1/18 P51C Mustang "Lopes Hope 3rd"

[Clunkmeister]

I just orgasmed. 

Not sure, but I had better check to see if it was real.

[harv]

Too much info cupcake !....harv 

[Drifter]

Damn (all I could muster)..............................

[airscale]

evening folks :)

 

On 2/13/2020 at 3:57 AM, Clunkmeister said:

I just orgasmed. 

Not sure, but I had better check to see if it was real.

 

I can honestly say Clunk thats the first time I have had that said about a model!

 

I find nearing the end of a build to be a tricky period - there are lots of little bits to do and the order of assembly is important as the model is quite large details can be added then damaged if appropriate planning is not done. I started to add some of the decals onto the airframe that cover all the little hatches etc and after a test, found the ones on the alclad wing went on with no visible film after setting solution so didn't bother with a gloss coat...

 

I think it will look fine when weathered..

 

 

 

..added the gun camera - no idea how I missed that..

 

 

..for the stencils on bare metal I have no choice - I can't varnish the aluminium as over time it will degrade as the ali oxidises, so it is straight decal & setting solution.. I have to just accept it as is..

 

...in most cases it's passable..

 

 

 

 

...I decided to focuson getting as much on the top half done as possible, so there is less handling with all the gear & doors hanging out - the first part of this was finishing up the cockpit...

 

..I added the switch panel at the bottom right of the windscreen and made up the flourescent cockpit lamp..

 

 

 

..on the other side, I added the throttle quadrant and control rods..

 

 

..I have made a Gunsight pad and the first aid kit that hangs from the headrest from milluput, but won't show you that until it's finished (& if it's good enough..)

 

..otherwise, the cockpit is pretty much complete..

 

 

 

..will probably start to sort out the rest of the glazing next - here a dry fit of the right cockpit windows...

 

 

..still lots to do, but it's all bitty stuff

 

TTFN

Peter

[Fidd88]

46 minutes ago, airscale said:

..will probably start to sort out the rest of the glazing next - here a dry fit of the right cockpit windows...

 

 

..still lots to do, but it's all bitty stuff

 

TTFN

Peter

 

My new desktop! Really incredible to see it being completed. I've love to see this model "in the flesh" so to speak.

[GazzaS]

Wow!  Haven't checked in in a while.  Amazed to see the progress.

[airscale]

thanks chaps

 

..bit more done this weekend..

 

..the First Aid kit and gunsight pad were made from milliput and lead wire, with brass for the straps (as they are held taught and need to loom like it..)

 

..I am not good at organic things like this..

 

 

..painted up and although not great, I think they will have to do..

 

 

 

..then moved on to the side and upper windows - all the catches & latches were prepared and two tiny pins added so I can pin one to the other at the right angle..  it has been a fraught day as I HATE working with transparencies - the knife edge of a terminal cock-up being so easy to do just frays my nerves..

 

 

 

..I had left the protective film on so it was fairly straightforward to prep them and paint them..

 

..also weathered a bit by rubbing wire wool and scuffing them a bit..

 

 

..and with the film removed - there is a flaw in the top canopy where it didn't like bending to shape that has only been seen now the covers are off, but it just looks like a small crack so I am going to have to live with it..

 

 

..and pinned together..

 

 

..a few more bits need adding like hinges and some rubbing pads, but this is pretty much done so a quick dry fit..

 

..the First Aid kit looks ok I guess..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

that's it for now..

 

TTFN

Peter

[Wingco57]

Fantastic work Peter and thank heavens you are not perfect but perfectly human.

[Fidd88]

On full-size aircraft, the standard repair procedure for small cracks in Perspex is to drill a hole at the furthest extent of the crack with a small drill, circa 2mm in diameter. If you wish to stop the current crack from propagating then just such a repair will work, although you'd need a very very fine drill-bit and a pin-vice (pennies from Amazon), if you do not already own one, to hold the drill as it's operated. And some "courage"! Doing nothing may work - but having the crack terminate in a circular hole, should stop it developing further, and would be by no means an unrealistic repair on a service aircraft. At your scale you'd want a 0.2mm drill bit, so the head of a heated [EDIT] sewing-needle [END EDIT] carefully applied, may serve to get the hole "scale"?

Of course such a repair is not used on pressurised cock-pits.

I should add that where available - possibly not employed on wartime aircraft, but certainly today, a clear adhesive can be applied into the crack in addition to the terminating hole being drilled. Again on modern aircraft, such a repair would not be favoured if the crack is at the eye-height of the pilot, in which situation the canopy or window-panel would be replaced entirely, at least in a professional maintenance outfit. The reason for this is that if the canopy becomes crazed with cracks at eye-height the tendency is for the eye to focus at the windscreen rather than at infinity, making on-coming aircraft very hard to spot if on a constant relative bearing - ie a collision threat.

