Tamiya P-51D Early

[KevinM]

Looking good Peter!

[Peterpools]

Thanks Kev

Making progress is small steps and enjoying the build.

 

 

[GazzaS]

It Certainly looks very nice, Peter.  I wish Tamiya had done more 1/32 aircraft than they have.  I've always been fond of their fool-proof engineering.

[Peterpools]

Thanks Gaz and I'm right with you. Back in the day, we all use to guess and wonder the next 32nd scale release and wished for a P-47 and P-38 but that has proven never to be. I just can't see any hope that Tamiya will ever revisit 32nd scale with a completely new kit - as it seems their talent has going down the 48th scale path.

 

[JohnB]

The '51 is coming along well Peter. Looks good!

[Peterpools]

Thanks John. so far, the Mustang has been all fun and enjoyment.  

 

 

[Clunkmeister]

I’m not sure we’ll ever see a P-38 from a mainline Japanese manufacturer for one simple reason.

Hint: he went to school at Harvard and took a road trip across this great land. And he never wanted to go to war with America.

[DocRob]

Wow Peter, some days off the forum and bang, here is another stunner. Your interior work looks fantastic and spotless clean like ever. Fascinating, how you and some of the guys know all nooks and crannies about the Tamiya Spitfires and Mustangs and I have never built one and have only ONE Tamiya P-51 in my stash. Yeah, I know, I'm an outcast .
I wonder, how the Eduard decals work, specially if it's a set of the new ones. For my soon to come P-38J build, I shied away from Eduard and will use a Bombshell set. The luckily few decals, I used for my USS Arizona build had heavy silvering and when I tried to remove the carrier film, the ink got partly lifted. I guess a properly polished surface would have helped.

Cheers Rob 

[Bomber_County]

I’m with Rob on this one as I been remiss of reading WIP’s. Stunning build as ever Peter and the speed of construction is amazing. Clean and tidy is an understatement. I too haven’t built any Spitfires and one 51D that being ZM so my knowledge is sparse. Saying that the 51 resides on the SOD due to not being happily with the NMF and OOB decals are good (Cartograf) but do not inspire me to finish…….wish in some ways that manufacturers would not include markings so the modeller can buy the preferred scheme………just an idea…….

[Peterpools]

Ernie

Not sure I understand,

It just seems now, it's set in cement that Tamiya has left the 32nd scale aircraft market (new kits) their focus is on 48th and 72nd scale. Back when Tamiya was setting new ground with their 32nd scale kits, we all had our wish lists and the Jug and Lightning were always high on those wish lists. JUst seems never to be from Tamiya.

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Rob, very much appreciated.

Looking at both my display case and stash, the majority of kits are Tamiya, with 32nd scale leading the pack. I just enjoy building their kits and their subject matter is right up my alley.  

I'm looking forward to your P-38 build, as I have mine almost ready for the paint shop and most likely will finished it right after the Mustang. 

Yup, I'm taking the dive and using the new style of Eduard decals for the Mustang and hopefully all will work out - see how it goes 🤞. I have noticed these days, that the number of 32nd scale decals are a lot less then what they use to be when Tamiya P-51's hit the shelves.

These are the Eduard decals I'm planning on using:

 

[Peterpools]

Phil, Thanks so much for the very kind words.

These days I spend a lot more of my time at the bench and less time outdoors for health reasons and a very large portion of my non-modeling time is spent as my wife with doctor appointments and health issues. 🙁 I do enjoy building mostly OOB and with a museum type finish as I treat my display case as my mini museum. Even in the days when I owned my own plane, she was washed every week and waxed at least once or twice a month.

Why not go for a set of aftermarket P-51 decals with a non NMF, as there are a good number to choose from?  Not sure how kits without decals would sell unless it helps reduce the MSRP quite a lot, you just never know.

 

. 

[KevinM]

On 6/7/2023 at 10:47 PM, Clunkmeister said:

Hint: he went to school at Harvard and took a road trip across this great land. And he never wanted to go to war with America.

Yamamoto?But fail to see the connection to Tamiya?Aahhh he was shot down by P-38's!!!

[Peterpools]

Kev is correct and I do agree with him as well.

[Clunkmeister]

2 hours ago, KevinM said:

Yamamoto?But fail to see the connection to Tamiya?Aahhh he was shot down by P-38's!!!

Yeah I don’t see ZM ever doing a P-38, but I admit, I was surprised when Tamiya released theirs in 48. It would be amazing in 32, a d would certainly light my fire for Tamiya in a big way. 

