R Palimaka Posted December 17, 2016 Author Share Posted December 17, 2016 (edited) Wow, I missed the last update. Looking great! Thanks Ron! I've got the port wheel well structure almost done, but have to take a break for a while...out of town for a meeting and then home to family for Christmas. Won't be back at it until Boxing Day probably. I've surprised myself with this. Edited December 17, 2016 by R Palimaka Martinnfb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted December 20, 2016 Author Share Posted December 20, 2016 (edited) So, I'm still away from home, but managed to do some research in my spare time, and when there was no beer involved. I found that the seat in the 1/24 Airfix Mustang is almost/could be correct, but needs some refining...like almost everything else in the kit. The P-51 SIG was a big help. The seat is the Schick Johnson, and is a metal version of the earlier Mustang seat made of plywood. It was installed later in the D and K production runs, and was used randomly on the production line along with the more familiar Warren MacArthur seat (the one with the squared seat pan and bracing arms). There really isn't a way to tell which seat was used in which airframe, as those kinds of "furnishings" changes were not noted. In fact it is more likely that the Schick Johnson version was used later. Looking at my RCAF Mustang photos again, I could see that there were indeed Canadian Mustangs with them installed. Unfortunately there aren't any cockpit shots of the Mustang I'm doing, so I thought I would just correct what I had. I found these drawings online (there was no attribution I could find, one is clearly from the Maintenance Manual). The upper drawing is labelled "P-51 B/C", it may also have been installed in very late C production. Edited August 7, 2017 by R Palimaka Martinnfb, mgbooyv8, Shaka HI and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted December 27, 2016 Author Share Posted December 27, 2016 (edited) I had some time today to get some building done. I managed to finish the roof of the port wing with structure in place and primed with Mr. Surfacer. I just have to cut a square hole just behind the larger opening, where the large coolant pipes etc. run. I made drawings for all the various parts so the starboard wing should go faster...in theory. The first photo is not the best, the camera distortion makes it look like the ribs are leaning, but I can assure you I spent way too much time making sure they were parallel and straight! Edited August 7, 2017 by R Palimaka Shaka HI, Martinnfb, mgbooyv8 and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted December 27, 2016 Author Share Posted December 27, 2016 (edited) I also had some fun manufacturing some mechanical fakery for the gear well centre section. Actually most of it is loosely based on photos and the Tamiya kit. THere will be piping and wiring running from the various receptacles and pumps. Finally I started to try to enhance the clamshell doors a bit. I decided to add layers of cardstock to beef them up; the middle slice will have the three parallel oblong indentations, and the top slice will have the large round cutout. It should all make sense once it's all together... Edited August 7, 2017 by R Palimaka mgbooyv8, Martinnfb, BradG and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 Impressive work, Richard! Kev R Palimaka, sandokan and Martinnfb 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaka HI Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 Look great Richard...did I miss the cockpit? Martinnfb and R Palimaka 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted December 28, 2016 Author Share Posted December 28, 2016 (edited) Look great Richard...did I miss the cockpit? No, you didn't miss the cockpit...I haven't got there yet. There was so much to do to correct the outside. I'm slowly working my way in. I'm waiting for the full instrument panel I ordered from Airscale before I start on the interior. I also have to do a bit of research on communications equipment and cockpit panels, and make some drawings. Edited December 28, 2016 by R Palimaka Shaka HI and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted December 28, 2016 Author Share Posted December 28, 2016 (edited) In the meantime, tonight I assembled one of the clamshell doors from the layers of plastic card that I cut and shaped. I made templates for the other side (actually you just flip them over), and for future use. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out, they just need some finishing up...some rivets added and some small bits for locks and so on. I keep surprising myself!! Here is port side door, photographed beside the unaltered starboard door. Edited August 7, 2017 by R Palimaka mozart, Shaka HI, mgbooyv8 and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 That's really impressive, Richard! I'm wondering if the new 'dish' is not now a little deep. Kev Martinnfb and R Palimaka 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaka HI Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 Very nice work. I think a little bit of sanding would reduce that "dish". R Palimaka and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozart Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 Surprises all the way, well done Richard, all's looking very good. Max Martinnfb and R Palimaka 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guyman1 Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 Nice Richard, The wheel wells are coming along great I like the way you have approached this old bird. Keep it up mate Martinnfb and R Palimaka 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted December 28, 2016 Author Share Posted December 28, 2016 (edited) That's really impressive, Richard! I'm wondering if the new 'dish' is not now a little deep. Kev Thanks Kevin! Looking at photos of the real thing, I think you're right. I should have kept checking. In the morning it didn't look so exaggerated, and the lighting on my work desk made the shadows pretty harsh in the photos, but still...it's all a little too deep. I'll try a little sanding and filling to see if that helps. Richard Edited December 28, 2016 by R Palimaka Martinnfb and Shaka HI 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbooyv8 Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Hi Richard, Good job on the wheelbays and the inner main gear doors! I agree, the new door inserts are probably a tad too deep. Easy to solve with some sanding though. Keep up the good work. Cheers, Peter R Palimaka and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 (edited) I took the advice from Kevin and all those that followed Thank you gentlemen, good eyes! The original clamshell door additions I made were far too deep so I sanded the top layer down to about half and softened the roundness of the inside rim of the dish...if that makes sense? I also filled the three oblong slots with Milliput and Tamiya putty, sanded and primed it all. Just some final sanding and smoothing to do. I guess I tightened it up from both directions. Although it's not perfect it looks much more convincing now, an improvement over the kit parts anyway. Edited August 7, 2017 by R Palimaka Greg W, Alain Gadbois, rafju and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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