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


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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

Actually, I have a much better idea since I want reference photos, etc. in this thread. Like my last build thread on the F-4E, I always post the date and description of each update under the "Topic Description" line right under the title. That way folks know when there's actually a build update which they may want to click on, while others may still be interested in all the other stuff posted here from others. Of course, nobody is forcing anybody to check in at all.

I hope to have a real update on the engine posted on Sunday. I haven't had much time to model lately and I'm trying to get this engine looking really good. I will show step by step how to tweak a few engine flaws, paint it in a unique way, add some after-market plumbing, then weather it to look like the real deal. After all the hoopla I have created by starting a build thread without any real building (unintentionally I assure you), this first post better be worth the wait! :rolleyes:

Edited by chuck540z3
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EDIT: The electrical conduit plumbing and wiring is all wrong. I have attached the spark plug wires to the coolant pipe in error, so please check later for a complete overhaul of all the plumbing and wiring at a later date.

OK, finally some REAL build pics! :woot.gif:

Let's start off with the end result of the engine build, then I'll show how I did it. Hopefully it was worth the wait!.

Engine18.jpg

The Tamiya engine is a real gem, with lots of detail and very finely molded. It's not without the usual seam lines and pin marks, however, so they take quite a bit of time to remove. To paint this engine and not leave any shadows and paint dust in the small gaps, you should paint many of the parts separately. This is what I came up with to get maximum engine parts assembled vs. parts to be left apart for painting.....

Engine6.jpg

The paint used is Krylon gloss black lacquer decanted from the rattle can. I really prefer this paint over MM enamel because it dries fairly quickly and it's what I'll be using later as a primer base for Alclad for the bare metal finish of much of the fuselage. It also covers in very thin coats, so all that detail is retained.....

Krylon1.jpg

As good as the engine is, there's still a couple of design flaws. This gap should not be there....

Engine3.jpg

To fill it, I used CA glue then quickly sanded it before it became too hard.....

Engine5.jpg

After painting, it's gone.....

Engine7.jpg

I tried to paint every single nut and bolt silver before weathering. To paint this tiny detail without making a mess, I used a needle dipped in silver paint. the other metallic parts were painted with Alclad aluminum....

Engine8.jpg

A close-up reveals that the tubes do not touch the cylinder heads as they should, so more CA glue was used to close the gap....

Engine10.jpg

After assembly, I did some dry brushing of silver then sprayed a little dull coat, followed by Tamiya pastels in "oil stain" and a touch of "rust". I then added the Eduard engine photo-etch detail, but I had to modify the spark plug wires to attach to the kit conduit rather than use the Eduard conduit, which is too long and isn't very accurate. Wire position on the conduit was taken from some pics I have of this area....

Engine11.jpg

Engine12.jpg

Edited by chuck540z3
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A few more pics at different angles....

Engine13.jpg

Engine14.jpg

Engine15.jpg

Engine16.jpg

Engine17.jpg

A close-up...

Engine19.jpg

I still need to add quite a bit of plumbing and wiring, but the engine fit in the front fuselage is very tight, so I think I'll wait do this during the assembly of this stage to make sure I have proper clearance under the magnetic panels. I'm also waiting for some detailed engine pics that Bud (budman) has graciously sent to me in the mail. Thank you Sir!

Next up will be a total modification of the oil tank at the rear of the engine, using extensive Eduard photo-etch parts. See ya in a week or so- and thanks for your interest in this build!

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Great work, well worth the wait.

Quick question about decanting paint from a spray can.... how exactly do you do that?? Is it just a question of spraying the paint in a container and just use the paint build-up??

Keep up the great work!

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Thanks Guys! Although the engine came out looking pretty good, it has been gently pointed out to me that the conduit rail for the spark plug wires is in FRONT of the kit part, not coming out of the kit part! :bandhead2:

Before you think that I just made this up, here's a pic of a Packard Merlin engine on a Lancaster I took a few years ago. From the side, it looks like one pipe with wires coming out of it. Note that I tried to replicate the wire distribution and curves of each wire into it.....

Engine21.jpg

A much better pic of this rail is here, posted earlier in this thread that I should have copied it sooner! You can clearly see the two pipe-like features, rather than just one: Packard Merlin engine

It looks like I need my first "save" of this build, and I just started! :crying: Stay tuned.......

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Great work on the engine Chuck. I really like the subtle weathering. Sorry for the glitch on the coolant pipe/plug conduit issue. The work was brilliant. :crying: Can you save the wiring and then hook it to the new conduit?

