jgreiner

Hey gunpowder, Mike West of Lone Star Models (USA) makes a wingtip pod for this. $6 USD and here's the link (scroll about 1/2 way down the page) http://www.lonestarmodels.com/Conversions-1-32.html Best... John

"Pledge with Future Shine" is what it's now labelled on the bottle. Basically the same 'ol good stuff but I do believe that it's EVER SO slightly "thinner" than the older stuff. Absolutely NO need to thin it with anything.......whether you airbrush or hand brush the stuff on. Still one of the best products out there IMHO! John

Kevin, I think it looks great! The ONLY (and I looked hard!) place I can see any "fuzzy" demarcation is maybe on the left wing. Other than that (and it's very minimal......not noticeable unless someone specifically looks for it), keep pluggin' away! John

From the bottle (acrylic), thinned with Tamiya acrylic thinner about 50/50 ratio. I've been doing this on all of my Polished Aluminum (any polished or shiny) jobs for years now (at least 10) and have yet to experience any cracking that some people swear will happen. Maybe I've been lucky, but until I experience something bad, I'm going to keep riding that horse. Here's a pic of a 1/48 Academy P-47N I did (at least 10 yrs ago) using Tamiya acrylic (bottle) gloss black as my primer for the Alclad Polished Aluminum. John

Most definitely it'll work, Bud. I've always used Tamiya Acrylic Gloss Black as my primer for "Polished Aluminum" and "Chrome" shades of Alclad. Let me know if you'd like some pics. I think I could dig some up. Best.... John

Frank, another option if you choose to explore! http://www.lonestarmodels.com/Conversions-1-32.html About 1/2 way down the page.... Best.... John

If the price isn't outrageous, I'll probably pick one up. As to the accuracy or some things being 1-2 mm. off. Isn't going to keep me from sleeping like a baby at night. Someone please point out to me which 1/32 (or 1/48, for that matter) kit is perfect. John

Brian, it looks like McComas' plane is actually an F6-C. Interesting! Great scheme too. I've always loved those lightning bolt paint jobs! John

Glad to hear things have worked out, Kevin! I know you're in Australia, but (for future reference) I've had great experience with Coast Airbrush Company here in the States. http://www.coastairbrush.com/ Especially nice is you can call them and actually talk to a human being! Something of a rarity these days. John

Pretty darn cool. Been about 8 yrs. since I've been there. MUST go again soon.... Need a fix! Thanks much! John

Thanks for the info. and Ian.......e-mail sent! John

Thanks Dude! Yup, pretty much what I'm doing as well..... Scouring the interwebs and have managed to find some info. Haven't checked out the Kagero book (yet,,,,which one, btw?).. I assume you used the Ad Astra masks for the fuselage codes? Think they'd make another set?! John

I'm going to be blatantly honest here.... I've built the Hasegawa bubbletop and enjoyed it very much. It's a very nice kit. I also have the Trump. razorback in the stash and have seen it built up (in person). To my eyes, it looked fantastic. Please realize that I am NOT one of these modelers who measures things and if it's a couple of millemeters off, I personally do not consider it a fatal/catastrophic flaw and unbuildable. Having said that, let's take price into consideration.... For the price of a Hasegawa bubbletop AND the resin conversion, I'd guess the price would be a lot higher than the Trumpeter kit alone. As someone who has over 350 unbuilt kits in my stash and being 48 yrs. old with a yearly build average of about 12-15 kits, I'm going to have to continue my current building pace without buying one more kit (yeah....right!!) and I'd finish my pile at the approximate age of 78. God willing, I'll do exactly that, but in my opinion, I'm going to build the kits I now have and enjoy the hell out of them, without beating myself up over a few mm. inaccuracy. This is in NO way, shape or form telling Derek (or anyone else) they shouldn't do a conversion! I'm quite sure they would sell, but as Radu pointed out......just how much time, energy, money and work do you want to put into it........and make a profit? If making a profit isn't a concern......go for it! I just don't know if there would be enough builders out here who would be willing to spend the extra money. While I'd love to see someone do it, I have to admit that I most likely would not purchase one. I ask everyone please take my post the way I've intended......just my measly opinion and as I often say: "Your mileage may vary". John

