Peterpools

Phil Looking so good and off to the Paint shop for primer and paint - some mighty nice work. Keep ‘em comin Peter

Fantastic! Awesome scratch building and your NMF for both the airframe and engine is spot on! Keep ‘em comin Peter

Gaz Still not the same as watching and learning as you go through all the figure painting steps - every time you paint figures for your builds, I follow each update very carefully and slowly the steps and tricks are creeping into my subconscious. No doubt, it will happen that I’ll take the plunge not to far down the road and attempt a figure or two with a build of my own. Much appreciated the time Out in to your updates Keep ‘em comin Peter

Kai You’re off and running🏃‍♂️ and as with most builds the front office is the first area to tackle. Very nice work on removing all the raised details in preparation for the Red Fox 3D detail set, which looks excellent - lots of prep work for sure. I’ve become a huge fan of the Quinta 3D printed cockpit sets and am very curious how they compare to the Red Fox set with their caution that they could break easily when cut with a scalpel; the Quinta sets are a flexible material and I haven’t managed to break any, even with my clumsy hands these days. Looking forward to your comparison after the front office is completed. Keep ‘em comin Peter

John I need to make sure I read every comment as I did miss your post that the Spit was completed and the final images in the Aircraft finished forum. A masters touch - fit and finish is perfect. Gorgeous work. 🏆 Keep 'em comin Peter

John I'm front and center and following intently Keep 'em coimin Peter

Nick Absolutely superb weathering on the gear and tires. Looking back over all the finishing/weathering stages so far, they all balance and compliment each other and the effect: perfect - not overdone, just operational with a lot of flight time. Keep 'em comin Peter

Carl What a relief you're OK and the test showed no abnormalities. Please follow the ER doctors advice and see a cardiologist, it's so very important. Some nice progress on the B-24 interior and the bomb load. Loads of internal real estate to paint build. Keep 'em comin Peter

Gaz Nice progress on the figures and as always, appreciate to tutorials. Keep 'em comin Peter

Rob NMF goes on this morning and late today I'll apply the decals and let dry over night and then Sunday is the big day. Much appreciated the information on the HGW P-51 Surface Panel Masks and I'm not sure they will fit the Revell kit either, as they are intended to be used with the Tamiya P-51. Something to keep in mind for down the road. Keep 'em comin Peter

Update: I've started the test and all the small wing panels are primed and half air brushed with Tamiya LP1 Gloss Black and the other two with Mr Color Gloss Black. All four panels will be allowed to dry until tomorrow and then the NMF goes on. I also decided to add to the test and did two more panels primed with MRP and then air brushed with: Hataka Olive Drab (lacquer) and Mig Interior Green (acrylic). Tomorrow I'll gloss them and let dry until Sunday. Keep 'em comin Peter

Rob Just read the How To article in the May Edition. Very informative and the recommended procedure is by using a knife to lift the edge of the carrier film and then tweezers to peel the carrier film off. The results were very different then my earlier research. I'm priming four small wings now with MRP Gray Primer, then will follow up with: MRP Light Gray Primer, then Tamiya LP1 Gloss Black and lastly AK Extreme Metal 479 Aluminum MRP Light Gray primer, then Mr Color #2 Gloss Black and lastly AK Extreme Metal #479 Aluminum MRP Light Gray Primer, then Tamiya LP1 Gloss Black Mr Color Gloss Black and lastly Alclad ALC 101 Aluminum MRP Light Gray primer, then Mr Color #2 Gloss Black and lastly Alclad ALC 101 Aluminum If all goes well and the carrier film can be removed without damaging the decals and not lifting the NMF, we should be home free. Keep 'em comin Peter

Rob Awesome - heading over now. Will be testing the decals today and tomorrow and posting my results. The more I think about it, removing the carrier film is the way to go and will completely eliminate the need for the clear gloss blend coat and now with the decal actually only being an ink, should produce the exact same effect as paint masks do. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Nick. I haven't considered the HGW stencils but will be looking into them today. Aftyer I read Robs posts and watched the attached video, I dove back into researching the new Eduard decals with removable carrier film. Just above, I reviewed my findings to date. I'm a bit chicken on using this new method for me on a NMF and of all the NMF I've done, I haven't sealed any of the finishes - I painted and decaled right on top of the NMF with obtaining the finish I was after - very metallic and no silvering. Yes, I did cutout and remove as much as the carrier I could before applying the decals but sweated out the stencils and small numbers/letters. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Gaz I do like the yellow tail markings and not sure how I would lightly weather it at this stage of the game. But after reading Robs post and the Eduard decal issues, right now, I need to find more traditional decals to use on a NMF and also to start testing down the road. Any chance you will be doing your Dragon Mustang and giving it your special touch - I surely hope so. Keep 'em comin Peter

