Tamiya P-51D 1/32 WIP, Part 2

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Making some progress, but slow due to a lot of work travel. Finding the overall fit really amazing, with one small gap (see the below). Took me forever to figure out the HGW belts and even now I’m not sure I’m doing them “right” but at least they are together (and yes, one hitch, I used the wrong anchor point on one of the lap belts).

Now here’s the rub, after taking about two weeks to figure out how they go together - I may not use them since I am planning on using the pilot figure. Maybe for the next one I do!

Here is the left side, before being closed up:

The throttle stands up and is in danger of being broken off, but I now the the fuselage is closed up, I think its ok. Notice the round magnet in the engine mount.

And the right side:

The radiator fits snugly in the side:

And the fit from the bottom is really snug. It takes a little jiggling to get everything settled, but it fits perfectly.

However, putting the fuselage together I could not figure out why it would not come together. This happened more than once during my dry fitting.

But finally got it all together. Used some 2 min Thick CA on the tail wheel magnet assembly, as well as the radiator assembly, and on the cockpit floor to provide good strong bond. Then doing small sections at a time I used the Tamiya Extra Thin green top cement. Worked amazingly well.

After getting the mid-section put together I noticed the bottom of the tail. Uncharacteristic based on the rest of the model - so I probably sanded the sprue attachment point too much. At least it is on the bottom, and nothing a little bit of filler won’t fix.

The one thing I’m really unhappy about is just how delicate the MM Acryl paint is on the engine. Its not like I’m resting it on sandpaper or anything. So, for a third time I’ll be repainting it, but not until after I get the front of the plane together.

Oh well. Its slowly getting there!

2

Very nice! Looks really good. What decals are you using for this build?

3

Thank you very much. I picked up a set of Big Beautiful Doll decals from Eaglecals which also has Petie 2nd on it. And I have a set of Moonbeam McSwine decals, but I think I’m going to Big Beautiful Doll. The nose checkers alone will be a project onto themselves!

4

Little bit more of an update. Dry fitting the front framing as I am painting a few more bits up front.

5

Nice work!! Enjoying watching this one come together!

6

Thanks Eric, I wish I had more time - looking forward to the wheel well and gun bays underway.

7

It’s a beautiful kit. I’ve built one and am very pleased at how nice it looks.

However, be careful of those engine panels. They are very thin and fragile. After mine was completed, I put in in my display case, and the heat of the light above, deformed the top cowling, and it’s unrepairable- so I will display it without the engine panels. Wrecked my nice nose art decal, too. I figure it will cost $40+ dollars to replace the panels and after market decals, so the heck with it. Duh! My fault.

8

Chuck: OUCH! Sorry to hear. I don’t have a light directly over my display case, but really good to know just how fragile those pieces are. I actually have not even taken them out of their little box yet. Some of my desk lights are pretty hot so I will make sure to keep those pieces away - really do appreciate you sharing the ‘lesson learned’.

I’m planning on doing Big Beautiful Doll, but a little concerned how the decal will sit over the individual panels. I thought I would put all the panels on, do the decal(s), then carefully cut them along the panel lines. Any thoughts? If it works, I would be amazed. But would love to see it…

9

Re the decal application: That’s exactly what I did. Finished the paint job, put the panels on the model, then the nose art decal over the panels. It was big enough to cross two of the horizontal panel separations. After it was good and dry, I sliced through it along the panel lines with a sharp new knife, and the results were perfect. I used decals from “Kits-World” purchased from Sprue Bros. They are very high quality. Used the beautiful “Temptation” set of nose art. However, now that my top cowling is gone, the attractive young lady has lost her head, and when I took off the middle side panel, most of the rest of her is gone, too. You can still see her foot on the lower panel, though!

Those lights in my display cabinet never damaged any other model, and I had no idea that those cowling sections were so thin that they would be that heat sensitive, so I’m glad to pass on the experience to keep others from the same disaster. Also, do not try to flex them at all. They will break very easily.

