Airfix P-51D Mustang

[styrcrazy]

Hello All,

Starting my first topic on the forum today. I post in the ISM FB group every now and then. I want to have a go at posting a full build report. I i enjoy it i'll post more in the future. For this topic I will build a simple kit. The Airfix 1/72 North American F-51D Mustang. I enjoy building these small 1/72 planes. The purpose of this build is to test a metallic finish using Vallejo Metal Color. This to gain some experience with larger models later on.

I will build the kit OOB. No extras. I will also try to build this kit quickly. For me, quick is within a few weeks. Most of my builds which are pretty simple until now, take a few months.

Well let's go.









According to Scalemates this is a 2012 tooling and this release is the second one, also in 2012 with new parts added.
The kit looks good but I expected the parts te be crisper. There is some flash on a lot of the parts. Nothing serious but unexpected.

The kit is molded in thick and soft styrene as usual for recent Airfix kist i understand. Also i noticed the thick connections between the parts and the sprue.



I started with tho cockpit and i almost immediately broke of the control stick. I created a new one from 0.3 mm tube. I cut a small piece, added a drop of CA and created a crude stick that will not stand out once it is in the finished model with closed canopy.





Some further pics of the build.







I added Eduard Super Fabric seat belts to make it a bit more interesting.

[Twokidsnosleep]

I will pull up a chair an watch

[styrcrazy]

It's been a while since last time. Time to post some more.

First a picture of the cockpit. I used the decal but it does not look great. Once the canopy is on it will be hard to see it so, no problem there.


Next step is joining the fuselage halves. Fit is very good. Just press together the fuslage halves. Slap on enough TET and bingo.

I removed the seam by filling it with Mr Surfacer 1000 using a toothpick. I usually let Mr Surface dry for approx. 24 hours. I carefully sanded Mr Surfacer and as a last step i use a buffer to smooth the surface. Mostly this gives a seamless surface.


Next step. Add the wings. No problems there. Fits nicely.


The gap between wing and fuselage is just a little bit too wide for my taste so i filled it. I use Mr Dissolved Putty for this. Filll the gap with a toothpick and let dry for half an hour. Then use a cotton bud/Q-tip and Mr Hobby Thinner to remove the excess putty untill a shallow seam is left that looks good.


After removing excess putty:


That's it for today. I'll post a bit sooner next time.

[styrcrazy]

I masked the canopy with Tamiya tape. I tend to buy after market mask sets when canopies get complex but this was not necessary for this one. I glued the cannopy on with Microscale Krystal Clear. Next i primed the model with Ultimate black. It amazes me every time to see how easy the Ultimate primer goes on. Even when it pools it dries up incredibly smooth. Of course, if any detail was underneath that pool, it will no longer be visible.



After the primer was dry i airbrushed Chrome from the Vallejo Metal Color range. I was curious to see how shiny this would be. I know that a gloss coat beneath the chrome will give a shinier surface but for this build i am sattisfied with the result. I have a bottle of Ultimate Black Gloss primer on order right now.



Next step: Make a few panel stand out by spraying the Alluminium.





Next spray the nose black. Normally i'd spray on flat black but because i was all out of flat black i sprayed Tamiya X-1. It'll need sanding and polishing later on.

Added Tamiya XF-3 Yellow



Next i added a coat of Alclad Aquagloss to prep the surface for decals. The decals with this kit are thick and would not conform to the sutface detail. I applied multiple coats of Sol to soften them but without succes.



Luckily the teeth were a bit more cooperative. A bit too short though. I used a Vallejo Model Color Red to fill the gap. Color match was not perfect but good enough.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Huiao8]

[chief5437]

Looking great so far!

[Modellerinashed]

Looks the business, I recently built the same kit, went together quite well, that's a good build!

[styrcrazy]

Looking great so far!

Looks the business, I recently built the same kit, went together quite well, that's a good build!

Thanks guys.

I finished the kit by now. I'll post an update soon.

[styrcrazy]

It has been a while. Time for an update of the F-51D build.

No amount of Micro Sol could persuade these decals to conform to the panel lines. It'll have to do as is.



From here on not much more to do. I added the landing gear and the engine exhausts.
The landing gear of this kit was very feeble aand crooked. I could not make much of it. I bent it into shape as good as i could and left it like that.

Next panel line whash. I used this one.



Next:

- Add some exhaust stains
- Add gun powder trails on the wings
- Add a finishing layer of Aquagloss to seal everything in
- Polish up the Aqualoss so we get a nice and shiny aircraft.

Before looking at the end result, this is the crooked landing gear:


I was a bit sloppy underneath the nose:



But overall I like the way this kit turned out. See here the results:














And that is all!

[SEBa111]

Nice touch on that aluminum on the wings

[DrSprue]

What is it about a silver P51!! Just brings warmth to my heart! Great Job!!

[styrcrazy]

Nice touch on that aluminum on the wings

What is it about a silver P51!! Just brings warmth to my heart! Great Job!!

Thanks guys .

It's always a joy to build a P-51 (ok, F-51 in this case )

It was the first time i did a natural metal finish. I kinda copied the variations from a similar build i saw on youtube. I'm happy with the result.