Bomarc

Hi Barry I had posted this info on the P-51 SIG, but for your viewing convenience, I'll re-post some of that here. The spinner used for the Hamilton Standard props (either with or without cuffs) sported a "figure eight" or "hour glass" shaped cutout for the blade shanks. Here's an illustration (the below comes from Charlie Neely's P-51 newsletter from days of lore, the info of which was obtained from the factory drawings): The Aero Products prop that was mounted on P-51K's had a plane of rotation almost 2 inches (1.8" per the factory drawings) forward of the Ham Std. units, necessitating a change in the style of shank cutout in the spinner. The Ham Std. units plane of rotation aligned with the "split" of the front and rear pieces of the spinner, the Aero Prop was forward of that split: The actual 1:1 article: And here's an in-flight shot of a "K". Note how far forward the prop seems in comparison to "B", "C", and "D" models: HTH

Hey! Dems fightin' words!!! Thanks Tomek, really appreciate it. Just too many external forces at play right now.....

'bout time....... Looks damn near perfect Tomek, well done!

Will there be a corresponding spinner released as well? The P-51 spinner used in conjunction with the Aero Prop is different than the spinner used with either the cuffed or uncuffed Hamilton Standard props. The Aero prop's plane of rotation is almost 2" forward of the Ham. Std. units, and the blade cutouts in the spinner reflect this. If interested, I did a quick summary of the differences here on the P-51 SIG (registration will be required if you're not already a member). HTH

Go, Tomek, go! I'm rootin' for you....

Looks great Tomek. While the camera highlights the print pattern of the kit's part vs. your smooth paint fix, I'm sure it looks fine when view up close and personal. Digital photography is a modeler's worse critic... Hey! That's my line!

Soon enough gentlmen.....

Thanks Derek. I was fascinated by the high altitude mission of the Mk XIX and wanted to portray as much of the technical details as I could on the model. The little air scoop below the left-hand engine exhaust for the pressurization blower, the air dryer behind the seat back, etc. Those bolts around the windscreen (and the aft framing behind the seat) spoke to me of the "pressure vessel" that was the cockpit. A very unique Spitfire version! Looking forward to the upcoming P-61 from Wingscale (which I believe you had a hand in with its development)!

Thanks for the kind word guys, much appreciated! I couldn't help but notice that I didn't get all the dust off the model before I shot the pics (some of those legendary camera skills at work again!). That's probably 1996 dust on there, vintage stuff!

Last four....

Some more.....

Here’s an “oldie-moldie” of mine that I thought I’d share, lest anyone think I build only in paper. I built this in 1996. At the time, while I had a pretty good film camera (a Pentax 35mm SLR), my picture taking skills were sorely lacking. With the advances in digital photography of today, I decided to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon to give this old chestnut a proper shoot. After all, if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s new to *you*…. The base kit is the old 1/32nd scale Hasegawa Mk V Spitfire, converted to the Mk XIX standard using a resin conversion kit from a long defunct company called PPM (which also did an Mk XIV kit as well). I bought the Mk XIX resin kit (as well as the generic Swedish decal markings from “Flying Colors Aerodecal”) in 1995 from a then fledging hobby concern that would set up a table and sell its wares during the monthly IPMS meetings held in Northern Virginia (NOVA Modelers) at the time, called “Meteor Productions” (wonder what happen to them….hmmmm?). Cockpit, landing gear, and wheel wells were all scratch built. I used Waldron British instruments and Spitfire cockpit placards in the cockpit, and Swedish language stencils were concocted (that’s being kind!) using clear decal film and a laser copier. Looking back, among my many Spitfire “noobie” errors, Mk XIX’s sold to Sweden had the 4-spoke wheel rims (blame that one on PPM), the wheel wells (and I think the struts too) should have been in PRU Blue as the rest of plane, and I didn’t paint the pilot’s seat in that “bake-lite” color that I always hear about (hanging head in shame). I’m much better with P-51’s….. I’m just going to throw the “keepers” pics out here sans photoshoping. Enjoy!

