Airfix 1/48 P-51D

[Crimea_River]

Yeah, I had always thought those strips were bare metal rather than painted.

Speaking of the wing root area, I'm wondering if Airfix got this detail correct for the option of dropping the flaps. The inner edge of the flap actually tucked up under the wing root fairing so the fairing should be depicted as a very thin piece of sheet metal. When I did my Hasegawa P-51 D I had to create this detail. Tamiya's Mustang got it sort of correct but what they dod was create a large recess in the flap which really doesn't look good with the flaps deployed.

 

[Luftace43]

Yeah, I had always thought those strips were bare metal rather than painted.

Speaking of the wing root area, I'm wondering if Airfix got this detail correct for the option of dropping the flaps. The inner edge of the flap actually tucked up under the wing root fairing so the fairing should be depicted as a very thin piece of sheet metal. When I did my Hasegawa P-51 D I had to create this detail. Tamiya's Mustang got it sort of correct but what they dod was create a large recess in the flap which really doesn't look good with the flaps deployed.

The answer to the flaps is yes and no. They provide two sets of flaps that slot in easily that takes the guess work out of them being positioned properly, either fully deployed or fully retracted.

As can be seen here, they have correctly reproduced the trailing edge root fairing. It is a little thick but will be able to be sanded closer to a scale thickness easy enough.

The fully retracted option has recesses for the fairing to fit into.

The deployed option dose not have recesses so that the flaps are accurately portayed in this position. Note also the detail at the rounded leading edge, a nice touch.

So, I believe the way they went about this is very smart and will accurately depict this area which ever option one chooses to use. I will be doing the deployed flaps. This really is a nice kit.

 

[Crimea_River]

Yep. Kudos to Airfix for that.

 

[Wayne Little]

Nice work.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Gnomey]

Looks good so far!

 

[SANCER]

I'm enjoying what I can see so far from this Airfix kit. It will be a good option to keep in mind.

Saludos

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff.
It's about time I replaced my lost Mustangs, and this kit looks like the best contender.

 

[Luftace43]

Thank you guys, halfway done plumbing the wheel bay, updates coming soon.

Airframes
With a little more work than I am putting into this, I think it could definitely be made into a show stopper.

 

[Ohm-men]

Nice work. Looking forward to the update on the wheel well detail.

 

[Wayne Little]

Bring it on....

 

[Luftace43]

Tiny update because tiny parts.
I've plumbed the wheel wells as much as I can before final assembly. The rest will be finished after painting the nmf is applied due to needing to be able to mask this area.
The layout of where the fuel and hydraulic lines is pretty easy due to having found good references. The difficult part was trying to cut lengths of lead wire to length to fit them between the ribs. I would have liked to drill holes through the ribs and run single lengths of wire from end to end, but since the were molded integrally and so close together this was not feasible, short of cutting out the ribs and making new ones with drilled holes. Not gonna happen says I. So, super glue and tedious tweezer work it was. I think it turned out decent non-the-less. So, here are the pictures.

Starboard well almost done.

Port well before plumbing commenced.

Both sides finished.

Some close up shots, the last two showing the bay doors in place but not yet glued. Notice I attempted to mark the fuel lines with red bands and one of the hydraulic lines with a blue-yellow-blue band as indicated in references. The hydraulic band is especially difficult to spot, but it is there.

Now I have to check things over and it should be time to glue all the major assemblies together.

Also, I am planning on doing a display base for my aircraft to give some context of its theatre of operation. Here is a rare color picture for your viewing pleasure of what I plan my base to look like AND the actual squadron aircraft of the one I will be replicating.

P-51D's of the 46th Fighter Squadron, 21st Fighter Group, 7th Fighter Command, 20th Air Force at airfield No. 2, Iwo Jima 1945.

Have yet to pick a specific aircraft as of now, I am on a seemingly impossible quest to match all 50 aircraft of this squadron with their respective serial numbers, individual aircraft numbers and any personal names and/or nose art for each. I have a notebook I have been jotting my findings down in. So far I have 16 of 50 aircraft I have enough information for to model fairly accurately and about a dozen more with incomplete information. Of course there are a few I have no information on at all. Crazy? Yes, I probably am, but research is half the fun.

Also, with the display base, I am wanting to add a few small fragments of japanese aircraft amongst the tall grass for some interest. Gotta figure out how to keep this compact, subtle, yet realistic so as not to take away from the main aircraft. Want to keep it a display base, not a diorama.

Another hurdle I am thinking ahead about is the 110 gallon drop tanks these aircraft used for escorting the b-29s, as well as finding good references for the wooden hardpoints these mounted to. The kit only provides the standard hard points and the 75 gal and 108 gal paper tanks, none of which is suitable for these particular aircraft. As far as I know, there are no after market tanks of this type yet. The only ones I am aware of in 1/48 are the tanks offered in the old Monogram F-80 kit and Hobby Boss' rendition of the same aircraft, though the Hobby Boss parts are said to have alignment issues. Unfortunately, in the hundreds of unbuilt kits in my collection, I have neither of these. Any help or suggestions in this regard are welcomed. I am leaning towards getting some of the monogram tanks and makimy resin copies.

