Thanks again for all the positive feedback on my Eduard Nieuport 17 Weekender. It really meant a lot. Now I am going back to trying to complete a Mustang. I tried doing a Hasegawa version but pretty much scrapped it after I screwed up the panel wash (correct term?). As I said in other posts, I learned a ton from that kit and am applying my learning to this kit.
So here is where I am right now. I just finished the cockpit and am now in the process of assembling the fuselage. For the cockpit work I used Model Master and Tamiya paints. I found an old True Details cockpit set for a Monogram model and just added a few pieces from it to the seat. This was my first experience with photo etched pieces and it seems to have worked pretty good. After painting per instructions I did a sludge wash with Tamiya Smoke, JA Green and a touch of black. I also used a silver Prismacolor pencil and some Tamiya Deck Tan for additional weathering.So far so good.
I welcome any and all comments and criticisms. Thanks again!
Looking good so far. I’ve not dealt with that kit in a long time, but I remember it being a good one. I’m not sure about that black patch on the sidewalls where the battery compartment is.
Do you plan on using Tamiya decals? You may find them acceptable if you’re kind of new and are looking to get some experience, but they are generally horrible. They are thick and won’t sink into the detail. Most everyone replaces Tamiya and Hasegawa decals with AM. You may consider that.
Pete, that cockpit looks real good. I am building P-51B 43-12102 as it was being hacked into a D type variant. I am just about where you are in the build. I am looking forward to building my Tamiya P-51D Tuskegee next.
I painted the fuselage fuel tank chromate green. Mainly because I could not confirm that it was black! Was your black a Tamiya paint call-out per the instructions, or did you actually find a source that indicated that it was black?
I’ll plead ignorance on the both issues. I’m following the directions for the painting, although I don’t remember the Hasegawa directions calling for black inside the fuselage. As far as decals, I’d be glad to try something other than the stock. Care to share an item #? Thanks!
Being Monogram, that would make it 1/48th. I started oned one in 1988 and still have yet to finish it. Have recently picked up where I left off. For the age of the mold, it is still a very nice kit even if the newer kits have more details.Have thought about trying an ICM Mustang. Does anyone know how they compare to others?
AT6, did I miss something? The title of the article is Tamiya P-51D. He mentions using a few pieces from a “True Details cockpit set for a Monogram model”, which then, I would agree makes it 1/48th. Pardon me if I’m barking up the wrong tree, its early (for me) here on the west coast! As for comparison, I remember seeing a “chart” somewhere that put Tamiya at the top and my Fujimi somewhere below; so I went and bought the Tamiya kit for a successful warm up to the possibly challenging Fujimi kit. My other Fujimi “T-38” still sits in its box after 25+ years due to lack of detail and “sunken” areas of structure coupled with raised panel lines that all need to be sanded off. Too many corrections and much detail parts and scratch building needed to bring it up to snuff. (sorry, I’m meandering off topic here)
Thanks for the info Bronto. I used the D floor board which includes the fuel tank. The cockpit is firmly glued to one side of the fuselage with styrene glue and CA; but I am pretty sure I can still cut the fuel tank out and replace it with B components. I just love to do things at least twice!
My bench time this weekend was a bit limited with some much needed nice weather, but I did manage to get fuselage, wings and horizontal stabilizers on and ready for paint. I’m going to go with a base of Alclad Aluminum (ALC-101) and then hit panels with other Alclads for depth. My question is do I use a regular primer or gloss black. When I did my Nieuport 17 I used Mr Surfacer 1200. Alclad’s web site calls for a regular primer, but I know some builders use gloss black. What is the advantage to using gloss black for ALC-101?
Any thoughts and input is appreciated. I hope to complete the paint and get photos up before going out of town for two weeks.
Pete
PS The floor of the cockpit was done in Tamiya Flat Black and some wood was dabbed in to show scuffing.
You only HAVE to have the gloss black for the high shine (chrome, airframe aluminum, etc). I just use it anyway since I like to prime in black for shadowing anyway. He advantage with using gloss black wih any Alclad for me is that it’s much easier to ensure coverage.
For NMF I prime with Mr. Surfacer which is great for microfilling and then hit it with black. However, hey make black Mr. S now so that will be unnecessary.
The Alclad gloss black primer is really nice stuff, but Krylon can be decanted and will AB equally well. You just need to remember with decanting that you need to do it a couple of days ahead of time. Spraying aerosol paint out of an airbrush that hasn’t degassed will make you very unhappy eventually. It isn’t a problem every time, but do it enough and it will be.
Well, before I leave the build for two weeks, I thought I would give an update and share some photos. The plane is nearing completion with all of the major steps completed and a lot of the little parts painted up. Too bad I have to leave because I could probably have it done this weekend. Oh well.
Anyways, I am attaching some photos of the priming, black undercoating and metal painting. The initial priming was with Mr Surfacer 1200. I then undercoated with Model Master Gloss Black Lacquer. Although I knew I would be using Alclad Aluminum which supposedly doesn’t need black, I decided to follow opinion and practice of others and see what would happen. I’m glad I did, because the Mr Surfacer went down rough which showed up in the black paint. I used all my micro-mesh pads to smooth out the black as best I could.
For the metal finish I used Alclad Aluminum on the wings and started to hit the fuselage with Alclad Aircraft Aluminum. After it set a few minutes I hit it again with just Alclad Aluminum to tone down the brightness. A few hours later I masked off panels and hit them with Alclad Magnesium, Duraluminum and Dull Aluminum. I then hit some of the panels again with the straight Alclad Aluminum. So far I’m happy with the results. I like how turning the plane a certain way shows different metal “tones.”
As always I always welcome comments and critiques.
