Jump to content

Not another Mustang!


Recommended Posts

Hi Guys,

 

Well, I took the plunge and threw the fuselage halves together and bound them up with Tamiya tape to hold it all together.  Should be a nice day tomorrow, sanding the seams smooth and reengraving panel lines and rivets.  I finished up today by airbrushing  MMP Black on the propeller blades and tomorrow they will be masked for the yellow tips.  Trumpeter carved a nice separation line for the tips and really I should have filled and smoothed them but hey ho, it'll have to do.  Once again, another point that should have been researched by Trumpeter but wasn't.

 

Maybe one day the guys at Tamiya will have a look at a P-51B/C and do the full treatment, or perhaps Radu can have a talk with Revell?

 

Regards,

 

Bruce Crosby

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Guys,

 

A day of disaster and recovery!

 

I realised I couldn't find two pieces: the chin intake and the port rear window.  The Trumpeter kit has a spare fuselage sprue in clear plastic so I thought I'd rob the chin from there.  As I went to cement it in place I noticed the grey plastic part on the work table, so on it went.  The port rear window had me searching thru the kit box, my work area and the plastic Chinese Take Away box I put my kit parts in after they are cleaned up.  Eventually I found it upstairs at my spray booth, under a pile of used 30ml mixing cups.

 

41599853094_70ee51fa20_c.jpgUntitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr

 

Put in the plasticard mounting for the prop:

 

41420817455_4cd4b531be_c.jpgUntitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr

 

Aligning the spinner while the prop mount was setting.  Also look carefully and you can see the etched brass perforated vents which were a complete PITA to fit, what's more, for no obvious reason.  Trumpeter seem to do things because they can, not because they are either needed or bring any practical value. Huge lumps of complete lunacy in the design and research.

 

27453037367_f9e684aaef_c.jpgUntitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr

 

And while I was fiddling with the prop and redoing rivets and cleaning up panel lines, the seat and joystick both fell out and needed to be heaved back into position:

 

27431182787_9b5048c68b_c.jpgUntitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr

 

But the plan is now back on track!  I've sanded down the fuselage with a series of sanding sticks and ScotchBrite pads.  This had effectively reduced the size of the rivets and panel lines.  They are moulded as shallow V or U profiles and sanding the surface lightly reduces them to v or u.

 

Hope you like the progress so far.  The next few days will see the wings and tailplanes go on, the gunsight and the windscreen, some filler and with luck and a fair wind, some paint.  And about time too!

 

And a note to Trumpeter (assuming you're reading this, guys) I'm retired and available for consultancy work and I'm cheaper than Jennings or Radu!

 

Regards,

 

Bruce Crosby

Edited by Bruce_Crosby
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice work so far. I usually enjoy reading work in progress reports. That is until the kit (usually by Trumpeter) gets some bashing. Don't know why that is, must be a psychological thing that needs to be done to certain manufactures. 

At that point I leave the thread alone.

Cees

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Cees,

 

I bashed this kit from the very start of the thread so I'm amazed you got this far.

 

Hope I haven't put you off wth my criticisms of Trumpeter but some of the design just makes me wonder. This is speaking as an ex-RAF aircraft technician and a long term model maker and scratch builder. In fact some of my commercial model armour builds (for Cromwell Models) have been copied by Trumpeter, complete with mistakes. Still no cheque!

 

If a kit was perfect, we wouldn't have this forum. You would open the box, assemble the parts, paint and decals, job done. No need to see anything else. But kits aren't perfect, so that's where all us avid modellers come in and try to do better. Hence we get John B sticking Revell wings onto a Tamiya Mustang (I would have filled the kit wings, same as this) or you taking a big saw to the HK Lanc prototype to make into a Manchester. Now that was EPIC!

 

This is one of those love/hate models. As a kit out of the box, I hate it! BUT as a modeller, I love it! It's given me hours of challenges, head scratching and frustration, hours of meeting the challenge, brain storming and successful outcomes.

