I got a really good price on a Tamyia P-51D. I thought I’d jump back in and tear it down. I have worked in a hanger or flight facility for so many years and I wanted to show what happens behind the scenes. So the story is this mustang belly landed and is being repaired.
I cut the outer panels off opened the gun bay’s and removed some fairings. I scratched a wing cradle so that I could show both sides of the wings.
I scratched the gun bay’s and learned that I should do more building before I glue it in the wing…
I cleaned up the wheel wells and opened up what I could without damaging to much of the Tamyia details there.
I sprayed the whole thing silver then the upper surface OD. I used flat yellow in the gun bay’s wheel wells and fwd spar at where the guns pass through. Nice and thin, it came out looking pretty good with the silver showing through. masked off the stripes with electrical tape and hand painted the invasion stripes .
the underside of the wings near the rear, was a large half moon cut-out that lined up with later assembly (air scoop) so I had to fill it in with card stock. A pin vise and a drill bit and I opened some of the access panels and fuel caps. A needle to scribe some lines and highlight removed small screws. Needle files and sharp #11 blades to get the look I was going for.
Better view of the wheel wells and the scratched wing cradle (and a new ladder for fun)
I chopped the tail off at the fuselage station 248 as found in the maintenance manuals. Removed the rudder and elevators, scratched a bulkhead and opened a few access panels. made the tail cradle and sprayed the whole thing silver (like with the wings) I will try to get a better picture of the bulkhead than this, but here is what I have for now…
that’s it for now
Thanks for looking, advice is allways accepted and cherished
Very nice indeed. I to am a fabric tech rebuilding classic rag/tube planes and enjoy the look of a plane being worked on…they look “real” that way
I do not know the P-51 wing structure to well, and was interested to see the wingstand you built. For the “soft skin” light plane wings we have a stand with wide rubber straps that the Leading edges lie on not to damage the 20-25 thou sheets.
I hope your Mustprang driver had the engine shut down before the forced lobb, otherwize the engine fitters would have to remove and tear down for the shock load ! LOL.
I also recon the radiator with all the glycol hoses are shot…a rather expensive rebuild you got there;-)
Wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a PA-18 or 22 to try a similar build.
Silver base under OD spray, ran a Q-tip across it to smooth it out and blend; now it looks like metal. Gun bay’s are complete scratch build…small stuff when you are cutting pieces 13mm long…made especially hard when I shake so bad.
Tried to get a better picture of the tail assembly in the cradle. (Yes the cradle was scratched with plastic sheet, rod, architectural shapes and some brass rod; all given a base of silver then flat yellow thinned and brushed on)
Here is the main fuselage sans the scoop and oil lines (and yes, no engine) The kit had no engine so I cut the engine compartment off at the firewall and scratched everything you see there. I did use some plumbers adhesive backed aluminum tape to make straps and cushions on the dolly’s, just painted them black.
Interesting build, err, un-build… re-build-in-progress??! Whatever you want to call it, a cool way to show some internal structure & show some sub-assembly breakdowns. Liking it!!!
I think what I will do is show this bird being scavenged for parts before going to the dump…so no clecos…this time! thought I might show more popped rivets and torn screws…let me see what I can do
the a-36/p-51 wing is split in half in the middle. it is bolted together with 3/8 nuts and bolts, with anodized washers between the nut and bolt heads. the spars and intercostal ribs are riveted using the standard the technique. there are man holes and lightning holes to allow this work. and the beat goes on
Pinky, are you thinking what I’m thinking? I can smash-up the radiator (card stock on back side with a fabric that looks like the radiator fins) and show it laying on the floor (scratch some hoses for it) and the entire radio rack sitting on a table; I have some parts I will have to scratch like a few more radios and the battery.
digging through an old box, I found an old 35mm camera that my son and I tore apart as a project (just to see what was in there!)
It has all these tiny, itty bitty boxes (resistors I think) and cool junk…Pinky, we have some free parts to make a resemblance of radio gear…plus, tiny wires!!!
I think I’m in over my head here…
I apologize for the crappy quality of the pictures…I take them with my phone!!! (hey, i’m one level above a cup and string here!)
I was not happy with the paint so I’m striping it off and using aluminum tape…trim each panel and using a razor saw to rivet the skin…I know I have gone in way over my head…pics to follow
I saw a T-28C do a belly landing when I was working at NAS Whiting Field in 1976. It was in the air a week later. My hat is off to you aviation structural mechanics, Dan.
I cut the outer panels off opened the gun bay’s and removed some fairings. I scratched a wing cradle so that I could show both sides of the wings.
