P-51 Skyczar 363FG Staplehurst ALG June 1944

[nmayhew]

Construction mostly done, now starting weathering.

crappy iphone pics is all i have but let me have your thoughts on my wing roots and topside weathering please.

Tamiya 1/32 painted with MRP metallics using Uschi spatter templates to break it up a bit. Markings are Montex masks. Lifelike decals for the bird and Skyczar. HGW stencils.

Weathered with oils and just now some spattering of MRP Exhaust Soot with MAC valve (first time doing that). Exhaust stains are sprayed with that same MRP Exhaust Soot.

Plane was based just down road from me for a few months before going over to France post D-Day. I have lots of pics of unit birds, but only a few of this airframe, and only one close up worth using for weathering.

My model is probably dirtier than the real thing if The Rebel (same unit) is anything to go by, and i wish i had done less chipping on the stripes, but overall I think it 'works', although of course it could be better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KevinM]

2 hours ago, nmayhew said:

Plane was based just down road from me for a few months before going over to France post D-Day. I have lots of pics of unit birds, but only a few of this airframe, and only one close up worth using for weathering.

Looking good but they way that's worded I thought you were giving away your age Then I saw your hand whooo

[CANicoll]

The splotchy effect is terrific!  Well done and executed.  Describe how you did it please?  I have the RB Productions masks which would accomplish the same thing and am VERY interested in how you used them on a NMF.  Does look great.

Chris

[nmayhew]

Hi Chris,

first off, primer was black MFS1500. I worked from a few pics showing panel breakdown and what colours I wanted them to end up - this is all fairly arbitrary.
Then spatter template of mostly the ‘end’ colour, see where I am, then start to add spatter of some of the other metallics near the end.

It was first time I’ve done this and all fairly unscientific! Some of the panels are probably darker than I would want, but overall quite pleased.

Specifically, there was no traditional panel line preshading. 

Hope that’s some help at least?

[GazzaS]

The end result is very appealing.  Definitely one of the better painted NMF jobs.  Well done!

[DocRob]

I like the layered NMF effect a lot. I used splatter masks and steel sponges on non-reflective surfaces so far, but never on aluminum. The chipping fits the state of the aluminum, so far so good.

Cheers Rob 

[nmayhew]

Some weathering underneath

I have given fairly in depth step by steps as to how I work with oils in my P-40 Neville Duke build, and I’m not doing too much different here

pallet was 4 days old and not the best; I put a drop of Sans Odour on each colour to bring them back to life 

One thing I find helpful with weathering is to have in mind what you want to achieve and think about what colours / processes are involved - this session was going to be dark stuff on the central areas; I will then review and add some lighter tones tomorrow if time permits 

I started with some dabs of oil from a brush  - the paint was creamy ish consistency but probably drier than normal

 

whilst there are pics of P-51s leaking like Corsairs, the pics I have from 363FG don’t really show that; so the aim will be dirty, not ‘leaky’; sponge dipped in thinner then almost dried back out and shitty brush are used to blend

 

i re-iterate that with oils the main thing is don’t be scared because if you f*ck it up, just flood / wipe with mineral spirits and erase; non-enamel paints will be impervious to MS.

after various dabbing and sponging here is what we have 

 

I wasn’t unhappy, but it did look a bit ‘rough’, so out comes the big brush - I think some of these are known as a deer foot stippler - which is totally dry.

gentle dabbing and blending softened everything  - not sure this comes out in the following pics, but in the same session the oils are likely not fully dry 

as an aside, if you are happy with any given piece of work and want to ‘save’, you can give them a blast with a mini hair drier (Mike Rinaldi tip) - this is something you can do in session and continue. Another method is to shoot some MRP Clear thinned with Mr Levelling Thinner - this will very subtly ‘melt’ the oils in to the surface (Will Pattison / SMCG tip).

anyhoo, here is where we end for the evening before I went to watch the rugby

 

 

finally, something from the original painting stage…re metallics I found putting together a colour card helpful

Edited October 29, 2022 by nmayhew
sorting out picture order

[Martinnfb]

Lovely, finally someone creates realistically weathered P-51 aluminium finish.  And then, there is THE HAND

Well done.

[KevinM]

I wish I had that confidence scaredie cat.I also think that pluming in the wh wells looks much the part.

