decisions, decisions... set! NAA P51B Trumpeter 1/32

[MikeMaben]

Nice, not far to go Paolo 

[Greif8]

Exceptional work Paolo, almost at the finish line!  I just returned from a 3 week long business trip last, so I will be returning to my build soon.

 

Ernest

[mc65]

Not far, but not so near, either!

I've been sent to Berlin to the pilot expo, so I'll be away from the bench til monday at least.

 

and also in the last session before departing, I get lost in underneath details, forgetting I'd planned to work on the guns/ammo bays, before.

This will sure delay and not simplify the last works on it.

 

all started with the drop tanks support arms: the kit's ones were so basic I decided to intervene.

the originals on the left, the altered ones on the right.

 

As often happens to me I dived into the subject until I'm satisfied with the result. Well, more or less, satisfied.

 

So, once the tanks were completed, I glued these in place, and immediately afterwards also the landing gear, while it would have been better to work on the upper part, before gluing the fragile parts underneath.

 

now I have to walk on the eggs, or forget about the gun bays, leaving those shut.

 

better open these immediately, so to not even think to not work on guns & ammo belts.

 

I hope to resume from here when at home, without distracting myself again!
 

cheers, Paolo.

Edited May 10, 2022 by mc65

[mc65]

hi all, 

during my trip I took a couple of hours to visit the Tempelhof site, finding it... well, very Teutonic.

 

It was inevitable to think of what Goering said to USAAF General Spaatz after the war: "When I saw your bombers over Berlin protected by your long-range fighters, I knew then that the Luftwaffe would be unable to stop your bombers. Our weapons plants would be destroyed; our defeat was inevitable."

especially considering that the P51B I'm making flew over Berlin!

 

well, back home I put my hand to the weapons compartment, asking myself several times why I insist with this area, which closed it would certainly have made a better impression.

 

after an evening of curses I arrived here. I'm not very satisfied, but I keep it that way.

weapons and ammunition are Gaspatch, really well made, each Browning is made up of 5 separate parts, with also some optional parts. the tracks for the belts are in the usual sheet of toothpaste tube.

 

next session port compartment, I hope.

cheers, Paolo

[MikeMaben]

Looks great to me Paolo 

[mozart]

Me too…….wonderful! 

[dennismcc]

There is some great work going on here, disaster, recovery, and there are some very fine modelling skills on display, I cannot emulate those but will save this build to help me when I finally get around to building mine.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Greif8]

Excellent progess Paolo.  The weapons bay looks fantastic, you did an outstanding job on it.  Gaspatch AM stuff is very high quality, though I have only used their items on WWI builds.

 

Ernest

[mc65]

thanks Ernest and Maru, you are too generous with this dumb old model maker!

 

well, today I have not done anything because I was ordered for "a simple ride, less than 10Km". since this discussion has taken a bit of a drift like this, I put a photo of the green part of the route:

 

I have yet to figure out if the sweet* girl who drags me into these things is trying to get me in shape or kill me...

 

anyway. in the midst of this alien landscape, and without even thinking about it, I had an epiphany, and I understood why the P51's main landing gear was struggling to stick firmly in place. in fact, it is almost a week that I have placed it, but it limps, flickers, in short, it is not firmly locked in its place, on the contrary, to titillate it, it comes off, despite the use of very powerful styrene glue as flex-i-file!

 

AND THANKS! the landing gear bay is made of resin, and when it sticks, the styrene glue, there???

I could stay there until 2024, waiting for it to stick...

 

so now** I clean everything and start again with a suitable glue and then insciallah, I finally go to the cockpit.

oh, yesterday I managed to complete also the LH ammo bay.

 

cheers, Paolo

 

 

*so to speak 

**now I'm going to rest my poor bones, we talk about it tomorrow, maybe

 

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by mc65

[dodgem37]

This is a nice build.  Great show.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[dennismcc]

That looks great, those gun bays are so neat.

As to the polystyrene glue, simple mistake to make when you use it all the time.

And it must be love for you to follow the "sweet" girl, she's probably not trying to kill you.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Dpgsbody55]

This is turning out well.  Great work so far.

 

Nice outdoor pictures too.  Nice countryside where you live.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Greif8]

I have made the same mistake using the wrong glue once or twice in the past as well Paolo.  Your build is a first rate job; I am almost ashame to post my work as it is the exact same kit.  I also enjoyed the outdoors photos.  Very beautiful scenery all around!

 

Ernest

[mc65]

thank you all!

Ernest, your model is doing great, but most of all it's benefiting from your daughter's attentions, which makes it super special regardless, in my opinion!

 

well, finally the main landing gear has found peace, and I have carried on the last things of this troubled model.

forgive the bad photos, but I'm in debt to sleep, in the next I hope to conclude and make decent ones.

one thing that didn't convince me was the red of the wheels. I got it back thanks to a friend's suggestion to use some Humbrol enamel, which luckily I had.

in this photo you can appreciate how different the red of the decal on the nose is, compared to the nose and the wheels ... patience, I don't think I want to intervene on the checkerboard.

 

another reason for disappointment, but it's only my fault, was discovering the Barracuda decals sheet dedicated to the P51 stencils only after closing the fuselage.

placing the decals later was... interesting. fortunately my childhood was marked by "the cheerful surgeon", and thanks to that I still have a fairly steady hand!

 

dragged by enthusiasm, I installed the last cockpit's internal parts and definitively positioned the canopy. even the last external parts have been fixed, such as antenna, navigation lights, etc.

 

now all it needs is some weathering and general harmonization.

and a base, of course.

I am trying also to get the Nino Pizzichemi's beautiful pilots sculptures dedicated to P51, but at the moment I have not succeeded.

 

cheers, Paolo

[LSP_Kevin]

Fantastic work, Paolo! Really impressive result.

 

Kev