Greif8 Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 Hi guys, I am in with a Trumpeter P-51b - it being the only USAAF kit that I could get on short notice. I know the kit is not one of Trumpeter's better efforts; however, I plan to just build the kit as is - with the exception of using an Aires cockpit set that I managed to get for the equivilent of $10.52 - so it would be ashame not to use it. It should arrive at my home today, so I can get cracking on it this weekend. Hopefully, it is one of the Aires sets that fits well without having to do a lot of plastic surgery! I have also ordered a set of A/M decals, as the ones in the kit are not 8th AF subjects. Other than the above I plan to build the kit oob with no modifications. With luck, I will be able to finish the kit in time to build a Luftwaffe subject as a bookend for the P-51b. The obligatory shot of the kit just after the box has been opened. And the engine after assembly. I don't know enough about this engine to say if it is accurate, but I think Trumpeter did a solid job here, and it (IMHO) is a nice base for superdetailling. I plan to close everything up, so will paint it black and leave it as is. Landrotten Highlander, Hartmann352, Dragon and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARU5137 Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 Ooh Another Mustang.. I'm in heavenly place. That engine is quite nicely detailed. Following with much enthusiasm! Greif8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 have fun Ernie MARU5137 and Greif8 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greif8 Posted March 19 Author Share Posted March 19 3 minutes ago, MARU5137 said: Ooh Another Mustang.. I'm in heavenly place. That engine is quite nicely detailed. Following with much enthusiasm! Thank you Maru! Ernest MARU5137 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greif8 Posted March 19 Author Share Posted March 19 2 minutes ago, MikeMaben said: have fun Ernie Thank you Mike, I hope the kit fits fairly well. If the engine is any indication it should be ok. Ernest MARU5137 and MikeMaben 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARU5137 Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 (edited) North American P-51 Mustang Modeler's Online Reference https://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/p-51/p-51_all.shtml information galore ! even has a piece on Trumpeter P-51B. Edited March 19 by MARU5137 Greif8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 Nice choice, Ernest! I have one of these in the stash, too. Perhaps I'll go on a Mustang kick and build it next! Kev MARU5137 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greif8 Posted March 22 Author Share Posted March 22 Made some progress over the past few days, finishing the engine - which is no big deal as I just assembled it and painted it black. I am not going to open anything on this build so I did not put a ton of work into the engine. I also completed the Aries cockpit, and did some very minor scratchbuilding. I added a couple of gauges and gauge bezels from Airscale, as well as some placards - also from Airscale. I scratched an O2 hose using a piece of ANYZ braided hose and one of his small electrical connectors. I also used some pieces from the spares box to fashion the throttle handle and the two smaller handles (knobs?) on the thorottle quadrant. I did not like Aires solution, and the kit parts are grossly oversized, so I made them. I used a bit of Gator Glue to give the two little knobs a spherical shape. Though not scratchbuilt, the seatbelts are some left over HGW belts. I have never really liked PE seatbelts, because the paint always flakes off when I bend them to shape. Overall I think the pit gets the job done, though it is not perfect by a long stretch. Ernest Completed engine - I forgot to take a picture of it after I painted it black. The Airscale bezels look pretty good. I also added the switches from .2mm wire on the left as several of the resin one were broken off. I painted the seat Bronze Green as I read that several of the B and C Model Mustangs had seats that color. I mixed my own Dull Dark Green and sprayed the rest of the cockpit that color, after I had first primed everything black. I lsprayed the center of the floor Dull Aluminium and left the outer (wooden) parts black. I also did not do real heavy weathering. Unfortunately, the lighting at my bench is direct and rather harsh, so the photos all look a bit washed out. I thought the seatbelts were a bit too bright, so I toned them down with a light brown wash. The lighting makes the IP look too greyish. Under normal light it looks much better; but I could not get a decent photo without strong lighting at the bench. The throttle quadrant turned out much better than I thought it would. A macro image (and the warts really show up! Good thing the cockpit will be viewed from a normal range from here on out!) You can see the braid on the O2 hose I made - too bad that does not show up at normal viewing range. The macro also gives a good view of two of the guages I put in. Ernest mc65, Fanes, Alain Gadbois and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 Nice work, Ernest! I certainly know the