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that!!! Could you please share where you got documentation/refs. for this? I'd really like to do my 111 in a scheme like this. Fantastic job! John

Congrats, Tony! That thing looks great! I do think you hold some sort of record for taking 3 yrs. to finish the dang thing though!! LOL!!! See you in 2015. John

A BIG +1 here...... John

Bud, it looks outstanding! The only thing I'd ask you to consider would be the color of the wheel wells and inner gear doors. This topic is always ripe with debate (especially on the P-51 SIG website) and if it was my model, I'd leave the inner gear doors nat. metal/aluminum and either do the "rub plate" a more polished chrome finish, or do it yellow zinc chromate. For the wells themselves, here's where it gets interesting.... There seems to be no uniform standard, contrary to E&M manuals. When looking at literally thousands of wartime P-51D pictures, I've seen the following variations: 1. Rear spar: Yellow Zinc Chromate Rest of bay: Aluminum 2. Separation wall: Interior Green Upper roof: Aluminum Spars, stringers and rear spar: Yellow Zinc Chromate with bits of Interior Green 3. Entire well Yellow Zinc Chromate. This seems to be limited to later production D/K's that went to the PTO. 4. Entire well Aluminum (earlier D's) Please note the above findings are MINE and not from a manual. I have also seen Korean War era (heck, even some late 1945 pictures) with what looks to be entire Interior Green wells.......as well as the inner doors! A "normal" WW II configured P-51D however, I have never seen with a complete IG well and/or inner gear doors. Bottom line? It's your model! Do some research and paint it up based on your conclusions! WHO is going to tell you it's definitively wrong?! Hope this doesn't cause too much angst or confusion!! John

There are tons......TONS of excellent decal options out there for both razorbacks and bubbletops. I should say there are also many paint mask options as well! Welcome to the wild, wild world of "jug sickness"!! John

You're very welcome! Judging by what you've said, yes.....I'd probably tell you to go with the Trumpeter kit(s). I have only built the Hasegawa bubbletop, but have the Trump. razorback and N in the stash. You're very much correct in saying the Trump. kits have MANY more parts (engine, supercharger and its ducting, etc), but for a "no frills" yet excellent build, the Hasegawa is a great kit. However, I must say that I picked up my Hasegawa kits a while back, before their prices became ridiculous! As of right now, the prices of the kits aren't really that far apart. Whichever way you decide to go, have fun! John

Thank you, sir! John

Spook, that's beautiful!! I have those markings as well and it's nice to see them on an actual model! Nice job with the base and figures as well. Really adds to the finished product. How were Lone Star's wheels? Would you recommend them? Thanks! John

Define "superior". If it means more parts = superior, I'd strongly disagree with you. The Trumpeter kits have virtually all of the "guts" for the turbo supercharger, which is fine but NONE........NONE of it is seen once you join the fuselage halves. Moveable/poseable flaps, rudder, etc. will also give you many more parts, but again....is it really necessary? If that's your cup 'o tea, then yeah. If not, well...then no! I've built the Hasegawa bubbletop and it's a very nice kit that is an excellent representation of a bubbletop Jug without all of the 200 or so additional parts. Depends on what you're after, but I'd be careful with the definition of "superior". As always, my usual disclaimer: Your mileage may vary. John

Jerry and Tim... Completely understood! All I'm (poorly attempting) to say is that I DO think the kit would sell well as long as it's not double what the Trumpy kit costs.......no matter how bad that dang thing is! Having said that, I completely realize an all resin kit isn't for your average, run of the mill kind of modeler, so whatever the price (again, within reason) would certainly be acceptable to us Mustang fanatics! Please keep us posted! John

Not to be a complete kill-joy here, but what kind of price would we be talking about? I fully understand it's an all resin kit, but for it to sell well, it would have to be competetively priced. So I guess my question to Jerry (or the folks at Greymatter) would be if a ballpark price could be stated. John