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My first entry is a pair of Mustangs, the very good but 20 year old Tamiya kit and the new kid on the block the Eduard kit.   The Eduard kit will be out of the box, but I am undecided if I will use the kit decals for the Tamiya or a set of Montex masks I already have.   The only thing else I will probably use are some Eduard seatbelts and resin wheels for the Tamiya.   

 

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I've started with the Tamiya kit.   A few observations so far.  The cockpit is decent, but the sidewalls are very plain.  They have very shallow molded in detail that really doesn't look mush like the real thing at all.   It's been at least 10 years since I've built this kit and it surprised me that it is so sparse.   It's comparable to the Monogram 1/48 fighters like the P-47 or their P-51.    Another thing about it is the exhausts, they have to be installed when the top of the forward fuselage is put on because they sandwich between the top and main parts of the fuselage.  This complicates painting them.    The fit is great, there shouldn't be any need for filler and the only place that may have to be sanded is the lower fuselage around behind the intake.     The wheel wells are very nice, although for painting it would have been nice to have the main spar molded separately.   I added Eduard seatbelts and used the kit decal for the instrument panel, which worked alright except for the one dial on the top right which is not where it should be    

 

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Edited by nspreitler
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Some progress on the Tamiya Mustang.   I attempted to use Montex masks for the insignia and that didn't go well so I sanded all that off and repainted.  I'm undecided if I'll try the mask again or just go with the decals.   I did decided to go with the kit markings for a red tail P-51 with an interesting blue ring on the nose.   The paint is all MRP with the exception of the blue which is a mix of Hataka lacquers.  I went with Super Silver for the wings and Duraluminum for the rest of the airframe.   I still need to paint the darker area around the exhaust.  

 

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Great progress. That kit looks like it came together quickly.

 

It did go together very quickly, it's a very simple kit.  There are only about 50 pieces in the entire kit, and the fit is very good.   I used just a little Mr Surfacer in a couple seams on the bottom of the fuselage and that been it.   The paint went on fast using MRP.   The Eduard kit has a far more detailed interior which will take more time.   I'm not entirely happy with the paint, and with the Eduard kit will go with a more polished aluminum look for the fuselage.  

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I spent a lot of time today and accomplished little.   The one thing I am trying to do with at least the Tamiya kit is paint on the insignia and it's not gone well.   I've tried both Montex and Maketar masks, and so far prefer the vinyl Montex ones, after painting then sanding off my mistakes, repainting, and going through over two sets  of masks I finally have them to a level I am going to accept.  They aren't perfect or even close to it but I've learned quite a bit.  

 

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Nice, looks like a beautiful Mustang to me.

 

Interesting that you used masks for the major markings. Probably not for me, but I'm sure that it makes for a memorable build.

 

Cheers, Stefan.

 

Thanks, the masks took some work but once I got used to them it got a lot easier.  For single color markings they are as easy as decals, for the national insignia they took some work and I went through a couple sets before I got the hang of it.   The results are okay but not great, but with practice they do give a more convincing result than a decal.  

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Nice, looks like a beautiful Mustang to me.

 

Interesting that you used masks for the major markings. Probably not for me, but I'm sure that it makes for a memorable build.

 

Cheers, Stefan.

 

Thanks, the masks took some work but once I got used to them it got a lot easier.  For single color markings they are as easy as decals, for the national insignia they took some work and I went through a couple sets before I got the hang of it.   The results are okay but not great, but with practice they do give a more convincing result than a decal.  

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I pulled the Eduard kit out and began working on it.   A few observations.    The Tamiya kit is basically two sprues and the clear parts, roughly 50 pieces total.   The Eduard kit is 4 main sprues, the clear parts, and a color photoetch fret.  The Tamiya kit had masks, but you had to cut them out yourself, the Eduard has the typical Eduard masks.    The Eduard kit will have a lot of unused parts.   There is an entire sprue of weapons and drop tanks with bombs, a couple variations of rockets, and two different types of drop tanks.  The only parts used from this sprue in the directions are drop tanks which differ depending on which one you do.   The interior is very complete, and will take quite a bit of time to sand off the molded on detail and use the color photoetch.   I won't use all of it because for some of the knobs and levers I just don't like the look of flat photoetch.   There are options for a color photoetch instrument panel or decals, I'll probably use the photoetch one.    There are also two spinners, three types of props, two seats, and three center consoles.  There are a lot of small pieces, maybe to the point of being over engineered, but as long as they fit well it should be good.  