[Martinnfb]

[Wolf Buddee]

Hi Peter,

Simply incredible work! A true masterpiece in every sense of the word. 

I don't know if this is a detail you were aware of so I posted the pic below. It shows the two small springs that retain the wheel bearing dust cap. If you haven't already you might want to add these to your build.

Cheers,

Wolf

 

 

[Clunkmeister]

Great catch, Wolf. Such a small, almost inconsequential detail which I never knew about, and I’ve walked around plenty of P-51s in my day.

[Melvyn Hiscock]

Lost for words! 

As an aside, it is worth looking out Donald Lopez’s book ‘Fighter Pilot’s Heaven’ about testing the early jests at Elgin, just after the war. I had a copy to review, in the old days when I did Aeroplane Monthly’s book reviews (and I DID read them), and I was also supposed to send them back, but this one is still here 20 years on and has been read at least three times. It genuinely made me laugh out loud and Lopez was an excellent writer and ended up working for the Smithsonian. I did try to set up one of the ‘Flying Visit’ interviews I was doing with him too, but the Smithsonian were not very helpful as I recall. 

But look out the book, it is a good read.

Melvyn Hiscock

Former contributor to Armchair Aviation and Flying Visit for Aeroplane Monthly

and very nearly a former modeller having just read 12 pages of having Peter, I am sure unintentionally, rub my nose in the dirt.

[airscale]

evening folks

 

On 3/2/2020 at 11:48 AM, Fidd88 said:

On full-size aircraft, the standard repair procedure for small cracks in Perspex is to drill a hole at the furthest extent of the crack with a small drill, circa 2mm in diameter. If you wish to stop the current crack from propagating then just such a repair will work, although you'd need a very very fine drill-bit and a pin-vice (pennies from  Amazon), if you do not already own one, to hold the drill as it's operated. And some "courage"! Doing nothing may work - but having the crack terminate in a circular hole, should stop it developing further, and would be by no means an unrealistic repair on a service aircraft. At your scale you'd want a 0.2mm drill bit, so the head of a heated [EDIT] sewing-needle [END EDIT] carefully applied, may serve to get the hole "scale"?

 

 

Interesting, thank you    It's actually not a crack, but a heat crease where it must have bunched a bit in forming - I don't intend to do anything about it - if I touch it, it will look worse so I just have to live with it.. shame, but I just don't do transparencies

 

On 3/3/2020 at 1:44 AM, Wolf Buddee said:

Hi Peter,

Simply incredible work! A true masterpiece in every sense of the word. 

I don't know if this is a detail you were aware of so I posted the pic below. It shows the two small springs that retain the wheel bearing dust cap. If you haven't already you might want to add these to your build.

Cheers,

Wolf

 

 

 

Hi Wolf & thanks for this interesting (& challenging) little detail - I can see them now fitted on the ref pics I have of the full size - just like Clunk I have been looking in detail at the P51 for the best part of 2 years and had never noticed!

 

..so, as I said before it's the bitty stage in trying to get around the airframe in a logical order and get it finished,

 

..I covered the whole model and sub assemblies in flory wash and wiped down to give some definition to the rivet & panel detail (especially on the painted wings)..

 

 

I removed the decal stencils and replaced them with rub down ones I had custom made - £60 for an A5 sheet so not cheap, but then a great improvement over the unavoidable decal film on natural aluminium..

 

 

..these gun panels will be weathered & chipped when it's on it's wheels..

 

 

..this vent door was added, the larger rear one will follow when I have finished the landing gear & doors..

 

 

..the cockpit sill was added and the canopy panel that hangs here finished..

 

 

..massive moment - the landing gear legs were fixed with JB Weld - funny story, about an hour after fitting them when the model was in a jig, I walked past it and thought 'I will just check a photo to make sure it's right' - well I looked and I had mounted them the wrong way around with the torque links facing forwards! A mad panic ensued, but as JB Weld takes 5 hours to cure I could just re-do them correctly (Thank God..)..

 

 

..the inner gear door hinges were fabricated and added - they are the two black structures on the centre rib at the top of each end..

 

 

..the corresponding lugs were added to the doors..

 

 

 

..and the doors were hung... I know there is a debate about having these up or down on the ground, but I made them and everything under them so I want to be able to see it - so these are down

 

..you can also see the retracting link assembly on the right connected to the door and piston, and a cable with fixings on the left which I assume stops them opening too far (?) although they are loose like this in refs I have so maybe not..

 

 

 

 

..outer doors next, and as I found I have a load of leave to take from my day job before April 1st, I hope to have it finshed by the end of the month

 

TTFN

 

Peter

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Superlative work there Peter. Nice save on the landing gear legs. 

