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Tamiya P-51D Mustang Finished 9/26/13


Daywalker

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After building both the Tamiya A6M Zero and Spitfire, I am eager to sink my teeth into their P-51D Mustang!  Adding a few AM bits, Barracuda resin tires, G-Factor brass gear, and HGW seatbelts.  Not certain yet which markings I plan to use, so for now will start with building the engine then move onto the wings until I figure out which production block the finished model will be, as the cockpit has numerous differences between them.  So for now, a quick photo of the box and AM bits, and on to the build!

 

001.jpg

Edited by Daywalker
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Frank,

 

I very much look forward to seeing your great work with this one!

 

Cheers,

 

tom

 

Thanks Tom, hope you enjoy the progress!

 

Frank, Oooh another of MY Favorite Birds.. :yahoo:

 

 

Frank, I can't wait for you to start this and see which scheme you use... :wicked:

 

 

 

Don't ya fancy the Tuskegee P- 51D Mustang schemes.....Some exciting Mustangs out there in the World... :whistle:

 

 

What a lovely treat it will be for the likes of ME who absolutely ADORE the aircraft... :wub: :wub: :wub:

 

 

Frank, This I saved a while back in MY favorites. Various Mustang markings. Just for your perusal... :whistle: :thumbsup:

 

Some good looking Mustangs. :punk:

 

 

http://imodeler.com/2013/03/camouflage-and-markings-of-north-american-p-51-mustang/

 

Cheers Maru, thanks for the link! I have spent hours in the workshop today, trying to narrow down the one I want to build. I am HEAVILY leaning towards one of the green tailed VLR P-51D's from the Kagero red series...

 

kag_32001_p.jpg

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Do it!

 

I reckon the VLR mustangs are the best looking schemes and nose art by far! The Kagero set rocks, not that I'm biased at all...... :thumbsup:

 

Im looking forward to seeing your build unfold, I never installed the engine in mine as I felt an open cowl would destroy the lines, plus now I have a spare merlin in the stash!

 

Good luck with it mate

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Cheers Guy, thanks!

 

Really enjoyed your build of "Miss Helen", and honestly because of that one a blue nose bird is a serious contender here! Do you remember what you used for the blue on the nose? I thought your choice was spot on.

Thanks Frank, much appreciated.

The colour I chose for the nose and rudder was one of the acrylic foundation colours in the Citadel Miniatures (Games Workshop) range, "Necron Abyss". HTH

 

For a little inspiration, check out Craig's build on ARC : http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=262299

 

His converted pilot figure really sets the model off.

 

Good luck with your project. I know that you have enjoyed making the Zero and Spitfire so I'm positive that you'll have a ball with this one.

 

Cheers.

 

*Edit. A thought occured to me. One item to check on your build would be the colour of the seat pack. I painted mine yellow but a more knowledgable member explained that they were green in the war and yellow post war. Also, the Tamiya part really is n't the correct shape, it's too square and unifromly even in texture but I don't know of any alternatives. Perhaps someone else could help?

Edited by geedubelyer
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Guest Peterpools

Frank

Love the choice of markings and am eagerly looking forward to following your build. I have another Tamiya Mustang siting on the shelf ready and waiting and am eager to get going on it. :doh:

Keep 'em coming

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  • 4 weeks later...

Sorry for the delay in progress pics, the cockpit started out seeming to take FOREVER to get painted up, then at the end it accelerated rapidly! It is about 95% finished now, needing only to paint the tops of the fuselage sides black (forgot to do it before) then I can install the cockpit sides permanently. I followed the directions (mostly) and added a few details I thought would be noticeable, which I found in some spectacular photos provided to me by JohnB. Thanks a million John! Side panels are as provided in the kit, even added the Tamiya placard decals. I purchased the Barracudacals set for the cockpit, but in the end I opted not to use it. I do not like decalling much, and the thought of adding over a hundred to the cockpit alone gave me chills! I took some white oil paint and tried to replicate the face detail on a few gauges around the cockpit, as well as some basic stenciling to spice it up a bit. The floor was painted with Tamiya buff, then oil paints were used to replicate the woodgrain of the floor. The black was sprayed over a layer of hairspray, and damaged with a brush and toothpick.

 

002.jpg

 

003.jpg

 

I used the hairspray technique to "beat up" the seat, and added some seatbelts with PE hardware from the HGW set. I used their belts on the Spitfire and they worked flawlessly, but the ones in this set (US WWII generic belts) were not very good. The thin "plastic" on the top of the "fabric" belts kept separating from the bottom layer, and frayed badly along the edges. In the end, I used strips cut from the edges of a $1 bill as that paper has a fabric feel to it. I painted the bottom belts, and in hindsight I wish I had left them alone as the paint did not turn out as I had wished. My fault! I also left the seat pack off as I did not care for it's shape, and figured this aircraft would not spend much time over water. I figure the ground crew took it out at the pilot's request!

 

004.jpg

 

006.jpg

Edited by Daywalker
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On the back of the armor plate, I found period photos showing a small canvas pouch instead of the hardware provided by Tamiya (the kit parts represent part of the IFF system I believe, not fitted to this aircraft). I replicated this with a folded up piece of Tamiya tape.

 

005.jpg

 

I also flipped the radio around, as it is backwards in the kit. I simply cut off the mounting lugs on the bottom, and flipped it 180 degrees. I also cut off the blob of plastic Tamiya would have you paint white (it is an overflow bottle for the battery) and fashioned a small clear "bottle" out of kit sprue, with a punched disk lid. I think it looks much better! I also plumbed the radio and battery.

 

The rudder pedals also received the hairspray treatment. After installing the decal for the IP gauges, they looked a bit translucent so I painted a layer of black paint on top of them to make the detail pop.

 

007.jpg

 

Now that the cockpit is nearly done, I can move on to the next hurdle- the gear bay. I found over 30 ejector pin marks on the main body and rear spar alone! I opted to sand and fill them, and this took many nights of tedious filling and sanding to eliminate. If only Tamiya had molded these parts 180 degrees on the sprue, the pin marks would be on the inside of the parts (and not visible). Why did they do it this way? The marks would be easier to fill too if they were raised instead of recessed, and located away from the delicate rivet detail.

 

001-1.jpg

 

Thanks for looking in, more pics soon- I promise!

Edited by Daywalker
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Frank

Aces on the front office ... weathering is light and so realistic

Keep 'em coming

:popcorn: :popcorn:

 

Much obliged Peter, thanks for the feedback!

 

Yes. Really like radio and battery highlights. Was that oils or dry brushing?

 

Thank you! I used a mix of about 50% raw umber and 50% model master chrome silver to do the drybrushing on these. The raw umber tones down the silver to a more realistic sheen. Thanks for looking in!

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