 

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Some progress on the Eduard kit.   The differences in the cockpit between it and the Tamiya kit are significant.   The Eduard seat is 6 pieces and looks a lot better than the Tamiya offering.   

 

For this one I first sprayed the cockpit floor brown to replicate the wood, then brushed on some Vallejo chipping fluid.  This always wants to bead but I've found if you continue to brush it will eventually even out as it starts to dry.   Then the black was sprayed on top.   I used MRP and did all of that is one sitting over the course of less than a half hour.  Then I chipped back the black to expose the wooden color.   With MRP since it is a lacquer if you work shortly after the paint is dry to the touch it chips well.  If you wait overnight or longer it is going to be touch to chip, which at times works in its favor but for this I wanted bigger chips and scuff marks.  

 

 

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The Eduard kit is coming along nicely.  The interior is really a huge step ahead of the Tamiya, even without the color photoetch.    I used a little of the photoetch but not all of it because replacing round knobs and handles with flat PE never looks right to me.   The wheel wells are great, there are about 15 pieces in the wheel well but the fit is fantastic.   The fit of the fuselage and wings is generally good but my kit was a little bent around the bottom intake but with TET it came together.  There are no locating pins, but there weren't any major fit problems but some care is needed to avoid steps.   The inserts on the wings for the guns are slightly undersized.  I lined them up with the top more visible portion of the wing and the bottom will need some Mr Surfacer to level everything out.    There are options for metal or fabric control surfaces for the tail but no references for which aircraft used what.   One small but annoying issue is with the sprues, almost all the numbers on the sprues have sink marks which makes reading the numbers a little bit of a challenge.  

 

I am getting close to primer, but this is where you have to decides which aircraft to do since there are different canopies and other parts for the decal options.   I've narrowed my choices down to two.  A yellow tailed aircraft in Italy or an OD/NG (or perhaps Dark Green/Medium Sea Gray) 8th Airforce aircraft.    

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

A little progress, all the major assembly on the Eduard kit is done.  I have to add the front part of the canopy and I can move on to painting.   I got a little sidetracked with a couple other projects but the Mustangs are still coming along.  I hope to at get the base paint down over the long weekend.   Since the Eduard kit will be a green/gray aircraft that was well used it will be a lot more weathered than the Tamiya kit  

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5 hours ago, nspreitler said:

A little progress, all the major assembly on the Eduard kit is done.  I have to add the front part of the canopy and I can move on to painting.   I got a little sidetracked with a couple other projects but the Mustangs are still coming along.  I hope to at get the base paint down over the long weekend.   Since the Eduard kit will be a green/gray aircraft that was well used it will be a lot more weathered than the Tamiya kit  

 

Thank you for checking in. I look forward to seeing some paint on the Eduard mustang.

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Got a lot of the paint on, trying out my homemade masks on this one.   They are working well and this is certainly something I will continue, these weren't perfect but I'm learning and touchup was pretty easy.   A 12 x12 inch sheet is only about a $1 and a lot fits on one sheet.   Used some hairspray chipping but I started a little too soon so I got bigger chips than I wanted, I'll probably redo that area.  

 

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Coming close to the finish line.    A few things I've noticed.   The Eduard kit has multiple props in it, which is really nice even though none of the versions in this one use a different propeller.   The one piece rear canopy is different from Tamiya which made the frame and clear part separately.  I prefer the Eduard one, it's easier to mask and paint the canopy than it is to glue clear plastic     The decals went on well, it includes a full set of stencils but I won't use many of them since this plane was repainted and in references I can't see many stencils    The landing gear went together very well, I like the construction sequence for the wheels with the tire going together and then the wheel.    

 

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Eduard's Mustang is nearing the finish line.  I'm generally happy with, there are a few things to note.  Getting a neat attachment on the flaps wasn't as easy as with the Tamiya, the fit on the front windscreen needed a little work, and while the detail the attachment of the tailwheel is very fragile.   The decals went on well, my only complaint is the checks on the nose are not very bright, the colors seem a little off.     

 

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