For the springs that Wolf mentioned on the wheels, I don't know if they're small enough but Wave and T2M make small diameter spring wire. I have some that's 1.0 and 1.1 mm in diameter.  

If you can't find any locally, let me know and I can send some to you. 

Carl

[airscale]

afternoon ladies

 

Wolf, I did the springs but forgot to take a picture doh!

 

..so with a few days off, it seems like I have powered through a lot of the 'to do' list..

 

...the main job was getting the model on it's undercarriage and getting the gear doors on - I made up the big links the hold them on and spent ages getting it all to line up - hopefully the sit is right..

 

 

 

..also the tailwheel & doors were added with the retraction links and the aerial loop on the rear fuselage..

 

 

..then the prop and flaps..

 

 

..and it's ready for a quick walk around - the canopy parts are not fitted so are just resting (badly..)...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

..any comments on the 'sit' or any of the details if they look off, please don't be shy - say something here. I am aware the P51 is so iconic that it must look bang on to pull it off..

 

..I still have to make the elevators, sort the other aerial and make the wing drop tanks (plus light weathering) so still some to go

 

TTFN

Peter

[Clunkmeister]

Amazing work, Peter.  I read about your Mad Moment and smiled. Hey, we all have them, and they're sobering moments for sure.

Like when you have something all jigged up and the epoxy happily curing, and one walks past an hour later and find out how much your supposedly secure jig.... wasn't. With corresponding results.

[Clunkmeister]

Peter, I think the landing gear squat is perfect for a loaded aircraft. So the fact that you're hanging the drop tanks is a good thing 

I do really like the unshrouded exhaust as well. I feel that those were much more prevalent than we've been led to believe.

Just looking at the minor little differences really reinforces how much of an evolution the D model actually was.  Little changes everywhere. 

This model is a true window into history. I can think of no higher praise, Sir.

[airscale]

evening all

 

I trust I find you all well in these difficult times and if anything it gives you a chance to either do some modelling or if not, enjoy the work of others who do

 

I find myself confined to quarters, not through illness, but through trying to stay safe - I am fortunate I can work from home and just do emails and conference calls for my day job rather than sweat it into London..

 

So, where were we - elevators...

 

always seem to be the last thing I do, don't know why

 

here is a nice shot of Lopes Hope which shows there is more to them than meets the eye

 

notice the rib tapes, the visible structure underneath, the many eyelet sort of 'polo mint' fixings and the four mounts for the mass balance weights..

 

 

..I started with a brass sheet blank, cut from scaled plans and scribed with all the internal structure (also making most of the cuts for the trim tabs so they can be broken out later) - from there plastic strip was used to bulk it out and coffee stirrer sticks for the ribs. I use these as they are wood and the solartex RC covering sticks well to it..

 

 

..soon both elevators were done top and bottom... there is a double wall where the trim tabs are

 

 

..then the bulk of the structural additions were dremelled off and sanded to final profile - once complete the trim tabs were removed..

 

 

..after covering with solartex and wicking CA on the edges, the eyelet things were added - these are tiny brass washers, the bigger ones punched out of litho..

 

 

..these were then covered with the rib tapes again scaled from plans - the tapes are made from foil plumbers tape (like bare metal foil just cheaper) with a riveter run along a straight edge and a scalpel cut along the holes to get pinked edges..

 

..they cover all the eyelets well - although in this shot there is still a big panel of tape to go over the trim tab area..

 

 

..a shot of primer show the fabric effect I was after..

 

 

 

..trim tabs made from litho with the core from the original structure..

 

 

 

..then the mass balance weights were made from left over resin casting blocks..

 

 

..and shot with MRP super matt black - also added the trim tab actuating rods to elevators & rudder and gave them all a dusting of MIG powders..

 

 

 

..all the tailfeather surfaces were attached with hinge rods and are now complete..

 

 

..and a last shot in the evening sun so you can see the contrasts...

 

 

 

..thats it for now - more bits and bobs to go including the Drop Tanks that Steve at Model Monkey has kindly enlarged from his 1/32 set and 3D printed in 1/18 for me

 

stay safe everyone and see you next time

 

TTFN

Peter

[GusMac]

Stunning work again Peter. Very ingenious touch to get the crimped edge....  another idea to try and store in the old noggin in case it's ever needed.

[Fidd88]

On 3/22/2020 at 9:36 PM, GusMac said:

Stunning work again Peter. Very ingenious touch to get the crimped edge....  another idea to try and store in the old noggin in case it's ever needed.

Agreed, "artful", in the fullest Dickensian sense of the word! It is though, really bloody crafty!