The P-51"mustang" Group Build. 2008

Hi JMart -- thanks for the feedback. I was tempted to try sludge wash, it worked so well when Paul Boyer did it! But I've heard some bad reports about it before, it can attack the finish... The water-based Promodeller wash is very easy to use, and so long as you have a glossy surface it'll wipe away completely, so disasters just wash off. Duller surfaces, nope, it'll never wash away 100%, so you absolutely must use a pinwash technique over satin lustres.

I had the old Testor/Hawk Mustang many years ago, I was quite impressed with it at the time but never finished it. My example (same box edition) was blown in black plastic, and I found it a real visual downer! I traded it off, somewhat regretting that the Miscroscale decals for the 343rd went with it...

Cheers,

Mike/TB379

One of the sprues is black; the panel lines are recessed and scale out to inches. Ill see if I can take side-by-side pics. I mean, Im not knocking down testors, i think we all grew up with a steady diet of testors and monograms :) 

IL2 - another great build...with a terribly cool display. Love how you come up with those, makes it that much more interesting.

JMart - glad to hear it, bud - I'm about to start external painting on my -B, I really need to snap a couple of pics before I get the airbrush out.

Hey IL2 some excellent work! All that long hard work paid off. I remember you were the one in the lead when this build began

Dupes glad to see you pulled out a stang, build change noted.

Randy awsome foiling, makes me want to try it.

raptordriver Thanks. Hey go for it and try foiling I would like to see what you and others would come up with.

Heres a WIP picture showing the foil almost finished. I want to add the wind screen before I finish foiling. I hope you can see what I came up with because I had huge problems with reflections taking pictures of this build. As I stated earlier I am foiling a panel at a time after sanding down the panel lines a bit, this foil really makes then stand out along with any mistake in the surface. I think it looks much better than an earlier build I did, where I covered whole parts at a time like a wing. I also found that if I turned the grain of the foil 90 degrees on a few panels created an interesting effect. I think I spent close to 15 hours so far on the foil so it does take time infact twice as long as my first foil build. I still need to figure a way to tone down the brightness. Anyway let me know what you all think, good or bad it all helps us get better at our hobby

Again sorry about the picture quality

JMart I am using the same kit for my build, like it so much I got another. For my money it is a wanderful kit to start from. Can't wait to see what you do with yours.

Some comparision shots between the Revell and the Testors:

 Testors above; you can see the deep panel lines, lack of details such as antennae. Not sure I will be able to do anything about those huge panel lines.

Same for the wings...

And the differences in the cockpit... a True Details resin example on top, then the Revell cockpit details, then the testors... I think the pic speaks for itself ;)  Only way to build the testors wilbe as a ceiling flier....

EDIT - Um, my nerd excel file with GBs and deadlines has this one ending at the END of April, but seems that I am wrong and GB ends April 10th?? Any, ahem, extensions possible?

JMart wrote:

EDIT - Um, my nerd excel file with GBs and deadlines has this one ending at the END of April, but seems that I am wrong and GB ends April 10th?? Any, ahem, extensions possible?

So JMart, are you saying that if we have an Excel spreadsheet to catalog GB deadlines we're classified as nerds? If that's the case, I must be the king...my personal "model guide" has six worksheets with thousands of lines worth of entries.

Arki - pics tomorrow! I promise! I'm really building it!!!

Jmart thanks for posting, finally looking forward to seeing the finished build.

Oh I forgot to mention this rule but there will be a $35 fine for those who do not make the deadline. I will PM you and you can continue after the deadline if you didn't make it.

Why did I never think of the GB fine system? I think you've got something there Raptor...

Pics as soon as I can get them uploaded to Photobucket.

Alright boys, here you go:

Again, it's the Accurate Miniatures -B kit, with Tamiya decals laid on top of the neutral gray/OD two-tone scheme. The red/white nose stuff was sprayed afterwards as I had to change gears a bit when the AccuMini decals refused to cooperate. For the most part the Tamiya's are fitting, although a bit of jimmying has been necessary. In the future I will MOST DEFINITELY be masking and spraying all stripes. Decaling those just isn't sufficient.

Should have her done soon!

Hmmmm. You know IL2, I was in such a frantic rush to get the scheme squared away after the AM decals blew up that I didn't even look at who's markings they are. Will check it out tonight and get back to you. [They're the ones from the Tamiya -B cover art, btw.]