Rob Very much appreciated your comments on the Mustang. I have been doing some basic research on the new Eduard decals and originally thought only the new decals with the thicker clear carrier film were the type in question. After reading your post, watching the video and then diving into researching out the 'Eduard Decals Caper', a lot of information is out there: both good and bad. I can understand why Eduard wanted to print their own decals as it will certainly be more cost effect, inks are applied digitally in one layer (no registration issues) and have tackled the 'clear carrier film issue' from a different angle. My decals have a printing date on them of 2021, so they are the new school variety but the carrier film seems to still be the thinner type. In my research, I found four basic methods of removing the carrier film: 1. Apply the decals as normal, let dry at least over night and then with masking tape, gently remove the carrier film. This method worked well and didn't damage the inks/decals 2 Apply the decals as normal, let dry over night and with a model knife and tweezers, peel and remove the carrier film. Some of the remaining decal had chips and damage 3. Apply the decals as normal, let dry over night, then with a Q-tip and white spirits gently rub the decal carrier film until it peels up and is removed. There seemed to be some staining of the painted wing (test mule) and further light rubbing of the stains, removed some of the decal inks - unacceptable and unusable decals. Also, I worry about using that much white spirits, as it will begin to dissolve the paint and clear gloss finished. Unacceptable results. 4. Same as above but using Tamiya X-20A instead of white mineral spirits, with the same unacceptable results. All the tests were done on painted plastic mules, none were done on a NMF test mule. I can understand why Eduard changed the method and process but I can not find any instructions on the decal application from Eduard other then apply the decals as normal and nothing about removing the clear carrier film. Right now, I'm very leery as what to do and may just scrap the decals and look for different markings on traditional decals. Just too risky to try on a NMF without a lot of testing. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Carl, very much appreciated and I'm looking forward to doing a paint scheme and markings of ..." Not one of the usual suspects". Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Kai, much appreciated. I'm back to hopefully the last round of scribing. I'm just as curious how the BMF will turn out. Right now, over the MRP Gray Primer, I'll be using either Mr Color or MRP Gloss or MRP Gloss Black back as my NMF base. Wings: Alclad Semi Matte Aluminum to replicate the aluminum lacquer paint. Fuselage and BMF areas on the wings: AK Aluminum and then I'll add the various aluminum colors. That's the basic plan and fingers crossed. Keep 'em comin Peter

And now a beautiful Curtiss Hawk coming next year. Looks fantastic Keep 'em comin Peter

Smitty Nice going and a Big Beautiful Tomcat coming our way. Please do a full build thread so we won't miss any of the journey. Keep 'em comin Peter

Gaz Right with Kai and Martin - amazing work Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks for posting your video build and hopefully a bit later today, I'll be able to watch end enjoy the three videos. Keep 'em comin Peter

John Superb decal work and some mighty fine detective work as well. Keep 'em comin Peter

Gaz Nice progress on the figures and fully appreciate the "how To" images. Looking mighty good Keep 'em comin Peter

ATTACHING THE WING ASSEMBLY 11/11/21 The hot topic when it comes to modeling the P-51 Mustang: the wing -rivets and panel lines: yes or no. One prominent difference between the Revell and Tamiya is Revell only has the major wing panel lines and no rivets, while Tamiya has both. I went with the Revell kit and re-scribed any panel lines that were lost while working on the wings, as I prefer this look. The next giant step was attaching the wings to the fuselage and no matter how careful I was up to this point, there were fit issues that needed to be dealt with. A few hours were needed to work everything in place, then firmly gluing the wings on with a fair amount of Tamiya Extra Thin and Revell Contacta Professional Glues and the same amount of masking tape while the glues dried for a good twentyfour hours. At the same time, the horizontal stabilizers and elevators were added. Playing around with the wing/fuselage fillet blend was up next, needing a few hours of wet sanding and all done. The last remaining part was the lower nose panel which had a few minor fit issues (what a surprise) and done. Next up: more scribing and masking and if all goes well – priming. Thanks for checking in Keep ‘em comin Peter I've never built a P-51 yet where the radiator intake fit without needing a lot of sanding and shaping - but it's done and looks pretty good. Paint scheme and markings. These are Eduard's new decals and are not printed by Cartagraf. They look good on the sheet - fingers crossed when I reach that point.