[Peterpools]

Ernie

Absolutely agree - A Tamiya P-38 upscaled to 32nd scale would be a dream come true and of course, I would do my share in adding to their profits.

. 

[Steve Eagle]

The 15AF Mustangs are very colorful. Have built several of them. Like what you are doing. 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Steve

Just hope I have no issues with the new type of Eduard decals.

 

 

[GazzaS]

Maybe Border will make a 1/35 P-38?  I don't see anyone else doing it.  Yamamoto aside...  I'm sure it's about money.  Border can rely on cheap labor to corner the market.  Tamiya did, afterall just release a cracking p-38 in 1/48 scale a couple years ago.

[Peterpools]

Gaz

If Border ever did a P-38 in 35th scale, I would be first in line to buy and build the kit. 

As soon as I finish my current build the Tamiya P-51D, I'm planning on resuming and finishing my Tamiya P-38F Lightning build, which is ready for priming and then the paint shop. No question in my mind, it's one of, if not the finest 48th scale WWII fighter kit ever produced - detail, molding, instructions and accuracy are amazing.

 

[Peterpools]

THE WINGS

Bench time had been on the backburner as my wife, Diane had been hospitalized for three days nearly two weeks ago, requiring a surgical procedure and glad to report, all is fine now. And of course, I still have my medical issues to deal with as well. Once home and settled, bench time has been tight, mostly late night, allowing for some slow progress.

The Wings

I followed the instructions’ build sequence and almost no issues, except for a not so great fit of the leading edge MG parts.

Just makes so little sense that nearly every manufacture uses some sort of leading edge plug for the MGs and the fit is either pretty poor or in the case of the Mustang, requires the inside wing components to mesh together perfectly and that never seems to happen. Yup, I’m still cleaning up the bottom wing portion. Why no just mold the leading edge MG insert as part of the wing and then have separate MG barrels? 

The main gear bay was built up following the instructions – part fit was good and a bit iffy in a few spots. The gear bay was primed with MRP Black Primer and followed up with MRP Yellow Zinc Chromate. Details were highlighted with Tamiya Dark Brown Panel Line Wash; the effect is very subtle and the ‘hidden’ details do appear.  

In order to finish up the MG leading edge parts and knowing I am not nor never have changed a finished Mustang gear position from down and locked to up, for in flight, I'm in the midst of building the gear and after screwing the gear solidly into place, the leading edge gear cover will be permanently glue on. Then the underside of the wings can be cleaned up and finished.

Ailerons were assembled and are movable, requiring their share of s/s rods and hinges that needed to be installed. Patience and a semi steady hand; done.

Flaps assembled traditionally, no real issues and built to be in the lowered position but are still movable.

I decided to close up the MG bays, installed all the detail parts, which I normally do whether they will be seen or not.

There still is the notorious bad fitting radiator assembly to deal with and then all that should be then left to do on the wings before attaching them to the fuselage is the final sanding and polishing as a prep for the painted aluminum lacquer finish. 

 

 

[CANicoll]

Peter, Very happy to hear that Diane is back home and doing well.  Sorry to hear about your ongoing issues.  Hang in there.

Interesting you mention about not taking advantage of the Tamiya optional wheels up/down thing.  I have two of the Tamiya builds and after a few goes at swapping out the parts within a few months of completing the builds - both birds have stayed on their wheels ever sense.  Which means for years.  Hmmm.   Might just put the wheels up on one of the planes if for no other reason than to clear some shelf space underneath. 

Similarly - do you ever pull the nose engine covers off for display?

What issues are you having with the radiator?  Very interested to see what colors you use for the wings.  Something I've never gotten right, I think.

No more Tamiya Mustangs in the stash, just one more Revell, with all the AM bits.

Great seeing your work on this build - and esp your Quinta cockpit.  Such nice work and beautiful results.

Stay well my friend!

Chris

[Spitfire]

Superb work going on here, four Mustangs in a year of that quality, I would be happy to finish more that two kits in a year!

Cheers

Dennis

[DocRob]

Peter, despite all obstacles you managed to breeze through your Mustang build in style. She will be a stunner. I'm glad to hear about the solved medical situation of your wife, not so glad to hear, you have ongoing issues.

All the best

Robert

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Peter, nice work on the Mustang. It was the last 1/32 kit Tamiya did that had the working parts on. They finally ditched all that stuff on the Mosquito and Corsair that followed. 

Great to hear Diane is better and back home. 

Carl