Alex Posted January 24, 2021 Author Share Posted January 24, 2021 3 hours ago, lawman56 said: 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. LMK if you have any specific questions - happy to share what I learn about the kit... lawman56 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 24, 2021 Author Share Posted January 24, 2021 Cockpit plus engine bay are now essentially complete. Started work on the empennage and the various filler pieces that complete the fuselage. There are separate sections that drop in for the section in front of the vertical tail (so you can do different drillings for the different possible antenna combos) and for the section of fuselage that contains the rear LG. The latter is notionally to allow you to switch back and forth between gear down and gear up, but it's convenient in that it allows you to build and paint the rear gear completely but not install it until the fuselage is fully painted. With any other kit brand, there would be issues around these parts not fitting perfectly and just adding sanding/filling/fitting chores. With Tamiya, they just fit in perfectly and seamlessly. Anyway - here are some up to date photos of the engine etc. Uncarina, mywifehatesmodels, Fanes and 12 others 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denders Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 That is really looking nice! Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 28, 2021 Author Share Posted January 28, 2021 I've taken a little detour to build a propliner (taking a break from detailing before I tackle the landing gear and gun bays on the Mustang). But here's a bit of progress: Horizontal stabilizers are painted with Alclad Aluminum and Alclad Duraluminum (over Mr Color Gloss Black) to lend a little bit of color variation. Rudder (aluminum-doped fabric) painted with Alclad Semi-Matte Aluminum over gray Mr Surfacer 1200: I believe the trim tab is actually skinned with metal so I'll probably need to give that a quick polish and spray it with Duraluminum.... MikeMaben, Greg W, Landrotten Highlander and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 1, 2021 Author Share Posted February 1, 2021 I've got some detailing mojo back after my 1:144 propliner detour. Did this today; the photos Mark posted of his build were hugely helpful in sorting out where everything went. I'm taking a break for a day or two before tackling the other side... Fanes, MikeMaben, Hartmann52 and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzas Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 NOw that, is wonderful! Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 3, 2021 Author Share Posted February 3, 2021 Found time this evening to complete the plumbing detail on the wheel bays. I decided to start the paint sequence with all black, so this is Mr Surfacer 1500 Black in the wheel bays and Mr Color Gloss Black on the doors (hard to see the difference between blacks in the photo). And with Alclad Duraluminum on the doors, MRP Chromate Primer in the wheel bays. I really like the 3D "shading" effect that happens with the black undercoat. Views from the sides. There's a bit of detail and touch-up painting to do, but I'm pretty happy with where this landed. On the the gun bays soon. I did this painting in my re-vamped spray booth (which is still a totally half-arsed lash up of two small Micro Mark spray booths, but now at least it is a *well-lit* lash-up). I got this very reasonably priced LED tape under-cabinet lighting kit on Amazon. Super-bright and takes up zero space inside the booth. I'm very pleased with the upgrade. denders, Out2gtcha, BradG and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dpgsbody55 Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 Nice detail in the wheel well. Cheers, Michael Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 5, 2021 Author Share Posted February 5, 2021 I got these fancy Master Models brass gun barrels for the P-51D. The way the guns are set up on the Mustang, even with the open gun bays you won't really see a lot of them, just the last bit right by the gun breach and the end of the muzzle. But I had never used such before, so this was a good opportunity to practice swapping them in without them being the focal point of anything. They were intended for a Zoukei-Mura P51-D kit, so require a bit of modifying for the Tamiya Mustang. The Tamiya plastic gives you partial length gun barrels that stop inside the wing where you can't see them, then the muzzle openings are molded into a little piece of the wing leading edge that gets glued in separately (the wings are a lot of small pieces mostly in service of the unnecessary (IMO) foldable landing gear feature). So I have carefully drilled out that separate piece of leading edge to allow the muzzles to just slip through. I've painted up the basic colors on the various parts, and next up is the task of painting the brass casings and copper bullet cladding on every round of 50 caliber in the belt feed trays. Will have to take that in stages, I think. Anyway, here are the MGs with brass barrels installed. I added a basic take on some wiring that passes through the gun bays, and I've drilled the gun bodies so I can add in the solenoid wires once they are painted. But I think that's about all the extra detailing I'm going to try and add. dodgem37 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncarina Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 I’ve been really enjoying following along as your excellent build progresses Alex. I’m learning a lot here! Cheers, Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 5, 2021 Author Share Posted February 5, 2021 1 hour ago, Uncarina said: I’ve been really enjoying following along as your excellent build progresses Alex. I’m learning a lot here! Cheers, Tom Thanks! I’m glad it is helpful. I’m learning as I go too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 Good show, Alex. Lots of really cool well executed stuff. It all looks so painfully familiar. Keep up the good work. Sincerely, Mark Gazzas, BradG, Alex and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 6, 2021 Author Share Posted February 6, 2021 16 hours ago, dodgem37 said: Good show, Alex. Lots of really cool well executed stuff. Keep up the good work. Sincerely, Mark Thanks Mark! It's very helpful to have your build saga to refer back to when I have questions or need inspiration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 6, 2021 Author Share Posted February 6, 2021 (edited) So knock on wood stuff keeps on fitting together with that perfect Tamiya precision. I live in fear of getting anything positioned even a bit wrong since there's no wiggle room anywhere - if you get something misplaced it will cascade into other things not fitting down the line. But so far so good. I got the MGs painted and installed in the upper wing halves, and little notches cut appropriately to allow the full-length gun barrels to extend where they will ultimately just peek past the leading edge of the wing. Before I glue the wings up I'm going to mask around those bays and hit them with a coat of clear flat before applying a bit of pastel powder weathering. Things look a bit too shiny and new right now, but some subtle weathering will hopefully fix that. Landing gear bays are glued in to the lower wing section, another perfect fit. It's a bit inconvenient to have to deal with those landing gear covers sticking out there from this point onward, but they are molded integral to the inner walls of the gear bays, so if you're going to do any detailing of the bays, they have to get glued in before you start. At least, being a single continuous molding, they're extremely strong, so (knock on wood again) much less chance of breaking them off versus a glued-on part. I have learned not to start critical steps late in the evening. So I'm going to glue the wings together tomorrow morning when I'm rested and well-caffeinated. Trying to resolve not to rush this, but I'm eager to make progress because there's a backlog (as always) of other models I want to build. Edited February 6, 2021 by Alex Landrotten Highlander, BradG, LSP_Kevin and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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