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


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Incredible, Chuck! I've just spent the last 2hrs of this wintery, Sunday morning reading through your excellent thread. It is one of the finest modelling instructional venues I have ever seen. An exceptional learning platform. So many questions are clearly answered.

You have awakened me from a year long mental modelling block. Thankyou

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Incredible, Chuck! I've just spent the last 2hrs of this wintery, Sunday morning reading through your excellent thread. It is one of the finest modelling instructional venues I have ever seen. An exceptional learning platform. So many questions are clearly answered.

You have awakened me from a year long mental modelling block. Thankyou

Wow, what a compliment. Thank you! As with a few other responses I've had recently, the best compliment for me is that my work has inspired others to get back into the hobby.

NIce work chuck!

that tamiya counpoud look really nice !! Did you only use the fine ??

Is that stuff good enouph to polish out molding seams like on the F-14/18/16 canopies ? ive been using the micro mesh sanding pads for those but its a paint in the booty!!

Cheers

Neo

Hi Neo,

I still need to use fine sandpaper (~1000 grit) to remove big seam lines, but after that it's all Tamiya Coarse following by Fine polishing compounds. I've used many other polishing compounds made for plastic, but the Tamiya product is the best I've used so far.

Now another small detail to get right, which is the tail wheel assembly which can be plugged into the fuselage with magnets as either wheel up flying or wheel down on the ground. Since there needs to be a bit of gap for this variable feature, the gap is too big if you're keeping the aircraft permanently on the ground like I am. Here's what I mean....

Tailwheel1.jpg

Until recently I would have carefully masked off the gap and filled it with putty, but that eliminates the panel line and re-scribing putty usually results in a ragged mess. CA glue works too, but using my new trick of oozing Tamiya extra thin cement in the gap works even better and I don't have to re-scribe the panel line. Here it is now after the glue has dried and a light sand after replacing some rivet detail. I'm still working on that gap at the front on the left.....

Tailwheel2.jpg

Same thing for the sides of the assembly, where the gap was filled with extra thin cement. I tried to find a way of putting the gear doors on much later, but they need to be cemented in before the main assembly is plugged in- another compromise for the wheels up or down option. To help with painting later, I've already painted the exterior of the gear doors so that I can mask everything off, including the doors....

Tailwheel3.jpg

I'm really happy with the simple pipe wrap shield I made to protect the cockpit and engine when I've got this model flipped on it's back. You might also note the blue shop towels I use all the time, which are soft, very cheap and are more lint-free than regular paper towels. When I see builds that are sitting on plain hard cutting mats, I cringe, because they must get scraped now and then on this hard surface. The shop towels also give me a nice blue backdrop for my photography and when they get dirty, I use them in small pieces for glue and paint clean-up....

Tailwheel4.jpg

Let's take one last look at the kit gun bay parts before you see the next post. Hopefully you won't think that I should have just stuck with this instead.

BEFORE:

Gunbay5.jpg

AFTER:

GunsFinal6.jpg

Edited by chuck540z3
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After a ton of work, I think I've finally got the guns to their final stage, even though I have no shells yet. I've done both sides, in order to give me display options later. Since these Aires guns are not made for this Mustang kit, they need a lot of trimming here and there to get them to fit.

NOTE: Make sure you get the guns lined up properly before cementing them in, otherwise the shell belts won't feed into them correctly.

GunsFinal4.jpg

The starboard side before I attach the gun rack to the top wing half. The metal shrouds on the top are the early style J-1 gun heaters, which I used over the later and much smaller J-4K heaters, both of which are supplied in the Aires kit. I used these because they are a lot more detailed and interesting, especially when they are usually beat up through wear and tear and I suppose heat. To get them looking this way I just stuck them over a lighted candle for a few seconds to burnish them and create some interesting and random staining. They look a lot blacker to the naked eye, but with my strong overhead lamp they look lighter and metallic looking. This is where artistic license trumps accuracy, because the heaters are usually black only. I also used The Detailer Black wash for my weathering, because this aircraft is an instrument of war and I'll bet the interior of the gun bays get filthy with fumes and nitrates after every mission when the guns are fired. Excuse the breech cover alignment on each gun, which have not been cemented on as you will see later....

