The P-51"mustang" Group Build. 2008

Hi all,

Quick update, I have the trim sprayed and masked, and will hopefully be spraying the prop and AG panel shortly. I'm leaning toward an acrylics paintjob, even though they're that bit coarser than enamels they seem to have a very tough finish, and that's attractive, especially if weathering for a really beaten-up look like the Korean weather delivered.

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Sorry about the focus, the camera focussed on the background, not the subject!

Cheers,

Mike/TB379

looking good! look forward to the rest

JMart wrote:

Will the balsa trick work with landing gear? My poor old  mustang's landing gear is leaning over after a year or so.. need to break off the LG, bore a small hole, insert a lenght of paperclip and re-attach. Been thinking how to "anchor" the wire o nthe body of the plane.

Sorry for the late reply, JMart.  I just saw your question.

As for fortifying your landing gear, I think you could work something out.  If the wing was filled with balsa, you could conceviable secure a metal rod into the balsa material, then drill out the center of the landing gear strut and install the rod.  The difficult parts is figuring out how you will get balsa into the completed wing.  Maybe cut out the wheel wells?

Hi I would like to join your BG if I may. I will be building a Revell 1/48 P-51D with some PE and a vacuformed canopy. This one is being built for my better half and will be foil covered with custom nose art just for her. She does after all allow me the time, space, and encouragement in my building endevers. I do have some work done and will post some pictures as soon as I am allowed to join and I figure out how to upload them.

Thanks

Randy

Very cool idea.

It's hard to believe it, but I've actually laid down some paint on the Mustang Mk.II!  It's going pretty fast now, faster than expected.

I tried to do some pre-shading (still new at this), but it was entirely lost in the gray coat.  I just couldn't help but add 'just a little more' until it was all gone!  Maybe I'll try post-shading when I'm done.

In truth, the camo has just a bit more color contrast than I was shooting for, but in the photo it looks even more contrast.  It seems that everyone has their own interpretations for British camo colors, but I settled on the published Tamiya acrylic paint ratios for mine.  I'm still debating on whether I will top coat one of the colors with a lighter shade, perhaps as part of my post-shading effort.

One interesting part of this paint job is the squadron letter "N".  I was paranoid about the decal and paint colors for the "sky" not matching up, so I actually masked this letter with thin strips of tape.  It came out much better than I anticipated, but I certainly would not try it with any of the more-complex letter shapes.

Still have to paint the canopy frames too.

IL2windhawk - thanks for the info! no need to ever apologize for late replies, I also do not check in here every day.. real life and work has a way of intruding into my hobby! I will file away the idea and try it down the road,thanks again!

And nice paint job so far...

vetteman42 - welcome to the build! one of the forums has a sticky on uploading pics.. you need an online picture upload site (free), most use photobucket.

HEy everyone, sorry I been gone so long. Swimming is over, so I have time to talk, first, hi vetteman42 sure you can join I really like the revell kit. I built it twice.

IL2, the paint job looks outstanding so far, and a good Idea to paint on the "N".

Harv, Yes I would try to change the fins I think that would work.

Mike glad to see you started.

Thanks for the encouraging words, Chaps. 
Raptor, you didn't tell us how your team did this year..

Well I learned something new today: I spent all day at work fretting about the color contrast on my model, trying to decide whether or not I should re-paint all of the green sections.  Then, funny enough, after I got home and held the model in natural sunlight the paint looked worlds better!  So anyway: the lesson is don't make important painting decisions under yellow incandesent bulbs!

Tonight I made a few corrections to the camo, fixing over-spray areas, etc..  Then I painted all the canopy frames.  Tommorrow I'll paint the belly gray and then hopefully I'll be able to apply a clear coat.

This time I photographed the model under "white" compact-flouresent bulbs.  The colors in these pictures look quite like they do in sunlight.  I wasn't able to get a real good in-focus shot of the pilot in the cockpit, but he looks really cool behind the canopy frames.  When this build is all done I will get ahold of an SLR to get some better shots.

IL2, looking good.

I too have noticed funny things happening to color under different bulbs so on the recomendation of a friend (who's a much better painter than I) I switched all my work and photo lamps to Reveal daylight bulbs. The result is more consistant results for viewing, especially in the paint booth where I used to use flourecents. The color never did look right in there and it hurt my eyes to boot.

A lot of talk has been gong on lately about Ott bulbs, of which I know nothing. They are CFL's and if the light is good I'd like to switch to them because all these 75watt tungsten bulbs put out a ton of heat, not to mention run up the bill.

I'm looking forward to seeing your stang completed. I've been watching your build since I finished my last AM mustang.

Thanks HKshooter.  That's a good tip - i'll look for those bulbs.