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SAVE # 1

One of the great things about this forum is the feedback you get to help you along the way and keep you more or less on the correct track. Guy (geedubelyer) gave me a "Psssssst" PM this morning that maybe the kit pipe wasn't the electrical conduit at all and that another parallel unit should be in front of the kit part. Of course he was correct (as always) as you can see in the above pics of the real deal, so thank you Guy!

The other reason I didn't use the Eduard electrical rail was that it look a bit goofy and nothing like a real one. All the wires faced forward and were equidistant on the rail, which doesn't seem to be the case, and it was flat rather than cylindrical. To fashion something more accurate for this conduit, I was going to use some styrene rod and paint it aluminum to match a few of the pics I have of a WWII engine. The problem with most of the pics of the Packard Merlin engine out there is that they are modernized with new equipment and altered paint schemes, so this conduit can be black, grey or aluminum in color.

While searching through my styrene stash, I found the PERFECT solution to create an aluminum colored rod. How about a real aluminum rod? I have some in 81 mm that I had almost completely forgot about and it appears to be almost the perfect diameter for scale. Here it is on the top vs. the Eduard rail that I cut the spark plug wires off of earlier below....

Engine22.jpg

I yanked the wires off the kit part, cleaned off the glue on all the parts, re-painted the kit part, then glued the new conduit and wires together, mounting the aluminum rod to the kit part. There really should be a slight gap between these 2 rails, but I'm worried about clearance in the front fuselage, but at 1/32 scale you'd never see the difference anyway. The wires should also go into posts at the base of each cylinder, but I avoided doing this for clearance reasons as well. Anyway, all better now- and the aluminum color really adds some nice detail that was missing before....

Engine23.jpg

Engine24.jpg

As mentioned earlier, there's still a lot of wiring and plumbing to add before I'll call this engine done, like a braided electrical line that goes from the rear of this conduit to "somewhere". Before I attempt any more details, including more of the Eduard photo-etch, I'm going to wait for a CD that Bud (Budman) has kindly mailed me with all sorts of pics of this engine for future reference, so that I don't screw up again. As Bud's signature says, "Failure Brings The Opportunity To Begin Again More Intelligently". You've got that right Bud- and again thanks!

Edited by chuck540z3
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To paint this engine and not leave any shadows and paint dust in the small gaps, you should paint many of the parts separately. This is what I came up with to get maximum engine parts assembled vs. parts to be left apart for painting.....

Every time you make a post I learn something new :D The engine looks stunning... Thanks for sharing yet another great build and all your secrets :cheers:

/Jesse

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Great work, well worth the wait.

Quick question about decanting paint from a spray can.... how exactly do you do that?? Is it just a question of spraying the paint in a container and just use the paint build-up??

Keep up the great work!

Sorry, in my hast to fix my screw-up I forgot my manners.

To decant a spray bomb you just spray the nozzle of the can into a large straw that is directed into a small jar or other container. Use rubber gloves and hold the top where the nozzle touches the straw (or other tube) to prevent blow-back. Once you've sprayed enough to fill the small jar about 1/2 way, stop and let the paint just sit there for a few minutes as the propellant is released. If you just covered the jar tightly right away it will come under fairly big pressure, so that the next time you open it, you could be wearing paint all over your face and shirt!

I almost always thin this Krylon paint with a bit of lacquer thinner before placing it in my airbrush, because I like lots of thin light coats rather than one thick one, which tends to sputter in the airbrush anyway. This paint is dry to the touch in 10 minutes, but it's not really rock hard dry for about a week- likely due to the introduction of lacquer thinner. On it's own without thinning it's fairly dry in only 1 day. Model Master gloss black enamel, in my experience, takes about 3 weeks to get to the same drying level, so I now avoid it.

Edited by chuck540z3
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Sorry, in my hast to fix my screw-up I forgot my manners.

To decant a spray bomb you just spray the nozzle of the can into a large straw that is directed into a small jar or other container. Use rubber gloves and hold the top where the nozzle touches the straw (or other tube) to prevent blow-back. Once you've sprayed enough to fill the small jar about 1/2 way, stop and let the paint just sit there for a few minutes as the propellant is released. If you just covered the jar tightly right away it will come under fairly big pressure, so that the next time you open it, you could be wearing paint all over your face and shirt!

I almost always thin this Krylon paint with a bit of lacquer thinner before placing it in my airbrush, because I like lots of thin light coats rather than one thick one, which tends to sputter in the airbrush anyway. This paint is dry to the touch in 10 minutes, but it's not really rock hard dry for about a week- likely due to the introduction of lacquer thinner. On it's own without thinning it's fairly dry in only 1 day. Model Master gloss black enamel, in my experience, takes about 3 weeks to get to the same drying level, so I now avoid it.

Thanks!!!

I am currently using MM Glos black and it does stay tacky for a very long while, so I will be using this method now....

