Airfix 1:24 P51 Mustang WIP

[Antony]

Before I started on this kit my original intention was to do as I have usually done in the past - just build it straight from the box. But having built the 1:24 Mk1 Spitifre recently and put in a motor to please my 3 year old grandon, I relaised that Airfix dont really do a lot of justice to such a large scale model. yes I know its based on a 70s mold but come on it should be better than that by now. Anyway to bring it back to the mustang and to cut the story short, I decided to add the motor in again for my grandson's pleasure, but it was while looking at the gapping big hole where the indercarriage goes that I realised it was time I bit the bullet and had a go at fixing it.

I've not done any scratch building before so dont expect a lot. :please:

Not having done this before I looked at some pics of the area concerned and thought - how on earth am I going to make all that and cram it into that small space? (Actually the space is not that small - its just my concept of it). At the same time I looked at some pictures of the Packard version of the Merlin engine and realised that I could make some simple alterations there to. A pipe here and a pipe there - no cutting needed just a little drilling.

Anyway here is where Im at at present.

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Sorry about the way Ive inserted the pics but using the correct method kept telling me the pics were to large and I didnt want to spend time decreasing their size least I lose the confidence to put them up in the first place. BTW the last image is of the cocokpit floor Ive attempted to make. Anyway hope that its not that bad.

 

[Dave W]

Looks like some good scratch building to me.Looking forward to seeing the finished model.Are you building the RAF version or USAF?

 

[Antony]

Thanks Dave.

At the moment I just dont know which one to build. I've obviously done RAF camo before but Ive never attempted to do a natural metal one before so I have no idea what problems I face on it. Im also limited as to what paints I can use as the only brands available locally are Humbrol, Revell or Tamiya. So I don't know if its possible to get the right result from those anyway. I had considered using auto industry spray paint that I could get at Halfords but again not sur how that would behave. So unless I decide to get some other brands of pant from the www I havent a clue. Also I have no idea how to wheather a nm. does it go rusty? At least with a painted camo I could attempt to do paint chipping

Anyway on a slightly different note, since I already have the wheelbay done I thought I'd have a go at the gun bays as well. I'll drop in a couple of pics as soon as I take them I really should learn to photograph the before and after stage but as I said this is my first attempt so I had not really decided to put up pics.

 

[CDW]

I used Citadel acrylic paints many years ago for plain "natural looking" metal doors etc when i used to paint metal minitures for Dungeons and dragons.

Two colours were perfect i found, "chainmail" and "boltgun-metal",

"chainmail" thinned down for several coats with the darker "boltgun" thinned further as a wash (both paints needed a little flat black mixed in to subdue the metalic look a little)

Might have the desired effect for a natural metal look for the plane?

 

[admr2]

Great build, can't wait to see how it comes out. Think It will look better metal than camo.

 

[stona]

That's coming along nicely.

Bear in mind if you go for natural metal that the wings outboard of the fillets were actuall painted,top and bottom, in a silver lacquer which doesn't look quite the same as the rest of the aluminium airframe.

The laquer covered the putty which was used to fill most of the panel lines on the P-51 wing,obviously not access panels, giving a uniformly smooth and efficient surface.

Here's a nice picture of a Merlin in a BOBMF Spitfire to inspire you with yours in the Mustang.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Bunkerbarge]

Anthony first of all anyone who takes on this kit dererves a medal, I've helped a friend try to get his fuselage together and it wasn't pretty! However if you stick with it you can make a superb model from it and I totally agree Airfix have never made enough of the 1/24th scale models and added any detail over the years. I'm sure an additional sprue could make a huge difference to all the kits in this range.

As for the pictures, I can understand your reluctance but don't forget there are many people around the world who have considerably slower connections than the broadband we use in the UK and so after struggling to load this thread they are then faced with independantly loading each picture on top of that. Resizing really is a few seconds job and makes the thread so much better to look at and more available to more people. I say this as when I am at work in the USA my speed is appalling and I simply haven't got the time to wait for the pictures to open and consequently I haven't looked at them.

If you need help resizing then ask away but let us know what operating system you use and what photo editing software you have loaded. There is third party resizing software out there but you may well have the means of doing it in your mchine already.

 

[Antony]

Thanks all. Just a question based on the photo Stona has added. On the picture it shows 2 copper pipes running from behind the engine somewhere to underneath it. Where do they connect? The photos Ive been using as ref for the P51 dont show these pipes at all as they are hidden by the lower cowling plate.

I note from the picture that on the model, Airfix have put the copper pipe running from the tank just in front of the engine in the same style as the Spitfire. It wasn't until I compared it with a picture Ive been using of a P51 that I realsied that on the P51 the pipe follows a different path. I guess I need to move that and lengthen it somewhat I dont suppose anyone has any pics of the engin in the P51 from different angles to see these pipes? The ones Im using can be found at The Airstrip - Prime Portal which I have found to have some super pics on it of all sorts of military vehicles.

