Aifix 1/72 North American P-51D Mustang

[ScaleModelJedi]

My entry into this SIG will be the Airfix North American P -51D Mustang. I bought this kit cheap in the Airfix winter sale back in December with the intention of using it for this SIG. I wasn't going to do it bit as my PTO build is progressing well I thought I may as well give it ago.
The plan is to build it while watching the football over the weekend and have it all completed tomorrow evening. That's the plan anyway
The kit only has one colour call out so that's the one I will be doing.
LOLIPOOP II Flown by 1Lt Spurgeon Ellington, 'Tuskegee Airmen',
100th Fighter Squadron, Ramitelli, Italy, December 1944.

From the box :
The North American P51 Mustang is viewed as one of the iconic fighters of the second world war. Designed to an RAF specification the Mustang was transformed once the Rolls Royce Merlin engine was installed. It's long range and excellent firepower made it a superb escort Fighter, able to protect the bombers all the way to Berlin and back. After the war the P51 saw service in Korea and was used by some air arms up until the early 1980s

From Google Images.


The kit


The contents of the box


Sprue shots.


Clear parts





Instructions and stencil data.

It looks a nice little kit so should be a straight forward build. Now to get started

[Les]

Good luck with this quick build!

[ScaleModelJedi]

Good luck with this quick build!

Thank you Les

[ScaleModelJedi]

Started on the cockpit. As it's only 1/72 details is very minimal but there is some in there. I managed to break the flight stick, this wasn't hard to do as it's so small and delicate.


Fixed all the parts in place. Re attached the broken part off the flight stick, not holding much hope of it staying fixed.

Fuselage half's, wings and parts for prop all cleaned up. I dry fitted these to make sure there's no problems with fit. They seem to fit really well so not expecting any issues.


The internal areas and cockpit all primed with Ultimate grey.


Once dry I applied Vallejo 71.010 interior green.


While those bits dry I've made a start on cleaning up some of the other parts.

Once the interior green is dry I will finish painting and do some weathering on the cockpit.
So far it's a great little kit

[ScaleModelJedi]

Finished the cockpit and the interior areas. Gave them a light weathering and dry brush. For 1/72 it doesn't look to bad although I doubt much of it will be seen once the canopy is on.
I used Vallejo matt black for the instruments, these were then dry brushed with grey to highlight the raised detail and tone the black down. I added a drop of white to some interior green and highlighted the raised details on the sides in the cockpit and wheel wells. The seat cushions where painted in Khaki and I used some of the lightened interior green to do some chipping. The whole lot was then given a wash of a brown colour and I added some natural umber pigment to the floor. The decal was added to the instrument panel using micro set and sol.


Just got to wait for it to dry then will get the fuselage half's together.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Last update for tonight I'm all done till tomorrow.
Fitting the fuselage together with the help of a few pegs.

They fit together really well only a very slight misalignment on the under side. There'sa small hole that will require filling on the underside this was from where it was attached to the sprue. Cutting it away pulled some of the plastic from the one half. Only real down point to the kit is some of the sprue gates are huge.


Fuselage and the wings all together and ready to be joined. Some slight gaps on the wings where I couldn't get it to sit correctly and the one wing has a slight step at the wing tip as the pegs put a little bit to much pressure on and pushed it in a bit too much. It's on the underneath so won't be to noticeable.


The wings are a really nice fit.


Some small gaps around the flap only on the one side. This is where the two parts of the wing didn't sit quite right.


All the parts in place and ready for primer. I've pva glued the landing gear doors and the canopy in place for painting. I will remove these after and paint separately. I'm going to do it with the landing gear down.


I've used Vallejo gloss black primer from there metal colour range first time I've used it. It's OK will see tomorrow if it hold up as I need to rub down the primer a little and probably give it another coat. I will be using the Vallejo metal colour paints for the NMF.

