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RAF Mustang IV


Butler

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Hello

 

I've decided to do a quick build of the Dragon Mustang kit. I've treated myself to a few resin bits to speed the job up and get another one in my half empty display cabinet, but the resin bits are not designed for this kit (just to add a little challange!).

 

I bought a resin interior designed for the Hasegawa kit (can't remember by who), but actually this fit in with very little trimming at all. So far i've just stuck in the sidewalls and instrument panel - i'll add anything bigger that will fit through the opening at a later date. I prefer to do it this way to make masking easier when i do the exterior finish.

 

Nothing interesting with the interior so i'll just do a photo at the end. You might notice i've attached the wing-tops to the fuselage first before attaching the bottom, this is to minimise any gap filling on the wing root (I'd rather sand a convex surface given a choice) :)

 

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Here's the resin wheel-well, replacing the quite detailed but wrongly shaped one with the Dragon kit. I'm not quite sure why they modelled it this way because the larger version easily fits in the space. This resin part is made by Aires and is excellent, but I can't remember which kit it's for. It fit fine with a little filing down either end :)

 

 

post-4669-1247003306.jpg

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The kit windscreen is an absolute terrible fit for me and i'm not sure there's any way to put the kit together with it working OK :angry: It fits the fuselage on the starboard side but not the port side, and anyway there's a good 2mm gap to make up, plus the front is too deep to meet the fuselage.

 

To fix this I sheathed the clear part in Tamiya tape and dry fit it in shape. I then filled all the gaps with CA gell, building up extra height where needed. I then blasted this with some accelerator. Once dry, I removed the clear part which did not stick because of the masking tape surface. I then sanded this back to make a reasonable 'socket' for the clear part. :) (The clear part looks like it has some grey paint on it, actually that's on the instrument cowling behind).

 

You might notice that the wing panel lines look grey - I gave the wings a good thick coat of Mr Surfacer then sanded it right back. The idea is to reduce the impact of the lines and rivets but have them still visible. I know this is not acurate but I think a completely smooth wing will just make the kit look 'cheap' :(

 

 

post-4669-1247003510.jpg

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You seem to be churning out models like a machine at the moment.

 

Kev

 

Not really, just finished off a couple that i've started and not finished, having got bored half way through! Hopefully this one will be nice an quick as an antidote :unsure:

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I fancy trying a NMF so i'm going for 'Dooleybird' with the red lettering and blue/drab cowl. I've picked up a set of decals with this scheme thankfully :lol:

 

Ha, I had 'Dooleybird' in mind when you mentioned an RAF machine. I still remember the old Matchbox 1/72 kit that came with those markings. It was the first kit I ever tried to add detail to as a kid. I attempted to open up the gun access panels in the wings, but the plastic was so thick that I ruined the first wing, and I'm pretty sure that was the end of that model!

 

Looking forward to your build mate.

 

Kev

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I fancy trying a NMF so i'm going for 'Dooleybird' with the red lettering and blue/drab cowl. I've picked up a set of decals with this scheme thankfully :lol:

 

Beware mate, the old Matchbox colour scheme appears to have been a little inaccurate. The new 1/24 Airfix Mustang with 'Dooleybird' marking is more correct; blue/white striped spinner, blue/white check around the front of the nose and an olive drab anti glare panel with yellow demarcation and yellow canopy frame.

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Have a quick search on here for my BritStang.

I think I still have a set of decals if you need any?

 

That looks cool! I hope i can get mine that shiney :ph34r: I've managed to get some Dooleybird decals made by a Dutch company called Kits at War, cheers for the offer though.

 

I've only seen one photo of the plane and (to my eyes anyway) the cowl stripe looks any colour other than yellow! From some internet research there seems to be two camps on colours and the only way to go is choose a colour scheme I prefer, i.e. the blue!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I picked up some Alclad at a model show which I tested out on a spare wing first, before trying on the real thing. Here it is covered with Tamiya gloss black as per the instructions. Not the best colour to take a photo of, apologies :blink:

 

post-4669-1247948934.jpg

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The metallic finish on my test scrap-wing came out as what I can only describe as flawless-perfection, a perfectly smooth mirror surface that looks amazing but not really very realistic for a plane finish :o . Thankfully my preparation on the model was shoddy enough to leave a patchy finish that actually looks better in my opinion, albeit purely from luck and lack of talent :blink:

 

post-4669-1247949110.jpg

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After a splash of Johnsons Klear i've added some of the decals. I'm hoping to acquire some dry transfer stencils to replace the smaller markings, avoiding the carrier film from showing up on the silver surface. The layer of Klear has made absolutely no difference to the sheen or finish of the Alclad, i'm really pleased as it makes handling a doddle :blink:

 

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