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https://www.aviationmegastore.com/mustang-p51-fighter-including-aluminium-stand-ap459-authentic-models-781934580553-authentic-models/product/?action=prodinfo&art=139921 Usual disclaimers.... Tim

Hello fellow master modelers - I am going to hopefully take you through a pretty challenging scratch build of some 1/18 wheels and tires for a P-51 Mustang using primarily a Unimat mini-lathe. At the time of this posting, I am not done, and there is some risk that it will be a failure. But here goes..... A few years ago I dove into a 21st Century Toys 1/18 scale P-51 Mustang, made extensive modifications and improvements, and called her Miss Velma. Here is a picture of her after the two-year project was completed (some of you know of this giant project): I have a 4-part article on Miss Velma on LSP, if interested. The main landing gear were a big part of the project. I scratch built the struts, brakes, and gear doors but used the existing toy's tires and wheels, although heavily modified. Here are some closeups: It may be evident to you from the pictures that the original tires were split (sawed) in two right along the centerline, and a good bit of plastic sheet material added in the middle, and then the diamond pattern re-cut. At the time that was all I could think of to get the tire width correct. I lived with the inaccurate tread pattern, and also the inaccurate diameter of the rims (they are a little too large but the tire OD is actually about right). The outer wheel half was mercilessly whittled on in and attempt to make the "spokes" look somewhat accurate, with marginal results. The inner wheel half was modified too, to accept the scratch built brake housings. Here is what the wheels and tires are supposed to look like: Meanwhile, I purchased a Unimat mini-lathe in support of my P-38 "Lucky Lady" build (look for an article soon), and learned how to make pretty good tires and wheels as machined parts. Here is an example (main gear P-38, 1/18 scale): So now I mean to give Miss Velma some new shoes, which better represent the real thing. Off come the old: Geez - it's a bit damaged but nothing I cannot fix. And I will get on with the new. Stay tuned!

Hi, I'm building Tamiya's classic in Pacific outfit. I've added polish Yahu instrument panel, HGW seatbelts, some Eduard Photoetch, my own wires and i will use Kagero decals.

Hi all! Two years ago I decided, that I need a Mustang in my collection. I saw a Dragon kit of P-51K Mustang in the shop - and i thought: "Why not?". It was a terrible mistake The kit has a lot of problems. When I started work with wheel bay - I really went to pieces. But sometime ago I decided to finish this work. Some work moments: Removing panel lines and rivets Added some positive rivets New ligths New bay for flaps Some rudder improvements The both sides in cockpit where wrong. The new one

Long overdue posting here, apologies, but finally took a few final pictures. Also put BBD up on the stand as well. This is my first large-scale build having built almost exclusively in 1/48 and starting with the Tamiya P-51D was quite a treat. This is not quite an OOB build, using some Photoetch from Eduard in the engine compartment (and conveniently covered up, UGH!) and the cockpit (ditto - using the pilot figure was probably not my brightest idea ever). The HGW Seatbelts were not easy to get together - for me anyway - but really look good in this scale compared to the nightmare they were in 1/48!. The decals are a combination of Zotz checkers for the nose, Big Beautiful Doll and the wingtips checkers are from Eagle Cal and the rest from the kit itself. The paints are mostly acrylics - Tamiya TS-12 on the fuselage for example and Model Master, and the exhaust area is Model Master Metalizer. I have a lot of bottles of it from a long time ago, but it seems to keep well and I recently figured out a new venting system for my paint booth so I can actually paint with the aromatic metalizers and enamels now without smelling up the house. If you followed along the build thread you know about the issues with the nose checkers and other fun I had with this terrific kit. http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=56418&hl= Apologies - I am totally off on the white balance - I'll have to reshoot. The nose is two decals - the Zotz decals fit the Tamiya nose nearly perfectly. The nose cone/prop assembly is not overly tight so does pull away some from the fuselage. The Zotz decals require a white band to be painted around the first row of checkers, careful matching the white. I don't usually have the plane mounted on the stand, and I'm not entirely thrilled with the fit of the panel that replaces the landing gear, but BBD does look good in flight. As much detail as went into the engine bay, unless you take off all the panels much of it is hidden. I didn't super detail the topside of the engine and now regretting it. Also seeing that I'll need to be doing some weathering around the exhaust stacks. But one of my favorite items in the kit really are the figures. I love the pilot, and hope to do a mini-diorama sometime.

