Donivanp
Major
Nice
**** DONE: GB-57 1/48 P-51K / Mk.IV Mustang - WW2 Foreign Service
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Vic Balshaw
Major General
Nice bit of decoration Andy and agree a bit of weathering should sort the paintwork out on the wheel bay. Like the ID lenses as well, seems we have to keep our wits about us with some of these instructions, I often come across ones that just don't work as they say. Also be sad if you don't stick with it, there is a limit to how many kits you can polish off in a Zombie build. 
- Thread starter
- #65
Crimea_River
Marshal
Thanks for the comments guys. Just letting you know that the intent is to push on and get this one done in the next 3 weeks. Still doing some minor filling on the wing details before assembling it all together.
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- Thread starter
- #66
Crimea_River
Marshal
Wings are now filled and sanded smooth where appropriate and the loose ailerons and flaps have been glued in place. I opted for the dropped flaps. The wheel wells have been given a wash to hide the mistakes.
Once all this is dry, the next step will be to assemble the wing to the fuselage.
Once all this is dry, the next step will be to assemble the wing to the fuselage.
Donivanp
Major
Coming along nicely Andy
Vic Balshaw
Major General
Looks ok Andy and keep pushing, I want to see this one done.
Nice work so far Andy!
- Thread starter
- #71
Crimea_River
Marshal
Wing is on. In my opinion, Airfix have engineered this kit in such a way that the moulds demand very tight tolerances to ensure a good fit. In the case of the wing-to-fuselage joint and the insert that forms the lower cowl and bottom half of the wing leading edge up to the landing gear strut, they almost pulled it off. I had to do a lot of filing and trimming of seams to get the parts to come together and still needed above average force to make it work. The starboard wing fairing has a small step that I could not get rid of and I think the issue is that the shape of the wheel well part, which fits tight to the wing upper half, doesn't match the fairing curvature and I resigned myself to accepting the step as is. The only way to get rid of it would have been to apply excessive local clamping force and I just didn't want to build up that much stress in the glued joints.
Anyway, here's a pic of the togetherness with the lower cowl still clamped. The wing leading edges have not been glued yet as they will need their own clamps to pull the seams together and I just didn't want to fuss too much at once.
Anyway, here's a pic of the togetherness with the lower cowl still clamped. The wing leading edges have not been glued yet as they will need their own clamps to pull the seams together and I just didn't want to fuss too much at once.
Vic Balshaw
Major General
Sure sounded like that was a had fit Andy but you got there in the end.
Nice Andy.
Found similar issues with the Airfix Spitfire Vb i'm building
Found similar issues with the Airfix Spitfire Vb i'm building
Vic Balshaw
Major General
Have just realised this is the kit I've got lined up for the Mustang GB, so any info is going to be locked onto.
- Thread starter
- #76
Crimea_River
Marshal
Thanks guys. Vic, generally I have found the fit to be pretty good but when you build your kit, do a lot of dry fitting to understand what you are dealing with. There are a lot of parts that interact and any one or more that are slightly out of line can cause problems. I never could figure out what was causing the small step in the wing root fairings and despite trimming a lot of plastic it is still there:
As you can see, it's not really bad. I guess it will match the oversized seam lines! Anyway, as you'll note above, the wing leading edges have been glued and the only way to hold them together was to use tape. With the wing on, I also added the horizontal stabs which went fine. There's plenty of adjustment possible so I made sure the srufaces were properly aligned with the wings and fin.
Here are the joints on the lower cowl that needed some force to bring into alignment. As you can see, lining up the forward section of the seam resulted in a step at the rear part near the wing and there doesn't seem to be a way around this.
There's noting major here that a little filing and rescribing won't fix so, all in all I'm satisfied with how it's come together. Thanks again for your continued interest and yes Vic, I'm doing my best to get her done.
EDIT: Argh, damn close-ups! I see a couple of bubbles on the wing uppers that will need to be filled.....
As you can see, it's not really bad. I guess it will match the oversized seam lines! Anyway, as you'll note above, the wing leading edges have been glued and the only way to hold them together was to use tape. With the wing on, I also added the horizontal stabs which went fine. There's plenty of adjustment possible so I made sure the srufaces were properly aligned with the wings and fin.
Here are the joints on the lower cowl that needed some force to bring into alignment. As you can see, lining up the forward section of the seam resulted in a step at the rear part near the wing and there doesn't seem to be a way around this.
There's noting major here that a little filing and rescribing won't fix so, all in all I'm satisfied with how it's come together. Thanks again for your continued interest and yes Vic, I'm doing my best to get her done.
EDIT: Argh, damn close-ups! I see a couple of bubbles on the wing uppers that will need to be filled.....
Donivanp
Major
Looking superb as always, great advice.
Vic Balshaw
Major General
Great stuff Andy and thanks.
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