R Palimaka Posted December 5, 2017 Author Share Posted December 5, 2017 (edited) Finally for today, I built an exit tunnel for the radiator, and added a floor to the exit flap/door. Edited December 5, 2017 by R Palimaka MikeMaben, Sparzanza, rafju and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 Great fix on the tyres - very tidy finish. Torben Martinnfb and R Palimaka 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted December 5, 2017 Author Share Posted December 5, 2017 Nice work. Sincerely, Mark Thank you Mark, hopefully most of it will be visible in that cockpit. :-) Great fix on the tyres - very tidy finish. Torben Thanks! I was afraid to start but it went pretty smoothly once I did. Martinnfb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted December 6, 2017 Author Share Posted December 6, 2017 (edited) Last night was spent installing some not very interesting final structural bits in the wings before closing them up. I decide to add a small wing spar/support at the rear of the wing, just in front of the opening for the flaps. With the flaps cut out there was a need for some sort of support to keep the top and bottom of the wings more solid and prevent them from flexing. I also added back-stops for the machine guns and blast tubes. I decided the barrels and blast tubes will be inserted from the front once it is assembled, and the back-stops will keep them from getting pushed too far into the wing. Holes for the bomb pylons and the rocket stubs were also drilled out. Troughs were glued in place above the cartridge shell ejections slots to prevent them from being see-through. I also spent time confirming measurements and cleaning up the drawings for the templates for the improvements made to the wheel wells and landing gear, because believe it or not, I will be doing another one of these kits soon (unless Airfix surprises us and announces a new-tool 1/24 P-51D/K ). I would like to digitally scan these too so that I could share the files if anyone is interested. They will include: -wing spar -roof panel for the wheel wells with a map of stringers, ribs and cut-outs -rib templates (they might require some sanding and fiddling to fit) -landing gear covers -inner clam shell doors -tail wheel enclosure -map of piping and wiring in wheel well - won't include everything seen in photos, but will be more of a fair representation of what's in there to busy it up. I have a couple of people interested, but if anyone else wants them let me know. Hoping to have that done this week. Richard Edited December 6, 2017 by R Palimaka Martinnfb, LSP_Kevin, Ossington 1 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted April 9, 2018 Author Share Posted April 9, 2018 (edited) Finally regained my mojo and got back at it on the weekend. Got involved in too many other after-work projects and didn't have the time for building...although sailing season is coming soon and will have to get the boat ready...anyway, first world problems. So here is the progress on the landing gear. I had originally intended to just shorten and correct the kit gear, but was worried that it wouldn't be strong enough to support the weight of all the additions I made. It's amazing how heavy all the extra bits are. I had ordered the SAC gear for the Trumpeter kit, hoping I could use that but it really was not much of an improvement. In the end I used the lower SAC part with the axle, and replaced the main leg with aluminum tubing. The sliding oleo portion is plastic tubing reinforced with thick brass rod. I kept the top part which fits into the kit gear receptacle. All of it is glued with superglue and epoxy, and detailed with some photoetch, and the brake line is brass wire. The retaining strap for the brake line on the main leg is thick furnace tape. The result is very solid, and is not going to break or bend...I hope. I tried to build the scissor links from different shaped plastic strips and metal, failed miserably, and in the end just drilled and filed out the plastic kit parts and am happy with that. Once the model is finished and painted, I will add the flexible hose that runs through the scissor torque links, and the brake line that runs to the brakes at the bottom. Here are the gear legs...the original kit part on the left, the mostly finished port leg in the middle and the started starboard leg Edited April 9, 2018 by R Palimaka Alain Gadbois, Sparzanza, MikeMaben and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted April 9, 2018 Author Share Posted April 9, 2018 (edited) Next, here is the port wheel well roof, which will be mated with the bottom of the wing. Once the two are together there is some more piping and wiring that will be done to finish things up. The starboard wing is almost done too, I'll post that when it is finished. The colour of the wells was a bit of a hard decision. There is photo evidence that some of the post-war USAF and National Guard Mustangs had their wheel wells painted Interior Green, including the clamshell doors. The photos I've seen of RCAF wheel wells also shows a darker colour that can't be attributed to shadows or darkness in there. So I went with a green. A couple of the photos of this aircraft, RCAF 9253, also suggest that the clamshell doors were green, but I can't make myself do it lol. Edited April 9, 2018 by R Palimaka Shawn M, Martinnfb, LSP_Kevin and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted April 9, 2018 Author Share Posted April 9, 2018 Finally the Airscale instrument panel, 95% finished. I just have to add a couple of indicator lights, and knobs. It's surprisingly heavy too. Shawn M, Martinnfb, Sparzanza and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 looks great Martinnfb and R Palimaka 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparzanza Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Amazing! Martinnfb and R Palimaka 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted November 1, 2018 Author Share Posted November 1, 2018 (edited) Oh dear...last post was in April! The model was put aside for the summer and fall because of a trip to Poland with my father and son, two more theatre productions and the sailing season. All that is behind me, my last show finishes this Saturday, the weather has closed in and it's time to sit and get serious about finishing this. I've had a few short but relaxing sessions over the last week or so to get my hand back in, and made some more progress. I'll post some photos over the next couple of days. I'd like to finish it for the HeritageCon Show in Hamilton, Ontario at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in March...which would be kind of appropriate considering it will be in 424 Squadron RCAF markings. Richard Edited November 1, 2018 by R Palimaka Alain Gadbois, LSP_Kevin, Shawn M and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dog Flying Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 Welcome back Richard! You"ve done a beautiful job on the Mustang. My modelling days are over as I seemed to have P...d-off Mother Nature and now all I can do is watch the progress of others. I.ve got another of the original Airfix kits if you need. Barney R Palimaka, Out2gtcha and Martinnfb 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted November 7, 2018 Author Share Posted November 7, 2018 Thanks Barney! I am so sorry about the issues you're having, it must be frustrating. My eyes are causing problems too, close up work is a real strain and it's harder to do longer sessions at the bench. I may take you up on that Mustang...unless Airfix surprises us all with a new tool 1/24 Mustang on Saturday with their big announcement. My guess is it might be a new bomber version of the Mosquito though... Anyway, more photos tonight of my progress on the Mustang. It's getting there. Richard Martinnfb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 Looks excellent Richard! Great progress Martinnfb and R Palimaka 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted November 8, 2018 Author Share Posted November 8, 2018 Here are a few photos from the latest sessions. The big ventral intake needed work. As it comes in the kit, the intake has the oil radiator right at the mouth. In reality, it sits farther back and lower, and the roof of the oil cooler forms the floor of the tunnel taking cooling air to the coolant radiator. It's not as complicated as it sounds... I took a photo-etch screen from a 1/32 Mustang (which turned out to be perfect size here) and attached it to the front of a new inverted L-shaped structure. I also fashioned the strut in the front of the intake from some plastic extruded strut. The original kit parts can be seen on the left. Greg W, Alain Gadbois, Sparzanza and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted November 8, 2018 Author Share Posted November 8, 2018 These are the wheel wells pretty much done, with the wings closed up. I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out, and there are still a few things to install, like the landing light and hinges for the clamshell doors. The first photo is a reminder of how this all started. williamj, Greg W, LSP_Kevin and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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