GunsFinal1.jpg

The aluminum colored electrical solenoids should be on the fuselage side of each gun, other than the interior gun which is set back and has the solenoid facing outwards for easy access when the gun is installed. I painted the guns with Alclad gun metal, followed by some dry brushing of dark silver to pick out the highlights and provide some wear. The gun heaters usually have a black electrical wire and the solenoids a white wire, so I fashioned one of each with 0.30 mm lead wire that I painted.

The breech covers are not cemented on yet, so the lead wires come in as handy as breech holders. The guns need some trimming on the sides to accommodate the shell feeders, which you might be able to see in this pic....

GunsFinal3.jpg

Now everything dry fitted on the starboard side, sans shells. Pretty cool looking to me....

GunsFinal5.jpg

A closer look. I'm still missing a handle that sticks up near the L-shape on the outer gun, which will be installed later to avoid breakage. Remember, the breech covers and shell feeders are not glued yet, so the fit looks a little off at this stage.....

GunsFinal7.jpg

The port side....

GunsFinal8.jpg

This angle shows why I use Krylon black lacquer as primer for every color. By angling my airbrush when I paint the green on the black background of the gun bay panels, I get shadows of darker color that act as highlights...

GunsFinal9.jpg

The back of the Eduard panels have nice detail and handles that will be inserted in those key holes at the top- and I don't have to fill any more rivets with putty! I'll put those on and one in the gun bay interior at the end of the build so that I don't lose them or break them. That green on the bottom of the panel is the interior green color reflecting on the aluminum Alclad paint.

GunsFinal10.jpg

Now I need to make some decisions. With the thicker Aires guns and thicker Eduard shell feeders, the kit gun bay covers won't fit because there's no clearance. I think I'm inclined to leave both gun bay covers off permanently rather than just do one side, because they look a lot more interesting with the covers off and the Eduard covers really look a lot better than the kit ones anyway. Also, depending on what type of .50 cal shells I wind up with, I may leave them out of the shell feeders because the fit is very tight and I don't have very much clearance within them. I think I'll likely wind up gluing everything in place as you see here with shells just draped in the ammunition trays. Any suggestions?

Now I need to get back to all that plumbing I ripped out of the main wheel wells with some new wire and new ideas, so that I can glue the wing halves together. I hate doing things over again, so this will be more work than play, just like making bombs and missiles.

Edited by chuck540z3
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NIce work chuck!

that tamiya counpoud look really nice !! Did you only use the fine ??

Is that stuff good enouph to polish out molding seams like on the F-14/18/16 canopies ? ive been using the micro mesh sanding pads for those but its a paint in the booty!!

Cheers

Neo

Uhh, if yer gettin' paint in yer booty polishing canopies, yer doin something wrong! w00t.gif

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Thanks Guys!

Chuck. I took this photo at the Whitecourt airshow. Not much difference from your outstanding gun ports.

P-51L.jpg

Great pic. I used many similar ones, but I am unsure of their sources so I didn't post them to avoid any issues with copyright. This pic shows a few things, other than the very clean look of a restored bird. These guns have the much smaller J-4 gun heaters which have the characteristic coiled electrical cables come out of them. The only pic I have of the older J-1 heaters that I used come from the technical manual on page 115 of Peczkowski's book. I'll likely find out they are wrong for Thunder Bird, but I like them anyway, so they are going to stay. Come to think of it, I still need to add a white label to the top of the heaters in the small square box at the front of them, although two of the 3 guns have this area covered by the shell feeders.

The other interesting thing I see from this angle is the significant drop of the shell feeder over the second gun to the interior gun and how little clearance there must be with the gun door closed. I will add that interior green handle in the vertical position, which is supplied with the Eduard set, when I get to the end of the build.

Edited by chuck540z3
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So almost no feedback on the gun bays? :hmmm:/> Tough Crowd!

That's it! I'm just going to have to do better on the gear bays. Stay tuned! :action-smiley-081:/>

LOL im still trying to get my word together!!

