Alex Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 Another feature unique to Iwo Jima planes were the sway braces made on-site (out of plywood) to prevent excessive motion of the 110-gal. metal drop tanks that were required to provide the range the Mustang needed to reach the Japanese mainland and return. Unlike the other details specific to the IJ planes, these custom braces are not represented in the Tamiya "Pacific Theater" kit version. But they should be straightforward to make. Note also the apparent fabric boot on the top of the main gear leg. I need to look into this more. In addition to all this research, I have actually been working on the model too. Hopefully some sort of update on that later today. Greg W, Gazzas, D.B. Andrus and 2 others 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 Another good resource on Iwo Jima Mustang FGs http://506thfightergroup.org/index.asp dodgem37 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 And some good info about the use of aluminum paint (rather than bare metal) on the wings. I'll need to do some experimenting to see which metalizer I want to use to provide a subtle but visible distinction between the wings and the truly bare aluminum surfaces. https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/141825-p51-mustang-wings-painted-or-not dodgem37 and D.B. Andrus 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Alex, below is a photo of a Hasegawa 1/48 Mustang that I built as a testbed for this very purpose: I used Alclad Airframe Aluminium on the fuselage, and Tamiya AS-12 on the wings and tailplanes. Both have been covered in at least one coat of clear gloss varnish, which lowered the contrast between them markedly, but still provides for a nice effect. Here's what it looked like before the gloss coat: HTH, Kev dodgem37, Alex, D.B. Andrus and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 That's a great effect, Kevin, and pretty much what I'm aiming for. I may not use the Airframe Aluminum because I'm hoping not to put any top coat over the metalizer if possible. It may be enough to prime the wings with gray Mr Surfacer 1200 and the fuselage with gloss black, then spray one metalizer (probably plain Alclad Aluminum) over it all. We'll see. I also need to subtly distinguish the fabric covered rudder with a third shade. LSP_Kevin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 All of the remaining bits needed to install the engine and button up the fuselage. At various points in the prime/paint process. Doing this is a royal PITA and I'm having to take breaks in between doing the individual hoses. Cutting and wrapping 0.3 mm strips of masking tape is challenging my vision and dexterity to the max. But the effect is much better than I could hope to achieve with freehand painting. Still a bunch more fiddly masking and painting to go before I'm ready to start test-fitting and assembling. We have a bitter cold weekend on tap in Boston (at least relative to local norms), so I'll probably hide inside and work on this the whole time. If I don't run into trouble I may be able to close the fuselage by the end of Sunday. That will feel like a significant milestone, I think. BradG, dodgem37, LSP_Kevin and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzas Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 That is really great work on that hose. Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 23, 2021 Author Share Posted January 23, 2021 1 hour ago, Gazzas said: That is really great work on that hose. Thanks! The kit is overall so well made that I feel like I have to push my limited envelope to do justice to it... Gazzas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 23, 2021 Author Share Posted January 23, 2021 (edited) Mix of chromate primer and bare aluminum in the engine bay. Totally ignoring the ejector pin marks because you will never see them pressed up against the side of the engine. The actual color of the primer is more yellow - not as minty. It's MRP paint. The iPhone is distorting the color. Still need to paint some details and add a few wires and boxes for wires to terminate in. The outside: Also working on a rusty finish for the exhaust headers (which are just stubs that socket into the guard that covers the side of the cylinder head - although this is "less realistic" than full headers that connect into the head, it makes life a lot easier and I'm glad Tamiya did it). Once these are fully dried I'll wet them with brown enamel PLW to tone down the appearance a bit, and try to hit the bores with a tiny bit of black paint for shadow. Edited January 23, 2021 by Alex Gazzas, Greg W, Chris Wimmer and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 (edited) Hi Alex, another suggested re wings, I used MRP Duraluminum over a White primer base then used Alclad Dull Aluminum on the wingtops which finishes rather rough so I hit it with a very fine sponge abrasive. No clear overcoat. I like the way it finished out. Your project looking good, have fun Edited January 23, 2021 by MikeMaben Gazzas, Uncarina, Landrotten Highlander and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 23, 2021 Author Share Posted January 23, 2021 Thanks Mike - that’s another great looking Mustang! Gazzas and MikeMaben 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acarothers896 Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Alex: Really nice detailing on your VLR Mustang. What decals are you going to use for a 21st FG Mustang? Following your build with great interest. Andy Carothers www.iwojimamodels.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 23, 2021 Author Share Posted January 23, 2021 7 hours ago, acarothers896 said: Alex: Really nice detailing on your VLR Mustang. What decals are you going to use for a 21st FG Mustang? Following your build with great interest. Andy Carothers www.iwojimamodels.com Thanks Andy! The Tamiya kit is great - makes it easy to look good! In terms of the markings, I still haven't fully settled on the specific aircraft I'll do. It could end up being either a 21st or a 15th FG machine. I have the HGW wet transfers P-51D set, so I will use those for all of the stencils and other small markings. The national insignia and individual aircraft serial codes I will paint on using masks I will make with my Silhouette cutter - anything big/simple enough to paint I will paint on. Then there's the fact that all these aircraft had some sort of personal name or motto painted on them by their pilots/crews, many of which were too detailed/multicolored for me to be able to mask and paint. The Tamiya kit provides this specific nose art for Maj RW Moore of 45FS/15FG. I could just use that decal and do that plane. But the squadron markings for 45FS (simple green on top on the vertical tail and on the tips of the wings) aren't my favorite among the various Iwo Jima squadrons. I like the yellow and black schemes of the 75FS/15FG better, and the osprey VLR book illustrates a couple of those with pretty simple one-color nose art. With care I can probably stencil something like that on. That's probably my path, as it would avoid having to use any traditional waterslide decals at all. I'm not at all confident that I can get them to lay down invisibly on the NMF surface, and I would really prefer not to have to clear coat this thing when it's done. I'm much happier using normal decals on faded, camouflaged aircraft where I can apply them and then bury them under plenty of clear flat and weathering - much easier to get the right look that way. USMC Herc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 23, 2021 Author Share Posted January 23, 2021 Spent the afternoon bringing the work I've done so far together. Have I mentioned how good the engineering on this kit is? Despite all the extra stuff I've stuck on, everything pretty much fell together. The tolerances in some places are so tight that I had to scrape paint off to get things to fit fully together, but other than that no real issues at all. I should finish assembling everything fuselage by the end of this evening. Then I'll need to think hard about how much detail I want to try and add to the landing gear and the gun bays. One downside to trying to show all the detail in this engine bay, even with the removable cowling sections, is that with the exception of those big aluminum pipes for the coolant system and a few bare metal linkages, pretty much everything is black, at least if you're going to be historically accurate about it. Black engine, black wires, black rubber hoses, black battery box, etc. It would be fun some day to do one as a hot rod - dream up a modern civil air racer scheme that could have a bright red engine block, chrome valve covers, braided stainless hoses, anodized fittings, yellow Accel plug wires, etc, etc. Have to give that some thought. Dpgsbody55, Uncarina, Greg W and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawman56 Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 Just found this thread and will be following. As well as reading it thoroughly when time allows. I've been considering building one for a friend as his uncle, Lt. Robert C. Klippel was assigned to the 457th FS out of Iwo Jima and the pilot of P-51 44-72593, which is still listed as MIA from the escort mission of 1 June 1945. Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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