blackbetty Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 very, very, VERY nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 It just gets better and better! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch Man Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Very nice to see nothing real bad happened. Cool plane. Robert Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 Thanks much guys! Just a small bit of progress, I completed the propeller. The blades are Quickboost "uncuffed" Hamilton Standard units, which seemed to be the most common ones used over there, although there are examples of the earlier cuffed blades and even a few Aeroproducts ones. Nothing particularly special about this assembly, given the poor conditions of the airfields, the blades would have been beaten up pretty good so I went heavy on the chipping and, (as is seen on many dirt airfields), I replicated most of the finish being worn off the back sides from the rocks and sand. That's it for today, as always, thanks for looking! Antonio Argudo, rafju, JolleyRoger and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rigor Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Looking good love the faded letters on the wing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Great work. Love what you're doing. Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Dog Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 I Love the attention to detail. Great work indeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted February 22, 2020 Author Share Posted February 22, 2020 (edited) Thanks very much guys! Next up is the MG access door. The Tamiya part is a bit simplified and doesn't include the exterior locking levers (which should be extended when the door is open) and interior latches. Here's a pic that shows how the real thing looked. In addition to the door latches, there is a large handle next to the aft ammo feed. Also note the thin support rod on the right hand side of the door. I started off by carefully removing the recesses for the two exterior locking levers. When these are opened, you can see through this straight into the MG bay. I drilled a few holes with my pin vice and then used an X-acto knife to carefully remove the remaining material. I then used thin strips of PE to replicate the levers. As shown above, in the open position, they actually protrude through the opening into the inside of the door. One thing Tamiya does include is a nice decal that closely replicates the large loading instruction placard on the interior of the door. Here is how it looks from the frontal aspect. Sorry for the less than clear picture, I really need a better camera! Note that you can (barely) see all the way through the lever recesses. Also note the locking (I'm guessing) lever in the vertical position by the ammo feed tray. I replicated this from a piece of plastic card, carved, sanded and bent per the original. Also added some tiny bits of scrap PE and plastic for the mounting bracket. Here is how it looks on the backside. Note that the door is just press-fitted in place so the support rod is out of position. This will be in the proper spot once I glue it in permanently. Also note that I haven't done final touch-up painting and weathering. Sorry for the crappy pics but you can (barely) see the door's latching mechanisms. Also, one thing I neglected to mention before, later Mustangs (not sure if they came from the factory like this or were mod'ed later in life), had the fuel drain accumulator vent intake housing removed. In it's place was just the recess for the scoop and the drain opening. The Tamiya kit has the scoop molded to the fuselage (it will be interesting to see if they addressed this with their F-51D kit, the way the part is designed, I'm guessing they didn't). I carefully carved the scoops away (it's present on both sides) and drilled the drain openings. On some F-51D's, the recessed area was painted red, I'm not sure if my subject had this or not, still researching. Here is a nice reference for some late Mustang exterior mods. I'll be adding the g-suit opening and battery drain at the end of the build. And a final crappy picture. I'll try to post better pics later. As always, thanks for looking! Edited February 22, 2020 by John1 Bil, rafju, blackbetty and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted February 22, 2020 Author Share Posted February 22, 2020 Just a few pics of (hopefully) better quality: Biggles87, Landrotten Highlander, Lothar and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 Nice filth John John1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanes Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 Superb work on that ammo door - I'm taking notes for the time when I get to start my RAAF Mustang! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 (edited) Nice detailing. Note red on feed chute. It matches formation light color. If this gun bay is open then the beginning and end of feed chute will be green. Good work. Sincerely, Mark Edited February 28, 2020 by dodgem37 USMC Herc, Out2gtcha and Dutch Man 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N4521U Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 A fine looking build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 John i guess this is better late than never: https://www.docdroid.net/D79iGST/north-american-p-51d-mustang-flight-handbook.pdf Jari MikeMaben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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