Its an el cheap o  found in the dollar store. I decided it would be good to use for a test project. First I was going to foil it but then I stumbled onto something while watching "Dog Fights." A brief mention of a German captured P51. Thanks to a few guys here on FSMF I have the paint scheme nailed down.

No dirk its not to late to join. I do think the captured ones are pretty awsome.

Thanks Viper

Here is my progress so far. Like I stated earlier I started with a cheap Starfix model i found at a dollar store. It came with 2 whole spree trees of parts. The cockpit consists of a seat and that's it. Like many people here I'm just returning to the hobby and need to start off easy. I'm actually doing three projects simotaniously. A ship, a car and a aircraft.

Basically this is an out of the box build, I had to do a little filling and sanding but that was about it. Now I need to do some fine sanding to the top coat, add the landing gear, and finish the canopy. Did I mention the pilot looks like he belongs in a Phantom rather then a Mustang?

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More to follow

doc-hm3 wrote:

Guy's... I've come through the portal from the "DARK SIDE" to participate in this Mustang round-up. I've not built a bird of prey in twenty years. My subject shall be Tamiya's 1/48th PETIE 2. What I mean to say guy's is, count me in.

She goes together real sweet with very little effort.  As long as you don't try to to use the True Details Wheelbay set, you'll have it built in no time.

-Fred

LOL Dirk,

That IS one funky Mustang kit!  Thanks for posting pictures.
You should get a photo-etch set for it! LOL

It looks like a great practice model though, so good luck with it and welcome back to the hobby!

IL2windhawk wrote:

LOL Dirk, That IS one funky Mustang kit!  Thanks for posting pictures. You should get a photo-etch set for it! LOL It looks like a great practice model though, so good luck with it and welcome back to the hobby!

 IL2windhawk

Yeah, its perfect for trying out new things such as air brushing techniques. I have to admit for what its worth I'm pretty happy with it. Last night I attached the canopy, rear landing gear, and landing gear doors. Hopefully I will get the main gear fixed (broke one) and installed by this weekend. Then I can start the decals and weathering.

doc-hm3 wrote:

Guy's... I've come through the portal from the "DARK SIDE" to participate in this Mustang round-up. I've not built a bird of prey in twenty years. My subject shall be Tamiya's 1/48th PETIE 2. What I mean to say guy's is, count me in.

Welcome aboard doc-hm3 Sorry for the late response I will put you down!

Quick progress pic.  I've applied the Alclad Aluminum to everything that needed it, and landing gear is painted along with the main wheels.  Next is to mask off select panels on the plane and apply Alclad Dark Aluminum for some variation. 

Slowly but surely I'm still plugging away.

arki30

That is a really nice looking Mustang. Both in the work you have done and the quality of the model itself. What brand and scale is it? The work you've done really shows off the detail in the fuselage. Fantastic