SPA Modeler

Adam wrote:That looks sweet!

You don't get any tape marks in the Alclad? Interesting. Even with several coats of sealer I always manage to get tape marks somewhere with the Metalizer stuff.

alcad is really top stuff, but krylon rattle can metallics have also worked well for me

2 cents!

Hi,

STUNNING!!!!

Pascal

Thanks all. Yes, Alclad has made all NMF's possible without worry. Whoever invented it can print money. I'm in for a quick update. I had been waiting on the Aeromaster decals I bought off Ebay. The oher day I got impatient and decided to utilize an old Eagle Cal sheet for the insignias and stenciling that's not plane specific. This ended up being a mistake and the insignia on the upper wing had dried with wrinkles in it.....ugh! I then tried every solvent I had to no avail. I'll either live with it or sand-repaint-re decal it........... The Aeromaster sheet showed up yesterday and I finished up.




I gave it a Flory wash. This is where these start to come to life for me...




I turned my attention to the gears and wheels. I added fuse wire for brake lines. Ialso used the new Eduard "Brassin" wheels for this project. I wasn't impressed. There is no weighted spot and eventhough they are supposed to be for this kit, they don't fit on the axle . For this price, they should. I'll stick with Ultracast from this point on.



Joe

Thanks Jim...

I got some much need time at the bench last night and I think I'm finally done. To recap, its the 1/48 Tamiya P-51D in Urban Drew's 361st FG "Detroit Miss" markings. Drew was a 6 kill ace, to include two Messerschmitt 262’s destroyed on October 7th, 1944. This distinguished Drew as the first Allied airman to destroy two German jets in aerial combat.

As I said, my intent was to offer suggestions on how to improve the already nice Tamiya kit. I've built several and have found some ways to improve it. This is not to say I didn't go off the path in this one, so to speak. The cockpit, at minumum the seat, needs replaced. I normally go True Details here but in this case I used a Ultracast seat with the TD pit. I normally use Ultracast wheels but I had the Eduard Brassin set so I figured I would try it. I found that I prefer the Ultracast. The "fifties" need love too, which are crap on this kit. I substituted Albion Alloy brass tubing. Also worth mentioning is the kit canopy (sliding part) which is a poor two part design. Its hard to mate these two convincingly which just looks sloppy to me. I either go with a Squadron vacuform or substitute a spare Hasegawa piece. I used the later since the Hase P-51 in my stash came with two (I suppose they all do). I scratch built the internal brace with sheet styrene and drilled out the lightening holes..

I went with the kit 75 gallon drop tanks and added plumbing with stereo wire painted black. I know there are pictures of "Miss" sportng the 108 paper tanks, but let's face it, the 75'ers are much less of a pain in the arse to assemble with zero sanding. Besides, whose to say these weren't used as well? I read somewhere that 8th AF Mustangs did not have aerial wires, so I didn't add it. If I'm to stand corrected, I'll add one

I decided the previously mentioned insignia decal mishap was not bad enough to mess with, so I listened to the inner voice and just left well enough alone. It ended up looking ok under the wash and dull coat. I didn't like the way the windscreen fit on this particular build. This isn't the greatest design either and tends to leave gaps where it meets the fuselage. I may fiddle with it more later.

Overall I'm fairly happy with how it turned out. Hopefully I've offered some new ideas for your next "Cadillac of the Skies"....

Thanks for following....
Joe

Most excellent!!!

Awesome build man! I've really enjoyed the tutorial. I used those Brassin wheels on my last build and I liked them. I don't recall the axle issue. But yeah they at least need flat spotted. For the money you pay they should be. Apparently all the Brassin wheels are like that. I just got a few sets of 109 wheels and they are the same way.

stunning just stunning

Oh my goodness! That one is at the top of the charts! Nice build and great tutorial. Thank you.