ALF18 Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 (edited) After many months of good intentions, I am finally participating in this GB. There are two reasons I really wanted to get in on this one: 1. I love GBs - fun to have a common interest 2. (most importantly) My good friend Neo is one of the mods Why did it take so long? I had two more difficult builds to finish up first. As a modeler, I am a "serial monogamist"... I finish one up before I start another. That's just how I roll. I have friends that are able to do two or even 4 or 5 at once - but not me. The two builds I just finished up were quite mentally draining. One was a 1/32 CF-5A, using the Belcher Bits conversion for the F-5E kit. What a bear! It turned out OK, but not as nicely as I would have liked. I tip my hat to Phantom - he did a better job, and I realize now even more how much effort that meant. I then did a 1/48 Tutor as a commission build, and the buyer wanted it in kitchen foil. I used a different kind of glue for the foil, and it dried too quickly and was not as tacky as the kind the store had before... So why do I tell you this? Because this is my therapy build. Within the cosy confines of a GB moderated by a friend, I plan to do an easy one and rediscover the pleasure of modeling. I'm also trying out a poll for once. I'd like opinions on which colour scheme would look best. I am thinking of trying out some Alclad tips I got from another ARCer, so I tend to lean toward the Helen version (mostly silver with colourful yellow areas). I kind of like the others too... What do you think? Here are pics of the decals and the instructions. ALF Edited May 23, 2012 by ALF18 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neo Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 (edited) I actually have the same kit and I think the best looking one is Helen. Im just worried about the checkered decal fit on the tail. Glad to see you jump in !! Neo Edited April 26, 2012 by Neo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Hey buddy. Good to see you joining in. I voted for 'Helen'. Look forward to some progress shots. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted April 26, 2012 Author Share Posted April 26, 2012 Thanks to Mike and Neo for the quick check-ins! Here are a couple early shots. The engine will be totally hidden, since I plan to close up the engine doors. Unfortunately, all of the kit detail will be wasted. It isn't extraordinarily detailed, but there is still something of a basis for those who like to show off the engine. The cockpit is quite simple - I am so used to modern jets that the older prop jobs are quite minimalist to me. I will do this build entirely OOB - no AM seatbelts or other great additions (like Blunce's amazing cockpit with the Eduard PE parts). That makes it easy - build first, paint after. More pics in a day or so, after I redo some of the black that looks awful right now. Above, the cockpit before painting. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neo Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Just a little heads up, i had to rip my cooling tank out to get the engine to fit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted April 26, 2012 Author Share Posted April 26, 2012 Just a little heads up, i had to rip my cooling tank out to get the engine to fit. OH - thanks for the heads up! At least I'm not worried about it becoming too tail-heavy... another factor that simplifies WW II prop jobs! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blunce Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 I voted for Man O' War, always thought it was quite different than most you see out there. I've got that kit too, but it's on the chopping block with a planned replacement being the Tamiya flavor one of these days. Anywho, welcome to the GB, now get crackin', the deadline's not that far off! Oh and thanks for the rogue compliment on my P-40 Cockpit. Pretty happy with how it came out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 A bit more progress. The weather around here has been awful. Here's what I see when I look out the window on April 27th... another 10 cm of $%"/%!!! snow... So not much to do apart from marking exams and modeling. I did a quick job on the MIP. Tamiya acrylic black, with a silver marker to do the outlines. Not many people look much in the cockpits of my models, so I don't spend a lot of time making them perfect. The floor was supposed to be painted a wood colour, but most Mustangs I see in the P-51 GB have black floors. I painted the floor black, and added some dirtying up where the grubby flying boots would go. I still need to paint the orangish head rest thingy, and I'm not going to bother to try and reproduce seat belts. The sidewalls are nice and simple. I made a darker green oxygen hose, and used silver pen to highlight some of the switches. I dry-brushed a bit of black to give the walls some depth and shadow look. Here's what it looks like, almost ready to glue the fuselage pieces together. The engine doesn't seem to have any visible means of support; I will just affix the exhaust areas to the fuselage sides. It's really only there to support the prop anyway! I'm reasonably happy with the cockpit so far. Looks like (after dry fitting) the fuselage will need some fixing up where the seams are. Thanks for looking! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie Cheetah Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 (edited) great work so far Dan. MY vote is for Helen as well, I love the Checkertail scheme. I am getting really tempted to hop in on this GB too. Oops, maybe not, not enough time left, still got a few others to do first. Edited April 29, 2012 by Charlie Cheetah Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted April 29, 2012 Author Share Posted April 29, 2012 great work so far Dan. MY vote is for Helen as well, I love the Checkertail scheme. I am getting really tempted to hop in on this GB too. Oops, maybe not, not enough time left, still got a few others to do first. Thanks for voting, Charlie. Pretty rough when you run out of time to do GBs, eh? I have another Mustang (in 1/24, Airfix) that I would love to enter in the P-51 GB, but time lacks... I also have a CF-104 with Dave Winter's new decals that would look good in the NATO forces in Europe GB... Maybe I should finally retire, to have time to do all of this! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 A bit more progress. The weather around here has been awful. Here's what I see when I look out the window on April 27th... another 10 cm of $%"/%!!! snow... As my father, with his thick Irish accent, would say as he looked at that sight..."FECK!" Nice work so far ALF. Looks good. Subtle is underrated sometimes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Maybe I should finally retire, to have time to do all of this! ALF Like Mrs. ALF would let that happen. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 Like Mrs. ALF would let that happen. OK, you're only partly right. She is happy with the concept of me retiring (a Gabriel Solice spendthrift she is NOT), but "our" time would not be necessarily spent doing a lot of plastic modeling... ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 More progress... The fuselage went together fairly nicely. There are some areas that will need a bit of cleaning up, but overall it fit well. I started to put the wings together. First, there are the machine guns in their bays. I think I will close these up (but probably after spraying different shades of Alclad on the covers, to save on masking). I was a bit worried about how the guns would line up (barrels), when I glued the guns into the bays, but as soon as I glued the bay into the upper wing, I realized that the little holes for the guns held them nicely in position, all lined up. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 I always (with WW II fighters) have a look at the way the wing fits, trying to avoid any gaps between the upper wing halves and the fuselage fillets. In this case, the fit is superb for the upper wing to the fillet, when the dihedral is at the correct angle. This picture shows some dry fitting, and how it fits together. After examining and dry fitting with the wing underside, I realized that (as is often the case), there might be gaps if I followed the instructions and glued the wing all together before attaching the finished wing assembly to the fuselage. So after deciding to glue the upper wing surfaces to the fuselage first, I noticed that there were some really nice areas that I could clamp the wing in place while the Tamiya extra-thin glue set. Here you can see the two upper wing surfaces glued in place, with almost a perfect join (well, perfect enough for my low standards!). I then glued and clamped/taped the rest of the wing together. Enough for tonight - thanks for stopping by. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neo Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 What a brilliant idea to stick the top of the wings first!! good progress!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Finally got around to voting in the poll. Man o War's paint scheme is wicked! Nice work all around. Proves you don't need the Tamiya kit to get a good result. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 What a brilliant idea to stick the top of the wings first!! good progress!! Thx Neo I've done this for a few kits - it's not an original idea, but that's the beauty of ARC - somebody always has a bright idea! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 Finally got around to voting in the poll. Man o War's paint scheme is wicked! Nice work all around. Proves you don't need the Tamiya kit to get a good result. Thx hammm! Glad you like it so far. All 3 schemes are interesting... decisions, decisions! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 I've resisted buying this kit as I already have two 1/32nd scale Revell "B" models on the shelf along with a 1/24th scale Airfix. I thought I had enough Mustangs but the more I see this kit and hear builders extolling the virtues the the 'perfect' kit, I may have to break down and get one. I like your progress there mister. The fit is almost perfect. Well done. From where I sit, it doesn't look like there will be much clean up or many touch ups required. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted May 3, 2012 Author Share Posted May 3, 2012 "I thought I had enough Mustangs..." Right. The only statements I would be less likely to believe would be you saying "I thought I had enough Sabres", or Phantom saying "I thought I had enough Phantoms" This is not a bad kit, but the fit got a bit worse when it came to getting the top of the engine cowling to match the rest... The lack of positive position mounts for the engine led to this little problem. Note how I had to hack off some of the top cowling to make it fit (it stuck forward a bit beyond the front bottom part). That was one thing. The main problem is how the prop shaft is off-centre! Some dry fitting to show how bad it is. So I will be chopping off the shaft, and glueing the prop in place, so it will be centred. The remainder of the assembly went fairly quickly. I am leaving empty fuel tank mounts under the wings, and the inner main gear doors closed - my story (which I hope you will buy) is that this aircraft just landed from a patrol (thus doors haven't bled down yet), and the fuel tanks were jettisoned. I think it looks a little ungainly with those big tanks. I will paint them up, and dry fit them, just to see if I like them in place. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted May 3, 2012 Author Share Posted May 3, 2012 I mentioned that I got some great advice on Alclad from a fellow ARCer (McLents). I have changed types of primer for it. Before, I used Tamiya acrylic gloss black as a primer - this led to lack of adhesion, and the Alclad pulling up with the tape. So I decided to follow his advice, and use a lacquer-based primer (in this case, Tamiya's light grey rattle can primer). Here's what it looks like. BTW, I haven't used a single bit of putty on this, and the fit is actually pretty decent! The next step is the Alclad... trying to decide if it should be really glossy (like some post-war privately-owned Mustangs), or more of a drabber aluminum colour. I am looking through many ref pics on Airliners.net, and other sites, trying to decide. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neo Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Wow your mooving fast!! it too me 8 months to built that kit well the fuselage is always more glossy than the wings if that helps!! migh want to fix that seam by the intake cuz it will stand out like hell with alcad!! Cheers Neo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 "I thought I had enough Mustangs..." Right. The only statements I would be less likely to believe would be you saying "I thought I had enough Sabres", or Phantom saying "I thought I had enough Phantoms" Guilty as charged, Your Honour. :( I even forgot about the 1/48th Monogram 'D' on the shelf and the 1/48th Monogram 'D' in the stash. My bad. Nice progress sir. Sorry to hear about the engine alignment issues affecting the prop. You'll get it fixed. Good luck with the Alclad. Spray it nice and close to the model. Don't be shy. I really like the stuff. You will too I'll buy what you're selling in regards to the drop tanks and gear doors. As a personal observation, I think the Mustang is much more appealing when it's clean (no tanks, bombs, etc), but that's just me. Same with the Voodoo. Then there are other aircraft that look better with tanks, like the Sabre and Hornet. Again, that's just my 2/100 of a dollar. Keep at it, bub. Look forward to more photos. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted May 4, 2012 Author Share Posted May 4, 2012 Wow your mooving fast!! it too me 8 months to built that kit well the fuselage is always more glossy than the wings if that helps!! migh want to fix that seam by the intake cuz it will stand out like hell with alcad!! Cheers Neo Neo I hate it when you make sense... Much as I don't want to admit it to myself, it might be necessary to fix that seam. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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