P-51D Mustang Tamiya 1/32 part-1

5/2013

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Great thanks to Larry for English text!!




Introduction

 My next aluminum project is Tamiya's Mustang. This kit is absolutely perfect!! The only defect; it's made of plastic. So, I just have to cover it with aluminum. In this project, I don't aim for the reality as a WWII frontline aircraft, but a shining metal finish like a factory fresh finish or polished restored Warbird.


Preliminary work

 Kit cowling parts are very thin. The problem is; how to glue aluminum sheets on these thin plastic parts. So I made resin platforms for aluminum forming and gluing.



I used this transparent resin.
Platforms are cast using silicon molds. White objects are portions of the silicon molds.



Aluminum works

 The technique is the same as my F-86F Sabre, please refer my article of F-86 for details. 0.3mm(0.012") aluminum sheet is annealed and formed on rubber sheet. Then it is glued with epoxy glue.



The upper cowl is covered with two panels. The shape is checked on the kit part.
The lower panel is formed.

The port side panel of upper cowl is glued.
But glued position is not accurate. Gaps became visible (red circles).


I had to make another try. I ordered one more set of cowling parts from Tamiya after service.



The small piece of plastic sheet is temporarily glued as a guide. The kit part is set on the resin platform. Kitchen wrapping sheet is laid between the kit part and the resin, so they are not glued together.
Aluminum sheet is pressed with urethane foam and scotch tape while gluing. The reason why the resin platform is needed.

In parallel, the fuselage panel was glued. The part is clamped while gluing. Small holes are drilled in plastic part surface to let excess epoxy glue escape (see the port fuselage).
The fuselage, in process.

This is the second try. There are no gaps, unfortunately though, a step shows at the rear of the panel. Oops, I have to make a third try.
The left is the second try, the right is the third try.

This is the third try, There still remains a small step, but it may be insignificant
The lower cowl is in process. The intake lip and spinner shall not be covered with aluminum.

Almost finished, in this view, left and right fuselage parts can be glued together.


The contingence of cowl panels is checked. Panels have not yet been trimmed.



Painting research of the cockpit

 I referred to; the web site of IPMS Stockholm for the cockpit. Tamiya's instructions are almost accurate for the cockpit. The side wall is Interior Green. The floor is Flat Black. The radio rack was different from Tamiya's instruction and was painted Black.


Painting research of the gear bay

 I referred to; the hyper scales forums. Tamiya's instruction shows a strange green shade for the gear bay, but, it is incorrect. The correct colors are as follows. Mustang's interior colors vary in the period. All B/C model and early D/K model were Zinc Chromate Yellow (ZCY) for the main spar and Natural Metal Finish (NMF) for the ceiling, with ZCY ribs, stringers, and side walls. Pipes, were silver or black. Late D/K model (D-20 or -25 ??) were painted all ZCY. Some aircraft were painted silver lacquer for the main spar.


Painting research of the engine section

 I referred to original color photo or original color movie of WW II. Painting research is as follows.

B/C early ? B/C late ? D/K early D/K late
frames of cowl panel NMF NMF NMF(*) ZCY
oil tank ZCY NMF ? ZCY NMF
intake duct NMF ? NMF ? NMF ZCY
engine mount ZCY IG/BG IG/BG IG/BG
fire wall IG/BG ? ZCY IG/BG
inside of panels NMF ? NMF ? NMF ZCY ?
  • IG/BGFInterior Green or Bronze Green
  • (*) there were variation that a portion of frames was ZCY.



The cockpit




The slide rail is added inside of the frame.
The rail is made of brass sheet and fine brass rod.

The black portion of the bullet proof plate is altered from the kit instruction. The white cylinder is a transparent bottle on the actual aircraft.
Caution letters are painted with fine brush. Some letters are decals. The circle on the floor is fuel gauge.


The antenna wire

 P-51Ds of 8th AF operated from the base in GB did not equip antenna wire from the canopy to the tail fin. The reason was that SCR-522 radio system did not need antenna wire, they used blade antenna. On the other hand, P-51Ds in Italy, Asia, and Korea were equipped with an antenna wire.


Zoukeimura's after market parts

I bought Zoukeimura's metal gears and resin tires. Unfortunately, the details were not crisp, and not as accurate as hoped. So will not be using.







The fuselage

After the cockpit is finished, the left and right fuselage parts are glued together.



The top panel (red arrow) is worked after the fuselage glued. The yellow panel is glued after the top panel.
The lower side is finished.


The third try of the upper cowl panel did not turn out as accurate as I'd hoped. The face angle of the upper cowl and side cowl did not conform well together. The reason is; the kit upper cowl parts are designed slightly tight to hold to the fuselage with its elastic force.

My resin platform was accurately cast to the Tamiya cowl, so aluminum sheet was formed and glued to the Tamiya cowl shape. Well, I took that challenge and made a fourth attempt. For this try the resin platform was corrected with putty and a corrected cowl was generated.



The left is third and the right is forth. The difference is not visible in this photo.
But looking at this photo, the forth cowl is checked and it's OK.





The wing filet

The shape of the wing filet is difficult to shape. I had to make female dies.



Here is the constructed female die. The results are accurate.



The gear bay




The ceiling is painted with Mr. Super Fine Silver.
The firewall is Zinc Chromate Yellow.



Polishing

Aluminum gluing of the engine cowl and fuselage was finished. It took almost three months. Then the surface was sanded and polished with #320 to #600 grit sand paper.



The surface is polished with #600 grit sand paper.
Trimming of the panel edge is not complete.

Small tabs are glued on the inner cowl edge.
Then, panel edges are trimmed.



Other sections




The tail fin and dorsal fin were 0.2mm (0.008") aluminum sheet.
The wing filet is 0.2mm sheet as well.

The inside of aluminum sheet is painted black.
These panels are 0.2mm sheet.



Polishing again

First step, the surface was sanded with #600 - #800 grit sandpaper using water. Next, it was dry polished with Mr Laplos #6000 to #8000. Then the surface became somewhat shiny. Finally, it was polished with rubbing compound.



The surface is polished.
The engine bay is painted.

Panel lines are engraved with a needle.
Rivets are engraved.



The radiator intake




The small plastic tip is glued on the intake parts (red circle) to temporally fix the intake to the fuselage.
The intake part is not glued on the fuselage until the wing is glued.



The horizontal fin, flap and aileron




The horizontal fin was almost the same as the vertical fin. Tip panels were combined to the inside panels to delete thin panel portion at the red circle.
Aluminum sheets are glued separately, the joining portions are sanded very thin. Then the upper and lower parts are glued.

Polished and engraved. The kit control surface is movable but the hinge mechanism stands in the way of aluminum works. So I gave up the movable hinge animation.
Aluminum sheets are glued on the flap and aileron. They will remain fixed as well.

Panel lines and rivets are engraved.
These holes are opened with a drill and a fine file.

The cowl panel behind the perforated panel will be cut out.
The canopy frame is finished.





These are all of the main aluminum parts after six months of efforts.











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