Super detailing Guillow's P-51D Mustang

Flite-Metal:
Interesting you chose this word/s as your user name. Are you a user of this product?

Wheeew finally finished catching up to here. Man what a ride. You have a great since of how to get what you want to do , then the ability to make it happen.
I like your sprit of scratch building-do the best you can with what you have but don't get too "rivet-counter-ie" about it.

Prop duster:

Thank you very much! I often wondered if my builds reached out beyond the five or six who watched. That's great. Glad you enjoyed the ride. It's a bit slow but I'm determined to get it through.

Very nice work on those tanks !

Skyediamonds ,

I've been a "user" of since the first day it was discovered. I am surprised you didn't recognize my avatar.

Airframes:
Thank you. Initially I didn't think I would include tanks, so it was a last-minute decision. I just figured a little bit more "stuff" can't be wrong. I had to refinish them at least 4-5 times before deciding they were good.

Cheers

Flite-Metal:
I truly apologize for lack of "due diligence" in recognizing your avatar. I've only known about Flite Metal through Ed's Scale Aero on the RCSB site. Up until then, I had always entertained a fantasy of building a model that featured a highly polished finish but never thought it would be possible through metallic spray paints.

There are some paints that come close such as AK's Alclad Aluminum & perhaps a few others, but they required extensive surfaces preparation, pre-coating with a glossy black base, spray painting the metallics followed by rubbing & buffing, all of which in my opinion came close to replicating the actual highly polished metal surface. But that's exactly my issue. They all came "close" but never really replicating that metallic surface.

I (briefly) entertained using household kitchen foil & even went through a couple of experiments using scrap woods & a faux fuselage. With lots of surface preps followed by an application of a sprayed on adhesive resulted in an "okay" finish as the foil was too thin which also resulted in excessive wrinkles in just about everywhere & compound curves were out of the question.

Long story made short. Through the site, I reached out to Scale Aero. Ed was very responsive & helpful. I got a sample kit. Tried it & the results were exactly what I was hoping for. I must admit that the sticky backing was (& still is) super strong & required a totally different set of skills. I had to practice for several weeks to get "the hang of it." This is especially true on smaller models such as my Guillow's 1/15th scale Mustang you see here. The small surface areas such as the ailerons were a challenge. The ends needed to be covered & simply cutting the Flite Metal across the surface at the ends left a jagged edge. Not acceptable.

The following photos shows what I was up against & my approach. You really have to zoom up to see even the slightest wrinkle. Looking at it from a regular distance with a naked eye & it comes out nearly perfect. So I was happy with it. The trim tabs were especially a challenge to duplicate on the ends; given my all-thumb fingers. Still I managed to persevere. At this point, all of the movable flight surfaces are finished. They're carefully wrapped in soft towels & stored to prevent any "hangar rash."

I'm trying to do as much work around the model itself such as the aft-fore mentioned drop tanks & cockpit detailing. Thus, eliminating any potential risks of inflicting scratches & small dents onto the FM surface as I handle the model.

My intent here is to have everything ready: all subassemblies finished & ready to just install. So when I'm done with FM, I only need to quickly install say the drop tanks, landing gears, cockpit interiors & more with minimal work. Thus (hopefully) ensuring minimal risks to any damage.

Are you a distributor or do you work with Ed? Or an enthusiast of FM? I'd like to see some of your works. Feel free to post here in my thread.

Thanks for looking in.

Cheers,

Gary

I've done it again... ;^) 20 years ago when Mike launched RCSB I subscribed using a pair of subscriber I.D.'s
I started a dialog with myself in which I took exception to something I had posted under the other I.D.

This went on for a week during which I was bent over with laughter as subscribers to that thread sat in
silence wondering if this would rise to an all out argument... :^)

I could not keep it up...finally "we" reconciled and supposedly went our "opposite" ways. After a few days
I admitted my sin...

The kid on the wooden green and red scooter is me in my mother's favorite choice of attire. I was sitting
at the end of the sidewalk to our front door. If you have kept up with my B-47 epic you will recall the LABS
maneuver I witnessed as I sat on the front steps after school. The B-47 was at about 400 feet as it passed
right to left in front of me.

The house in this avatar background is inline with exactly where the B-47 pulled vertical with bay doors wide
open as they practiced tossing a virtual A-bomb. That sequence of events is forever burnt into my memory.
Duck and cover was the veil of ignorance we were under...

Enjoying your how-2. You have taken it to a place I never imagined possible.

Flite-Metal:
Glad to hear of your episodes of your bi-polar conversations with yourself. Happier still, that Mike allowed it (but I'm sure he was briefed).

Finally, it's gratifying you have both enjoyed & approved of my work with Flite Metal. I've enclosed a few pictures of the finish on flight controls to my Guillow's Mustang using Flite Metal. I still have a ways to go but it's a start.

I also started a thread in RCSB site of how to apply Flite Metal under the banner of "Finish-Applying Flite Metal" with the understanding that other members have agreed to participate. Unfortunately it came to a halt after only a few brief postings after discovering the other members reneged on their end. I'll probably resume on the postings solo.

Are you also acquainted with Ed? He's also into the B-47. Or are you one & the same person?

Wurger:
Thank you sir. Did you receive my email on the dedication of a Polish pilot during WWII? He was fearless! Good man.

Cheers

"Are you also acquainted with Ed? He's also into the B-47. Or are you one & the same person?"

Gary,
We be one and the same kid sitting on the scooter ;^) Your application is
looking perfect. I assume you are using felt or a cotton wad to speed the application process.
Looking forward to seeing the assembled work of art.

