geedubelyer

This was the first LSP I completed a couple years ago, and probably when I caught the 1/32 bug.  Most of my models were 1/48th before this one.  Also one of my first with masked markings, and I screwed up the squadron code which is why the MM is present.
 
Tamiya kit Mk. VIII
Maketar Masks
Quinta studios interior set
HGW seatbelts
Quickboost exhaust stubs
Barracuda Decals for the nose art and stencils
 
Paints are all MRP Lacquers
ABT 502 oils for most of the exhaust effects
 

 








 

The fitters and riggers turned up this afternoon and, after a successful search in the archives for the construction manual, made a start on re-fitting the fin and tailplane. They had an extended tea break with a chocolate biscuit or two so didn’t manage to get the job finished….the foreman wasn’t ‘appy! 
 

 
 

have a good one, Guy

Hope it was a great day!

Happy birthday Guy 

Tonight I started the cockpit (VERY nice) and installed the circular part for the front internal engine cylinder heat retention plates... (the circular plates on the front interior of the cowling, which closed the front of the engine face to prevent thermal cracking of engine cylinders during rapid cooling of engine parts during a dive bombing procedure; also provided improved heating in sub-zero temperatures when the engine was just started)... Everything is well-designed and fits where it is supposed do.  The plate assembly has two keys on the interior of the cowl to ensure the installation provides correct "clocking" of the plates.  Little details like this are impressive.   More to come...   

Hello folks.  I would like to present to you my 2-year long project "Cripes a' Mighty" P-51B-10NA Mustang, flown by Major George Preddy of the 352nd FG ("Blue-Nosers").  Scale is 1/18 - she is a big girl for sure.  She is about 99% 3D printed using an Elegoo Saturn 2 printer.  All components were designed in Rhino 7, using original NAA engineering drawings obtained from Aircorps Library.  The build thread can be found here:
 
 
Here she is:
 

 
Before I present more pictures, let me offer some comments on the build. 
 
First, the reason I picked this subject (a P-51B) was mostly two-fold.  One, I really wanted to do a Malcolm hooded, natural metal finished -B model.  And two, the P-51 is just about completely defined by micro-filmed engineering drawings available from Aircorps Library.  That, along with learning Rhino 7, and purchasing a good 3D printer, allowed me to produce a model with near perfect dimensional accuracy.  That applies not only to the fuselage, wing, and tail, but also every detail I chose to include.  No guesswork.  No errors.  As for the selection of "Cripes A' Mighty" - well that was mostly from a vote by many of those who were following the build, and my concurrence.  
 
This was my first effort at creating a model totally by 3D printing, and what a learning process it was.  3D print resin is amazing stuff, but it is fragile.  I cannot count how many times I broke a part and either had to repair it or print a new one.  But when done properly, what results is detail that often cannot be obtained from plastic, or scratch building.  As a result Cripes is by far the most realistic model I have ever built.  She is the most fragile model I have ever built as well.  Also, this is my second effort with aluminum skinning using .005 inch thick aluminum sheet.  Not easy to do, but this process results in very real-looking natural metal finish.  I learned this technique from Peter Castle - we know him as Airscale.  He has been doing it for years.
 
This project was a mix of elation and pride - why we build models - and panic/anger/fear/frustration.  Cripes was no easy build.  And big mistakes were made (all were ultimately fixed).  How about mislocating the flare gun hole one full bay and royally screwing up the left-hand cockpit sidewall.   Or putting the three colored ID lights on the wrong wing.  Or screwing up the main landing gear rake angle by a couple of degrees.  Or a huge one - tipping it over late in the build and breaking off the centerline gear doors and the left hand landing gear strut.  OMG that was awful.  There were painting disasters, disbond issues, fractured parts too numerous to count.  But there were also moments of huge victory and accomplishment and pride.
 
I think perhaps the most interesting and successful element of this build was the use of a 3D printed highly accurate fuselage assembly jig.  Here is a picture of it:
 
 
 
With some fuselage parts loaded onto it:
 

 
I show this because this jig provided the foundation for the entire build - an accurate forward fuselage with cockpit, and accurate attach points for the wing, engine cowling, and aft fuselage.  Had to have that before everything else.
 
Another interesting element of this build was my decision to use 3D printed transparencies.  As opposed to vacuform.  Injection molded parts were of course not an option.  Ultimately most (but not all) the canopy and windshield and aft window parts were provided by Shapeways at high prices, after I just flat failed on many of those parts.  The concern of course was clarity.  Most of the followers of the build were very skeptical of 3D printed clear resin to deliver.  I will let you judge for yourselves. 
 
The area where I had to do some serious guesswork was the Malcolm hood and the cockpit modifications for same.  Dozens of pictures both period and from restos helped immensely.  During that time of the build, I learned a whole lot about the Malcolm hood modification, and how involved it actually was.  Some of you may not be aware that the Malcolm hood was a field modification entirely.  A -B or -C (or even an -A) model would go into the field hangar, and several days and hundreds of man-hours later, it emerged with a big fishbowl sliding hood replacing the greenhouse style canopy found on production aircraft.  The mod was a big deal - major surgery for the cockpit.  Pilots absolutely loved it, as seeing was life (along with speed and fire power).  Visibility with the Malcolm hood was superb.  At any rate, the hood was driven by a crank handle and chain drive.  I am not aware of any modeler other than myself attempting to model the various cockpit modifications for the hood.  Look for that in the pictures.
 