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Always follow your build threads. Not in this life time will make models like you. Wondering if you have realized that the engine fits in a very tight frame on the kit, so all those great details you are working on might give a fitting problem later on. I hope that's not the case. :) :)

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Always follow your build threads. Not in this life time will make models like you. Wondering if you have realized that the engine fits in a very tight frame on the kit, so all those great details you are working on might give a fitting problem later on. I hope that's not the case. :) :)

I yanked the wires off the kit part, cleaned off the glue on all the parts, re-painted the kit part, then glued the new conduit and wires together, mounting the aluminum rod to the kit part. There really should be a slight gap between these 2 rails, but I'm worried about clearance in the front fuselage, but at 1/32 scale you'd never see the difference anyway. The wires should also go into posts at the base of each cylinder, but I avoided doing this for clearance reasons as well. Anyway, all better now- and the aluminum color really adds some nice detail that was missing before....

Yup! I'm worried too, which is another reason I've stopped doing any more until I get more engine pics AND fit the engine into the front fuselage. I've still got a bunch of Eduard brass to install and I plan on doing some delicate plumbing, but there's no use wasting time sticking it all in there if it won't fit later.

BTW, although I have pics of the conduit looking approximately like I have it now, I'm now finding more pics of the conduit being longer towards the back of the engine and all plug wires angled forward, much like the Eduard rail, although the plug wires are never equidistant on the rail as Eduard has made it. In hindsight, I wish I had done it this way instead, but there is a point where you have to just live with it and move on.

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Yup! I'm worried too, which is another reason I've stopped doing any more until I get more engine pics AND fit the engine into the front fuselage. I've still got a bunch of Eduard brass to install and I plan on doing some delicate plumbing, but there's no use wasting time sticking it all in there if it won't fit later.

BTW, although I have pics of the conduit looking approximately like I have it now, I'm now finding more pics of the conduit being longer towards the back of the engine and all plug wires angled forward, much like the Eduard rail, although the plug wires are never equidistant on the rail as Eduard has made it. In hindsight, I wish I had done it this way instead, but there is a point where you have to just live with it and move on.

Everyone has his own sequence to build the kit and I dont want to be spoiler here. You have splendid idea of detailing the engine. However, you could hold it off for now and build the fuselage and the engine frame. At that point, you will exactly know how much space there is and how much details you can cram in that tiny space.

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Sent you a PM. let me know if it worked.

Bud

It worked and, sadly, my second lame attempt at a electrical conduit is getting ripped off again! :bandhead2:

That's the bad news. The good news is that the pics you have provided will make this engine rock! Thanks again Bud!

Everyone has his own sequence to build the kit and I dont want to be spoiler here. You have splendid idea of detailing the engine. However, you could hold it off for now and build the fuselage and the engine frame. At that point, you will exactly know how much space there is and how much details you can cram in that tiny space.

You've read my mind. I started on the cockpit last night so that the front fuselage can be completed before any more wiring is attempted. I hate re-doing stuff (see above!). :lol:

Edited by chuck540z3
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Clioguy When I decant I just turn the rattle can upside down and spray till it can't spray any more. Then I punch a hole in it and pour it into a couple of jars that I have laying around. If you cap them quickly they will stay good for several months. Or you can spray it into a jar and use it like you suggested.

Chuck you are the MAN. Are you trying to build a real airplane. Because from the looks of it you are on a really good start. That engine looks like it needs to be in a Museum. I can't imagine how this Mustang is going to look after seeing your F-4. Holly crap that thing looks real. Chuck for President. :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship:

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Very nice progress. This will be the same standard as the phantom.

Greetings

Rogiér

Thanks Guys. Jet engines are sure a lot easier to assemble and paint than a prop engine! Actually, my new experiences with Alclad and metal finish weathering on the F-4E was one of the reasons for this particular build, which will be weathered bare metal in most areas. When done properly, you can sure turn plastic into something that looks a lot like metal.....

Belly7.jpg

As mentioned earlier, I ripped off the ignition conduit, sanded off the glue marks, then re-painted the affected areas and set the engine aside until I get the front fuselage done. Once that is finished, I plan on doing a lot of wiring and plumbing detail to get this engine looking a lot better than it does now. I just started the Barracuda instrument panel last night and I have to say, I'm really getting excited about this build now that I've put a few pieces together and have done some more research. As usual lately, I'm kinda busy right now, so stay tuned for some dash work next week.

Edited by chuck540z3
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Chuck, I know you are a jet guy but I bet before you finish this beast you will want to do a couple more WW2 props!!

Remember, you said you would show us how to replicate? your weathering skills. The exhausts on the above Phantom look to real not to be!! :jaw-dropping:

Bud

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