Thought of doing something different so purchased one of Tamiya's great P-51D 1/48 scale kits. I found Warbird's set of Thunderbird Decals for the Tamiya 1/48 P-51D which are a beautiful Red White and Blue. Should build up to a nice looking plane. Painted the cockpit white in keeping with a show aircraft and the entire aircraft is MM Metalizer Buffing Aluminum Plate. I really like the Metalizer paints, but you definitely have to watch the fumes so excellent ventilation is mandatory. They shine up nice, and lose a bit of luster once sealed. Still, looks shiny! There is an ongoing story behind the decals, see below. Other side a bit different Top view Now a bit of the saga with the decals. In the picture above the USAF letters have cracked a bit after a coat of MicroSet. The insignia on the left also looks like it is cracking, but I really hope not. Interestingly enough - used MicroSet on the insignia on the fuselage sides and it seems fine. Also on the US Flag and the Thunderbirds insignia on the right side. Really curious. In the picture below, the nose and tail decals are red white and blue and for both the nose and the tail decal the red is incredibly brittle. I was extra careful with the tail decal, but even minor movement shatters the red part of the decal, which is a large part of the decal. Ugh. I contacted Warbirds and they promptly responded and are sending out a replacement set. Hope they work better! The decal on the left is the Warbirds Thunderbird Tail decal. The right is what is left of the nose decal. Where the decal was red it shattered very easily from just a little bit of movement. Down below, the sharks mouth is from a 1/32 P-40 set which I used to test fit on a P-51 before I used a different mouth from the same set. Even with all of the moving and pushing around, and ultimately, it did not even tear. So I don't think I'm doing something wrong here. Hoping the new set from Warbirds works much better. Otherwise I'm masking and painting the red white and blue!

Hi everyone, After a 2 year hiatus, finally coming close to completion. I have been eagerly following everyone's Mustang WIP's for tips, tricks and hints. Thanks so much everyone for sharing as it has made 'reentry' so much easier and I hope I can add to the overall discussion. I am building the Tamiya 1:32 kit, and agree with all the positive comments others have made. I find that if something doesn't fit right, I'm not doing something right. That little bit of wisdom has saved me multiple times. I'm still trying to figure out the livery and have many options, including Big Beautiful Doll. So decisions, decisions. I'll start with the early build pics and add more later so these articles don't get too long. I've taken some color liberties such as the copper piping and a wood floor in the cockpit. I know not historically accurate, but I've seen pictures of others who have done this and I really liked how it looked. The copper is enamel sprayed right from the Testors can. Outdoors to avoid the odors. Most of the rest of the paint is Model Master or Tamiya acrylics. With the cowl panels off the copper piping will just be visible. A close up of the right sidewall. The Eduard color and placards add amazing detail. The cockpit sidewalls are a combination of the Tamiya parts and Eduard's color PE. I also have the Barracuda stencils but OMG are they tiny! Saving them for my next Mustang. Here is the left side: Next up the engine and super charger and the completed cockpit. My photo skills are improved with later pictures. :-)

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/World-War-II-Era-P-51-Mustang-Makes-Belly-Landing-at-Dallas-Executive-Airport-367529111.html

Aside from a couple of antennas, are there any substantial differences between the standard D and Pacific D kits?

Hello everyone, This is my first time to post a build on here and I'm a little ways into my build already but I thought why not share my progress and gather some others' input for future builds. I'm making the 1/32 Tamiya P-51D pretty much OOB. I do plan to use some OOP Pyn-up decals I have. I can't decide which one I want to do first though, I'm torn between Passion Wagon and Moon Mullins' P-51D. Both of these birds are early production P-51s with a filletless tail. Before I post pictures of my decals can someone please tell me if it's allowed to post nude pin-ups that were nose art? I'll add pictures as soon as I figure out how that works and I get an answer to my question. Cheers, Brady

Back when I could still see smaller scale models I went after Tamiya's really nice 1/48 Scale P-51D kit with the Lou IV markings. Added some Eduard cockpit PE but the big exercise for me was dropping the flaps and working weathering the paint. I wanted a really well worn Lou IV. Left wing insignia is way off register; I just have not done anything yet to fix it. Paint is mostly Model master acrylics weathered using sanding pads of various grits. Last picture shows the both of the ailerons dropped - I fixed it as shown in the previous pictures but it took me a long time to find the errror.