More to come tomorrow. Thank you for taking the time to look

[ScaleModelJedi]

Up early this morning to do some work on the Mustang. First job was to rub down the primer in a few areas where there was some slight imperfections. Being Vallejo primer not sure how this was going to go. The primer held up ok no problems with it peeling off after a night of drying. Hopefully it will hold up when I do the masking.
I've given the model a coat of Vallejo metal color 77.701 Aluminium. First time spraying this stuff and while it sprays really nice out of the bottle I think I sprayed a bit to heavy in a couple of places and I've got some tide marks. I will leave it to dry and rub it back and give it another light coat.


While that's drying I've made a start on cleaning up the last few bits and getting them ready for paint.


Hopefully I can get another coat of the aluminium done and I might have a go at spraying some panels a slightly different shade for a bit of variation before masking and painting the green and red.

[ScaleModelJedi]

I rubbed down the first coat off aluminium and applied a second coat. Still not perfect but it's better than it was and I'm happy enough with it for a quick build.
Next I masked off the panels around the exhaust using tamiya tape detact on the back of my hand.


The colour call out calls for this section to be painted gun metal. I used ammo A.MIG-045 gun metal as I don't have the Vallejo metal color gun metal.


Next I masked off some random panels with tamiya tape.



These where then painted with Vallejo metal color 77.716 semi matte aluminium.



I masked off some more panels then sprayed these with Vallejo metal color 77.717 dull aluminium.


I am quite impressed with the Vallejo metal color paints they go down nice if you don't spray too heavy and have a nice look to them. Also considering the short amount of time between coats I've masked over it with no problems at all.

Next up was masking the areas for the red. There is a decal supplied with the kit for the red part around the nose. I decided not to use this as I think it may be difficult to machine that red with paint so I'm going to mask and paint that instead.


I've used Vallejo model air 71.003 for the red. Not sure if it's the right shade but it's the only red I have.



The section around the nose is not quite right and there was a little paint bleed but overall not to bad.

I've removed the landing gear doors so I can paint them. I will then loosely refit the ones on the wings so I can mask up the wings to paint the yellow stripes, Also got the olive green to paint on the nose.

[ScaleModelJedi]

I didn't get it finished for this evening. Decided not to rush it to get it done as I will have some time over next couple of days to finish and it would be a shame to rush it and mess it up.
I've got the landing gear doors all painted and I will loosely fit them back in the closed position and then mask up the wings to paint the yellow stripes. There are decals for these but think it will be better to paint them on.
The wheels and fuel tanks are primed ready for the top coat.
The prop needs the yellow tips painting on and the exhaust needs painting and fitting.
I've painted the olive drab on the top of the nose, this needs tidying up a little at the front where I didn't get the mask right around the red.


More to come tomorrow.
Thank you for looking

[Lysus]

Heh, looks sweet! A far sight better than mine and I started in May! At this rate I think yours might be the only Tuskegee to finish.

I have the Tamiya kit and had to order aftermarket decals for the red tail, and same thing, there was a decal for the nose. I too chose not to use it, seemed a hassle to try and color match. The red I used was just Tamiya flat red and it too seemed really bright, but after a gloss coat this morning it has toned down a bit. Fingers crossed for the Vallejo.

Looking forward to seeing it done!

[ScaleModelJedi]

Heh, looks sweet! A far sight better than mine and I started in May! At this rate I think yours might be the only Tuskegee to finish.

I have the Tamiya kit and had to order aftermarket decals for the red tail, and same thing, there was a decal for the nose. I too chose not to use it, seemed a hassle to try and color match. The red I used was just Tamiya flat red and it too seemed really bright, but after a gloss coat this morning it has toned down a bit. Fingers crossed for the Vallejo.

Looking forward to seeing it done!

Thank you . Havent managed to finish as quick as I hoped but I will have it done in time. It's not perfect but I'm pleased with it so far.

