Super detailing Guillow's P-51D Mustang

[Skyediamonds]

Thank you Gnomey, sir.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Skyediamonds]

Thank you Wurger, sir.

 

[javlin]

It passes muster for me Sir looks quite Nice in fact!

 

[Skyediamonds]

Javelin,
Thank you it's encouraging to hear commentary from someone who knows what to look for. Don't know if you followed everything but this is ( of all things) a Guillow's Kit. I simply went overboard & converted what would be a simple skeletal stick-n-tissue into something a bit more.

 

[Airframes]

Great work Gary, it's going to be a beaut when finished.

 

[Skyediamonds]

Airframes,
Thank you, sir. I know you've been following my builds & we corresponded in support. To hear your appraisal is very rewarding. Things are turning out very well. Just had to keep banging my head until something breaks. Obviously I must have a thick skull.....

 

[Skyediamonds]

Good evening. to everyone. I've been busy! I've enclosed the left side as it stands tonight (Pacific Standard Time here in Reno, Nevada). I've been experimenting with all manners of techniques to achieve the detailing desired with just common household tools and (now) photographs. I must admit that all this work is beginning to bear fruit. I've done a bit of weathering to the left side in effort to show some wear. There is still quite a bit more to go. I have to add the salvo drop levers, the landing gear lever, another data plate, the pistol outlet (I forgot what exactly it's called, perhaps someone can help?) and some wiring. The throttle will be added after the whole model is nearly complete. The main reason is the grip to the throttle sticks above the canopy rails and it's apt to be busted off the first chance it can. I might still fabricate the throttle body and mixture controls and leave the throttle grip off until then. There's something else I need to add, but I'm not thinking clearly now. Been focused on this left side nearly all day. The control panel to the radiator controls alone took me almost two days. This was mostly due to (lots) of trial and error.

As you can see from the second picture, the scale I'm working with is a bit difficult when considering everything is made from scratch. No plastic kit in this scale, so no parts for me to salvage, no aftermarket sources & no photo-etchings to rely upon. I'll be posting my build series the next time on how I managed to get to this point despite all odds. Hope you'll enjoy and as always, comments are welcome.

Gary

 

[Wurger]

 

[Skyediamonds]

Thank you Wurger, sir.

 

[Gnomey]

Lovely work so far!

 

[Skyediamonds]

Gnomey,
Thank you, sir.

 

[rochie]

Fantastic

 

[Skyediamonds]

Roche;
Thank you, sir. I hope to be posting more on how I arrived at this point of the detailing. Suffice to say, it's been a challenge of sorts.
Gary

 

[Skyediamonds]

Good evening to everyone.

I did a "dress rehearsal" of organizing and collating my photos and writings in a relative order that would (somehow) make sense during my next series of 'How-I-Did-It" postings. I just randomly picked out the control panel for the radiator cooling controls located to the left shoulder of the pilot. As mentioned in my previous post # 528 a few days ago, the left side still has a ways to go before considered "finished." I put that word "finished" in quotes because as we all know, when it comes to detailing the model, almost nothing is truly finished.

Gary

 

[Skyediamonds]

I chose the radiator controls as this "How To" presentation. As with all of my endeavors in detailing, there's a bit of research. Equally so, as with almost all aircraft, nothing is truly the same. There's always a slight variation or difference between each aircraft and each interior.

It was therefore, interesting that such controls as the radiator, of all controls especially to the Mustang, would be entirely missing as seen in the second picture. I'm sure this is an error, but it does go to show the disparity not only between aircraft but also between documentations as well.

 

[Skyediamonds]

As previously noted, I (now) have a wide range of different sized images to choose. From this collection of prints, it was a simple matter of picking out the right size and right color saturation or even the right image that I felt was more suitable than the others. There's at least some advantages to this mind-numbing endeavor after all!

I settled on one that I felt met all my needs. As you can see from the last photo, there are also other images of the cockpit interior on that print. Therefore, I was careful to only cut out the image of the radiator control panel despite the possibility that I'll have dozens of the same image to the sub panel and rudder pedal from other photos. One never knows how arbitrarily these images are chosen at any given time. Call it "Modeler's Moods."

Actually, there were several dozens of photos that were taken from my old film camera that have proven to be inadequate compared to the cell phone photos which were found to be much more clear and precise. So I could have several images of the same size and color, but one would be more clear and precise or have richer color saturation. So it pays to experiment.

 

[Skyediamonds]

From here, I cut out the image from the photo using common household scissors. I've found that every once in awhile, scissors cut much more cleanly than razors. Razors sometimes have a tendency to 'pull' or tear the paper.

 

[Skyediamonds]

I picked out some tiny bolts from my modeler's stash. I simply turned them upside down and used the heads as a base for the switches. This was a simple and fast way to get the desired results. Unfortunately, this modeler doesn't recognize "common sense" for the sake of expediency. The first picture shows my initial choice of using the tiniest of bolts for the switches.

Therefore, I decided on the next larger sized bolts.

As seen on the second photo, if one were to zoom in on these tiny bolts, the threads to the shanks will easily be seen. This is a No, No.

 

[Skyediamonds]

It really doesn't matter when it comes to the practical realities of not truly being able to tell the differences between thread sizes when viewed objectively with a naked eye. Does one really care? The control panel will be lost among other details & accessories as well as being inside a small semi-darken cockpit interior. I'm now thinking like a true purist who may very well (try) to justify detailing an interior of say, a battle tank and then close up all the hatches to the interior preventing one from even seeing the interior. It's that mind-numbing modeler's acknowledgement to Sir Edmund Hillary when he once said when asked about climbing Mt. Everest; "... because it's there."