10

Hi Sanderson! VERY late reply, but using the EagleCal Big Beautiful Doll set. Been on the LSP forums and getting lots of tips on how to make that work with the removable panels. Stay tuned! Here is where I am at the moment:

A lot of the engine detail gets hidden behind either the exhaust or the bottom frame member (esp any spark plug wiring. Sigh. Mine is bright red and you can’t see it at all.

The cockpit came together nicely, lots of the Eduard color PE as well as kit parts there. I opted for the non-accurate wood floor. Makes it much easier to see the details inside. although with the pilot seated in the seat, you really get the image of how cramped it was in there.

And closed up:

The pictures make me realize that I completely forgot to highlight the instrument panel! Oh well. Once the gunsight is in place (K14 and it is actually huge!) as well as the canopy, etc, you wont see much anyway.

Have primed the wings with Tamiya Fine primer out of the can. Man that goes on heavy if you are not careful. I purposely put on a heavy coat to show how the wings were puttied and sanded, but that it did wear off. We’ll see how it looks under paint (Flat Aluminum).

11

Outstanding work!

12

I also am working on the same kit. I am amazed by your attention to detail. I can’t wait to see your completed P-51D.

13

Thank you Toshi! I’ve had to pass on several detail elements but this is something of a learning experience for Mustang number 2.

Here are a few more pics so far. VERY much looking to see your work! The only place I’ve used any filler what so ever is the scoop underneath. For some reason, and this probably means I didn’t do something right, I had to use a fine bead as shown here.

I finally started work on the figures - and I’m not a good figure painter so this takes me a lot of time and looking at a lot of references.

I messed up the face on the standing figure but here is where I am on the body.

And the pilot:

Top view showing the seatbelts.

I did a terrible job getting the arms up in the right position on the body. Will probably add some filler here.

Here I’ve test fitted the horizontal stabilizers and elevators but the photo shows the shading I am working on for the panels. The stabilizers are chrome silver, but the elevators I’ve sprayed with a mix of chrome sliver and flat aluminum. I like the effect - but will post some better pictures as the effect is not as extreme as shown in this photo. The fuselage is still plastic gray.

I sprayed the wing with Tamiya fine primer, heavy in some spots, showing how on many Mustangs the wings were puttied and painted. I may hit it with another coat. But it looks pretty good in Silver.

Since I’m doing Big Beautiful Doll, I’ve painted the wingtips white as the decals for the checkers are only printed in black for the wings.

Next step after letting the paint cure for two days is a coat of Future for the decals on the nose and the wing tips.

14

Your P-51 is really starting to take shape. I’m interested to see how it looks when you lay down the NMF, I think your idea of varying the primer is brilliant!

For figures with separate arms, I’ve found it helpful to put small pieces of wire into the arms and shoulders and seat the pilot to adjust the arms to the right positions, then glue. It works for me anyway.

I’m really enjoying watching your build!

Groot

15

Ahhhhh, Groot - That would have been so much easier than what I did! Ok, filing that away for future reference - pins to work the positioning. Thanks!

16

It took a couple of tries and a new set of nose checker decals from Zotz, but finally got the checkers pretty well lined up.

Still have some touch up to do, and the Zotz decals are thicker than the EagleCals, but they fit the Tamiya nose so much better than the EagleCal set which are not designed for the Tamiya 1/32nd kit.

Now on to painting the fuselage!

17

Wow, simply stunning work. You did great on those nose decals. I painted mine on my 1/48 and that was a real PITA. Your build it looking great beyond my words. [Y][Y]

18

Excellent work! Thanks for sharing…

19

Making progress! Still need to touch up the checkers especially underneath, but getting there. Fuselage is Model Master Aluminum Plate Metalizer, but it may be too close in color to the Tamiya Chrome Aluminum I used on the wings. Ugh.

Still having problems with finding a decal set for Big Beautiful Doll that is actually made for the kit. EagleCals set is not made for the Tamiya 1/32 kit, it is made for the 1/48 and scaled up - the nose checkers do not fit, and neither do the red outlines, but the wing checkers fit extremely well and are beautifully thin. Zotz’s Duxford Doll set has the nose checkers for the 1/32 Tamiya kit, but not the wing checkers. Sigh.

20

Looking great!