 

[Antony]

Anthony first of all anyone who takes on this kit dererves a medal, I've helped a friend try to get his fuselage together and it wasn't pretty! However if you stick with it you can make a superb model from it and I totally agree Airfix have never made enough of the 1/24th scale models and added any detail over the years. I'm sure an additional sprue could make a huge difference to all the kits in this range. As for the pictures, I can understand your reluctance but don't forget there are many people around the world who have considerably slower connections than the broadband we use in the UK and so after struggling to load this thread they are then faced with independantly loading each picture on top of that. Resizing really is a few seconds job and makes the thread so much better to look at and more available to more people. I say this as when I am at work in the USA my speed is appalling and I simply haven't got the time to wait for the pictures to open and consequently I haven't looked at them.

If you need help resizing then ask away but let us know what operating system you use and what photo editing software you have loaded. There is third party resizing software out there but you may well have the means of doing it in your mchine already.

Thanks for the heads up on this. Its not a case of not being able to do it - I knw how, it was a case of its the first time Ive done any scratch building and it took a bit of confidence to put them up in the first place. However having said that and seen the helpful replies Ive had so far I'll make some adjustments and post them up here a little later. Just one question is thaere a thread giving details on max size etc?

 

[stona]

Hi Anthony,I can't check those pipes at the moment and don't want to say something that I later find to be incorrect,hopefully someone else will have the info.It was a tight fit under those cowlings so I wouldn't be surprised if some "plumbing" was routed differently,again someone else may know for sure.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Antony]

Ok Ive uploaded the images to the gallery. I had tried to just put up thumbnails here but I cant figure out how. (I can put up the image itself though). Any ideas before I post the actual images?

Ignore this. I think its because the files are still to big

 

[Bunkerbarge]

I think the pictures clearly show you've already made a huge improvement over an out of the box build. The extra detail in the wheel wells, engine bay and the gun bays looks very realistic.

Here's some thoughts on resizing:

http://www.scale-models.co.uk/chit-chat/10743-reducing-picture-size.html

I can't remember what the limit is here but I know it tells you at the bottom of the window when you are uploading the pictures. Apologies for not looking, it's not laziness, it's just I haven't got time to wait for it all to load! Speed is appalling here.

 

[yak face]

Hi antony, great scratchbuilding, as you say its a bit behind the times this kit,in fact i remember doing it when i was about 12!!!!!I had mine hung from the bedroom ceiling on drawing pins!! Looks like youll make a fine job of it , cheers tony

 

[Antony]

Ok lets see if this works.

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[Sky Raider]

Very impressive work. Looks fantastic. Well done looking forward to seeing more very soon.

Andy

 

[Bunkerbarge]

Great job getting the pictures up as well. Looking forward to the rest of the build. Do plenty of dry runs with the fuselage halves!

 

[Antony]

Great job getting the pictures up as well. Looking forward to the rest of the build. Do plenty of dry runs with the fuselage halves!

Oh I intend to. Ive already had a look at it and found some issues to be dealt with. But I shall need to anyway as my 3 year old grandosn has discovered that planes have lights. So Im having a go at installing some fibre optics for him. I shall have to order them next week. Its quite amazing what you can be inspired to do when prompted by someone so young

 

[m1ks]

If you're going for NMF, try Humbrols range of buffable metallics

Humbrol Metalcote, they do ALuminium, polished aluminium, Steel and gunmetal, all of which are very good and buff up nicely and can be clearcoated.

Takes about 30 minutes to be dry enough to buff too though I generally leave mine overnight as per enamels anyway.

That builds looking very good BTW

 

[Bunkerbarge]

I guess if you are going to have a powered prop you may as well go the whole hog and have lights fitted as well. That should be quite a novelty and make the model something a bit special. Think about LED's as well, they are almost as small as fibre optics nowadays and don't need the routing care of fibre or the larger source lamp.

 

[Antony]

Just a quick update. Project stalled for a little while due to an issue with some of the fibre optics I put in. I had put in 0.5mm f/o for the rear and top lights. Checked them over before sealing the fuselage - worked ok. So I sealed up the fuselage, taped it up and left it to dry. When I took the tape off I discovered that one of the f/o cables had broken and where the cables exit the fuselage had not sealed. At this point I had no idea why it had broken. So I resealed the underside of the fuselage and thought nothing of it. That was until I took the tape off and found the other f/o had also broken. Having never used f/o before I was at first baffled until I realised that I had trapped it under the cable and it had obviously suffered. So I now have to ask my self, do I split the fuselage again and reinsert new cables? Or proceed without them? What ever the outcome I've decided the f/o was to fine anyway and will be ordering some slightly thicker cable.

So in the mean time I've started the old Matchbox 1/32 Lysander. Mainly being built oob but I have made a couple of changes already, such as adding a couple of extra supports across the internal frame and carving the pilot's seat back from being a bucket seat to something a little plainer. I believe its meant to be more of a frame than an actual seat.

But a lot of my time this weekend has been spent toying with the idea of having a go at pretty much scratch building a Vomag and mounting either a dragon or tamiya 88mm on the back of it. Yes I know its ambitious considering the Mustang is my first attempt at scratch building anything but Ive gotten hold of "Scale Military Vehicle Conversions" by Duncan Howarth and he has this particular vehicle in it including some plans to show the various parts that need to be cut out. So I thinking on it.