Kit: 1/48 Tamiya
P-51D Mustang 61089
Additions:
-
Aires
P-51D Detail set 4089
-
Ultracast P-51 Mustang Wheels Diamond Tread 48132
-
Ultracast P-51D/K Seat
-
EagleCals P-51D Mustang EC-102 TO WAR WITH THE YOXFORD BOYS
Construction:
I acquired this
kit when I was at Aeroworks one day along with the Aires detail set. When I
got it home I examined the Aires set my first thought was I must be a
gluten for punishment however I started the build. Like with all kits I
started with the Aires cockpit painted in Model Master Interior green, with
flat black for the control panel and switch boxes. I then dry brushed silver
around the cockpit and once dry I hit the cockpit with the Tamiya
weathering master set B sealed off with a cote of matt clear. My next job
was to make the Aires set fit to the kit, this required some major re-modelling
of the kit. First I used my small sanding drill to sand out the
cockpit walls from the kit, followed up with cutting of the cowling and
front section of the kit to make room for the Rolls-Royce engine, mounts
and firewall / bulkhead. For this job I used my hobby saw, this was a trial and
error once chance to get it right, Aires make note in their instructions with a
shaded diagram of what part of the kit needed to be removed. I happened to cut
to much out oops. This resulted in a lot of putty required to fill gaps.
Next on
the list was to cut out the gun bays I used my re-scribing knife to
accomplish this job. Sorry no photo did not back them up and lost them in a
computer snafu. Last but not least before construction was to re-scribe all
of the panel lines.
Picture 03 show the
cowling and front half of the kit removed ready for the Aires engine set.
Picture 04 finished kit.
Click on
images below to see larger images
Constructing this kit was no easy
task I had bitten off more than I could handle, but after reading and checking
out other modellers article's on ARC I wanted to build a P-51D with the Aires
detail set. My first drama started with the assembling of the cockpit.
I had lots
of fit problems and I broke the Aires cockpit seat. So I had to order one
from Craig at Aeroworks, I ended up using the Ultracast P-51D/K seat
to complete the cockpit. I must admit I don't like using super glue, not
enough time to get the fit right, it can end up messy, I had to cut the air
intake of the kit cockpit and make it fit the Aires cockpit. Super gluing it
behind the cockpit while dry fitting the cockpit to one halve of the fuselage.
Hopeing
that once I had glued the cockpit to one side of the fuselage the other halve
would fit, the moment of truth when the two halves came together....A slight gap
emerged when the two halves were assembled, this was filled with Tamiya putty.
My next task was to attach the firewall, part of the fit went in with out any
drama but I had removed to much off the kit when cutting of the front halve just
in front of the cockpit window. This monumental mistake gave me nothing but head
aches to repair, lots of putty was required and a heap of wet rubbing to reshape
the section in front of the cockpit window, so much so I thought of scrapping
the entire project. No matter how much I tried, I just could not get the shape
right every time I dry fit the cockpit window I had a gap, to over come this
problem I had to glue the cockpit window to the kit. Something I do
not like to do, especially before painting. There was no option left and the only
way I was going to fix this was to glue the window in place. Now that I had
finally got the shape right in front of the cockpit window next on the
list was the construction of the gun bays. The right wing gun bay went
together quite well with little fuss, however not the left wing. Once I placed
the left gun bay into position I found I had a slight gap which turned
out to be a big problem to fix. Using styrene I placed it between the gaps with
some putty placed over the top to get the right fit followed up with some wet
rub to obtain the right shape. Gluing the wings to the fuselage went together
with no problems, I then made my next mistake I glued the engine frame to the fire
wall and painted it, but I managed to break them off at least four times
during the remainder of construction and painting. I Attached the
Rolls-Royce engine and wiring more fiddly work, it was now time to paint.
Paint and Decals:
With the last putty
and wet rub touches made to hopefully get rid of any imperfections the kit was
ready to paint. My first idea was to paint the kit aluminium with the
decals Big Beautiful Doll which were included in this kit. But when I sat back
and thought how much work would be involved in trying to place the checked deals
on at least four parts of what would make the cowling I chickened out. I
searched the web for available decals for this kit, after finding decals I liked,
I placed an order with Craig at Aeroworks for EagleCals P-51D Mustang
EC-102 TO WAR WITH THE YOXFORD BOYS. I now had two colour schemes
which I could use. My usual method was to use Model Master Aluminium Plate first
followed up with Model Master Olive drab ANA 613 and Neutral Grey FS3621.
A
slight wet rub to give the kit a faded and worn look. Then the entire
kit
was then painted with Humbrol gloss clear ready for the decals. The decals used
on this kit are to represent Frenesi piloted by Fighter Ace Major Tommy
Hayes Jr. Tommy saw action in the Pacific Theatre were he accounted for at least
two Japanese victories while stationed with the 17th Pursuit Squadron
stationed at Java. Tommy was also stationed in the European Theatre with the 364th
FS Group were he accounted for nine more victories. With the decals on, I
covered the kit with another coat of gloss clear, and then went to work
darkening the panel lines followed up with coat of matt clear to seal the pastel.
I
wanted to make this bird look really worn and dirty so out came the Tamiya
Weathering sets A and B to dirty up this model, maybe a little over done.
I was not happy with
the exhaust stains, I should have paid more attention before I sealed the
Weather set with Matt Clear.
Finish:
I decide to use
Ultracast P-51 Mustang Wheels rather than the kit wheels, I added the
landing gear door, drop tanks and tear drop canopy and the kit was finished even
with all the mistakes and head aches. I already have a Tamiya P-51B on order
from Calum and a Aires P-51B detail set on order from Craig. I guess I didn't
learn my lesson. All in all the kit took about one hundered and thirty hours to
build. The figures are a mixture of ICM P-51B ground crew and Monogram P-61 Black
Widow, with drums and jerry cans from Tamiya M10 tank, ladder is from ICM
Spitfire and ground crew.
Thanks to:
-
Steve Bamford
for his inspiring web site
-
Craig at
Aeroworks for getting a hold of the goodies. Drop Craig an E-mail for a list
of goodies that are available. If you live in South Australian E-mail
Craig for the address and go down and visit him at Aeroworks. aeroworks@iprimus.com.au
Alan
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|