[nmayhew]

9 hours ago, Martinnfb said:

Lovely, finally someone creates realistically weathered P-51 aluminium finish.  And then, there is THE HAND

Well done.

Hey, I moisturise, so it’s all good 😃

4 hours ago, KevinM said:

I wish I had that confidence scaredie cat.I also think that pluming in the wh wells looks much the part.

Well for years I always used to tell myself and others ‘I like my aircraft quite clean’ but I was just deluding myself. I was scared to try but I also didn’t know HOW or WHAT to try.

my basic how to’s are meant to show people that you can indeed just dive in and you won’t drown.

For those who want some more in depth tutorials I would suggest seeking out Will Pattison’s YouTube channel - lots of vids on all the basics (and I mean all the basics) but also some specific ones on OPR (oil paint rendering). And if you Facebook, I would also suggest joining the Scale Modelers Critique Group - as I’ve said before in terms of technique I learned more in 3-6months there than in 10-15years on modelling forums.

just to say once again: paint with lacquers eg MRP, or acrylics like Tamiya, - basically anything not enamel; semi matt or matt surface (if it’s shiny gloss you’ll just push the oils all over the place like slipping on an ice rink); good quality oils like Winsor and Newton or Abt 502, odourless mineral spirits eg Sans Odour… and away you go! 

[CANicoll]

On 10/28/2022 at 3:21 AM, nmayhew said:

Hi Chris,

first off, primer was black MFS1500. I worked from a few pics showing panel breakdown and what colours I wanted them to end up - this is all fairly arbitrary.
Then spatter template of mostly the ‘end’ colour, see where I am, then start to add spatter of some of the other metallics near the end.

It was first time I’ve done this and all fairly unscientific! Some of the panels are probably darker than I would want, but overall quite pleased.

Specifically, there was no traditional panel line preshading. 

Hope that’s some help at least?

Excellent, and thanks!!  I have that one last Revell 1/32 Mustang and am just going to have to try some of the techniques you are employing.  Which, then, will likely lead me to build "just one more".  I'll send you the bill!  Thanks for sharing your work and techniques!  Its what makes this site really enjoyable, along with the terrific people.

[KevinM]

So I bookmarked the site I watch alot of YT normal TV is woke/BS and weathering is an artistic license within it self yours looks wonderful.

Oh and therein lies the problem in some part I am an enamel guy probably have 200 bottles of MM and a mix of others.I like Alclad for my NM finishes which is lacquer paint.Hence the reason one has to use a clear opposite of weathering agent which for some reason does not always work for me.

[Irishman1]

Great looking mustang!! Great weathering tips too. On my airfix 1/24 scale and my upcoming p-47 I use a mix of bare metal foil for some panels and metallic buffing paints for other panels. 

[nmayhew]

18 hours ago, KevinM said:

So I bookmarked the site I watch alot of YT normal TV is woke/BS and weathering is an artistic license within it self yours looks wonderful.

Oh and therein lies the problem in some part I am an enamel guy probably have 200 bottles of MM and a mix of others.I like Alclad for my NM finishes which is lacquer paint.Hence the reason one has to use a clear opposite of weathering agent which for some reason does not always work for me.

over the years I have been through many types of paint 

MRP is hands down THE BEST all round paint for airbrush (the Aussie SMS lacquer stuff is apparently on a par, but I have no reason to switch).

If i was you, I would get some MRP for a particular project; you'll love it never look back

Alclad...hmmm...some of their metallics look lovely, but they have as much resilience as a chocolate fire guard; personally, I have used them but then dumped them in favour of MRP.

Just my experience, and your mileage may vary, but i really think you are holding yourself back staying with those enamels 🤷‍♂️

[Bomber_County]

Great looking 51, Nick. I have a ZM 51 sitting on the shelf here, used AK Xtreme metals as NFM but not happy, hence SOD. Thanks for the insights, I’ll check out the YT you suggested. This has given me a boot to finish the ZM……..poor game at Murrayfield yesterday btw…….