AMAZING SH!T

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Love your work sir so clean and detailed as always deff. enjoy starting at the first page and following your great work.

! question as I use PE too somethimes in my builds I noticed after paint I try not to handle the parts but somethimes have to but

can never keep the paint on the parts.

Is that because I use waterbase paint? but have the same problem also with alclad so could u give me some tips on that.

Thank you sir.

Nihad

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Chuck, your gun bays look really sharp even without shells as it allows for seeing detail in the shell racks that can't be seen other wise. Everybody knows what shells look like, but that is just me. I love your use of the Eduard PE, it really brings things to life. As always, your work is art.

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So almost no feedback on the gun bays? :hmmm:/> Tough Crowd!

That's it! I'm just going to have to do better on the gear bays. Stay tuned! :action-smiley-081:/>

Chuck..........great job so far. Love the cleanliness, accuracy and neatness of your work. This might sound a bit familiar but I hadn't checked the progress on this build recently mainly because I'm a 48th scale junkie and usually don't venture too far from that. Guns and bays do look great and I'm sure by the time It's all complete we'll be reading another article on this fine build.

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Love your work sir so clean and detailed as always deff. enjoy starting at the first page and following your great work.

! question as I use PE too somethimes in my builds I noticed after paint I try not to handle the parts but somethimes have to but

can never keep the paint on the parts.

Is that because I use waterbase paint? but have the same problem also with alclad so could u give me some tips on that.

Thank you sir.

Nihad

Hi Nihad. I have never had that problem, but I use enamels and lacquer paints exclusively, mostly because I haven't been happy with the adhesion of acrylics. I know that other guys have had better luck with water based paints, especially the Tamiya line. Perhaps you should try those.

Thanks guys for the feedback- finally! I hate to be a drama queen, but I was/am unsure of the gun bays, so this time I really wanted to know if they looked OK or if I was having a weak moment when they were finally complete- or mostly complete.

Here's why. Remember my gear bays I spent so much time on? Here's an example of what I thought looked pretty good for about a day after I posted it...

Gear23-1.jpg

After looking at it for a day or two, I realized the hydraulic lines in the middle looked crappy because they were too thick, the fasteners were too big and the lead wire wire was too wobbly, so, I tore them all out.....

Gearwell30.jpg

Although I hate re-doing a step over again, I sucked it up and used some really cool wire from The Model Car Garage, which is for spark plug wires on cars. The wire inside the insulation layer is a nickel like rigid wire that bends like copper, but kinks and other mistakes can easily be removed by smoothing the wire out again with your fingers or tweezers. After many hours of work, here's the gear bay, Version 2.0 on the port side. Every wire and plumbing line is more or less accurate from pics and I'll bet I only have about half of all the gear bay spaghetti that exists, but it sure beats no wiring at all. Looks like I need to touch-up the door on the right where I scuffed some Alclad off.....

Newgear1.jpg

A closer look. The black fasteners on the kinked lines are small slices of black spark plug wire insulation slipped over each wire before installation. The wire is actually very shiny, so to get the dull aluminum look, I sprayed the entire gear bay with dull coat....

Newgear2.jpg

Another couple of angles. I have since removed that silver paint on the black hose....

Newgear3.jpg

The door hinge detail has been retained.....

Newgear4.jpg

Now the starboard side....

Newgear6.jpg

Note the plumbing right along the hinge line. Yes that top hydraulic line bends around the hinge and goes through that linkage in the middle, just like the real deal....

Newgear7.jpg

You might have noticed that the gear doors have now been painted and are glued in. I wanted to install these near the last part of the build, but getting the wiring and plumbing correct at this stage was more important than worrying about a few doors sticking down and getting in the way. I'll have to be careful to not break them, but I already think I know how (think pipe wrap again!). With the gun bays mostly complete and the gear bay done, I can glue the wings together and then attach it to the fuselage. Yeah! It's almost time for my favorite part of modeling: PAINTING! This is the stage that can really make or break a model build.