This model is heavy - about 2.5 pounds or so.  So the landing gear struts needed help, especially the tail gear.  This was the first time I re-inforced landing gear struts with metallic rod (brass or music wire steel).  Here is a picture of the tail gear strut and an internal stiffening rod formed on a 3D printed forming block of my own design:
 
  
 
The main gear struts were re-inforced similarly.  The re-inforcements have worked.  
 
To my horror, after the main gear were installed onto the airplane, I discovered the rake angle was off by a noticeable couple of degrees.  That after being so careful to design it right.  I still don't know what happened.  So I created a fixture where pressure could be applied over days to the gear struts via shims with ever-increasing thicknesses, to force the struts back to a correct rake angle:
 

 
See the white shims?  I show this because it was some of the most stressful days of the build - hoping to get some permanent deformation on very stout gear support parts without breaking something important.  Believe it or not - it worked!  The hope of course is that it stays that way.
 
Lastly some details to look for in the pictures:
 
- Mismatched tires (you see alot of that in period pictures)
- 3D printed chains nested in the upper longerons which drive the Malcolm hood
-  3D printed clear transparencies
-  External rails and rollers for the Malcolm hood
-  Spitfire-style exteral rear view mirror
-  Malcolm hood that can actually be slid fore/aft (if very careful)
-  Movable tail surfaces
-  Head rest pad and seat back pad (thank Antonio Argudo for that!!)
-  The crazy shaped bomb racks
 
Here we go:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
I guess that is enough.  I would like to thank first of all the 40 or so followers of my build thread.  All were very patient and supportive during the 2-year effort.  And special thanks to Airscale for giving me the extensive decal set for his 1/18 P-51C Lopes Hope, hundreds of pictures, and a few helpful Rhino files.  Oh, and the 1/18 scale seat belt hardware.  Also Antonio Argudo for designing some really great models for me - the head rest, seat back cushion, and tail gear bay canvas cover.  Also Thunnus who provided me with nose art decals and stencils, and stencils for other things like squadron buzz letters, tail serial numbers, national insignias, and kill markings.  Also TAG and Antonio for priceless period pictures of anything and everything P-51B.  And lastly Aircorp Library - OMG.  Their collection of engineering drawings and other documents is absolutely priceless. 
 
I hope you like Cripes a' Mighty.  She is not perfect, and she appears rode hard and put up wet.  But it is the best I can muster!  Thank you.    
 
 
 
  
  

Here is the RFI post:
 
 

Hahaha...I was always the odd one out 

In typical internet fashion I choose to disagree with my learned colleague and encourage you to leave the tanks off. 
 
Two reasons. 
1/ they do obscure much of the landing gear and intake detail from certain angles.
2/ the aircraft looks more lithe and beautiful without the extraneous blobs. 
 
So, that's two posts and two viewpoints. 
50/50 so far and no help to you at all Jay  
 
Truthfully, it's a spellbinding creation either way. 

Crikey!
 
It's enormous. 
 
1/32nd scale XB-70 next Dan? 

It would bookend the Spitfire lineage nicely.
 
I drool at the idea of an FR-47 or MK24, especially by a company like Kotare who have shown themselves to be passionate about their products.
 
We live in hope 

In typical internet fashion I choose to disagree with my learned colleague and encourage you to leave the tanks off. 
 
Two reasons. 
1/ they do obscure much of the landing gear and intake detail from certain angles.
2/ the aircraft looks more lithe and beautiful without the extraneous blobs. 
 
So, that's two posts and two viewpoints. 
50/50 so far and no help to you at all Jay  
 
Truthfully, it's a spellbinding creation either way. 

In typical internet fashion I choose to disagree with my learned colleague and encourage you to leave the tanks off. 
 
Two reasons. 
1/ they do obscure much of the landing gear and intake detail from certain angles.
2/ the aircraft looks more lithe and beautiful without the extraneous blobs. 
 
So, that's two posts and two viewpoints. 
50/50 so far and no help to you at all Jay  
 
Truthfully, it's a spellbinding creation either way. 

All the best have a grand day.
 
Cheers
 
Dennis
 

It would bookend the Spitfire lineage nicely.
 
I drool at the idea of an FR-47 or MK24, especially by a company like Kotare who have shown themselves to be passionate about their products.
 
We live in hope 

Yes indeed, happy birthday, have a good one. 

Have a splendid day Guy!

Happy B-Day!!!

Happy Birthday, Guy!
 

 
Kev

A very happy birthday to my very good friend Geedubelyer aka Guy! Have a super day chum. 

I'm with birthday boy Guy!
 
I say leave them off - I prefer the unsullied look of the beautiful P-51 without the 'blobs'.

In typical internet fashion I choose to disagree with my learned colleague and encourage you to leave the tanks off. 
 
Two reasons. 
1/ they do obscure much of the landing gear and intake detail from certain angles.
2/ the aircraft looks more lithe and beautiful without the extraneous blobs. 
 
So, that's two posts and two viewpoints. 
50/50 so far and no help to you at all Jay  
 
Truthfully, it's a spellbinding creation either way. 

Keep the faith Brad. 
The Griffon engined Spits are amongst Mark Robson's favourites apparently so we should be confident that Kotare will eventually release them. (~inserts praying emoji~) 
 
"On 11/10/2024 at 6:52 AM, Mark Robson said:
I LOVE the 47! " 
 
(About the Seafire)
 
 
 

It would bookend the Spitfire lineage nicely.
 
I drool at the idea of an FR-47 or MK24, especially by a company like Kotare who have shown themselves to be passionate about their products.
 
We live in hope