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1/32 Tamiya P-51D- Kicked up a notch


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EDIT:

For those new to this build thread, please make sure you read through all the sections before committing to replicating some of my work if you choose to. Like any model build, I made lots of mistakes, but thankfully people pointed out many of them while I could still fix them. A perfect example of this is the engine, where I attached the ignition wires to the coolant rail based upon poor pics I was using for a reference. Duh! I was able to fix this gaf, so make sure you see the completed engine to get an idea what it should really look like. I could have edited these mistakes out, but that's part of the fun of modeling, so I left everything in, both good and bad.

Happy Modeling,

Chuck Sawyer

Now that the 1/32 F-4E project has been put to bed and I need another project, I have selected Tamiya's excellent new P-51D kit for a bunch of reasons, including:

1) Everybody needs a Mustang sooner or later

2) I was initially going to do this OOB, so I wanted something that didn't need a lot of changes to make it look good

3) I learned a lot about doing a fairly good NMF using Alclad on the rear of my last Phantom project, so I wanted a platform to do a lot more of it

4) It's time for my second prop build

As much as I was intent on doing this build OOB, the reality is that I just love to modify kits, hence my signature, "If it isn't modified, it isn't any fun". The other reason is that there are so many excellent builds out there already, it will be really hard to distinguish my build from the blur of all the others, so I decided to throw everything I could think of at it to make it unique. Instead of an OOB build, it's now going to be "kicked up a notch" with many alterations and improvements.

Here's the usual beginning shot of some of the parts I'll be using on the Tamiya Kit (# 60322), including the following:

1) Web Garden seatbelts + wood floor + dinghy, #132071. These appear to be the best seat belts out there made of microfiber fabric.

2) BarracudaCast Cockpit Sidewalls, # BR32012

3) BarracudaCast Instrument Panel, # BR32013

4) BarracudaCast Cockpit Upgrade, # BR32014

5) BarracudaCast Paper Droptanks, # BR32016

6) Grey Matters resin "Tyres", # GMAJR3203

7) Eduard BIG ED photo-etch brass kit, including:

- Exterior, # 32302

- Engine, # 32307

- Interior- Early, # 32712

- Seatbelts, #32731 (I won’t be needing these)

- Gun Bay- Early, # 32732

- Masking Set, # JX136

Begin1.jpg

For decals, I'll be using the Zotz decals (ZTZ32/042) for P-51D-10-NA, 44-14570, flown by Capt. Ted E Lines, of the 335th FS 4th Fighter Group. This Mustang has a very cool "Thunder Bird" emblem as nose art with arrowheads for kills and more importantly, all the pics I have for this bird show it to be DIRTY! Salt weathering, here I come!

44-14570.jpg

I will also be using a complete decal sheet of stencils from Fundekals and BarracudaCals cockpit stencils and placards. The Fundekal sheet didn't come with instructions, so I'm a little confused as to where to put the stencils. Anybody know?

Begin2.jpg

For reference material, I've armed myself with the following books:

1) How to build Tamiya's 1:32 P-51D Mustang by Brett Green

2) North American P-51 Mustang- Owners workshop Manual (Haynes)

3) P-51 Mustang by Michael O'Leary

4) North American P-51D Mustang by Robert Peczkowski

Begin3.jpg

What's really cool about the last book is that it has full panel line and rivet detail drawings in 1/32, 1/48 and 1/72 scale!

Begin4.jpg

Begin5.jpg

It's time to get to work and wash all the parts in soap and water as I do a ton of research on just how the heck I'm going to attack this project. With all the after-market kits above, I'm going to have a lot of redundancy, so I'll try to just use the best parts from each kit and see how it goes. I know NOTHING about Mustangs right now, but like my recent CF-18B Hornet and F-4E Phantom builds, I knew almost nothing about them either going in- and they turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

One other thing to keep in mind, is that my modeling projects typically take about a year from beginning to end and now that spring is turning into summer, I won't be working on this project over the next few months as much as I will be in the winter. Like all of my builds, I plan to document every step of the way for you to follow if you wish to tag along- and I'm always looking for feedback and tips to keep me on the right track as much as possible. See you back here in a few weeks when I have something more meaningful to show!

Edited by chuck540z3
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The Fundekal sheet didn't come with instructions, so I'm a little confused as to where to put the stencils. :huh: Anybody know?

Yay, a new build from you! :woo:

As for the stencil placement. Fündekals has them as a .pdf on their website so you can print them yourself.

Clickie

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Looking forward to watching this one. Two thoughts:

First, you must love decals! The cockpits alone are a couple hundred alone from what I recall from seeing reviews.

Second, don't forget wartime P-51s came from the factor with puttied and filled wings that were painted aluminum, so I don't think you should have rivets nor BMF on the wings.

Curtis

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PS: why are they called "paper" drop tanks?

Because that's what they were! They were a tank made of a composite of pressed paper and some sort of epoxy to make them rigid and hold liquid. Think of those waxy corrugated boxes the post office uses to sort mail or deliver large quantities of letters to one address--I think it was something along those lines.

The idea was to save aluminum producing them, and not provide aluminum to the enemy when they were dropped over enemy territory. They worked "OK", but were by no means perfect.

Curtis

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Yay, a new build from you! :woo:

As for the stencil placement. Fündekals has them as a .pdf on their website so you can print them yourself.

Clickie

Thanks Pete. For some reason that link is very faded and I can't read it, so I just emailed "wally7506@yahoo.com" and he sent me a nice fresh copy that you can read and print.

Chuck building a 'stang, cool! Would love to see you work your magic on an overall NMF.

Terry

PS: why are they called "paper" drop tanks?

Reading the BarracudaCast instructions, they explain as follows:

"The P-51 Mustang was fitted with long-range drop tanks made from paper-mache, which was a non strategic material. The tanks were made for single use, as they started to decompose after a few hours of carrying fuel. The Tamiya tanks are accurately shaped, however, the end caps are smooth while the real caps were rough and slightly scalloped."

See, we're learning Mustang stuff already!

Looking forward to watching this one. Two thoughts:

First, you must love decals! The cockpits alone are a couple hundred alone from what I recall from seeing reviews.

Second, don't forget wartime P-51s came from the factor with puttied and filled wings that were painted aluminum, so I don't think you should have rivets nor BMF on the wings.

Curtis

If I can get all the stencils on an F-4E, I can decal anything! As for the second tip, I'll keep my eye out for that. From the pics I have already, there seems to be BMF on all areas other than some black stripes on the wings.

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Gah! I literally just finished the last little bits on my Tamiya 1:48 Mustang's cockpit! I should've waited awhile, and just lurked on here to glean some of the inevitable information that would crop up... ah well, there's always next time, and I'll still REALLY be looking forward to this one! I loved the CF-18 and the F-4, but WWII is where my heart lies, so I'm excited to see what you can do to this mustang!

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Good to see you making a start on a new project, Your previous builds are the stuff of legend.

Previously I've been playing catch-up with your In-progress builds, so it's good to get in at the beginning and watch this one evolve.

Good luck. :thumbsup:

Mike.

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Oh this should be good

But before you start Chuck did you take a look at the SWS P-51D Kit ???

mstgImg_04.jpg

with al the framing and stuff it would defenatly fit you building style !!

Cant wait to see you get going!!

BTW when your done can i buy your left overs?? i.e Eduard best and whatever you wont use ?? ive got a hasegawa one to build and that ting can use alot of it!

Cheers

Neo

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