horrors that macro photography reveals, but your cockpit work looks great even at extreme magnification. Kev MARU5137 and Greif8 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mc65 Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Hi Ernest, really a good job on the cockpit! in a dry fit of the parts I have (wich I assume are the very same as yours) it seems that the fuselage is too wide compared with the assembled Aires cockpit module. I elaborated a solution for that, but present time is just theory: assemble the fuselage with engine, tailwheel and whatsoever it requires within, but leave out the pit module. once the fuselage has cured, insert the assembled Aires module and glue it with bicomponent glue forcing the fuselage walls in position by clamps, helping if required with chains* from the inside. * I mean in the build-engeenering sense of terms. hope it will be of some help! cheers, Paolo MARU5137 and Greif8 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greif8 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 On 3/22/2022 at 11:44 PM, LSP_Kevin said: Nice work, Ernest! I certainly know the horrors that macro photography reveals, but your cockpit work looks great even at extreme magnification. Kev Thank you Kev! The Aires resin itself was very slightly rough; not enough to show up at normal viewing range, but certainly under a macro lens. All and all though, I think the Aires pit is well worth the cost. Ernest LSP_Kevin and MARU5137 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greif8 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 (edited) 18 hours ago, mc65 said: Hi Ernest, really a good job on the cockpit! in a dry fit of the parts I have (wich I assume are the very same as yours) it seems that the fuselage is too wide compared with the assembled Aires cockpit module. I elaborated a solution for that, but present time is just theory: assemble the fuselage with engine, tailwheel and whatsoever it requires within, but leave out the pit module. once the fuselage has cured, insert the assembled Aires module and glue it with bicomponent glue forcing the fuselage walls in position by clamps, helping if required with chains* from the inside. * I mean in the build-engeenering sense of terms. hope it will be of some help! cheers, Paolo Thank you Paolo! I found that my Aires cockpit was only very slightly too narrow when I test fit it. I think that the cockpit wall on the left side of the fuselage in my kit will fit with only a tiny gap at the bottom that is really hard to see. I plan to clamp that closed and call it good. Keeping my fingers crossed that my plan works out. Your plan to insert the cockpit tub after joining the fuselage halves is a good one, and I could have gone that route as well. Hope you a still enjoying your build. I know some of the manufacturing errors are a bit trying vis-a-vis accuracy, but I decided I am just going to enjoy this build for the model building aspect and not get too wrapped up in accuracy, super-detailing, etc. Its working out for me so far! Ernest Edited March 24 by Greif8 MARU5137, Ayovan and mc65 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Eagle Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Nice work on the cockpit. MARU5137 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greif8 Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 On 3/27/2022 at 3:18 PM, Steve Eagle said: Nice work on the cockpit. Thank you Steve! MARU5137 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greif8 Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 (edited) I made a fair amount of progress on the build this past weekend and this evening. Following are some photos showing where the aircraft stands right now. I did not think to take any pictures before a assembled the fuselage halves, stupid I know, so I can only show a few shots of the cockpit. It was a bit fiddly to get everything lined up, but the cockpit fit very well, and I was able to close up the fuselage halves without having to do any surgery - always a good omen. The join between the left side wall and the bottom of the cockpit was excellent with no gaps. The floor is a bit too clean and new looking; I'll have to weather it a bit. Pretty ugly join here! When I looked at it I thought several things. First, "How am I going to make this hot mess look decent?" Second, "Why the hell did you waste time and resources painting the wheel wells before assembling the wing halves - idiot!" And finally, "Maybe I should have purchased an A/M wheel well set." The forward join is nothing to write home about either! After some thought, I got some Evergreen .25mm sheet, sanded it to about half that thickness and started measuring and cutting. I think this will do the job and should look ok after priming and painting - I hope! I will make sure to take photos as this takes shape. A slightly closer shot. I am not sure if this solution will work on the front section of the wheel well due to the curvature and the lightning holes, but I suppose I will give it try. Ernest Edited March 28 by Greif8 Spelling mc65, rafju, Landrotten Highlander and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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