Airfix 1/48 F-51D Mustang

[talbot]

Airfix A05136 1:48 F-51D Mustang

Will be doing an out of the box build in the US livery - FF-625 Rotation Blues of 67th FBS in Korea
My 3rd airfix build, and 2nd of this same kit
I do like the plastic and the fit of the kit is good, only issue I've had is aligning the dorsal fin / stabilizer with the spine of the fuselage - it's tilted slightly to the port side
Scanning through builds on Scalemates, seems it's not just myself

Will be using Mr Color primer (gloss black) and lacquers for the cockpit and I have Vallejo Metal Colors I want to use up on the exterior

cockpit mostly done, need a little more fixes and touch ups on the battery and radio, wear and weathering

 

[fubar57]

Very cool scheme, Steve. Lots of detail on the innards. Did the cockpit placards come on the decal sheet? These are sorely lacking in other kits

 

[Wurger]

 

[talbot]

Very cool scheme, Steve. Lots of detail on the innards. Did the cockpit placards come on the decal sheet? These are sorely lacking in other kits

they did Geo, was nice to see and adds some character
the top row of the Common section

 

[Gnomey]

Good work so far!

 

[Crimea_River]

Nice one Steve. Built a version of this kit a few GBs ago. I'll have to dig it up and see if I had the issues yiu describe.

 

[talbot]

thank Andy, be interesting what you encountered and I'll post a few examples I've found later this morn

 

[talbot]

here is the current build can see it's slightly off centre, I'm not going to fuss with it too much

so check my previous build, very similar (zoomed in)

still could very much be me, but found a couple on scalemates with similar results

 

[talbot]

little more progress
I do like how they did recognition lights with a modular clear insert

 

[fubar57]

Had that type of formation light setup on one of my last builds. My circle cutter came to the rescue with tiny masks

 

[Wurger]

 

[talbot]

Had that type of formation light setup on one of my last builds. My circle cutter came to the rescue with tiny masks

that is my plan as well, the cutters work well

 

[Crimea_River]

Hi Steve. Found my build here: **** DONE: GB-57 1/48 P-51K / Mk.IV Mustang - WW2 Foreign Service

The off centered fin that you pointed out is intentional. The Mustang had a designed-in 1 degree offset to counteract engine torque similar to the Corsair.

A quick glance through my build shows a number of issues I had. The warped tail area was one. Also very tight fitting of fuselage to wing. I chose to fill the panel lines in the wing that were puttied at the factory, something I've had to do with every Mustang kit I've tackled.

 

[talbot]

That's interesting Andy, thank you

I had no idea, think you just gave me my key learning for this build

and nice build!

 

[Gnomey]

Looks good so far!

 

[talbot]

Thanks Hugh!

 

[talbot]

a little progress over the past several days:
- create and cut canopy and wheel masks
- putty some of the seams
- apply the canopy masks
- primer base coat

dont know about you guys but I really love the mr surfacer primers, spray nicely and lay down really well

up next plan to do more finer sanding in a few spots then a final layer of primer

 

[fubar57]

Nice and smooth

 

[Crimea_River]

Indeed. Designed your own canopy masks or did you download that file from somewhere?

 

[Wurger]