Thanks for checking in- and your feedback! :thumbsup:

Edited by chuck540z3
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Awesome job my friend in the wells, truly precise and clean, i am so jealous!!!!

Chuck, i also wait for the painting process to begin, i want to learn how to deal with Alclads, and you are the right person to follow closely.

John

Edited by zaxos345
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Hi Chuck, going back to the ammo trays i think they would be natural metal as the belts of ammo would tend to chip the paint off which may cause problems like gun jams and such. Checking this pic:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/P-51B_100FS_332FG_Italy_1944.jpg

you can see the rounds' reflection on the walls indicating BMF trays. Most photos do show restored P-51s with zinc chromate trays so unless you find actual war time photos that they were zinc chromate, i'd go with the bare metal.

Jari

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WoW Chuck!

I have been silently following your progresses, and I am speechless. Some astonishing work. Really.

As for myself, I am slowly getting back to the bench - even though the weather in Sweden is extremely cold and snowy right now...

Anyway, I bought some egg-planes a few weeks ago, to build quickly, paint simply and get things rolling again.

And - off course - the plan didn't go as expected. :bandhead2:

I haven't completed my first yet (an F-16). Building it took me less than 1 hour. Painting the "pilot" equally so. Then, instead of the usual grey F-16 camo, I opted for the artic white-grey-black one, also to get some rust away from my airbrushing skills. Well, the first attempt to paint it free-hand didn't work out: too soft edges and too many places to get rid of over-sprays. So off came the paint before my second attempt. I masked all the zones this time (which was a nightmare job, due to the small size of the kit and the distorted shape). But then when the masking was removed I saw with horror that there were glue residuals EVERYWHERE! I've never seen anything like that! EVER! :soapbox:

So now, I have to strip the paint off once more and retry. I won't give up, but the stress-free "joyride" I had in mind hasn't really happened. :explode:

Oh well...Sorry for hijacking your thread: it feels better now that I have gotten the rotten story out.

/Kristian

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Hi Chuck, going back to the ammo trays i think they would be natural metal as the belts of ammo would tend to chip the paint off which may cause problems like gun jams and such. Checking this pic:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/P-51B_100FS_332FG_Italy_1944.jpg

you can see the rounds' reflection on the walls indicating BMF trays. Most photos do show restored P-51s with zinc chromate trays so unless you find actual war time photos that they were zinc chromate, i'd go with the bare metal.

Jari

Hi Jari,

I wondered about this very thing before I painted anything, so I used pics from "Happy Jack's Go Buggy", which supposedly has been restored to near perfect war-time colors. This Mustang clearly has chromate green trays, but I've found other parts of this aircraft that differ from war time pics I have found, so who knows if it's right or not? Since the pic noted is for a P-51B, with two guns at that, maybe they were different then? Also- and this is a biggy- the Tamiya instructions call for chromate green, so for me to change the color I need rock solid proof it should be different which I don't have right now. I'm happy to stay with green based upon the above, even if somebody gives me this proof now.

Thanks anyway!

Oh well...Sorry for hijacking your thread: it feels better now that I have gotten the rotten story out.

/Kristian

You can "hijack" my thread any time you want Kristian! Sorry to hear that your modeling has been a frustrating experience lately, but you will eventually get back into the swing of things sooner or later. If not, you can always send your kits to me from Sweden. I'll even pay for the shipping! :P

Edited by chuck540z3
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You are right Chuck, unless you have definate proof you'll have to go with what the instructions say, right or wrong. Here is another pic:

P-51 gun load

in b&w unfortunately.

Jari

Cool pic. It looks like the ammo trays could be green, but who knows. I really like that greasy oil stain across the top of the wing, which my 'Stang will have too!

Here's a typical pic of a restored gun bay, right or wrong...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/HansvonHammer/Aircraft%20Profiles/P-51s/P-51Dportwingammo.jpg

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Chuck,

How are you using TheDetailer? I tried using it on the 109 wheel wells I'm working on, and it seems its either too much, or too light. Could we have one of your brief tutorials on how best to use it?

I am using it over a gloss varnish, btw.

Stephen

Edited by stephencraig
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