I know this may be a stupid question, but when I was a kid, this Mustang was very popular in the UK thanks to the Matchbox 1/72nd Kit. At the time, Dooleybirds upper cockpit surround were always shades of blue. Nowadays though, they seem to be invariably yellow with an OD anti-glare shield. Is this based on anything concrete, or simply Back and White Photo translation? I can understand why the OD Glare shield is now common currency, but having seen this plane in profiles and models which have DF loops which the original did not have, I am just trying to figure out if there is anything definitive...

Hello all: Well, I got damn sick and tired of watching all the great builds going on here and not having anything to participate with. So, I canned the P-61 (actually put it back in the box and shelved it but "canned" elicits a more appropriate feeling regarding the Avionix sets that I attempted to use. Adjectives of disappointment with those sets fail me at the moment so I'll forget about it and move on.) Anyway, I pulled out a Tamiya first release P-51D from the stash shelf and decided to "have a go" (best British accent). Below are a few of the photos of the progress I've made on it and while nowhere near some of the abilities I've seen here lately, I'm confident it'll be as right as I can make it without having to succumb to AMS; if I do, then it'll probably never get done. The kit itself is a mismash of block numbers that Tamiya had to do to get more than one version out of a single box. Consequently, the details of some of the parts on the kit aren't quite correct for an earlier P-51D. The kit lends itself better to the block 20-25 series aircraft out of the box. Wherever I need to make a change to a kit part to accurately represent the block 15 aircraft, I'll do my best to point it out. The first shot below is of the oil tank, firewall and the rear half of the V-1650 Packard Merlin. Without going into too much details, P-51D-15-NA aircraft had an oil tank without a dipstick. The kit provides a "bump" for the dipstick by the filler neck which I promptly sanded off. I also made a filler cap from punched styrene disks with stretched sprue "ears". They're not really noticeable in the photo but they are there. I dropped the damn thing on the ground about 20 times before I got it glued in place. I was damn lucky to find it more than once! The interior green on the firewall is a mixture of my own using Testor's enamel zinc chromate and flat black; the same way the original interior green was made. The mixture is about 10:1, using the Mk. 1 eyeball to judge the color until it "looked right". The oil tank itself, while seen in natural metal on most wartime Mustangs is Testor's Model Master Interior Green which, in my opinion, is WAY off the mark. Maybe I just got a bad mix but if my older bottles of the color weren't solidified, I would've used them as the colors were much better. I painted the tank as the surface of the tank is somewhat pebbly and wouldn't yield a good natural metal finish; so, I painted it and am calling it a replacement tank from the spares depot.... That's my story and I'm stickin to it. I also discovered a little known piece of information (at least to me) about the firewall from reading the P-51D E&R manual. The firewall is mostly armor plate excepting behind the oil tank itself which is stainless steel. So, I painted that portion of the firewall, a stainless steel color (or reasonable facsimile thereof ) Attachment straps are aluminum although they should probably be a steel color as aluminum is almost never used as band clamps to hold tanks in place...it's far too weak. The engine is Tamiya X-18 semi-gloss black which looks fantastic in 1/32. The bolt/nut details were picked out with a sharpened toothpick