So far I must admit i think she's coming together quite nicely :)  That's usually when I royally screw something up, so I'm trying my best to take my time and think things through.  I think this is perhaps the hardest time to pace yourself, because after the paint goes on it starts to get really exciting.

I don't think I ever complimented you on your finished Allison mustang, regretfully.  I remember it vividly, and I meant to comment on how nice it was but I had to run off for some reason.

Nice MkII IL2windhawk the paint came out very, nice hope my canopy comes out as well as yours did.

I am still trying to figure out how to post pictures here from photobucket. Even went through a turtorial from the help forum but no go. I will get it figured out over the next couple of days I hope

Ok I think I have it now, here are a few pictures of what I have done so far on my,,, errrr Angel's P-51D

vetteman nice work the PE seat belts look awsome,thanks for starting.

IL2-glad to see your making such speedy progress, I think that is a very exciting paint job.And come on, how could you screw that up? Oh ya, the Utes took 4th at region. Most people beat me , but no one my age did. Looking forward seeing more pics on it.

I've been unable to approach the work bench for a couple days, but tonight I finally applied the belly color.  The stripes really stand out now, and I realized I didn't uploaded a photo of them before. 

I gotta travel for work next week, just when things were getting interesting!

Tamiya tape, guided by lots of measurements with a precise ruler/scale.

It helps if you burnish it down real good with yourt fingers before painting.  I use the edge of my fingernail to press the tape into the panel lines.

IL2 that paint job is beautiful !!!!!

What kind of paint are you using ? I use acrylics and always have trouble with the paint coming off with the tape in spots. I even tried using future before masking and still had the problem of paint coming off with the tape.

 Randy

Thanks, VM.
The British certainly know how to paint a warbird, yes?

I used Tamiya acrylics on this one.  First time with this brand, and I like it alot!  The color selection is limited, but they have published mix ratios that are easy to follow for most intermediate colors.  The ratios are simple, like 2:1.  The paint is really nice, and it seems to have a consistent texture from one color to the next.  You get more paint for your dollar, and the paint jars are very useful even after they are empty.  My new favorite paint.

Well, i've never once had a problem with acrylic peeling off: with any brand.  Sometimes I even mask over it within an hour of painting, and still I have no issues.  I live in a very arid climate, so perhaps that helps.  Here's a few things for you to consider that might help:

1) Always wash your kit parts when you start to remove any "mold release" material
2) Always wash your hands before touching the model to avoid placing oils on the surface
3) Use a primer to greatly improve adhesion and surface finish.  I use Tamiya Fine Primer (spray can)
4) Use low-tack tape.  Regular masking tape is about the strongest tape I will use.

Also, while this should not affect surface adhesion, I thought I would mention that seem to have my best luck airbrushing acrylics right out the bottle.  Most people say that they thin their acrylics, but I've tried that and the paint is always too runny and gets underneath my masking tape.  I dunno why my situation is different, but I get my best results without thinning.

Good luck.

IL2 - did you fire the Tamiya acryls straight from the bottle??? I love Tamiya's paint - use it religiously - but I find that thinning it 50% (every time!) with isopropyl gives me the best results (and least amount of tip dry). Maybe I'm just not stirring enough, but got a lot of spatter going 100%.

Great paint job, btw.

Yep - right out of the bottle.  Don't ask me why it works, but it sure is handy.
I get no splatters using a Badger 155.  I generally spray at about 20-25 PSI.

hkshooter wrote:

A lot of talk has been gong on lately about Ott bulbs, of which I know nothing. They are CFL's and if the light is good I'd like to switch to them because all these 75watt tungsten bulbs put out a ton of heat, not to mention run up the bill.

They are awesome but pricey. Father-in-law is an architect, has a couple for his draft board. "Pure light", and eases strain on your eyes (as you get to our,ahem, age group!).  I am eyeing Michaels, who puts them on sale couple times a year, 50-60$ for the lamp/bulbs setup (half of normal price).

Can someone tell me if the P-51D had lightening holes in the back of the wheel bays. I see the B model did but can't find good pictures of the D model gear bays. 

Thanks

Randy

Thanks for clearing that up for me John :) Hopefully I will be posting a few build pictures in the next couple of days. I am trying a bit of scratch building with this one.

Randy

I've never seen lightening holes in the back of the wheel bay on a mustang. All my ref pics (of D models) are solid. There are holes in the front though.

http://aircraftresourcecenter.com/AWA1/101-200/walk107_P51D/images/Mvc-021s.jpg

http://aircraftresourcecenter.com/AWA1/101-200/walk107_P51D/images/Mvc-022s.jpg

Here are a couple I scared up real quick.