Thanks Carl, appreciate that! I fully understand, say no more (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, kno' what I mean....). You do know I finished the PBJ Mitchell as well over "there", yes? Now get back to work on the BB04. I want to see some more of that magic of yours.... Mike

Of course! I didn't clue into the musical (Heart) connection. Good thing you weren't listening to this when you were registering! It peaked my interest as you go by the more direct "Fred C." on the P-51 SIG. Best regards,

Ooh, pretty.... Would a sliver of sandpaper in between the rows as it turns on the Dremel help that? Sounds tedious, I know, but if it improves the look, maybe a "comb" of sandpaper would make the job easier. You only have to make five good ones after all.... Indeed, what did you use to take the picture, an electron microscope? I'm sure any perceived imperfections that show up on the molecular level will vanish to the naked eye, making my suggestion above superfluous. I refer you to my tag line below...

Thanks Tomek. What threw me off was the appearance that the edges had a glossy sheen (obviously now an illusion), seeing to indicate you had coated them with something. It reminded me of my balsa "stick and tissue" model building, wherein a step before covering the balsa frames with tissue is to apply a couple of coats of dope on the bare frames. This seals the edges and keeps them from absorbing the dope two fast as you try to stick the tissue on. I thought something similar was going on here. No mind, you're already doing great things out of the chute. Getting a slow start, but working on it....

Good stuff, sir! A real treat following this thread, very enjoyable.

Ooh boy, Tomek, you've stepped it in now! This a great start, and I think the folks here will find your work informative and entertaining. Do you coat the edges of your card formers with something? It looks to be the case in the photo. If you do, what's the advantage of that?

Thanks guys, appreciate it! You know, I was going to use that as my member name, but they limit you on how many spaces you can use..... Thanks Brian, that's very gratifying to know. I look forward to see what you cook up.....get to work! For those of you wondering what this "hair" business that Tomek mentions is all about, I wasn't very careful when I took some of my build photos from before: Sloppy, sloppy.....

Those three things installed: Seat was next. First added a pad for the seat to sit on (is that redundant?): Then made the seat: Installed: Gas and radiator caps: Paint the gas cap red, seemed like the thing to do at the time. Tow hitch was second to last item: And last (drum roll please), the cowl latches: And THAT’s how I got there. You’ll have to look at the very first post of this flashback thread to see how it all turned out. I started this build around mid- August with a completion date of October 21st, a little over two months long and just two days before the International Paper Modelers Convention, which was the reason I was building it in the first place. The theme for the 2010 IPMC was “wheeled vehicles” and this was my “small” entry. The IPMC is an annual event held in Sterling Virginia. Not nearly as big as an IPMS Nationals (think Regional in terms of size and venue), but still a great event. This year’s theme is “Civilian Aviation”, hope I can drum something up in time. Hope it was fun guys.

It’s down to the nitty-gritty now. Not much commentary needed I should think. Steering wheel: Shifter: Emergency brake:

Added some details, including the last use of the diamond plate stuff introduced way back when: After trying to cut and fit these fenders to the tug without success, I determined they were just too long and floppy, so I ended up notching one side and CA gluing a length of music wire to stiffen and straighten them: This made trying to preserve the printed side pointless and I painted the whole assemblies (the wire stiffeners made nice holders while painting). Then it was just a matter of snipping off the excess wire and fitting the fenders to the tug: Not much left now.....

OK guys, last few entries. Really, the last major pieces to add at this point were the “S” shaped fenders that run along either side of the cowlings. To make these identical, I used a method somewhat similar to what I used for the round rear fenders. First I drew up some parts and assembled a fixture using white glue and CA glue spread along the top to get things hard and flat: The other key ingredient for this was a layer of ordinary clear packing tape burnished down over the top and trimmed (last pic). Next, using Elmer’s white glue, I glued one layer of card directly onto my fixture, burnishing that down to make sure it conforms to the shape: To the top of that I added another layer (printed with color this time, but it turned out to be wasted effort as I will relate a little later): The white glue doesn’t stick to the packing tape well (not at all actually), so once dry, the whole assembly pops off the jig with little effort: Do it again for a second fender, and now I have two identical ones:

Besides, being that these are RAF pilots, shouldn't their formation have said "SOD OFF".....?

Hi Jerry, Finally got a chance to look around LSP some more. Seeing you knit your P-51 together over at the SIG (and here of course) has been a joy, but to see this work here really impresses me more. The deft modifications/sculpting of the figures with the candid posing all combined to tell the tale very convincingly. I sense the Russians advancing on those poor guys...