bdthoresen

Craig- I remembered a build here from way back when from the great Brian Cauchi, where he had built Revell's Corsair, and had used tissue to detail the fabric control surfaces- It looked as though he used Tamiya tape for the rib lines, and then overcoated it with tissue and cement; Check out his build here, the technique starts to be discussed about post number 250- http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=7290&page=17 Still one of the best builds I have ever seen- But the ideas might help you- THOR

Looks great Andy. Not sure what you are worried about, I know you will crush it! THOR

Martin! Welcome back man! I was just telling one of my mates about your project the other day, and wondered where the heck you had gotten to! So looking forward to this installment! THOR

Thanks Mike- I have that book and did not see that drawing- I am off to take another look........ THOR

Awesome Gene- Welcome aboard! I have always loved Mike West's pattern making ability at Lone Star, my only complaint being that his casting seems to be hit or miss. Did not know that this kit even existed, and I love that it is 32nd scale. I am looking forward to seeing what can be done with it. Please keep the updates coming! THOR

Interesting photo, Fencer. Thanks for sharing. Based on what I am seeing here, it would appear that the equipment shelf/bracket that is usually molded on top of fuselage fuel tanks in Mustangs was mounted to the structure, and the tank slid underneath it. OK, off to do some more research- Thanks- THOR

Thanks Jon and Torben- slowly plugging away at it- Spent some time filling seams on the wing assembly. I have also filed down the conical plugs that I had made to remove the gun openings in the leading edges. I am still tidying up a few things, and then I will fabricate the "tiles" to cover the rear spar area in the wells. I will add a few details to help hide the mess, but otherwise I am going to keep it simple. After the wings and horizontal stabs are finished up today, I am going to assemble the core engine and mount assembly. Absolutely none of it will be seen, so I will probably just spray the whole thing black. That will then just leave the cockpit. Moving right along- I am hoping to have the main airframe assembled by the end of next weekend. Anyway, thanks for stopping by- Appreciate it. THOR

Hey gents- Working away on my 32nd P-51C air racer, and read in some of the reference material that the aircraft I am modeling had it's fuselage fuel tank removed when it what built up for air racing- I do know that sometime in the production life of the -51B/C they stopped using the fuselage tankdue to its adverse effects on the aircraft's Center of gravity. So, if the tank had been removed, what did they use to install the equipment behind the pilot's headrest. I believe most times there was a radio, and an aircraft battery; but I am not sure how the equipment was mounted. Was there some sort of shelf installed? I went through all of my references and the google, and had no luck so far. Any insight into this area would be appreciated! Thanks- THOR

Me too- Lovely work man- So looking forward to this one! Awesome! THOR

Thanks Peter for the kind words. It took a bit of thinking, but I think I have found a simple workaround...... Here is the initial repair I made for the missing half of the rear well wall. I ended up bonding in a new spar section from .030" styrene, measured and cut to replace the missing parts; This will be used as a bit of a "backer", of which I will then fabricate some thin styrene "tiles" to cover the seams. I am not sure if I will add a bit of detail in this area, as a secondary way to hide my repair. Still looking for a bit more definitive pics of what might have been there. I also took the time to stretch some sprue rod and made some conical plugs to fill the gun openings. I also bonded in the light lens to use as a base to fill it up, as it was not present on "Thunderbird".... I will let this dry overnight, and sand it up tomorrow evening. I then can go ahead and do some final seam filling and polishing, so that the wing assembly is done. Small update, but more to follow.... Later gents- THOR

Wow, that sure came out nice! Keep the updates coming! THOR

Um, you of all people should know exactly what I mean as to the quality of this kit versus the old Combat kit! Masterful work on your part..... THOR

Brian- Looks great man! Loving the work so far. I have been thinking about what you have been saying about the kit, and ultimately I agree with your sentiments. A 300.00 kit should not necessarily have these minor issues. But saying that, if you had built the vacuform kit, I think the issues would be way worse. I do love what you have done so far. Once this annoying task is complete, you can get back to the fun stuff! Keep ‘em coming! THOR

Peter- As I have said before, I am a fan of your work. This Dauntless is going to be a great completion for you. I am really looking forward to the next installment- And, just for the record.....Don't go disappearing again......And get Joel's tail back here as well. It just is not the same without you here! Keep em coming! Awesome work! THOR

Jon- I love your work on the Montez paint masks. Great work so far. Looking forward to the next update! THOR.

