Cockpit detailing and stenciling for P-51D Mustang

[Skyediamonds]

Good day to one and all and a Happy New Year. I'm requesting anyone who may have photos of stencils of the cockpit interior to a P-51D Mustang. I have been generously supported by Wurger in my quest for details and stenciling for the exterior of the plane, such as: stencils for fueling, C.G crosses, gun camera, bomb racks and more. I'm modeling a Guillow's Mustang in super detail. This will also include the cockpit interior. I'm in need of stenciling such as "throttles, mixtures, radio dials, labeling for various switches, magnetos, fuel selector valves" and more. If anyone can provide either photos or drawings, it would be greatly appreciated.

It's my intentions to take this photos of these stenciling and have them replicated in scale into decals. From there, they will be placed in the appropriate areas within the cockpit. I'll gladly post all of my photos as I build along.

For those who wish to know me and my detailing of models, I sincerely request that you may seek out the modeling section and look for Super Detailing S.E.5 and Wright Bros' Flyer. Both were from Guillow's kits and were detailed extensively.

I sincerely thank you in advance,

Skye

 

[fubar57]

Barracuda Studios does a decal sheet in 1:32 Display Products

 

[Skyediamonds]

Fubar: Thank you very much for your reply and help. I'll definitely take them up. I'm wondering if they will also enlarge to 1:15th scale. Just reviewed their listing and samples, that's truly amazing!! Wow. If they'll enlarge them, that would be great. If not, I'll probably have to buy them and photographically enlarge them myself and hope they'll turn out good. Thank you again.... It's greatly appreciated. Skye

 

[Crimea_River]

One of the best Mustang builds I ever saw and tons of reference pics here: Missouri Armada P-51D Mustang: documents and partial scratch from the Tamiya 1/48 kit

 

[Skyediamonds]

Crimea!!

Those references in cockpit stenciling are EXACTLY what I had in mind & needed. You dah man!

Don't know if I'll be able to pull this extreme level detailing off, but rest assured, I'll do my best. I'll start posting my Mustang build on this site real soon. Full disclosure: it's still in the basic frame-up stage, so unlike my previous posts of the S.E,5, & Wright Flyer, the Mustang build thread will be much (much) slower.

I would appreciate all feedback & suggestions as this is my first tackle at a complex warbird project.

Again, thank you so much! It's really appreciated. I mentioned it before, but it's worth noting again this site is a great source of information.

Skye

 

[Crimea_River]

You're welcome Skye. Happy to help and I look forward to your build.

 

[Skyediamonds]

Crimea:

I'm still reviewing all of that incredible amount of data that was presented on the plastic model of the P-51 Mustang with my mouth dropped to the floor. Can't believe that there would be THAT amount of detailing available for people to see. I've already photo-copied several of the pictures from the build to be used as templates for my own stenciling. All this will be posted. I'm just overwhelmed at the moment. The challenge facing me is converting a rubber-band powered stick-n-tissue model into a true replica of the Mustang. This build is progressing more slowly than usual due to the challenges of the build and the amount of experimenting I'm doing in my efforts to simulate natural metal finish. The model is to be done up as Big Beautiful Doll. It's ,my intentions to have it finished in a highly polished metallic state using aluminum foil such as "Chrome Vinyl" or a trademarked product called "Flite Metal" or both. The model will definitely be my challenge in this area of detailing.

 

[Crimea_River]

Yep and it's even more incredible when one realizes that it's 1/48 scale.

 

[Skyediamonds]

Yes! I had to keep reminding myself of that, the model is 1/48th scale. It's amazing that he would work on such details and have a lengthy debate on the merits of the added accessory or the accuracy of the detail. I'm sure he must have been using a lamp with built-in enlarging lens. Either that, or using a form of magnifying glasses. Either way, just the mere fact he was able to cram in all that detail into such a small cockpit is still astonishing. Use of toothpicks, tweezers, and similar such "surgical" instruments must have been the tools of trade here.

I'm still trying to pick up my mouth off the floor. I also learned a great deal about the Mustang itself. That is one of the benefits of modeling. It's one thing to learn about aircraft in general terms such as its historical significance and performance abilities, it's quite another to become intimate with its systems, designs, the specific locations of cockpit switches, the reasons for their locations, the updates of field modifications and so much more. I thought I knew a lot about Mustangs in the general sense, but here I learned how much I didn't know. All of these small and subtle variances have added tremendous insight into the inner workings of the Mustang.

It wasn't until last year (sounds like a long time ago, when it's really only last month), that I learned through this marvelous site, that the wings to the Mustang were puttied over to help maintain the smoothness needed for laminar airflow. Until then, I "assumed" that the Mustang's wings were just like all those of other aircraft. that the wings were made up of skeletal structures covered with stressed skin and riveted together with no use of putty. If paint was to be used, it was purely for camouflage, or unit markings.

I'll be working on the Guillow's model today and a bit ore tomorrow. I'm hoping to achieve more results that are worth posting. This model is for my daughter. She was quite adamant that I build it in the first place (I love all aircraft,, but the Mustangs were one of those planes that, if you've seen one, you've seen 'em all). Secondly, she insisted that I model it as Big Beautiful Doll. She even has a large poster of the cockpit to a BBD Mustang hanging on her wall to her home ( I believe it's a restoration of the original BBD, but the cockpit is absolutely gorgeous).

My own sense of modeling is, if I'm to build one, I might as well do the best I can with what abilities I have. Taking that path, I decided to take a stick-n-tissue model and infill the fuselage structure with balsa wood to give it more of a solid metal appearance. , Then cover the whole fuselage with a combination of chrome vinyl and a patented product called "Flite Metal." These products are similar to a very thin highly polished metallic surface "shelf paper" with a sticky backing. One only needs to cut with a pair of scissors the desired panel,, peel off the sticky backing, and then affix the panel to the desired location. I hope to have simulated rivets embedded to the covering first prior to sticking onto the model. This, along with modifications to the wing are what I hope to achieve a model worthy of setting standards to myself.

Flite Metal is advertised on RCSB modeling website (a site mainly for R/C sized models whose goals are to maintain scale fidelity and accuracy) and has a lot of adhesive backing. The chrome vinyl is very similar, but it will tend to bubble over the surface under heat -or more accurately, under warm temperatures.