ShangriLa Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Okay So It's been about 10 years since I dabbled with a model and I'm just now getting to a point where I can start the hobby back up again. I rummaged through my small stash of models and tried to find a somewhat easy project to work on to get myself started. Well, I chose the Revell P-51B/ Mustang III model. I was and still am, currently, excited about this build. I thought to myself, I'll just scratch build a little bit. Chyeah, right...no such thing. Once you get started, it just get more and more labor intensive and before you know it your scratching yourself on the head saying to yourself "What in the HELL did I get myself into?!". As I went onto reviewing the model pieces itself, I thought to myself "this is going to be a bigger project than I originally thought". The parts that come with this kit are horrendous! The only thing that I like about this model and that is relatively close to he correct shape is the airfoil of the wing. All the "details" in this kit are trash. Now, let me pause for a second and apologize in advance if I offend anyone who loves this kit or does Only OOB. I can't for the life of me do a OOB because I find myself too much of a perfectionist. This kit has many flaws to it which I'm okay with because this thing runs about $20 on ebay, if that. You can get a newer tool at Hobby Lobby for about $18 and some change with the coupon. And it was given to me by a kind soul, Thank you Mike! As I was examining it further I took both the Revell B model and the Tammy D model and compared the two against the Top Drawings 1/32 drawings. I noticed that the shape of the vertical, horizontal stab, fuse and wings were all out of line. They didn't match on the Revell model, BUT they were a near perfect match for the Tammy model. Which Tamiya has out done themselves with this model. Great fit and great detail for an OOB. There were a few minor things that the Tamiya stang had incorrect. The shape of the housing that holds the radiator and oil cooler for one. It's just a tad on the skimpy side. Nothing a little styrene and milliput can't fix I hope. It actually isn't that noticeable unless you lay it over the drawing itself. Which I might just leave alone. So as I was looking at both models very closely, I thought to myself (which I probably should have been wearing my helmet when I do these things) why don't I convert the Tamiya D model into the B model? Now I know some of you are thinking right now " You can't just cut the Revell top half and place it on the bottom half of the Tammy model". And you are right for thinking so. It involves much more than that. For one, the Revell model is too wide, which makes it less complicated later (more on this in a bit). Secondly, the wing chord at the wing root is different. The D model was extended out towards the fuselage towards the engine cowlings. The panel lines, access panels, shape of the windshield are all different. But these are just all the little things that are different. Not to mention the the D has 6 guns versus the B's 4 guns. The wheel wells are a slight different but not by much. I may be wrong about this but for the most part it looks to be ALMOST the same. So onto the plan! I got to thinking, AGAIN, and I wanted to do something I've never done with a kit before. I want to copy the big parts of the Tamiya model i.e the wings, control surfaces, fuselage, cowlings, engine etc. and make molds for a couple of reasons. My plan is to replicate the Tamyia kit (not the whole thing, just the big things) so that I can have a casted copy of all the big parts so that I can also build the tammy model at a later time without destroying it. I also "plan" on, not sure how this will work out, making a full resin kit after I get the B model how I like it so that I can make multiple OOB builds at the cost of just resin and silicone when needed. I am also planning on 3D printing the entire Cockpit, wheel well, gun/ ammo bays and a few engine accessories to upgrade the stock engine. Which is very nice but is inaccurate in many ways if you look at pictures of a real V-1650-3 & -7. There is a huge learning curve to this whole project as I have only messed with resin casting a few times when I was building my own soft plastic lures for fishing. Which btw is another expensive hobby my wife loves me doing (rolls eyes). As I have it right now I am currently making a mold using the tamiya's fuselage in the half form. Each side is a separate mold along with each wing half a separate mold. I will eventually put all the castings together and start shaping the new wing and razorback. I'm only in the beginning stages of the process so no cool pictures yet. Stay tuned for more updates as I progress on this very long pain staking but fun project. Wish me luck. Until the next post here's my groovy dancing moves... Cao, BG MikeMaben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 this will be interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCRATCH BUILDER Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 this will be interesting Very... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee White Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Paul Budzik did something similar a few years back, here is a link to his build- http://paulbudzik.com/models/p51.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 Yeah that's a pretty big bite !! Until the next post here's my groovy dancing moves... ...that's not really yooouuu ...is it ?? Troy Molitor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShangriLa Posted February 8, 2018 Author Share Posted February 8, 2018 Mike, Unfortunately, Alfonso has way better dance moves than I have. Lee, I have actually seen this article while I was doing some research last month. He did a great job on converting the D model into a B/C. I have a lot of wants for this project but I keep telling myself, one thing at a time. So currently I am working on the razorback and making the silicone molds for the fuselage halves and then fusing the 3 parts together. I am thinking the wings and engine area will be an entire project by themselves. There is a ton of detail and corrections that need to be made for the conversion and so little time I have to put into this model. So, Hopefully by time I'm done with getting the rough outline of the razorback of the B/C I will have my other computer up and running again and I can start on my 3D renderings of the cockpit. I'll post some pictures soon.... BG MikeMaben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 What drawings will you be using BG ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShangriLa Posted February 9, 2018 Author Share Posted February 9, 2018 The Top Drawings 1/32 drawing is the one I'm going off of. I've been told it's the most accurate representation of both B/C/D models. MikeMaben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 Ah , I have those too , they do look nice. Have fun . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigant Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 I dunno, but this sounds all too familiar... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShangriLa Posted February 9, 2018 Author Share Posted February 9, 2018 So here's what I have so far. It's not much but like I said this will be a slow build as I am married (honey do list is never ending ) and I have a 3 year old and a demanding job. I've built the mold box and added some foam board to create a high work area so that when I pour the other side of the mold I will have space and won't need to add more legos. The white stuff is Sculpy II oven bake clay. Great stuff for certain applications. I've learned a few things while I was adding the clay to the model. 1. cover what details on the outside you don't want smudged. 2. windex and alcohol do not clean the clay up well. 3. DO NOT apply a ton of clay, esp old clay, to the inside of your model. 4. Apply a few coats of mold release so that the clean up is less messy and time consuming. So now I have learn a few lesson's from my mistakes here are the pictures.... Shawn M 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShangriLa Posted February 9, 2018 Author Share Posted February 9, 2018 I've tried to find his model on the internet and can't seem to find a website that sells his resin kit. I've googled him too and can't seem to find a website for him. I'm sure I'm not looking hard enough but I also read somewhere that he actually stopped producing the Mustang. Not sure if that was true or not. So this is one reason why I've started this project. MikeMaben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 Jerry has completely retired from the aftermarket industry, and you can only get his sets on the second-hand market now. Your chances of finding one of his Mustang kits are very slim indeed (I've never even seen one). Kev MikeMaben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShangriLa Posted February 10, 2018 Author Share Posted February 10, 2018 Well there you have it. Retirement. Thanks Kev for helping us solve the mystery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 HE HE... I have one.....Harv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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