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


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I would LOVE that. Thanks!

It's a nice day for a trip over to #7 E.F.T.S. hangar so here are pics from both starboard engines from FM212 (one has the turbo removed). To my knowledge, they have well over 2000 hours on them so they have been re-built at least a couple times in their life. Hope this helps. If there is a particular angle or close-up you want, let me know. :salute:

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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?

One of the reasons we're able to sell our products for the low prices we do is because we decided not to invest in expensive color instruction sheets (and they're getting more expensive all the time). If you check our web site that's spelled out up front, and every product has a prominent link to the downloadable PDF instruction sheet. One major advantage to that, besides the cost saving to you, is that we can do as big and involved an instruction sheet as is necessary for the subject matter. One of our next sheets currently has a 6 page instruction sheet (for one aircraft) with loads of history, never before seen photos from a private collection, etc. Nobody else is bringing you that kind of detail!

Please have a look through our web site, and feel free to download any and all of the instruction sheets you like.

One other note on "Thunderbird" - she was a P-51D-10-NA. As such, she left the factory (and completed her service) with the early style dorsal fin fillet. There were several minor variations of the fillet, but the one shown below appears to be the most common. The outline of the later straight edged fillet as depicted by most P-51D kits (Monogram’s 1/48 and Airfix’s 1/24 kits being notable exceptions) is shown as a dashed red line. The black lines depict the earlier curved design carried by the D-10-NA.

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Cheers,

Jennnings

Edited by Jennings
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It's a nice day for a trip over to #7 E.F.T.S. hangar so here are pics from both starboard engines from FM212 (one has the turbo removed). To my knowledge, they have well over 2000 hours on them so they have been re-built at least a couple times in their life. Hope this helps. If there is a particular angle or close-up you want, let me know. :salute:

Hi ya

Thanx for the pic's

IRRC Merlins had NO turbochargers

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It's a nice day for a trip over to #7 E.F.T.S. hangar so here are pics from both starboard engines from FM212 (one has the turbo removed). To my knowledge, they have well over 2000 hours on them so they have been re-built at least a couple times in their life. Hope this helps. If there is a particular angle or close-up you want, let me know. :salute:

Thank you sir! Those pics should do the trick! :thumbsup:

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Hi ya

Thanx for the pic's

IRRC Merlins had NO turbochargers

You know, I think you are right. Everything I have read about the Merlin states that it has a 2-stage supercharger at the back of the engine, nothing about a turbo. This a/c flew aerial photo mapping missions in the Arctic for many years (up until 1962) so it is possible that the turbos were an RCAF adaptation after the war. I will look into it.

Thanks for the heads-up.

BD

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You know, I think you are right. Everything I have read about the Merlin states that it has a 2-stage supercharger at the back of the engine, nothing about a turbo. This a/c flew aerial photo mapping missions in the Arctic for many years (up until 1962) so it is possible that the turbos were an RCAF adaptation after the war. I will look into it.

Thanks for the heads-up.

BD

If you're talking about the copper tank at the front of the engine above the gearbox..... that's the coolant header tank. The Merlin never had a turbocharger and the Merlin X and on had a supercharger. Engine exhaust gas is used to drive a turbo whereas a supercharger is directly driven through the engine accessory section.

Cheers,

John

Edited by CF104
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Excellent pic and info- thanks Guys! Make no mistake, this engine is going to look well used, but before I weather it I need a good base to start with. The above pic shows the fuel rail to be gunship grey, while many pics I have of more modern engines have it aluminum colored, so I think I'll go with the grey look because it was likely more common.

Actually I think you are looking at the ignition lead conduit as there was no fuel rail on the Merlin. The fuel injection was done at the pressure carburetor just before the supercharger inlet.

Cheers,

John

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If you're talking about the copper tank at the front of the engine above the gearbox..... that's the coolant header tank. The Merlin never had a turbocharger and the Merlin X and on had a supercharger. Engine exhaust gas is used to drive a turbo whereas a supercharger is directly driven through the engine accessory section.

