21st Century Toys 1/18 scale P51D Rebuild.

[bcauchi]

Lovely work on that instrument panel. Are you going for a clean plane or are you going to try to simulate a used and scuffed machine? The size of the model lends itself well to some nice weathering and wearing.

[Silver Dollar]

That's a great question. I love to do weathering but I also wanted to do this as a tribute model. I'm not really sure what the heck I want to do with it except throw a lot of detail at it. I'm not even sure what paint scheme I want to put on it yet. I'm really big on the 8th AF which has some beautiful paint schemes, but I also wanted to another scheme. Years ago, I had a friend (alot older than me) who was a P51D pilot with the 2nd Air Commandos in the CBI. In fact, he was the commander of the group after Arthur DeBolt from May 45 to Oct 45. I sort of wanted to do his plane too. The frustration is driving me nuts. Like another modeler I know once said, "Having a good plan means you have a bunch of things to change".

[P-40]

I must have some excellent plans then because mine are always changing!

 

The Air Corp mechanics and usually did a pretty good job of keeping the planes maintained, so you wouldn’t have to do too much weathering. The CBI has always been one of my favorite theaters along with the South Pacific. Of the 8th Air Force, the 4th Fighter Group has always been my favorite with that red nose and Don Allen doing the art work, he was one of the best. Here’s a link to a page of his nose art.

http://www.historicwings.com/features98/no...t/d-artist.html

I really want to do Blondie.

[Silver Dollar]

You keep coming up with the best stuff, P-40. I just came back from my LHS with Hasegawa's 1/32 P51D, Man O War. I just couldn't resist it. It called to me on the shelf.

[Ironwing]

silver,

 

That panel looks much better. Keep up the great work...

 

Geoff

[Silver Dollar]

Thanks Geoff. As I mentioned before, the first pictures were actually used like proof shots. That's what I used to do in my private practice when I worked on front teeth. When it looked good to my eye under magnification, I photographed it way up close. That showed every defect I hadn't seen yet. I went back to the work, corrected it and rephotographed it until it looked perfect in the pic. That's when I knew it would look good no matter how you looked at it. It's the same way with the panel. The first shot shows all my booboos. The next ones are the corrected panel. It takes some extra time but I think it's worth it.

[bcauchi]

I think that you should go for the CBI scheme whatever it is. It is true that the 8th AF stangs are really nice and all that but you don;t see CBI stuff often and that will be something unique. i would definitely go for that especially since you've known the pilot. Makes even more sense and gives more meaning to your project. Not just any scheme there. I would go for that period! By the way, could you give us a name. i don;t think I can call you silver!!

[LSP_Kevin]

i don;t think I can call you silver!!

 

Sure you can Brian. Repeat after me: "Hi Ho, Silver!"

 

 

Kev

[Silver Dollar]

No sweat. My real name is Jeff Himan. I'm also known on www.scalemotorcars.com as hot ford coupe. Brian, I think you're right. You rarely see any aircraft from the CBI except P40's and it's even more rare to see aircraft from the 2nd Air Commandos. Now that I think about it, my last active duty assignment was at Hurlburt Field which was the decendant of the Air Commandos. I guess that clinches it. Besides the other day I picked up Hasegawa's 1/32 P51D and that one comes with 8th AF markings so I can do that one. CBI it is. Thanks for all your help guys.

[Klaus H]

hey thats a very interesting threat. your cockpit panel looks outstanding. did you make new instruments? did you print them by your own?

i am actually working on a 21st century toys 1/18 corsair. that makes your project even double interesting to me.

 

cheers klaus

[Texas]

hey thats a very interesting threat. your cockpit panel looks outstanding. did you make new instruments? did you print them by your own?

i am actually working on a 21st century toys 1/18 corsair. that makes your project even double interesting to me.

 

cheers klaus

 

HI It would be great if you could post some photos of your work on the Corsair. I have one I would like to rework but it will be awhile since I have other projects in the works.

 

Texas

[Silver Dollar]

hey thats a very interesting threat. your cockpit panel looks outstanding. did you make new instruments? did you print them by your own?

i am actually working on a 21st century toys 1/18 corsair. that makes your project even double interesting to me.

 

cheers klaus

 

Hey Klaus. I did the instruments by finding some really clear examples of instruments on the net. The ones I found came from a flight simulator site but I can't remember which one. I googled P51D instrument panels and P51D cockpit details and that's what came up. Then, I took the picture and refined all of the instruments using Photoshop CS. I then shrunk them down to the correct size and printed them out on good shiny photopaper. I cut them out and installed them into the panel. It really wasn't that difficult. If you can find some decals of the gauge faces, I think they would be much clearer than I can get out of my printer. Please post pics of what you do with that Corsair. I'd love to see what you do with it.

[Silver Dollar]

Here's the next installment on this build. These are also my proof shots. the left side of the cockpit is obviously not finished yet but I'v egotten far enough to see this side taking shape. The seat still has to have its reinforcement bars placed and the area aft of the trim tab console still needs to be developed. Lots more to do before I can call the cockpit done.

 

[Texas]

HI Looking better all the time. Your work is most inspiring.

 

Texas

[P-40]

Your cockpit looks like it’s coming along nicely!