1/18 Scale P-51B 3D Print Build

[cmayer]

Oh, my. That's magnificent, Jay! Congratulations on the first set of victories!

 

And, I think you're onto something: displaying that nose section in your shop (maybe on a protective stand in a plexiglass case), while you work on the rest of the build, will inspire confidence while also providing visual satisfaction in and of itself...

Cheers,

Chris

Edited November 22, 2023 by cmayer

[Oldbaldguy]

Interesting.  The blue on the original cowl piece looks like it is trying to do the same thing the blue on your Corsair wings did - thin out and show the chromate underneath. 

[JayW]

On 11/22/2023 at 2:28 PM, Oldbaldguy said:

Interesting.  The blue on the original cowl piece looks like it is trying to do the same thing the blue on your Corsair wings did - thin out and show the chromate underneath. 

 

I wonder if there was any kind of serious surface treatment done to aircraft in the field receiving paint jobs.   This particular aircraft would have been delivered bare aluminum and an OD anti-glare panel on top of the engine cowls.  What would they have done with that?  Varnish off the OD, or leave it?  Prime underneath the blue?  Or not?

[easixpedro]

11 minutes ago, JayW said:

 

I wonder if there was any kind of serious surface treatment done to aircraft in the field receiving paint jobs.   This particular aircraft would have been delivered bare aluminum and an OD anti-glare panel on top of the engine cowls.  What would they have done with that?  Varnish off the OD, or leave it?  Prime underneath the blue?  Or not?

In wartime, it was lucky if it got a wipe down with AvGas prior to a straight application of the blue. They weren’t thinking that far ahead and would be happy if it came back from the next mission…

[MikeMaben]

Yep, just wipe it down and paint it. Just an FYI, here's an French article regarding the different blues used.

It's four parts so look for the links toward the bottom. It should give you a translation option too.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by MikeMaben

[JayW]

3 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

Just an FYI, here's an French article regarding the different blues used.

 

That was fascinating.  I now wonder if my Cripes A Mighty had light blue or medium blue.  My color is a medium blue.....  

[JayW]

Back from the long Thanksgiving weekend.  The last thing I'll do to the nose of Cripes A Mighty is some weathering, and install the exhaust stacks.  A few pictures:

 

 

 

 

Dirtied it up with Tamiya Weatherine pastes, painted the fasteners a darker silver, applied a flat coat to the blue.  That is about how it's going to look, except oil streaks coming out of the large drain holes (that we almost always see).  I will do that much later.

 

For the exhaust stacks, I just painted them with Model Master burnt iron, which was a tad dark and a tad metallic speckly.  But a heavy dose of Weatherine "sand" and "light sand" followed by flat coat gave them a more convincing look.  Also the aft five stacks have some light gray soot - exhaust stains from the stack in front of each.  We invariably see that.  I am rather proud of those stacks - they are just like the real thing.  I will probably augment some of this weathering over time, but it's just about there I think.  

 

Well this is a complete unit that will attach to the rest of the aircraft at some point.  Now I have to get to work on the rest of the aircraft.  And to do that I have to finish a bunch more surfacing in Rhino.    And interspersed with holiday activities.  Interesting stuff ahead - stay tuned.  

[chuck540z3]

Good Gawd Jake, that's beautiful!

 

Cheers,

Chuck

[Jim Barry]

True scale modeling here. Incredible 

[MikeMaben]

19 hours ago, JayW said:

 

That was fascinating.  I now wonder if my Cripes A Mighty had light blue or medium blue.  My color is a medium blue.....  

Judging by the very few b/w images of it, I'd say your medium blue is closest. I happens to look great btw.

 

Found this pic in my mustang folder. It's on the back of one of the books on Preddy. Apparently it's

Preddy's B but not him on the wing (obviously).

 

hth

Edited November 28, 2023 by MikeMaben

[GMK]

Oh, that’s very easy on the eye! Lovely work. 

[airscale]

Just extraordinary Jay

 

You have just set the reset the bar in a big way!

 

I don't know how you do it in finshed subsections like this, I would have an absolute nightmare trying to mate them as I think my methods are a lot more hack & slash so I need to be able to bash stuff about until it fits & it would make the assembly a thousand times harder

 

stunning build thats for sure

 

Peter

[Trak-Tor]

That's awesome!

[JayW]

6 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

Judging by the very few b/w images of it, I'd say your medium blue is closest. I happens to look great btw.

 

Found this pic in my mustang folder. It's on the back of one of the books on Preddy. Apparently it's

Preddy's B but not him on the wing (obviously).

 

 

Yeah Mike - I have sort of come to the same conclusion.  I am happy enough with the blue I concocted. 

BTW - as can be seen here, that aircraft became the personal mount of a guy named Carl Tafel after Preddy got his D-5.  The tail letters changed from HO-P to HO-R, but the "Cripes A Mighty" nose art remained.  The time between Preddy giving this aircraft up for his -D model to the time it was lost can be measured in a few weeks.  Amazing the loss rate in these fighter groups....  

 

5 hours ago, airscale said:

I don't know how you do it in finshed subsections like this, I would have an absolute nightmare trying to mate them

 

I KNEW you would say that Peter!  It remains to be seen if this was a good idea or not.  Part of it is just impatience - I couldn't wait to see what it would look like.  But then I also do not like heavy duty building (like skinning compound contour) on a big unwieldy model.  The size of this section was perfect for such work and at times I felt thankful that the part was separate (like the wing fillet fairing nightmare).  I did this on the Corsair, as you will remember - you had the same concern there.   It had advantages, and also disadvantages.  Paint match for one thing.  In this case, my split is along a major manufacturing splice (the firewall).  I have some confidence I can match up the skin panels upon installation.  And I have a wee bit of oversize on the aft edge to help with that.        

[JayW]

6 hours ago, airscale said:

You have just set the reset the bar in a big way!

 

Uh - no.  We all know who set the bar on the P-51 and I don't know how that bar could be reset.  That is yourself with Lope's Hope.  All I can do is to try to clear it, or come in second.  I'll be doing my damnedest though.....all the while employing techniques that you taught to me BTW.  

Edited November 28, 2023 by JayW