and some Testor's chrome silver paint. I'd say it looks convincing for an out of box engine. The next photo is, you guessed it, the cockpit area. Basic coloring of the cockpit floor is flat black representing the non-skid paint used to cover the plywood flooring. The zinc chromate recessed area is actually the top of the wing (on the real aircraft). I've forgotten exactly what the silver cylinder is for but it's silver.... LOL. I've yet to paint the control locking pin red and the control column is awaiting some painting effects to accentuate the canvas boot at the base of the column (it can be seen in the lower right corner of the photo). I used MDC luftwaffe cockpit gauge decals ( I know, I know, it's not right) for the fuel gauges on the cockpit floor and used Microcoat Gloss for the lens. At normal viewing distances, without magnification, you'll never be able to tell they're luftwaffe gauges. The canvas cover below the seat got a coat of OD. I have not yet weathered the cockpit floor other than some drybrushing to make the magnificent detail on this kit pop out. I'll add some wood colored paint wear later. The flooring under the fuselage fuel tank is/was plywood and I represented that with some Testor's wood colored paint...doesn't look too bad and when it's installed, you probably won't be able to see much of it anyway. The fuel tank itself got a coat of Tamiya X-18 with some of the metal parts of the tank being picked out in flat black. The radio/battery rack will also be painted flat black, not interior green as called out in the Tamiya instructions. I haven't looked deep enough into the specifics of -15 Mustangs to see whether or not the SCR-522 radio was installed or the earlier version. A quick look at the P-51D/Mustang IV Illustrated Parts Catalog will provide the answer, I just have to go look it up. I sure hope it's the SCR-522 radio set as I do NOT want to scratchbuild an entire radio set...PITA. I'm getting lazy in my middle agedness You'll also take note of the white plastic rod that runs on the left side of the radio rack. That my friends, is the tank vent which Tamiya only faintly tries to portray on the tank. If you have the kit (built or unbuilt) and look at the tank in the forward left hand corner, you'll see a small length of raised plastic eminating from a small, circular area with four represented fasteners. That is the tank vent as Tamiya provides. Early P-51D's had only the vent tube. Later marks (-20 and later I'm thinking) had a carburetor vapor return line integral with the 90 degree elbow that come out of the tank. I know it's tough to envision without a specific photograph so I'll refer you to dodgem37's excellent build of this same kit for illustration of that specific feature which is portrayed flawlessly. The seat is the Warren-Macarthur style and used if for no other reason that the vast majority of Mustangs I see have the Shick-Johnson seat installed. The Shick-Johnoson seat was more common on later Mustangs but there's no hard and fast rule to say which Mustangs got which seats, regardless of production block. This is probably one of those cases where the aircraft got whatever seat was available at the time. The earlier the block number, the better the chance of having a Warren-Macarthur seat though. Similar seats were in the B and C Mustangs. Mustang seats, according to my references were painted dull dark green so that's what this one got. That and a set of HGW seat belts/harness which while tricky to assemble, look very convincing once installed. I'm a long-winded poster sometimes and you'll please forgive the few photos in relation to the text. I've a long way to go but this kit is a gem and it shouldn't be too long before I add to this topic with more pix. Thanks for looking in

