Hey all,
A friend of mine at work wants me to build him Hasegawa’s 1/32 “Man O’ War” Mustang. Are there any add-on sets available for the cockpit (and where might I find them) I took a quick look on eBay, but only aftermarket canopies were listed. Does BlackBox make an upgrade for ths kit?
Also, since I do a lot of research before any build, is there a particular site that would be helpful to me, during this Mustang project?
Thanks in advance for any info.
I forgot to ask this VERY important question:
I am a Tamiya acrylic user and was wondering the best type of paint to use, to replicate the mustang (doesn’t have to be Tamiya)
I took a quick look at some of the Testors Metalizers but, have never used them.
I had the pleasure of meeting Elmer Ward who owns a P-51 in the markings of “Man-O-War”. It was four or five years ago at least and he was in the company of Frank Borman and his TF-51 heading for Florida. Frank and two others were all in 1 piece Nomex flight suits and Elmer was in a work shirt and blue jeans puttting the covers on his “51” and I made the assumption he was the “mechanic” until I introduced myself and he said, “Hi, I’m Elmer Ward.” I said, “Oh, you own this airplane!” At the time he had been flying it for 26 years. Both him and Frank were very personable people and very “down to earth”. I told them that if I had heard those Rolls Royce Merlins go over the house I would have been outside in a flash. Elmer grinned and said, “You know, I still do that.” I had happened to be invited to go flying in a buddy"s Piper Cub and there sat the two Mustangs next to it. Pleasant surprise! Made me remember my one flight in a P-51 some 25 years earlier. The flight in the Piper Cub was still fun and memorable. Two ends of the spectrum of flight in prop planes!
You might want to see if Squadron has their Vacuform Canopy still available and the True Details wheels for the P-51. I don’t know if there are any resin cockpit detail sets, but I would think there would be.
Verlinden makes a resin & PE detail set for Hasegawa’s P-51. Here’s a summary from Squadron, it is probably available from other companies, so you may want to shop around. Haven’t checked Cutting Edge, but they may have something.
Hope this helps.
Squadron must have removed it from their list after I posted the above link. Here it is at Verlinden’s site.
http://www.verlinden-productions.com/vp_htm_0401_0800/vp0787.htm
Thanks Pix!
I ordered the Verlinden PE Cockpit & Detail set, Mustang wheels and canopy mask from them (Squadron) today.
Now, about the color, what would you recommend?
I was reading ModelNerd’s website, about his Mustang build. Found it to be very helpful and interesting. He is using Testor’s canned Metallic Silver, I believe.
My favorite metallic paint is Alcad II. Its kinda pricey ($7 for a 1oz. bottle), and requires a gray primer for most shades (I bought theirs), and a gloss black acrylic for the “polished” shades. The paint is extremely durable, and can be masked with low-tack tape. It also does not require a clear coat, which can change the reflective properties of metallics, depending on what paint/ clear coat you use. Many people favor the SNJ brand. I haven’t used it, so I can’t comment on it. It is a good idea to mask off and paint any different colors first (anti-glare panel, unit colors, etc.), and apply the metallic shades last.
Model Master also produces “Metalizers.” These don’t require a primer, have “buffable” polished colors, but are fragile (can’t be masked, can be worn off by handling), and require a clear coat.
I painted this with Alcad II Aluminum. After 2 days, I masked off different panels with drafting tape, and sprayed Duraluminum & Dark Aluminum. The masked panels were all painted within the space of an hour, without any paint being lifted by the masks. There is no clear coat on this, and it doesn’t need one.
Hope this helps.