dai phan Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 Greetings all, While waiting fot the engine and the masks to arrive from EU for my Tamiya Spitfire, I will start on the AM P-51A with True Details cockpit and Verlinden engine kit. Until now AM P-51A is the only A version in existence of the 48th scale. AM gathered attention among the modelling community with rave reviews when they entered the market in early 90's. Unfortunately poor management and questionable marketing strategy doomed the company a few years later. An almost 30 year old kit that still stands the test of time. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted July 25, 2022 Author Share Posted July 25, 2022 (edited) Howdy all... Not too many parts but the instructions are among the worse I have ever seen even with updated versions. Dry fitting and checking on the Net is a must. I decided not to use the TD cockpit kit as they do not offer much than the kit's offering. I did not have to cut out the forward section of the fuselage as it is already done for you (anticipated for different variants) . Dai Edited July 25, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted July 26, 2022 Author Share Posted July 26, 2022 (edited) Greetings... Moving along with this project. If there is one thing I learn about engine sets is these require lots of dry fitting, shaving, trimming and scratch building skill to make them fit. You even have to modify the kit's construction sequence (on your own as there is no advice to do so). Nothing is drop fit. On this set I had to trim some of the firewall sides in order for it to be installed properly. I am suprised Verlinden did not provide any details on such as engine bearers on the bottom side. Dai Edited July 28, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted July 27, 2022 Author Share Posted July 27, 2022 Hi everyone... Verlinden is the father of resin update sets but I am very surprised there is massive lack of details on the lower engine. No framework, no pipes, no details, just basic engine by its self. Therefore I am going to install the lower cowling to hide the empty space. Here are some of the engine picture for reference. There is a company called Art Model that produced the engine set for the P-51A but sadly way OOP and impossible to find. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted July 27, 2022 Author Share Posted July 27, 2022 (edited) Hello all, While looking at the early Mustang series, I forgot AM put out a cool P-51 with twin cannons and very colorful decals. Therefore I may switch out the wings or build another one with this version. Dai Edited July 27, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted July 28, 2022 Author Share Posted July 28, 2022 (edited) This is the only way to hide deficient details on the lower part of the engine. Quite disappointed at Verlinden in this regard but again, 25 years ago modellers did not expect the details of today's offering. In fact on my last build, the Eduard resin engine kit is very detailed and way more complicated than it should be. Dai Edited July 28, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted August 8, 2022 Author Share Posted August 8, 2022 (edited) Hi all, Still waiting for the engine set for my Spitfire so I went ahead and construct the Mustang variant with the cannons. The kit goes together so fast that I should be completed it along with the A version. Dai Edited August 8, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted August 13, 2022 Author Share Posted August 13, 2022 Hello all, When working with engine kit you must dry fit everything together with tiny drop of CA before painting the components. There is much fine tunning, trimmings in order for the parts to line up properly. I do not think there is CAD CAM in these aftermarket parts. Of course this is vintage Verlinden set too. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted August 13, 2022 Author Share Posted August 13, 2022 (edited) A challenging part of this build is I installed the lower cowling and have to work around it. The set is designed without it. However there is massive lack of details on the engine's under side that I had to install the cowl. As such I had to do careful trimmings of the engine supporting frames (not yet installed here) . Dai Edited August 13, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
longmc Posted August 14, 2022 Share Posted August 14, 2022 I have this same build in my stash. I'll follow your lead as your skills are far better than mine! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted August 15, 2022 Author Share Posted August 15, 2022 19 hours ago, longmc said: I have this same build in my stash. I'll follow your lead as your skills are far better than mine! Please I beg you as this is not the case ! Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted August 15, 2022 Author Share Posted August 15, 2022 (edited) Hi all, The planes are now ready for the application of the main colors. Dai Edited August 15, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted August 16, 2022 Author Share Posted August 16, 2022 (edited) Howdy... Started painting tonight starting with the wheel wells. Early Mustangs had aluminum wheel wells with the main spars in zinc chromate. Dai Edited August 16, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted August 22, 2022 Author Share Posted August 22, 2022 (edited) Hello all, Finish painting the cannon version. The regular A is next. Dai Edited August 22, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted August 22, 2022 Author Share Posted August 22, 2022 (edited) Hello all, The painting of the cannon version Mustang is done. Clear coating and decaling will be next after painting the A version with engine and dropped flaps. The propeller, cannons, canopy are tacked on just for show. These were state of the art back in 1993 and it is amazing how much better and detailed the kits are now today. Dai Edited August 22, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vonjhn68 Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 Nice build so far. Too bad about the Verlinden engine set, I have that in my stash and never knew how incomplete it was. Regards, John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted August 24, 2022 Author Share Posted August 24, 2022 (edited) On 8/22/2022 at 7:11 PM, vonjhn68 said: Nice build so far. Too bad about the Verlinden engine set, I have that in my stash and never knew how incomplete it was. Regards, John Look at the real Allison engine and you will see how woefully under detailed it is. Verlinden was the king of resin add ons back in the 80's, like Eduard the king of PE in its beginning. Dai Edited September 1, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted August 25, 2022 Author Share Posted August 25, 2022 (edited) Hello all, I decided to get the Verlinden flap set and after cutting out the flaps on the kit, the resin part is awefully short. I have looked at it 100 times and dry fit but it seems the resin flap is way short. The inner curve part of the flap should follow the the curvature of the wings. I cannot believe such massive error (?) on the master of resin parts? I await your expert replies. Dai Edited August 25, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted August 25, 2022 Author Share Posted August 25, 2022 Hello fellow modelers, I look into the Verlinden flap and this is what I see. The flaps are first way too short to fit the kit. Second it has the indentation at the fuselage side to allow the modelers to install in the up position. However this is designed for the flap to be dropped so this tooling totally unusable. Tamiya flaps also have this indentation to allow the flaps to be installed in the up position. But totally inaccurate in the down position. That is why Ultracast has a replacement without the indentation that allows the modelers to install in the down position. Good thing is A-36 to the D/K variants all have the same flap dimension. Therefore I will be ordering a set from Ultracast. So be warned, this Verlinden flap set is completely useless. This set also have the cockpit set but it does not offer much improvement over the kit's parts so forget about it. The photo is from ARC. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vonjhn68 Posted August 26, 2022 Share Posted August 26, 2022 Dang! I have that Verlinden set too... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted September 1, 2022 Author Share Posted September 1, 2022 (edited) Howdy friends, Got the Ultracast flaps and had to do some modifications to make them fit the kit. The result is barely passable as they are designed for the Tamiya kit. The Verlinden sets are only good for the engine and the cockpit and flap sets are useless (the cockpit set does not offer any marked improvements ). Did not use the gun bay so I cannot comment. I am surprised the Verlinden set did not live up to my expectations. The biggest let down was the flaps. Not even close by any standards. It is weird to think nobody saw the problem before it went into production. Dai Edited September 1, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted September 1, 2022 Author Share Posted September 1, 2022 The engine is merely average and I will need to add plumbings, hoses to make it look presentatable. Due to void of details on the bottom part, I installed the lower cowling. When things are in place the whole assembly is not accurate. The engine framework is not correct in relative to the lower cowling position. To correct one must increase the height of the cowling and lower the engine bearers. Too much work for me. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted September 6, 2022 Author Share Posted September 6, 2022 (edited) Hello fellow modelers... Got both planes painted and ready for the gloss coat and decaling stage. Dai Edited September 6, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted September 6, 2022 Author Share Posted September 6, 2022 (edited) Hi all, The flap position is not accurate as the Ultracast is designed for the Tamiya kit but it has to be this way. Very disappointed as the Verlinden offering is completely useless only to be found out after the kit underwent surgery. I am very surprised the error was not caught before the tooling went into production. You see even the iconic King of after market detail sets in the 80's, 90's made blunders ! Dai Edited September 6, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted September 6, 2022 Author Share Posted September 6, 2022 (edited) Hello everyone... Here is a surprise for you all. I look on Scalemates and there is a company CMK that produces prolific amount of after market resin kits. To my amazement, there is a set for control surfaces designed for the Accurate Miniature P-51 family. It has the flap set that I am looking for. I would never thought a company would make detail sets for a 30 year old kit. This set was produced on 2021. CMK also have other detail sets for the AM 51 family produced this year. Dai Edited September 6, 2022 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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