xmh53wrench Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 AWESOME, AWESOME stuff!!!! I too am a huge fan of these old Revell kits. You are doing the ol' girl great justice. Fantastic work on all your mods thus far. As always....I am in a constant state of curiosity over how folks handle the wing finish on their Mustangs... ....cant wait to see yours considering your attention to detail. Keep up the amazing work Hubert Boillot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorinM Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 Thank you, glad you like it so far! No need to wait, the wings will be smooth, without rivets, painted silver dope and the only visible panel lines will be for the gun bays and wing tips, and the NMF one with rivets on the belly. gerry1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorinM Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) Speaking of the wings, this is the P-51B/C Mustang Gun Bay set 2097 made by Aires for the Trumpeter kit, a set that was to be used for this bird. Stay away from it! You will notice the wrong size (too small) and shape of the bay itself (wasn't it rectangular?), with one of the M2's barely squeezing in, while the other simply does not fit. Also instead of three circular apertures on the front bulkhead there are only two. Note that the ammunition itself has two different sizes (20mm and .50?), while the hatch covers are for the D version. Looks like this "correction" set needs some serious correcting! Or rather cannibalizing the M2's for other projects and the rest is to be thrown in the garbage... Edited October 17, 2014 by FlorinM sandokan and Ralph-D 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph-D Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) sorry to hear about that, wasting time & money. Personally I trust the small AM producer like Jerry, M.West & Co. Before they release a product you see them in the forum asking and investigating. I hope you didn't bought the Quickboost P-51 exhaust Edited October 17, 2014 by Ralph-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRutman Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Too bad about the gun bay. You are correct about the shape of the bay,it was squared off. They seem to have made this part to conform to the opening of the wing cut out? Just like almost every model company and every kit used to do with the P-51 wheelbay. The compartment should conform to the wing ribs and stringers just like the way the real deal was built. This is also why one machine gun is not fitting as the bay should be squared off. Lots of aftermarket parts are made that violate the cardinal rule:When scratchbuilding a part,the first priority is make sure it fits!!! THEN you complete and detail said part. Nice job so far Florin and I am happy to read you are making a smooth wing!! J Sharkmouth and FlorinM 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorinM Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) Hope that this set was a fluke and pray that Aires doesn't have many duds like this. The model was intended to be closed up, won't ruin the clean beautiful lines of this bird with guts jutting out anyway... The gun bay is no loss really, as the guns will go to the TBF-1C and the P-39 Airacobra. The quintessential laminar flow wing, Sir. Smooth is how it must be. It is not a whim, it is historical accuracy. Edited February 19, 2015 by FlorinM sandokan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorinM Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 Moving on to the fuselage. The vast majority of the reviews of this kit present it as hopeless, especially regarding the nose. Not what the author of this build blog has found. The nose can be easily fixed by modellers of average skill. A razor saw was used to make an upward 1.5 millimeter cut following the margin of the nose. Then another, 30 millimeter cut was operated at a ninety degree angle, and a smaller one at its end. A 1.5 millimeter plug was inserted at the rear end and everything was then filled up. This is how it looks when overlapped on scale drawings. sandokan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorinM Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 The resin cockpit floor from Aires is bent like a banana, not taking chances with it, so this is the starting point for a new floor. Can anybody please help me with how the radio and its rack actually looked like? I am building a P-51B-10 NA with a "Malcolm" Hood. sandokan and Sharkmouth 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRutman Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 The main problem with the shape of the nose comes from looking at it from the top. The forward part of the nacelle isn't wide enough to accept a merlin engine. J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorinM Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 "The forward part of the nacelle isn't wide enough to accept a Merlin engine." I believe I solved that problem a while ago: sandokan and Sharkmouth 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafju Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 (edited) Florin i can give you some additionnal info with measuring the width of the Tamiya P-51D front cowl (Merlin Inside...)=> from top to back is 22mm to 25mm.(wider) Just to compare with yours. All the best and thanks for sharing Raf Edited October 22, 2014 by rafju gerry1 and FlorinM 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorinM Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 Front 22 mm, rear 25.5 mm. Pretty much nailed it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafju Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Cool man you're in the wright way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRutman Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Sorry brother,I forgot. J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorinM Posted October 31, 2014 Author Share Posted October 31, 2014 Have managed to swap a Mustang from Trumpeter for the last couple of 1:48th kits that I had. The number of pieces that will be used from it is minimal, basically the windshield and main landing gear legs, maybe the engine too, while the rest of the parts is to be disposed of in the garbage. This is the Trumpeter windshield, one of the very, very few parts that are better than Revell's, test fitted to the "Malcolm" hood supplied in the old Revell kit. They fit perfectly. Also checked the fit to the corrected cowling, also fit is perfect. sandokan and Sharkmouth 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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