LDSmodeller Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 (edited) Hi All This is the start to my build The Kit box Inside the box The aircraft I am going to build The finish on the aircraft is a rather faded HSS -High Speed Silver An interesting fact about NZ2413 is that she was the only RNZAF P 51D to have a cuffed Propeller. All her other stable mates had un-cuffed props. This makes life easier fro me in that I don't have to replace the kit prop Decals from ventura Interestingly I have read that the blue on the roundels was a house paint which ended up fading rapidly..... RNZAF Mustangs arrived in New Zealand in 1945 circa Late August early September too late to see action in replacing the very war wary F4U-1/FG-1 Corsairs. The Mustangs had been fitted with rocket rails, the kit does not have them, so I will have to build some and attach A TAF Mustang pulling target towing duty, but you can clearly see the rocket rails Regards Alan Edited July 31, 2011 by LDSmodeller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Alan Going to be a interesting build to follow and enjoy. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seiran01 Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I havent seen that ohakea pic before, thanks for posting! Any idea what the plane is in the background? Did the kiwi Stangs have any variation in markings or paint from natural metal with roundels and the appropriate TAF checkerboard? My info on the rnzaf planes is sorely lacking, even with the rnzaf ww2 pages on hobbyvista thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDSmodeller Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 I havent seen that ohakea pic before, thanks for posting! Any idea what the plane is in the background? Did the kiwi Stangs have any variation in markings or paint from natural metal with roundels and the appropriate TAF checkerboard? My info on the rnzaf planes is sorely lacking, even with the rnzaf ww2 pages on hobbyvista thanks! The P 51 at Ohakea is nice. I'm not a 100% sure as the photo has been cropped, but I believe the aircraft behind is a De Havilland Devon To answer your question regarding the paint schemes, In 1945 when the P 51's arrived in New Zealand they were in standard USAAF scheme of the day with stencils etc (being Natural Metal fuselage etc). They were put in storage after the war till about 1950 when they were put into service with the TAF. In the time from their arrival till their disbanding the RNZAF P 51's wore natural metal through to High Speed Silver. This photo gives you some idea of what High Speed Silver looks like albeit a little less that the original lustre it has when fresh Roundels varied also from immediate post war roundel/bar to straight "D" type roundels in the 1950's The RNZAF P 51's had their wheel wheels in Zinc Chromate yellow, and as per the above P 51 at Ohakea some had their wheel doors repainted Here is a link that should provide you with some photos at various stages of the P 51's service RNZAF P 51's This next link will give you some insight in to internal colours etc RNZAF P 51 discusion Regards Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDSmodeller Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 (edited) Hi all My apologies for this being unattended for the last 6-8 weeks or more Suffice to say, it's been a rather interesting time in my life, a few firsts for me and I would like to say God willing, the first and last time for me!!! My first time in hospital and my first ever operation. Anyway I digress Have a small update for you today. The Packard Merlin, the heart of this famous pony The Hasegawa rendition is OK for this build, in that it will be hidden but, I want to build it and add it anyway. The joins were a little out of alignment on the rear of the Supercharger Duct/Carburettor, so required some filler Next stop some paint - more on the Merlin soon Now most Mustangs - RNZAF ones I have seen photos of, show the drooped gear doors and obviously with the gear doors the flaps drooped also. Accordingly I have cut out the flaps on the upper and lower halves. My very fine tooth model saw made short work of this, the key was patience lots of it These will require some remedial work eg extend the flap area with some plasticard. The next item to be tackled will be making an adjustment to the rear spar to correct it. This next photo shows (in red) the line of the spar, and the blue hash is the area I will need to cover over Well hopefully I will have some more shortly, I am really enjoying this build, it's stretching my building skills and there's lots to learn. Hope you enjoy Regards Alan Edited October 21, 2011 by LDSmodeller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ron Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Looking really good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDSmodeller Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 Hi Guys Thanks for your comments, had hoped to slip under the wire but not quite. Some progress shots and comments Hasegawa didn't really provide too much in the way of securing the Packard Merlin in place, and if time was on my side I could have built up some engine bearers etc but opted to build some supports instead Engine sitting on them The cockpit is next, painted the floor boards in a yellow over brown undercoat to look like plywood prior to adding black paint I decided to