[ScaleModelJedi]

I didn't really get much time on this yesterday had a long meeting and then the unfortunate pleasure of watching a so called national football team.
Let's forget that, I did manage to get the yellow stripes painted on the wings. I loosely refitted the landing gear doors and masked up the stripes with tamiya masking tape. I gave the area a coat of white first to help with the yellow then applied Vallejo 71.002 medium yellow. As with the red this was the only paint I had. It's very bright so will need toning down. The lines aren't perfect there is a slight misalignment on one are will try and cover it with some chipping.

Tonight I want to try and get everything painted and ready for a gloss coat which I will do tomorrow. I've got a new airbrush and hopefully that will arrive tomorrow and I want to give that a try as I've bought it for applying primer and clear coats.
I can then get the decals on and do some chipping before sealing the decals and then do some light weathering.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Tonight's progress I've got everything ready for a clear coat and then decals tomorrow.

The landing gear was painted in vallejo semi matt aluminium and I've used mig ammo rubber and tires for the tires. I will dry brush some black over the tops of the tires to bring out the tread and then a wash.
Hopefully the post turns up nice and early tomorrow so I can get a coat of gloss on and the decals. I will do some very light chipping and then some light weathering before the final reveal

[ScaleModelJedi]

From Wikipedia

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission for license-built Curtiss P-40 fighters. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed and first flew on 26 October.[5][6]

The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which, in its earlier variants, had limited high-altitude performance. It was first flown operationally by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustang's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, matching or bettering that of the Luftwaffe's fighters.[7][nb 1] The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin 66 two-stage two-speed supercharged engine, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2/AN Browning machine guns.[9]

From late 1943, P-51Bs (supplemented by P-51Ds from mid-1944) were used by the USAAF's Eighth Air Force to escort bombers in raids over Germany, while the RAF's 2 TAF and the USAAF's Ninth Air Force used the Merlin-powered Mustangs as fighter-bombers, roles in which the Mustang helped ensure Allied air superiority in 1944.[10] The P-51 was also used by Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean and Italian theaters, and also served against the Japanese in the Pacific War. During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed 4,950 enemy aircraft shot down.[nb 2]

At the start of the Korean War, the Mustang was the main fighter of the United Nations until jet fighters such as the F-86 took over this role; the Mustang then became a specialized fighter-bomber. Despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After World War II and the Korean War, many Mustangs were converted for civilian use, especially air racing, and increasingly, preserved and flown as historic warbird aircraft at airshows

[NorthernModeller]

really liking the look of this

[ScaleModelJedi]

really liking the look of this

Thank you Ivan

[ScaleModelJedi]

Not long left seriously underestimated how long this would actually take me to do. I'm slowly coming to the reality of the fact that since my accident tasks take me a lot longer to complete than before.
Yesterday I got my new airbrush so gave it a whirl with the clear coat, Not great but that's more my lack of experience doing it. After that was dry I got all the decals on minus a few of the very small ones that I managed to lose/damage.


All glossed and ready for decals. I used the Vallejo gloss varnish for there metal colors. First time using this and it's not bad I think with some more practice I would be able to get better results.


The decals on . I've used micro sol and set to apply them. I've damaged the large one on the wing slightly trying to get it to sit over the raised detail. Not too bad though and I will try and cover it with some chipping.

I've just applied another clear coat to seal the decals and when dry I can make a start on the weathering and getting the landing gear fitted.

[ScaleModelJedi]

After the gloss coat dried I made a start on the weathering. I applied some chips to the painted areas and decals where I had damaged it a little. This was using Vallejo semi matt aluminium and a small brush. There a little bit big in some places but it's given me some practice.


I then applied a dark wash to the panel lines using one of the AK panel liners. I cleaned of any excess with a cotton bud and a bit of white spirit.


I gave the wheels a wash and also some dust effects these were from the AK weathering landing gear set.

I then applied some matt varnish to the painted areas to take the shine off them before fitting all the remaining parts.

Well it's finished far from perfect but a very enjoyable build that I've learned a lot from. Final reveal pics will be up in a bit.
Thank you to everyone who's stopped by to look

[scotto978]

I got halfway through building this then stopped but seeing your fantastic build had made me want to carry on with it. Great job