 

To me, a kit like this is what the hobby is about. It's the challenge, the fixes, the rebuilding and the work that matters. I enjoy the journey I suppose.

 

And this model is the only game in town if you want a B/C Mustang.

 

Today's task is to sort out the trim tab actuator rods. Trumpeter provide fold up flat etch rods and brackets and I'm contemplating using either micro brass rod or micro plastic rod.

 

And the wings will be on permanently this morning. First off, pills, coffee and a trip to the post office to pick up a parcel. I hope it's the Barracuda resin wheels and tyres!

 

Regards,

 

Bruce Crosby

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally Bruce I think you've done a wonderful job with this thread. I have a LOT of Trumpy kits in my stash, some A-team gems, some on the other end of the spectrum. I don't really see any of this as Trumpeter bashing per se, but taking an obviously sub-bar model to task, and being honest about the results.   This kit is one of those deemed "unbuildable" by some, but that is obviously not the case! I think kits like this just take what you have shown here; tenacity and patience! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sometimes it's nothing to do with bashing the manufacturer. In this case it's warranted, and I agree with Bruce, the kit is not a good one. So many things wrong out of the box, but with perseverance and skill you can produce a nice-looking model. The Trumpeter P-51B is oddly engineered, and has a lot of mistakes that just don't represent the actual aircraft. Wrong airfoil, imaginary cockpit details including a bulkhead that didn't exist, fuselage shape problems (among them square profile at the bottom of the tail), rear quarter-light windows behind the canopy that are the wrong shape and size, Malcolm hood that is not bulged like it should be, anemic nose and exhaust at wrong angle, and the kit is covered with smallpox. Some of them can be corrected, some can't. Trumpeter missed on this one.

 

That being said, the corrections that Bruce is making are improving it to a huge degree! You are doing a fabulous job.

 

I like Trumpeter, they have produced kits of aircraft that no one else has. I have a number of Trumpeter kits, and I'm happy with most of them. But this one was a disappointment.

 

Sorry, back to you Bruce and a fascinating and brave build!

 

Richard

Edited by R Palimaka
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Guys,

 

News from the coal face. Things are happening! Sort of!

 

Yesterday's plan didn't come to fruition, didn't get any modelling done. I went out with my Lady and we spent the afternoon and evening in the pub! Yes, it has to be done sometimes.

 

Today I looked at the wings again and rethought my approach. I had used Mr Surfacer to fill the rivet holes then described the panel lines and then primed with Stynylrez. Going back to the Revell D, that kit has the wings just about perfect in my book (not withstanding the open warfare here on LSP) so how do I get the Trumpeter wings to the same state?

 

I decided to run raw Stynylrez into the panel lines to lift the base of each groove up slightly. Not a quick job, I've been at it now for hours! I'm brushing the Stynylrez along each panel line to whet it, then brush across the line to get the brush edge to fill. Wait 10 minutes and repeat ad infinitum. In an hour or so the layers should be dried hard and then I will fine sand the surfaces again to level them. With luck this will improve the look of the whole wing.

 

Plus in between the bouts of painting the primer I've been adding rivet detail to the fuselage, taken off the QuickBoost exhausts so I can reposition them and lots of other little changes. I wanted the wings on by last Monday and I'm still messing around with them. And I've got to cut the gun camera port into the wing. Lots of detail changes like adding panel lines to the wing root fillet which is actually in three sections not one, filling the erroneous hand hold panel on the Starboard fuselage half, little things like that.

 

So I might have the wings on today, might not. Will the sky fall down, will the world stop turning? Get a grip! It's a MODEL!

 

Regards,

 

Bruce Crosby

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 , didn't get any modelling done. I went out with my Lady and we spent the afternoon and evening in the pub!

 

                                   Whaaat ??

 

                       8cTSSzZ.jpg

 

Rather than stay home and work on a Trumpeter Mustang ??