Thanks for looking in and hope it is not too wordy.

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff.
Regarding the drop tanks - were these the same, or similar, as those used on the P-38s in the PTO ?
If so, then I think I have a spare set, left over from the Academy P-38 kit, which you're welcome to if they'll suit the purpose.

 

[Luftace43]

Good stuff.
Regarding the drop tanks - were these the same, or similar, as those used on the P-38s in the PTO ?
If so, then I think I have a spare set, left over from the Academy P-38 kit, which you're welcome to if they'll suit the purpose.

Thank you!

As far as the P-38 tanks are concerned they aren't quit correct for the aircraft I am modelling. The 110 gal tanks were of all metal construction and looked almost identical to the 75 gal tanks shape-wise, just larger. The 110 gal tanks are also the same ones used as napalm tanks, especially during the Korean war. The p-38 tanks were 165 gal capacity and only used very late in the war on p-51s in conjunction with the HVAR rockets to compensate for the extra drag and fuel usage carrying this ordinance entailed when priorities switched to a predominantly ground attack role instead of escort missions.
Thanks for the offer on the tanks though, that is very kind of you to offer. Unfortunately I don't have a use for that type at this time.

 

[Airframes]

No problem. Now that I know which tanks they are, and what they look like, I'll have a look through my spares boxes, as I think I might have some.
I'll let you know if I find any, but it'll be a couple of days, as I need to look in three different places, two of which are obstructed by junk ... er, I mean items that I have not relocated yet !

 

[Crimea_River]

I know the tanks you mean and unfortunately I have no spares of these. Got some larger 150gal ones for the P-47 and some for the Corsair.

Love the wheel wells. Not bad for OOB.....

 

[Luftace43]

Ok guys, I have a pretty big update here. Things are clipping right along so I need to take time to show you what I have done before I get too far ahead.

I had noticed a sink mark on the back of the seat armor earlier in the build. I was just going to leave it alone initially, but it kept staring me in the face until I could bare it no more. I decided to fill it with a little milliput. Also in references I have looked over the seat armor in most mustang, especially that visible above the bottom of the canopy was painted black. I made this so and gave it a light dry brush of neutral grey.

I had to get the tail wheel strut finished up before I could gloss coat and give everything a wash. For anyone else that may build this kit, be extra careful when removing this strut from the sprue tree. One of the tree attachment points is on the end of the locating pin. I did not pay attention and clipped off the pin, leaving me with no way to positively assemble the strut into the tail wheel bay. I drilled out the end and glued in a length of stretched sprue. It wasn't as good as the kit part had I not damaged it, but it worked well enough to serve its purpose.

Painted the tail wheel bay and strut zinc chromate yellow. I then gave everything a coat of Vallejo gloss varnish. I will be getting a different gloss as I don't like the way this one performs. Not as smooth as I would like it to be. I managed to get it to work well enough for my purposes concerning these areas though.
After allowing it to dry for a couple hours, I gave everything a wash of a mix of black and burnt umber thinned with turpenoid. I allowed this to dry for an hour or so then cleaned up the excess with q-tips dampened with turpenoid. I couldn't find my small make up sponges for this purpose so spent a few minutes afterwards picking off fibers with tweezers. Oh well. Once dry, I gave everything a flat coat of Polly Scale acrylic flat. I love this stuff. Sprays nicely and dries quickly and dead flat. Next I mixed up a very light green yellow with oil paints and used this to dry brush the raised detail of the chromate green parts and give a little tonal variation.

Next I glued in the underwing lights with tamiya extra thin. Instead of painting them silver from the backside I burnished a piece of HVAC tape over them. Much easier and much better looking. I like the few occasions when I think of something smart.

Finally I glued the wheel bay into the lower wing and clamped it really well while it cured.

That's it for now. I have more but will show you guys in a later update tonight. At this rate I may have the whole plane together tonight and ready for paint by tomorrow.
Crazy how quick this starts to go once interior stuff is finished.

See you guys soon!

 

[JKim]

Excellent work! The added details really enhance the wheel wells. For an easy to use gloss, I'd recommend Alclad Aqua Gloss. It's acrylic so easy clean-up and no nasty fumes. Aqua Gloss sprays well, dries fast and hard. You can even use it as a substitute for Future and dip your clear canopies in it.

 

[Gnomey]

Nicely done so far!

 

[Crimea_River]

Nice work. I too use aluminum tape for various applications and find it most useful. Not sure if you are aware but the lights that you put this on are coloured red, amber, and green so not sure if you have a plan to address that.