[nmayhew]

feel like i am getting very close to the end but still quite a few bits and bobs to do

although i like the look of finished landing gear, i never relish putting them together, so I did them and the tyres much earlier in this build

the oleos were sprayed with a few different MRP metallics - i forget which - but I didn't get too hung up on the shiny chrome part, I just made sure it was a discernibly different colour which in this scale is necessary I think

the tyres are Barracuda, and fit the kit part perfectly (refreshing surprise)

pics of Skyczar are not that great and it may have a more octagonal tread but afaik tyres were changed out so as long as you are using something that you know was used in theatre you can rest easy with your choice; for me, I have Kent Miller's big book on the 363FG so I was able to see the variety of tread patterns used

 

Tamiya's engineering for the landing gear is pretty cool - screwed in place they both line up as they should

the wheels are not glued - and won't be - they are a reasonably tight fit, but you can still turn them to make sure the flat part lines up etc; the wheels must go on the oleo before the gear cover is attached

 

in pic below you can see some dirt (oil weathering of course) on the inner gear doors; it is a great shame that no-one has had the balls to make aftermarket resin (or 3DP) wheel bay (for all the extra wiring) and clam shell doors half open / almost closed

my attempts to busy it up were just that - I have probably only added a tenth of the plumbing that was actually in there!

 

bomb racks are glued in place - interesting that the little arms are actually painted aluminium in the photo but the crappy iphone camera hasn't picked that up at all!

tomorrow when i have daylight i will add weathering on the underside of the wings around the bomb carriers - pics seem to show that although there was obviously no foot traffic there (!!) this area did get very grimy - lots of mechanics / armourers hands / shoulders and backs rubbing up there I guess

 

a wider shot  - the arms show up silver in this pic 

 

you can see here that i need to dirty up the bomb area...way too clean!

 

Eduard bombs - nice resin two piece efforts; I will add the propeller thingy on the front at the last minute (just asking to be knocked off lol)

stencils are HGW, although Eduard decals are their "new" type where you can peel off the film

the stripes are Eduard decals and are a f*cking PITA!!! The carrier film means that lining it up right at the tail is nigh on impossible (unless you add the fin piece afterwards); this in turn means the stripe is not long enough to make it round the whole bomb; i ended up masking and spraying the remaining bit of stripe required - a huge faff for what was probably less than 2mm of yellow laid down!!

but...in the end reasonably pleased with how they look; in the pics below i haven't yet given them a matt coat, so they look a bit better but you get the idea

these things were often piled up in the open, rolled around on the dirt etc so weathering them is a must for me because 1) i think it is a fairer reflection of what they actually looked like and 2) plain single colour bombs look really really meh in my book; such a relatively small detail can make a big difference to the overall look of your model and as i have said before, you can't really goof up weathering with oils - especially here.

 

 

that's all for now; will try and update again tomorrow

cheers

Nick

[CANicoll]

An enormous amount of work going in there, and it looks terrific.  Agree with the idea that the bombs were nasty dirty - yours look great.  Also the need for a really smart resin wheel well with all the wiring.  That would be a bear to detail, but it would look great.

Keep it up!

[DocRob]

Your oil rendering really pops on the NMF, I like it a lot. I tend to weather my planes from very light to heavy use and incorporated various techniques to do so. I never used oils on NMF, but having recently bought a Tamiya Mustang, there is the mule.
Thanks for your how to descriptions, which are very helpful. Like you, I switched from Alclad, because of their fragility, but my go to metals are AK's Extreme Metals, which are great to spray, look truly metallic and are robust.

Cheers Rob 

[nmayhew]

25 minutes ago, DocRob said:

Your oil rendering really pops on the NMF, I like it a lot. I tend to weather my planes from very light to heavy use and incorporated various techniques to do so. I never used oils on NMF, but having recently bought a Tamiya Mustang, there is the mule.
Thanks for your how to descriptions, which are very helpful. Like you, I switched from Alclad, because of their fragility, but my go to metals are AK's Extreme Metals, which are great to spray, look truly metallic and are robust.

Cheers Rob 

My pleasure. I am only passing on what I have learned over the past few builds - I am of the school that if can do it and make it look halfway passable, then literally anyone can. 

On the AK Extreme Metals, I have a bunch of them and actually use them - for brush painting bits and bobs, including dabbing rivet heads and using mineral spirits to clean up the excess (a tip I picked up on Youtube from DoogsModels). I am not entirely sure how those AK EMs - which are I think enamels at heart? - will take OPR with mineral spirits though. The best place for paint chemistry type questions is SMCG on FB.

