After my lunch with Harry Stewart of the Tuskegee Airmen I knew I had to have one. Well I apparently decided I in fact need 4[:D] so a mini North American production line has been set in lovely .
Here is some progress of the 1st two, a B with Aires resin/PE set and a D, which will be more or less OOB, and eventually displayed with the canopy closed.
Since “Which way do I do my IP?” comes up every now and then, the B is the PE/film panel for the Aries set and the D is the kit panel with Mike Grant decals. The decals are tedious to apply but you can get a very nice looking panel without investing the AM details sets.
Wow- nice work on those! Honestly, it’s great looking work like that which both frustrates me about my own skills, and also inspires me to work harder. The pics you show are always such great examples of the best of our hobby.
I’m fast discovering I need patience- is that the key? [;)]
I’m going to be starting an Accurate Minis P-51A, and I hope the office can come close to looking like that. Great work!
Jon, I think that is one of the most important “skills” in this hobby. I will sometimes rush things… for me it usually occurs in the finishing stages… like not letting paint cure enough before moving to the next step. As soon as a modeler stops rushing t get better… he usually does.
Got the wings on the D since posting the pit pics. The Tamiya P-51’s sure are nice kits. Don’t think I will need a speck of putty.
I can hear the looney toons music playing in the background, you know the music they play for the the complicated machine/assembly line. I really hope SOMEONE knows what I’m talking about so I don’t sound like a doofuss… oh, too late.
Seriously, nice looking mustangs. Me, I’m partial to the Allison Engined Mustangs, but second in my heart come the razorback mustangs. I wish you luck!
Jon, AM’s cockpits are very nice… I’m going to be building another P-51A, this time using Verlinden Engine and Details sets for the CBI group build starting this fall. If you want some photos of my build, visit my photobucket page here
As usual, looks great Marc! So what are the 4 going to be? a -b, -d, ?, ?. Are you going to be doing all different versions? Anyway, I look forward to your continued progress. Leon
Very nice- I’m going to add your build to my printouts I use for reference- nice looking office. You did a great job of capturing the real thing. Nice having that picture there in your gallery of the real bird.
I may get in on that CBI group build- a P-51A certainly qualifies!
Wood decals that you made? I should have thought of that, so far I’ve been disappointed with my attempts at a wood paint job. Do you scan in wood image over transparent decal paper and put it over a base ‘wood’ color?
I have a graphics program that I bought for about at one of those warehouses, like a Costco, 9 years ago. The Print Shop Deluxe . It still works great and has like 6000 graphics in it including this one called, oddly enough, woodgrain. The guy pulling the banner on my Tools & Tips page on my site is from there too. Handy to have for stuff like that. I just sized it so it is a little bigger than the floor and printed is on decal paper. When I get ready to use it I will spray an undercoat of a darkish yellow. Yellow decals printed on an inkjet are very transparent. It can be used as one piece like a sheet of plywood or cut into strips and the order changed to look like a glued up boards.
Right click and Save Target As and it is all yours.
I tried to increase production to all 4 at once… but the union would have none of it, being peace time and all…
(and Pix is doing 6[:O])
So back to the 1st two. Airframes largely completed. Need the flaps and some sanding of the wings LE on the D. The D is the chrome Tamiya kit that was stripped with bleach. The “gray” fuselage was really yellow at first but that has faded quite a bit from when it was stripped.
Ready for primer and some Alclad soon.
Love those Tamiya kits… no adjustments whatsoever to the wing joint
Your progress is looking great. Why the different tones between the wings and fuselage on the Tamiya D kit?
I also have a suggestion for the wood floors in P-51s and most probably anywhere that requires wood paneling, etc. I discovered, not too recently, this very thin sheet of wood that’s wrapped around certain cigars, those that are packed and sold in metal tubes with screw on/off caps. This sheet of wood is almost paper thin, or at least as thin as heavy construction paper, it has a nice wood grain and color and seems it would work well as cockpit flooring for a P-51, though I haven’t tried it yet, I will when I get to a P-51.
Maybe someone has already discovered and tried this, I just thought I’d share it.
Thanks for posting, WingNut. This build looks great so far, and I like your website a lot, too. Great tips and techinques.