manufacture my own seat as the kit one was not correct I cut the back off, prior to shaping and adding a back rest The new seat, not quite perfect but still looks good to me! Added some paint to the equation and the engine looks good The cockpit set up, with some black paint applied to the flooring and radio area Still need to add the interior green I have painted chromate yellow in the engine area and rear of the aircraft, I have painted black the area immediately behind the pilot. RNZAF P 51's from what I have read, were Chromate yellow-engine area, Inteior green for cockpit, black for the radio section behind the pilot and chromate yellow the rear. The demarcation lines were roughedly feathered, which is what I have tried to acheive. The cockpit in situ, looks good (to me any way) can't wait to add the interior green and get it all together Hope to have more in the next day or so Thanks for looking Regards Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Aln Nice start on the the Hasegawa 'Stang. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDSmodeller Posted March 3, 2012 Author Share Posted March 3, 2012 (edited) Hi All, more of an update Maru and Peter, thanks for your comments Gee my day or so has been nearly a month Anyway, onward and upward starting off with the cockpit again: Added some interior green to the cockpit area. Painted my seat. Placed the cockpit assembly to see how it looks. Previous I had painted the flooring black over the "plywood" colour, and with an old T-shirt and some light judicious rubbing gained a "slightly worn look" The same was done to the seat to give it a "used" look I decided to make a cushion for the seat, so took some 1.5mm styrene cut it to shape, adding two pieces together, then covering in masking tape to simulate cloth, a coat of Olive Drab and viola one cushion as seen on the seat You will notice the top of the seat has a metal bracket to keep the pilots harness in place, I found this PE fret set, I'd forgotten I had it, so next step for the seat, to make up pilots harness and attach.... Moving to the aft of the fuselage I boxed in the tail wheel and added some strenghtening strips, as I had seen in photographs The tail wheel sitting in it's new home. Part one done Edited March 3, 2012 by LDSmodeller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Nice progress on the front office and seat. Looking good. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDSmodeller Posted March 3, 2012 Author Share Posted March 3, 2012 Part two of my post On to the outer part of the fuselage, I began to prep the wing fillet area where the upper portion of the flap would sit, to remove the "molded" area This had to be taken very carefully, one slip and I would ruin the slim cover over the flap well, it took me about a 1/2-3/4 of an hour to do each side. The finished item - quite pleased with the result. I will need to add some styrene to close up the gap in the fuselage What it looks like with the wing on. Now you will notice some styrene strip on the inner trailing edge, I placed this there to act as support and strenghten the wing in this area. Well that's all for now, I'm really happy with the way this is coming along, and with the RNZAF's 75th birthday upon us, I want to get this finished (I have more projects lined up for this year) Stay tuned Thanks for looking Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDSmodeller Posted April 7, 2012 Author Share Posted April 7, 2012 Hi All Another update and milestone (Update part 1) Using the PE fret I made up the seat harness -man- that was hard on the eyes, used to have 20/20 vision but after that Added the seat harness Dry brushed some black on the IP to tone down the white bring out the instruments dial faces, quite pleased with the results Added the side console to the pit Sitting in the fuselage, looks good to me Dirtied up the tail wheel well- historically, some of the airfields these aircraft flew from could be quite muddy in Winter and all the fine volcanic soil mixed with water can create a mess. I recall living in the Hobsonville married quaters on the airfield perimeter, and watching an RNZAF helecopter come in and sliding along in a spray of dirty water Part two to follow in a moment Regards Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDSmodeller Posted April 7, 2012 Author Share Posted April 7, 2012 Hi all Part two as promised including the milestone Filled in the cavity left by my surgery previous A little Tamiya Putty to seal any gaps Cleaned up with some nail polish remover and Q tips I decided to construct a larger oil cooler to stop see through - not perfect or accurate but it will do the job And now the mile stone - the fuselage is glued together And finally -(No Wise cracks about the peg colour, it was the first one I grabbed out of the peg basket ) This has been fun so far, next the wings!!!!! Hope you enjoy Regards Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattlow Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Nice work Alan, the Has. kit is still decent enough and you're doing it justice. I've just closed the fuselage up on something (a rare event for me) and it is a good feeling. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ron Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Nice work so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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