Tamiya 1/48th P-51D Mustang

[Jeff Hunt]

Recently a friend of mine decided to divest himself of most of his WWII 1/48th scale stuff and I was the lucky benefactor. He gave to me a total of 5 kits.

as well as this one some time ago

I have decided to build the P-51 first and am leaning towards finishing it as Lou IV but no final decision has been made yet. It will be an out of the box build.

No time lines but I will chip away at her as time permits and update as progress dictates.

Cheers,

Jeff

 

[Wurger]

Sounds good. Looking forward to the progress.

 

[Blue Yonder]

Looks like a good stash, looking forward to seeing them built!

 

[Airframes]

You've got some nice kits there! Looking forward to the build.

 

[fubar57]

It's a very nice kit Jeff. Just about finished building this one myself.

Geo

 

[Rogi]

Woooooo P-51 first

 

[Crimea_River]

A nice load to have dropped in your lap.

 

[Wayne Little]

Done good out of that Jeff.

 

[Jeff Hunt]

Thanks fellas. I will be starting this project very soon. I was thinking about the finish and began wondering about the state of the decals included with the kit.My friend has had these models sitting around for awhile so I decided to purchase some aftermarket decals. This has been done through Hannants and I received an e mail today that they have shipped the set. I am not saying what finish to expect as I will keep this as a surprise for as long as possible.

Cheers,

Jeff

 

[vikingBerserker]

NICE!

 

[Jeff Hunt]

Got things started this weekend. Completed the cockpit and will have pics of it when it is installed in the fuselage. Also painted the landing gear struts, tires and interior of main gear doors. For now this is all I have photos of.

Not much but at least it is started. Time is hard to find as I am also in the middle of collecting maple sap to boil down for the making of maple syrup.

Cheers,

jeff

 

[Gnomey]

Nicely done so far Jeff!

 

[Airframes]

Looking good so far Jeff. One point though - the wheel wells and inside the well doors and gears doors were clear varnished bare metal. with only the rear wall of the bay (the main spar) in zinc chromate.

 

[Jeff Hunt]

Looking good so far Jeff. One point though - the wheel wells and inside the well doors and gears doors were clear varnished bare metal. with only the rear wall of the bay (the main spar) in zinc chromate.

Okie Dokie, should be an easy fix. A little silver paint should do the trick.

Cheers,

Jeff

 

[Airframes]

Yep !

 

[Jeff Hunt]

Managed to get a bit more done last night. In addition to joining the fuselage halves, the drop tanks, landing gear and doors, elevators and prop parts have all been painted. The fuselage went together very nicely and needed just a bit of putty in a couple of spots to seal up some spaces. A light sanding of the seam and a bit of a washdown and she will be ready for a primer coat.

Cheers,

Jeff

 

[Airframes]

Looking good Jeff.
When you say 'primer coat', are you intending to prime it before fitting the wings? If so, I'd wait until the wings and tail planes are fitted, checked for correct alignment and any gaps, filled and sanded if required, and polished where needed. It'll save having to re-prime, and makes painting much easier, especially for a bare metal finish, if it's going to be that.

 

[Jeff Hunt]

Looking good Jeff.
When you say 'primer coat', are you intending to prime it before fitting the wings? If so, I'd wait until the wings and tail planes are fitted, checked for correct alignment and any gaps, filled and sanded if required, and polished where needed. It'll save having to re-prime, and makes painting much easier, especially for a bare metal finish, if it's going to be that.

Yes, I meant after everything is " put together ". Thanks for the tips and please feel free to keep handing them out.

Jeff

 

[fubar57]

Wow, quick build. Test fit the exhausts before you paint. I installed them at the end of the build instead of when thy wanted early in the build. I almost destroyed the nose art on mine trying to force them in and had to sand the ends a bit. Model looks good so far.

Geo

 

[Crimea_River]

Quick work.