1/48 Tamiya P-51B Mustang

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Hey everyone, I’m dropping in with my first installment of this WIP.

It’s a project I’m doing for a group build on another site. Still, I thought I’d share my progress with my friends here, too. Honestly, there isn’t much to show because this kit is falling together! I’ve built Tamiya’s -D before, but I don’t remember it going together as well as this -B. Anyway, let me catch you up.

Of course, I started with the 'pit. I’m building it with the Malcolm hood, and it’s modeled closed as one piece with the windscreen. Considering very little of the 'pit will be visible, I didn’t do much detailing besides adding some paper belts. I went with some simple painting, dry brushing, and washes.

After that, the fuselage got closed up.

Then the wings got attached, but before that happened, I did a small modification.

The port wing has a recess for the landing light molded into the leading edge. The problem is, it has a slot molded into the back of it, as if it’s supposed to accept a part. However, there is no part!

So, I decided to close it up with a small piece of styrene…

Then finished things off with a small lens from the spares box.

Once that was done, I mated the wings and fuselage assemblies.

This build is going quick! There hasn’t been a lick of filler needed. I just cleaned up the seams and redefined the panel lines and rivets after sanding.

And that’s where things stand. Right now, I’m at a brief stopping point. Once some stuff I’m waiting for gets delivered, I’ll be able to get back to work on her. For now, I’ll leave you with this.

As usual, comments, questions, and criticisms are welcome. Feel free to drop your two cents into the bucket on your way out.

Thanks for lookin’!
-O

8 Likes
2

Great progress O! The Tamiya Mustangs are a joy to build. Not sure I’ve seen that particular boxing. Following.

3

O, I have that same kit waiting in the wings right now. Your builds are always great. I’m interested in the paper belts. Where did you find them or did you make them?

4

Very nice, so far. I like how you fixed up the landing light recess. I have a 1:72 Airfix P-51D on the shelf that will be up soon.

5

Really coming together nicely! That landing light fix was a clever touch.
traffic road

6

You’re coming along great on your Stang. I’ve never built the Tamiya B variant, but have done a couple of their D’s. Great kits.

7

Great work so far! What scheme are you doing?

8

Your Mustang is looking real good. Tamiya’s Mustang is a really nice kit and I’m surprised the kit didn’t provide a landing light. However, the creative way you addressed it is real modeling. Good work.

9

Very nice progress. Cockpit looks great, I really like the landing light in the wing that you scratch built., impressive!

10

Hey gang, thanks for the compliments and comments. I really appreciate it all. Your input helps keep motivated.

ff, the belts are from a Japanese company called Kamizukuri. Here their homepage: http://www.kamizukuri.jp/ You can get US, Brit, Japanese, German, and I think Russian belts in 1/72, 1/48, and 1/32 scale. Their stuff is available through different hobby shops or directly. I don’t exactly remember where I bought mine, but it was from an online vendor.

Hey Jeeves, I haven’t decided on a scheme yet. Most likely it’ll be a NMF bird.

OK gang, stay tuned. I’ll post more when there’s more to post!

-O

11

Heya Omar,
When you say Tamiya, you’ve said it all. Just cut all the parts off of the sprues, put em back in the box and put the lid on it, shake the box and throw it on the floor and it’ll all be put together. lol

Your progress is looking great on this one and that’s some nice work on that landing light in the wing. Good touch.

Joe

12

Thanks, O. I’ll be looking for them online. Gotta be easier than P.E. to use.

13

I can not see the images, just blank squares.

14

Hey mm2000, sorry to hear that you’re having trouble. I’ll double-check my links. Let me know if there’s a change.

-O

15

OK Mustang fans, I’m sorry that the updates have been few and far between. I haven’t been able to get to my bench as much as I expected to. Still, I’ve been able to make a little progress on my build. Unfortunately, it was a bit of “two steps forward, one step back” on this one. I’ll explain…

After getting the airframe assembled, I closed up and masked the canopy. From there, it was off to the spray booth (garage) for primer.

After primer, I got the NMF sprayed. This is a mix of Alclad colors.

Some of you may notice that the saturation in the sections of the wings isn’t great. That’s because I’ll be adding some invasion stripes later in the build. But before I can do that, I need to talk about my “one step back.”

After I was done spraying and was moving my airbrush away from the model, it spit up a blob when I released the trigger for the last time. Luckily for me (that was sarcasm), the booger landed right at the left wing’s upper wing root. You can just see it in the picture above. Well, you can see the spot where it was before I wiped it off.

I’m happy that it didn’t land on the fillet. I feel that might have been harder to repair. You know, with the radius and all. Anyway, I’m going to wait for things to cure, then I’ll go back and sand that spot before touching it up. I don’t think it’ll be a problem.

Anyway, that’s where the Mustang stands as of now. After I repair that little boo-boo, I’ll get started on the invasion stripes. Stay tuned! As usual, comments, questions, and criticisms are welcome. Feel free to drop your two cents into the bucket on your way out. Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers!
-O

2 Likes
16

OK gang, I have a small update of some big progress!

I was able to get my boo-boo all fixed up, and I moved on to painting my invasion stripes. I’m very happy with the way they turned out. Let’s take a look, shall we?

If you notice, there are masks for the fuselage codes and national insignia. They were included in the decal set I purchased for the kit. Next comes overpainting the invasion stripes on the upper fuselage and wings, since the airframe I decided to build had its painted over.

Anyway, that’s it for now. I’ll be sharing more as I make progress. As usual, comments, questions, and criticisms are welcome. Feel free to drop you two cents into the bucket on your way out. Stay tuned for more!

Until next time!
-O

3 Likes
17

Your P-51 is moving right along and it’s looking awesome, especially your natural metal finish.

18

Another great O creation in the making! :+1:

The invasion stripes look great on your Mustang :star_struck:

19

Very impressive paint work there. I especially like the silver finish. The slight variations in color, and invasion stripes,:ok_hand:

20

Does anyone know if it’s true that Ike had a “special” two seat P-51 so that he could fly over the Normandy beaches?