Yes J-Bird! Looking awesome!!!!!!! THOR

Thanks Harv. That was my initial thinking. The geometry is a bit wonky, but it will be possible to do. It probably will take more time to measure and draw out than it will be to install the repair. Just one more bump in the road to build Thunderbird...we shall see what shakes out. THOR

Houston, we have a problem....... Remember how I said that I acquired this kit second hand, and that I suspected that the previous owner had started modifying the lower wing to fit an Aires wheel bay? I was not sure of the extent of modification, until I cemented the center wheel bay into the lower wing, fitted the uppers and noticed this..... It appears that Trumpeter split the "Main Spar" area of the wheel bay between the upper and lower wing parts. Being that the Uppers are intact, the missing parts of the lower has left this huge gap. At this point, I am not sure how I will tackle this...... Off to ruminate...... THOR

Thanks for following Harv! THOR

And another small update- Actual construction has begun. I started with the cockpit floor. Trumpeter has molded the floor to match the curvature of the wing center section; but it is my understanding that the B/C series Mustangs had flat floors. I have decided to leave it as it is, as I am planning on leaving the canopy closed on this build. I started by removing the fuselage fuel tank from the part.....An extra fine toothed razor saw made quick work of this.... I then fashioned a blanking plate shaped from .030" styrene sheet. It was then sanded to the original part's edge contour.... While that area was drying, I then shifted my attention to the main gear bay. The fit of the parts was o.k., but it did require some clamping to get a positive fit while the cement dried. The other issue I found was that the previous owner of the kit had started removing all of the bay locators to try and fit the Aires wheel wells in it. This made it especially tricky to line the parts up correctly..... I also received some of the aftermarket I will be using for this build- I will be using the CMK resin wheels/tires with oval tread, as this seems to be the most common tire that Thunderbird flew with. It also allows me to ditch the horrible rubber tires that come with the Trumpeter kit..... I also will be using the Quickboost prop picture above to imitate the uncuffed post-war H.S. that Thunderbird flew with. I will have to modify the prop tips a bit, being that they should be a bit more rounded than how the are presented out of the box. I also will be using the Quickboost exhaust, as it is an improvement over the kit parts. These look a bit different than some of the photos of Thunderbird, but being that she used multiple different Packard-Merlins in her race life, I think I will let it slide. The resin parts are already hollowed out, and casting quality is top-notch. Lastly, I will add the Eduard (HGW) set of fabric belts to the seat. This will be the only addition to the cockpit, as I said the canopy will be closed. That's all for now gents. Thanks Again for stopping by- THOR

Thanks Rotor- I like the post war racers. Some of them were pretty neat. I someday want to tackle "Beguine"...... Thanks Don- It does make a nice change from the norm. I only recently started reading up on the post-war air racing scene, and I am truly fascinated. Thanks for stopping by. Yeah, I will take suggestions on that tune. There will be more I am afraid, but until then, I am going to plow on. Thanks for stopping by Torben...... I hopefully will have more to show during the weekend. Thanks All- THOR

Thanks Kev- Really digging this one!!!! THOR

Thanks Harv! THOR

Well, time for another update! I have been busy working on Thunderbird for the last week of evenings. As I said earlier, the first order of business was to fill and sand out the majority of the recessed rivet and panel line detail because most of it was filled on the actual aircraft. I managed to salvage the majority of the inspection panels, reasoning that the aircraft would have still had to have been inspected on an annual basis. I will have to add the specific post war mods by scribing the relevant added details once the airframe is assembled. I think it might be easier to add than take away. Most of the external details were filled with multiple coats of Mr. Surfacer 500, and then wet sanded back with Flory Models sanders. (Love these!) I also sanded down some of the overdone fabric on the surface controls, but did not fill any panel lines on them. I did fill the rivets on the trim tabs, as I felt they were overdone. Onto the pics..... Here is a shot of the exterior parts I have been working on. Basically, all external parts of the aircraft. Wings, tail, fuselage, and gear doors were all filled and sanded. Here is a shot of the correction I made to the chin inlets. I fabricated some blank off plates with .020" styrene sheet, and filled the seams using CA and accelerator. A smear of Mr. Surfacer 500, and away we go. Another shot of the fuselage half. The rivet details that were filled can still be made out, and there was a lot of it! A shot of the lower wing. I filled all of the pre-drilled holes for the drop tanks, rocket tubes, and the three formation lights in the left wing (The "B" Mustang did not have them) with styrene rod, then filled and sanded them. And the upper wing. Same deal as before. The three piece gun bay covers were installed, filled with CA, and sanded smooth, as Thunderbird's wings were converted to wet wing fuel tanks. Not a terribly exciting update, but a huge milestone for the build. I am starting the cockpit now. Much to do. Thanks for stopping by- Until next time- THOR

Saint Augustine, Florida has been bitter cold by our standards. 30's during the day today, low 20's at night. Looks like it is going to hang around for a weeks or so. Not as bad as what you fellas up in the Northeast are getting, but it is fairly sucky for us here. I am a South Florida boy. Not used to this stuff.... Oh well, back to Thunderbird.... Be safe all- THOR