The decals are all on, will check them this afternoon to see if they all sat down properly. If so, it's flat coat tonight, wrap up the landing gear, and get in on any necessary weathering and touchups. Done tomorrow, maybe? 

Lookin good there dupes cant wait for the finished pictures.

Man I dont know how you guys can build em so fast. I havent been able to work on mine in a week or so. I had better get moving on it too the dead line is only 9 days away.

Well finally some succes with this blue plastic nightmare.  The Tamiya D wing will fit, but needs shimming and a lot of putty along the wingroot.  The Academy B/C won't work because it's a B wing (I knew I had one near the workbench but couldn't find it before I went to the LHS.  Got back with a new Academy B and laid eyes right on it.)  The Hasegawa D wing fits like a glove with a little sanding.  Now just gotta trim the wingtips, fill the panel lines and we're in business.  Will post pics later.

Hey, thanks fellas! I'm just about wrapped up, need to finish the panel line wash, then flatcoat her and peel off the canopy masks. After that it'll just be anything I happen to see that I missed that I find when I take pics (as usually happens!). Heh.

Final pics soon!

Well hurry up dupes I wanna see the finished picx :)

OK here are a few WIP pIcs for you all, I have said I am a slow builder ya know. I have all the foil work done and I think its gone well so far. I used Microscale micro metal foil adhesive which I really like, and this was a first for me with a vacuformed canopy so I want to get-er-dun to see how that worked out. I still have to go over it with 0000 steelwool and spray some future on, mask it for the anti-glare panel shoot that, then a few final addons, like the gear and flaps decals and such will be done I hope. So please let me know what you think, thoughts and advice is always welcomed.

A shot from the side. Sorry about the reflections I just cant figure out how to get rid of that. These pictures were taken out back on the BBQ on a very overcast day with no flash. Any ideas for solving this one ? I am using a Kodak Easyshare DX4900 camera.

This one is from the top.

Heres the Prop all foiled, I still have to hit it with some steelwool and future it. The spinner will be red and I am thinking I might paint the prop tips red also but havent made up my mind yet. I did try using a resin prop but well I broke a blade, ham fisted or just very brittle resin I dunno. The foil did seem to hold onto the resin fairly well though.

That's one dead-sexy Pony!

If you want to reduce the amount of glare from a camera flash, you can put a few layers of tissue paper (or coffee filter, or paper towel, etc) over the flash.  Personally, I do most of my photography outside on a sunny day.  There's no substitute for natural light!

Dang. That foil looks SHARP! Have wanted to try that method for a while...maybe one of these days I'll get around to it.

Pics coming sometime soon! Most likely not today though. Hopefully I can find a decent internet connection over the weekend.

Dupes,

Looking forward to the pics.

Vetteman,

Nice job on the foil job.

Got the wings properly bobbed and slathered the top of the wing in Squadron White to fill the panel lines.  Started fooling around with the pit, it is totally worthless.  Cut the radios off the Hasegawa pit and it fits, but there is no way to locate it in the fuselage.  Once I determine where it goes, I'll throw in some stringers just for a little detail (won't be able to much through that lil ol canopy anyhow).  It's a good thing I bought this thing at a club auction rather than full retail or I'd rather upset, rather than majorly annoyed.

Dupes- yes a nice rule that is. I am very glad to see some pics of the plane, I really like that particular paint job. I notice theres a bunch of different shades of OD green, which brand of paint is yours.

Vetteman2- That is awsome work on the foil! I have got to try that. I likey shinyness.

Lewbud, glad to see you got started.

LOL a fine? good one....  will begging for an extension work? lol  in any case, Im all into my mustangs so I will continue the build even if I cannot finish in time and get the badge  :)

Speaking of Excel.... does anyone know if someone put together a database of kits and AMs?

Yeah, I even link online reviews to my entries, or relevant bookmarks, makes finding them later easier.

Dupes - nice job on the -B. There was an article on FSM some time ago about painting invasion stripes; Ive only tried it once and looks much better. Look forward to the final product!

Randy - really nice job on the foil... sorry, have no clue about pics! I asked my wife; she suggested using two light sources indoors to eliminate shadows and then taking without flash or a delayed flash. I have no clue what any of that means :)

lewbud - look forward to some pics, looks like an exciting complex build

I am still working on the cockpit area... you know, the Revell IP is actually pretty accurate, was checking some references and such. Not bad for a 7$ kit with a 50% off coupon at Michaels ;)