Ed ;^)

Skyediamonds said:

Wurger:
Thank you sir. Did you receive my email on the dedication of a Polish pilot during WWII? He was fearless! Good man.

Cheers

Click to expand...

Hi Gary,

Yes I did. THX for that.

Great work so far!

Wurger:
Glad to hear that. Always respectful of someone who has responded to my (very) early requests for help with detailed drawings. You provided me with several folded detailed drawings of Polish aircraft, including the Morava L-200. It is still my goal to model this unique aircraft as well as others.

I still have the drawings safely secured for future use. For your response & help I will always remain grateful.

Cheers,

Gary

Gnomey,
Thank you kindly sir.

Ed (aka Flite Metal):
I should've known!!! I reviewed your previous responses & you were dropping hints. I didn't catch on until now. Good job!! The kid on trike looks to be a handsome young lad. I know exactly the feeling of a certain event that seared itself into one's mind & altered the course of his Life forever.

Mine, was a combination of two things: First, being all of four years old & sitting at the window seat of a DC-3 as it made its way around the traffic pattern at Los Angeles Airport (before it became known as LAX) giving out rides. Second event was given a set of plans to a Spitfire. It was laid out in an exploded view of all the parts that go together making a balsa rubber-powered model. I grabbed instructions & knew almost instinctively how I would put it together. Unfortunately my father underestimated me & declined my desire to build it. That only made me more determined.

Years later I finally built my first wooden Spitfire (& so far my last).

Glad to hear The Man Himself approves of my work & efforts.

I haven't used any felt or cotton wads ( yet). At this point, all of my work using FM has been confined to the smaller -and more difficult- flight control surfaces, using Velva paper towels. They're very smooth, soft & have no patterns imbedded onto the surfaces making it ideal for rubbing down FM using my hands. The edges are burnished using the burnishing tool. These paper towels are also used to lay down on top of my table. This is to protect the underlying finished FM from scratches & dents (Ask me).

It's when all of the subassemblies have been completed is when I'll start the covering of the fuselage & wings. They're the only remaining large surfaces to be covered. Once covered, everything should go together quickly & thereby completing the model. That's the plan anyway.

Thank you " Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" for both your inputs & responses. I should've known...!!

;0)

Cheers,

Gary

Hey Gary
Just logged in on one of my now fairly infrequent visits....just generally too busy !...and must say mate, considering the scale y'all working in, you've done a bl**dy brilliant job to date.
My '51 is in a slightly different scale and you are putting it to shame with the amount of details you've incorporated in your project...She's deffo going to be a museum quality build in all aspects I can see !
I know you're looking at naming her after BBD but have you thought of coming up with your own name / nose art to make her a more personal tribute ?. Actually a very hard thing to do, but worth it in the long run.
Probably a bit late...but if you are after any advice / photo's etc to help with your build, let me know and I'll see what I have / can dig up to out....remember...you can never have too many '51's !

Cheers

Gary

GeeDee (aka Gary):
Good evening & a pleasure hearing from you. I'm grateful that you have complimented my efforts on my Guillow's Mustang! Thank you. I always try to do my best on any endeavor that was out forward to me. I applaud your suggestion of possibly considering an alternative name for the Mustang other than BBD.

Alas, it's being built & detailed for my daughter for display in her aviation-themed room (proud Papa here). She was very adamant that I model the Mustang after Col. John Lander's third iteration of BBD. She obtained a full blown poster of a cockpit interior of an airworthy Mustang done up as BBD -perhaps before the ill-fated crash- & she wanted to maintain consistency. What's a loving father to do? Besides, I already procured the enlarged decals of BBD from Drawbaugh decals that were used on the 1/48th scale kits featuring BBD.

I even tried talking her out of building the Mustang. Lord knows I tried. But again, she was insistent.

Please feel free to post a few snaps of your Mustang as (now) I'm curious on my thread.

For the moment, the drop tanks will be left in their unfinished state. My reason is to minimize any possible damage to the fragile finish when handling the model. The plan is to fabricate all sub-assemblies as nearly complete as possible prior to adding the Flite Metal finish & using chrome marking pens to finish the drop tanks ( trying to get the FM to conform to the tank curves, especially around the nose may be bordering on impossible at this small scale) so that everything is finished. Then a clear protective coating applied & all sub assemblies can go together as quickly as possible to reduce the amount of time handling the model & thereby minimizing risks to incur damage of the finished surfaces. At least in theory.

Once the model is done, I'll quickly drop it off to her house & absolve myself of this project that has consumed at least two years.

Ahh but wait! I've got a son & he desires a Boeing F4B-4 biplane. Now what?? Back to the ol' building board.

Thank you for looking in & your suggestions.

Cheers,

Gary

Alas, it's being built & detailed for my daughter for display in her aviation-themed room (proud Papa here). She was very adamant that I model the Mustang after Col. John Lander's third iteration of BBD. She obtained a full blown poster of a cockpit interior of an airworthy Mustang done up as BBD -perhaps before the ill-fated crash- & she wanted to maintain consistency. What's a loving father to do?

Click to expand...

Yup, deffo a Proud Papa moment there, well done for encouraging her along as well. Do you know if she has been able to get up close to a '51...museum or otherwise ?...to further develop her interest ?. Would be good if that could happen.

I won't add any pics of my Babe so as not to hijack your awesome build thread. This is the link to my build...51 Build I really must get back into finishing off the latest upgrades now that the latest Plague is lifting to the extent where we can start going top shows and stuff .