Zoukei-Mura P51D Mustang SWS No 4.

[Bomber_County]

Sub assemblies coming together, soon have to button up the cockpit and add all the panels, looking at the u/c as a distraction. The pic on the right is the un modified leg. The torque arm has been cleaned and infill styrene removed, very carefully..........more details to be added to the engine, still not quite happy with it.......double checking fit and alignments as required......thanks for looking in........

[BlrwestSiR]

Very nice cleanup on the torque arm. It makes a huge difference.

 

[Bomber_County]

9 minutes ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Very nice cleanup on the torque arm. It makes a huge difference.

 

Thanks Carl, took me forever, I think the legs look better for trying to replicate the correct connection brackets.......

[Kaireckstadt]

5 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Sub assemblies coming together, soon have to button up the cockpit and add all the panels, looking at the u/c as a distraction. The pic on the right is the un modified leg. The torque arm has been cleaned and infill styrene removed, very carefully..........more details to be added to the engine, still not quite happy with it.......double checking fit and alignments as required......thanks for looking in........

Well done job on the U/C-legs. It‘s a real improvement. Looking forward to seeing them finished! 
Seems it doesn’t take long till the subassemblies will come together. 

[Bomber_County]

1 hour ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Well done job on the U/C-legs. It‘s a real improvement.

Thanks Kai, much appreciated, the u/c took a long time to cut out all of the not required elements, that’s where a good 10A blade is invaluable. The sub assemblies are pretty much there, the box is getting empty. Need to finish replacing the barrels and aligning them with the ports etc.....Still don’t what scheme I’m doing yet it will predominantly NMF.....

[Kaireckstadt]

22 minutes ago, Bomber_County said:

Thanks Kai, much appreciated, the u/c took a long time to cut out all of the not required elements, that’s where a good 10A blade is invaluable. The sub assemblies are pretty much there, the box is getting empty. Need to finish replacing the barrels and aligning them with the ports etc.....Still don’t what scheme I’m doing yet it will predominantly NMF.....

Sounds interesting! There are a lot of beautiful liveries available. I personally like the Tuskegee Airman Mustangs with their red tails. Do you know if the wings of NMF-finished Mustangs were painted? I read that the wings of the Mustang were puttied. Do you also plan to do it? 

[HubertB]

15 minutes ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Sounds interesting! There are a lot of beautiful liveries available. I personally like the Tuskegee Airman Mustangs with their red tails. Do you know if the wings of NMF-finished Mustangs were painted? I read that the wings of the Mustang were puttied. Do you also plan to do it? 

Now, THIS is the MEGA can-o-worms question !

IIRC the Mustang wings were puttied, and then painted. But the putty and paint were not applied on the whole wing (guns/ammo servicing panels are an obvious area where putty was useless, for instance). The idea was to maintain a smooth airflow and delay the onset of turbulences on the upper wing skin. Ergo the wings were puttied from roughly the LE to the main spar.

Then there is the issue of in-service maintenance, wear and tear, etc. which made keeping a smooth wing for the laminar flow even more complicated ...

Btw, whilst the P-51 laminar flow wing was an important factor in its performance, I remember reading that the radiator design and exhaust were a greater factor in its speed achievement.

And to conclude, very nice work, Phil  !

Hubert

[Bomber_County]

16 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Sounds interesting! There are a lot of beautiful liveries available. I personally like the Tuskegee Airman Mustangs with their red tails. Do you know if the wings of NMF-finished Mustangs were painted? I read that the wings of the Mustang were puttied. Do you also plan to do it? 

I thought about the Tuskegee guys to, can’t seem to find decals at this scale......

Not going to even contemplate the puttied wings scenario as Hubert said can of worms.........

[Bomber_County]

15 hours ago, HubertB said:

Now, THIS is the MEGA can-o-worms question 

And to conclude, very nice work, Phil  

Thanks Hubert, much appreciated......as for the puttied wings........not going there.........huge can of worms..........I know somewhere, where it would take about 20 pages to discuss.......

[HubertB]

47 minutes ago, Bomber_County said:

Thanks Hubert, much appreciated......as for the puttied wings........not going there.........huge can of worms..........I know somewhere, where it would take about 20 pages to discuss.......

20 pages ... at least , plus a number of expletives and snarky personal attacks 

Hubert

[GazzaS]

Re Puttied wings:  Don't ask...  and don't tell.

[Bomber_County]

12 hours ago, GazzaS said:

Re Puttied wings:  Don't ask...  and don't tell.

[Bomber_County]

So......next is the gun bays........forgot I had the gun bay PE and then the metal barrels..........still can’t believe I got all of this for £83.00............

[Bomber_County]

This is how good the engineering is, the tail unit is only pressed fitted so far, no glue.......I like this attention to detail.......

[JohnB]

Looking good Phil.

[Bomber_County]

16 hours ago, JohnB said:

Looking good Phil.

Thanks John, it’s time to button up the fuselage, which is similar to the real aircraft, only trouble is all the detail disappears........I’ll post just before.....

[KevinM]

Seeing a Nice build here and it's pushing me towards the ZM KI-45 the engineering looks really great. Kevin

[Axeman]

How is the fit of the Zoukei-Mura kit?  I have not built one yet. 

[Peterpools]

Phil

Brilliant work on the front office - looking fantastic.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Bomber_County]

On 2/16/2021 at 4:53 AM, Axeman said:

How is the fit of the Zoukei-Mura kit?  I have not built one yet. 

The fit is beautiful, the engineering tolerances are as good as Mr Tamiya if not better. Similar to WnW, a coat of paint can throw them out.......well recommend.....

[Bomber_County]

13 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Phil

Brilliant work on the front office - looking fantastic.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

Thanks Peter, I reckon the last time you were here, I hadn’t the nerve to post projects........now look .........I still have one of you Mustang builds as reference.......

[Peterpools]

Phil

Just can't see why you held back - your work is top notch!

Peter

[Bomber_County]

15 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Phil

Just can't see why you held back - your work is top notch!

Peter

You’re to kind Peter, I’m learning slowly and to use an overworked modern saying, “enjoying the journey”.............

[Bomber_County]

Wing assembled and tips added, waiting to clean up once it’s all set. Control column added and tail now fixed to fuselage. Next is to tidy the engine and mount it. One particular item with the ZM is that it’s either exposed engine and frame or completely closed up, wish there was a half and half, may look in to it. Still not sure which scheme to do or decals etc................thanks for looking......

[Kaireckstadt]

1 hour ago, Bomber_County said:

Wing assembled and tips added, waiting to clean up once it’s all set. Control column added and tail now fixed to fuselage. Next is to tidy the engine and mount it. One particular item with the ZM is that it’s either exposed engine and frame or completely closed up, wish there was a half and half, may look in to it. Still not sure which scheme to do or decals etc................thanks for looking......

Stunning progress with your Stang! You are moving clearly to the finish-line. The weapon bays will be left open ?

I had the same problem regarding the engine-cowlings with my ZM Ta-152. 
But the engine is so nice that it would be a pity to cover it. I reworked the cowlings so that they can be opened or closed. Created some effort but the result was worth it.  Is there really no way to at least have one cowling open?