I've had this kit for about a year. I finally decided to build it and am glad I did. This has to be the best model kit manufactured (aside from the 1/48 Trumpeter deHavilland Hornet ) ever! It just falls together... The reason for the delay was that I wanted to build a specific aircraft but couldn't find the decals (deckels?) and was offered the opportunity to use some custom Stencil Pal stencils (thanks Randy a.k.a. Sluggo). Building is about having fun and learning, so I started right away. I figured I could get the cockpit done pretty quick while using the Barracuda decals...not so fast...it's taken me quite a bit to get to the point of closing the fuse... The obligatory starting shot! Cockpit underway. No real problems here other than getting the photo-etch harness to stay glued to the seat.

AKA - Diving into the Alclad Pool.....I just hope the water is fine..... A very very generous soul here wished me an early Merry Christmas here with a package that he said needed to belong to a good Mustang home. I am very grateful and humbled. The package contained a whole slew of bits and pieces from more than a few of the old silver Monogram Mustang. In fact its so old its described as "3/8 INCH SCALE". I had never seen this kit in the flesh, though in the stash are two of the Phantom Mustang versions. Seems its the same kit minus the stand and electrical motor that goes in the engine to spin the prop....thats my guess anyway. So after digging through all the bits and sorting them I discovered it would be real easy to take some of the parts and make a quick build style Mustang. I believe there still may be enough left over to build a kit per the instructions with the working landing gear and bomb releases. So my plans for this build is an in-flight, gear-up version. I will build it sans engine as well, as the engine cowling and exhausts are already molded as part of the fuselage. There are a few complications to fix and fill because of the omitted moving parts. But the detail on the fuselage and flight surfaces seem pretty good to my eye. I dont have scale drawings as of yet, so I cant be real specific on the kits shape problems, but I will point some of the more obvious ones as I go, and also hope to point out the kits pros as well compared to some of the other Mustangs in my stash. The biggest goal of this build is a real attempt at using Alclad for its natural metal finish. After seeing WillimaJ's "THIS IS IT!" I just have to give this a go. Then take what Ive learned and transfer it to the rest of my in progress and future Mustang builds. Its sink or swim time.....and I am pretty convinced my previous theories and attempts fall short of just bucking up and using Alclad for NMF as well as that great silver lacquer finish for the wings and rudder that WilliamJ displayed. As much as I like the painting process it seems I always have issues, and I am hoping the Alclad will help with that part. Here are a few pics to get this started..... Box as received, little worse for wear, but abounds with personality and who knows, it may even be older than I.... The instructions cover page.....copyright 1962 The instructions, most of which I am ignoring on this build. But, I am impressed with the original kits engineering. A quick pic of the fuselage side and flight surfaces. A close up of some of the stuff I will have to deal with that was part of the kits movable components. I havent decided on its livery just yet, but I did just recently manage to purchase this nifty book from our very own ssculpter and maybe it will help me with a decision. I think I will be swapping in a HS Cuffed prop, certainly puttying the wings, I havent decided on exactly how much I will be doing to the cockpit, or the oil cooler exhaust duct area. I have noticed so far that the formation lights are molded on the wrong wing. It also seems the gun ports , gun and ammo doors and underwing hardpoints are molded too far outboard, and that appears to be a placement issue that starts with the landing gear pivot access panel being too outboard as well. Thanks for looking in and stay tuned for more....here we go....

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!

Well, guess what was sitting on my porch today.... Yup, this lil' gem of a kit that I purchased from a gent who was doing an estate sale on our traders board. The price was more than right, and I just love this kit after finally seeing it. Of course, I am sure it has its dimension and shape issues, but I dont care...."I love it, I love it, I love it!!" (as I do a Molly Shannon high kick in my chair!!!) In my hands is a kit with the closest to the real thing engine cowling.....YAY The rivit detail is similar to the 1/32 Tomy offering, and just a shame to cover up. And the fabric surfaces are great. Oh and all of the masking tape was courtesy of its previous owner, who knows how long ago he gazed upon the same mockup....judging by the tape...its been a while. Here is one of the sprues, it has a fabulous intake duct, engine cradle, and the split rims should look great when assembled. Oh and no ugly back wall of the wheel wells, it has a real main spar. And with a bit of cardstock similar to my Airfix build and I think the wheel wells will look pretty decent. We will see.... I and the instruction booklet (which will either teach me to build from pictures or learn Japanese) has some fantastic color illustrations!! Now..... I have no idea what to do with this kit.... My next build was to be the Reno Racer the Bardahl Special, but that plane was probably fairly slicked up and as I stated, I just dont want to cover up the skin detail on this model. So my thinking as of now is some research on F-51Ds and figure out what condition the wings, fuselage and cockpits were after a depot rebuild either for the Korean Conflict or for Air National Guard service. (Although the fabric elevators are probably a no-no for that time frame). It also has moulded in rocket mounts that I hope to keep and uses. Any advice or info on that would be a huge contribution and greatly appreciated. Never enough 'Stangs!!!!! Stay tuned...

Finished this one today, what an awesome kit! After building Tamiya's A6M5, I thought it was the best ever. Their Spitfire was even better, and I loved that one too. This one is even better, and I can only surmise that their Corsair will top this one. I will soon find out! Tamiya's 1/32 P-51D, built as Col. Glenn Eagleston's "Feeble Eagle" of the 353rd FS. Built mostly from the box, with Barracuda Resins tires, G-factor tailwheel strut and HGW seatbelts. Main decals are from Eagle Editions, stencil decals are from Fundekals. All of the decals performed flawlessly. I scratchbuilt some cockpit details, mainly the battery overfill bottle from clear sprue and some extra wiring for the radio and battery. Painted with Alclad paints, this is my very first NMF aircraft and to say I am happy with how it turned out is an understatement! I have wanted one in a metal finish for years, but never thought I could actually do it. I have tried a few times and was defeated with each one. Now, I finally have one for my display case! Already planning another Mustang, this time one of the Pacific VLR birds. There's a build thread here. Thanks for looking in!