 

Well !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Guys,

 

Well, it's sunday afternoon and the wings aren't on yet! BUT I have got some primer back on them after lots of sanding. The panel lines didn't reduce as much as I thought they had, however that's all the attention they're going to get!

 

I repositioned the QuickBoost exhausts slight further out from the fuselage. QuickBoost have put a taper on the stainless cover but I think they have put the taper the wrong way. If you put the back of it flush with the rear of the exhaust slot, the rear exhausts stick out way too far and the front exhausts are tucked away. I've looked at photos a bit and I think the front exhausts should be further out, the engine itself is symmetrical width wise from front to back and the fuselage widens front to back, so the front exhausts should stick out further with the stainless cover taking up the aerodynamic slack.

 

Anyway, they're back on. Next task is to paint and assemble the gun sight which is a complete joke shapewise, then put the windscreen and canopy on. Had to do a lot of trimming to the front of the windscreen part to fiddle all the pieces into place and I'm still wondering whether to go for open or closed canopy, edging towards closed at the moment.

 

Oh well, back to the spray booth.

 

Regards,

 

Bruce Crosby

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Guys,

 

There are times when you think: “This is never going to end!â€

 

This is one of them.

 

Seems like the wing tip lights aren't the same on a B/C as the D. It doesn't sound much but it's actually a big deal. The kit and the real D have the lights right out on the wingtip as far as they will go. The B/C versions have TWO lamps on each wing, one above and one below, each on the furthest outboard flat panel. Yes, it's a minor detail but now I've noticed it I have to do something about it.

 

So late last night I sat in front of the TV with a section of clear sprue and carved and sanded until I had a couple of reasonable blister shapes. And poring over drawings and photos I realise one of the bumps up on the roof behind the radio aerial is actually a clear light as well! More work!

 

Regards,

 

Bruce Crosby

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Guys,

 

I don't seem to have any get up and go, I think it got up and went!

 

this is the clear sprue cut and polished to make a clear lamp for the wingtip..

 

41502762275_84f0bb52fd_c.jpgUntitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr

 

And this is the positioning. the original position on the wingtip is fitted with rod and a hole drilled in the wingtop as the new location.  It's drilled right thru the wing as there is another light on the bottom side of the wing.

 

41683565784_e7d94ba99b_c.jpgUntitled by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr

 

With a bit of luck the get up and go will turn round and come back home tomorrow.

 

Regards,

 

Bruce Crosby

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  I realise one of the bumps up on the roof behind the radio aerial is actually a clear light as well! More work!

 

Hey Bruce, some Bs have an aerial attachment there but

I don't see any spine lights on any B pix I have.

:shrug:

 

Nevermind, here's a good shot of a restoration that appears

to be using factory drawings/info so should be accurate

(for this a/c anyway).

 

AdolIao.jpg

 

Edited by mmaben
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Guys,

 

Mike, you had me panicking there! Rechecked everything I've got and it's there. Problem is it's clear, on top right where the daylight is and also small and very low. But it's not on all B/C aircraft. On the D model it's there on the -5-NA airframes, sitting behind the mast, correctly modelled by Revell but not on later versions.

 

Regards,

 

Bruce Crosby

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Guys,

 

I've been looking at the HGW seat belts and they don't look right to me, however for this kit they are done and glued in so the next few will be built like the following sketch:

 

41535120405_85c54b71b1_c.jpgP51 seatbelt sketch by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr

 

The metal seat attachment is sewn into the webbing with multiple passes as is the buckle at the other end.  This buckle is the length adjustment, lift the tab and pull the top part of the next bit of the belt to shorten, or lift the tab and pull the main part of the belt with the clasp on to lengthen it. Exactly the same arrangement for the shoulder straps. The way HGW show them just doesn't work.

 

finding decent photos of the belts isn't easy and I'm trying to remember Herc seats from nearly 40 years ago!

 

Regards,

 

Bruce Crosby 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...