Cheers,

John

OK, that makes much more sense. Someone over at the hangar was referring to it as a turbo and I just went with that. I am, obviously, not an engine mechanic, lol. Thanks!

BD

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Actually I think you are looking at the ignition lead conduit as there was no fuel rail on the Merlin. The fuel injection was done at the pressure carburetor just before the supercharger inlet.

Cheers,

John

Thanks for that clarification John. Now what color should this conduit be? I've seen both aluminum and dark grey and since I'm about to apply my first paint, I'd rather know sooner than later.

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Thanks for that clarification John. Now what color should this conduit be? I've seen both aluminum and dark grey and since I'm about to apply my first paint, I'd rather know sooner than later.

Chuck, there are variations on how the conduits run as well as the color. My research shows the dark grey on the straight sections and aluminum on the curved sections that lead to the mags. The mag on the left (looking from the front of the engine)serves the lower conduits and the mag on the right serves the conduit(s) above the intake manifolds. As for the conduit over the intake manifolds, some have 2 conduits and others have only one.

Also, be fitting the exhaust to check the clearence with the lower conduits plug connections as there is very little room there.

Hope this helps.

Bud

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Here are some pic's. The conduits are too big in dia. and I have ordered smaller tubing for them but this shows where they go (at least one option). I have seen the single conduit on top run down both the left and right sides.

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Again, I hope this helps.

Bud

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Here are some pic's. The conduits are too big in dia. and I have ordered smaller tubing for them but this shows where they go (at least one option). I have seen the single conduit on top run down both the left and right sides.

Again, I hope this helps.

Bud

Thanks Bud. Fortunately I have already purchased the Eduard engine detailing photo-etch detail which replicates much of this plumbing and looks pretty good, so hopefully this will be enough- and fit under the exhausts!

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and I recall a time where you thought about not doing build threads anymore...lol

4 pages and not a sprue cut!

Very true- and a bit embarrassing to say the least. I think the early attraction of this thread has to do with 3 things:

1) EVERYBODY loves P-51D Mustangs.

2) The Tamiya kit is outstanding.

3) My last build thread of the Tamiya F-4E, turned out to be a wealth of knowledge about everything Phantom thanks to the contributions of many others here, especially Scott Wilson. We all learned along the way as I glued plastic pieces together under the direction of those more knowledgeable.

Sooooo, I propose we do the same thing here and make this a collaborative thread about everything Mustang. It will be "our thread" for future reference, so if you have anything of interest that you would like to share concerning the P-51D in particular, please go right ahead and post it here. I don't think we want pics of your last P-51D build because that has likely been done already elsewhere, but if you have pics of specific parts like the engine discussion above, that benefits everyone, including me. :thumbsup:

Having said that, there's no way I'm rushing things just to get some modeling eye candy out there sooner than later. "Life" is getting in the way of me modeling right now and this is, after all, is supposed to be a hobby to be enjoyed at your leisure rather than an assembly with a timetable. Right now most of the engine is assembled and is almost ready for painting. I plan on painting most of the parts separately to achieve a good overall finish and I'll be using Krylon gloss black lacquer decanted from the spray can. Once this is done, I'll carefully paint every nut and bolt silver, add the Eduard photo-etch parts, then weather the engine to make it look well used. As with my F-4E build, every section of this model will be treated like a mini-model, which always takes a long time. Hopefully my progress won't be so slow that you lose interest! ;)

Edited by chuck540z3
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As with my F-4E build, every section of this model will be treated like a mini-model, which always takes a long time. Hopefully my progress won't be so slow that you lose interest! ;)

I don't think that is going to happen. Take your time. Plus, it will give me chance to follow along with my own build.

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Good luck with your new build my friend. I will be watching

Can we please leave start posting some progress photos? So far there are 4 pages of talkling and no progress. I would suggest to open a seperate topic regardign the references and advice and leave this topic for guidence and help when chuck will post some photos

thanks

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