Hello. I am trying to build Tamiya 1/48 p-51d. I am using the True Details kit and things are fitting pretty well except maybe the instrument panel. Here is what it looks like in a dry fit (placed with blue tac).
Is there really supposed to be that much gapat the top of it? And if not, any advice on filling it? The side walls are glued on, but not the tub or the panel. Maybe I could try to glue the instrument panel into a fuselage side, but I assume that would create problems with fit somewhere else.
Can anyone help with this problem??? (I’m sure I’ll have more…)
Thanks for any thoughts,
Leon
It looks to me that you can do some trimming to inprove the fit. The vertical sides, before the angle, appears to be too wide. Here is what I would do in this case:
Tape the fuselage halves together tightly. Fold a piece of paper and insert it into the fuselage where the panel will go, and keep adjusting it until it spans the width. Once you have the panel’s maximun width, mark the edges on the panel with a fine marker, making sure that there is an equal distance on both sides (so the panel is centered in the fuselage). You can then cut with a razor saw, use files, or block sand the piece until it slips into the fuselage. It will then reach the bottom of the coaming.
i never had a problem with mine friend! since when did TD start including a PE instrument panel face?!! or, are you just that good?!! sorry…i’d try what pix has recommended. thats the only downside about the P-51D, you can detail out the instrument panel and it sits so far to the front you can barely see it by the time the canopy, windscreen, and gunsight are set. good luck friend. cant wait to see the finished product. later.
Thanks pixilater, Your idea and technique make a lot of sense to me and should help. I’ll give it a shot tomorrow.
Saltydog, You are right the TD doesn’t have PE. This is going to be for a friend’s birthday present and since I just cannot get the hang of painting instruments, I decided to spend the extra $5 for a zoom pe set for the instruments. Maybe too high for a small detail, but better than giving him a cruddy looking panel [8D]
Thanks again both of you for responding. As I said before, I’m sure there will be more questions, and I appreciate the help.
Leon
You could thin the plastic a bit also on the cockpit sides. Just make sure that when you get the panel up where you want it that it still meets the floor.
Leon, dont worry about spending that money on the small details, i do the same thing!! if my subjects are gonna be sitting on a shelf, 99% of the time i’m gonna have them with the canopy open, so i want the cockpit to look as good as my skills will allow. i love the P-51D as it is my favorite aircraft of all, with many, many other “favorites”!!LOL. i plan to build a D for every ace of WWII that i can find decals for, so i have tried every AM cockpit that is made for the tamiya 1/48 P-51D. my favorite set is made by Aires. it has just the right amount of PE and resin IMHO. it costs $13 bucks at squadron and if you think about it, you pay 6 and some change for the TD resin set, and 5 and some change for a PE set, and you have nearly $13 in it so i just opted for the aires set. from now on, i’ll be using the aires set as it is really excellent. i’m like you, i love the PE and film instrument panel, you can beat the look. good luck with you build friend, and a P-51D is a perfect gift!! later.
ps. one little draw back to the aires set, is the instrument panel, dash board, and gunsight are all one big chunk of detailed resin, you have to cut out the kit dash board in order to fit this piece into the cockpit and its a bear of a chore. well, it is for me least ways!! you have to do quite a bit of tweaking to get this piece to fit right, but the rest is excellent. just thought i’d drop this in just in case you build another one someday. later.
First off thanks for the encouragement. Sometimes I feel like (to be cool) you are supposed to go out of box, or maybe 1 AM, but to do too much speaks to your lack of ability. Well I not only do have a little lack of ability, but to me the extra $$ is worth it to end up with a product that I really like to look at. [8D]
Second, as for your plan to do all the P-51 aces…Wow. That would be an amazing collection to have! I myself am very fond of the pacific fighters: wildcat, hellcat, corsair… but If this one goes together nicely, I will definately do another for myself.
Anyway, thanks again. (Oh and good luck with the shelves (other post)- I’m almost at that point too.)
Leon
Looking at those pictures again, what happened? Get a little too close to the old index finger with that Xacto knife? [:)] I hate when that happens. You’re just working along and all of a sudden the side of your model looks like a murder scene.
Actually it was the saw I was using to separate the resin cockpit from the pour. I did a better job at separating skin from skin than resin from resin [:)]. I’m just glad my wife wasn’t around, so only the dog heard me cuss and knew how stupid I am.
Leon