Just a note if you are planning a bombed-up P-51, you need to use J8 on both ends of the bomb rack; the J8 / J9 combo is for fuel tanks which have a different profile. Extra J8s are included in the regular P-51 D kits so no need to cannibalise etc.

I

[DocRob]

Thank you for showing the instructions error. I'm more or less sure, I will build the P-51 without bombs, but if my chosen plane had the racks, I have to find out. I will keep your advice in mind.
I never tried to brush paint with Ak's Extreme Metals. I assumed, their coverage would not be sufficient. I like Tamiya's LP colors for the task, flows and covers well and 'silver' has a nice steely look.

Cheers Rob

[nmayhew]

54 minutes ago, DocRob said:

Thank you for showing the instructions error. I'm more or less sure, I will build the P-51 without bombs, but if my chosen plane had the racks, I have to find out. I will keep your advice in mind.
I never tried to brush paint with Ak's Extreme Metals. I assumed, their coverage would not be sufficient. I like Tamiya's LP colors for the task, flows and covers well and 'silver' has a nice steely look.

Cheers Rob

Hey Rob

Sorry I wasn’t clear - the instructions are fine, but the original P-51 release is for drop tanks only; I checked the instructions of the later releases which included bombs and found the use of the J8 parts on both front and back of the racks in those kits where you use bombs; for drop tanks the instructions I have pictured are correct.

Re the brush painting, I’m only using them for v small / tiny areas; i don’t doubt that if you tried to use them on a large area you would encounter ‘issues’!

Cheers

Nick

[nmayhew]

Not a huge amount of progress I’m afraid

unmasked the canopy - here you can see the slightly intricate masking to keep overspray (‘underspray’?) from entering the cockpit

i use toothpicks or cocktail sticks to lift up masking off clear parts - a small slip or scuff won’t damage anything, but if you use tweezers etc you are unnecessarily rolling the dice imo

I’ll do cockpit pics later but here you can see a bit - HGW belts, Barracuda resin radio and battery, Barracuda placards

annoyingly, the resin made the canopy sit proud once i installed the small arch brace piece - I might ask Roy about that

it’s the wiring cover piece that is fouling…

 

I pondered snipping it out and scratching the wiring - that would probably be more in scale and look better to be honest, but i am getting impatient to finish the build, so i just did a bit of careful sanding and scraping and it now fits

FYI i have snipped the ‘t-bar’ piece that would keep the canopy in place so that it can be removed completely; not sure how much of a benefit it ultimately proved to be but hey ho.

Next up will be the exhausts…

started with spatter template using some metallics but also some RLM24 blue mixed with one of the metallics

pics are pretty crappy, and I’m not sure whether it was worth it, but it was super quick to do

tomorrow i will give the oils shown below a whirl to finish up

[GazzaS]

Lovely clear and shiny canopy.  I have given up on closed up aircraft.  It just happens too often that some bit of flotsam detaches itself from some hidden corner and adheres itself to my hitherto clear parts. 

[nmayhew]

11 hours ago, GazzaS said:

Lovely clear and shiny canopy.  I have given up on closed up aircraft.  It just happens too often that some bit of flotsam detaches itself from some hidden corner and adheres itself to my hitherto clear parts. 

clear parts are just polished btw - none of this dipping in floor product malarky, which is just not necessary (I speak as a previous worshipper at the Church of Floor Polish lol)

[CANicoll]

Excellent!  Thanks for the pics and the commentary - I had exactly the same problem with the Barracuda set fouling the canopy on my Mustang builds (the Tamiya ones anyway).  I always thought I had mucked something up a bit.  I did not have the problem of the canopy sitting proud, however.  For the exhausts, I like a bit of chalk on them to flatten out the finish - kind of like burnt metal.  Yours looks terrific however.

Nice job polishing the canopy.  I've tried both - dipping in Future (I have two bottles of the original stuff!) just seems to be easier - if I'm careful.  And agreed - a wooden cocktail stick is the way to go to remove the masks, although I admit to using a very sharp #3 blade many times.

Can't wait to see how the oils do.