ghodges Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 This is the 1/48 Tamiya Mustang kit. I built it just to soothe my bruised fingers after doing a vac, vac conversion, and a low-end low-pressure injection molded kit. I needed a break! The model is mostly OOTB except for a few placards in the cockpit, an Ultracast seat, and a vac canopy. I drilled out the kit exhausts, added hypo tube gun barrels, and MV colored lenses under the wing for the IFF lights. The markings are from Life Like decals. They are thin and require some care when placing as they don't like to be repositioned on the model. For the most part they went down with only a few problems. Their printing and color are VERY good. The NMF was a bit of an experiment. I first "primed" the plastic with Future, and then shot the entire model with Alclad Aluminum. Next, I rubbed SNJ aluminum powder (polished) onto the fuselage, ailerons, and tail surfaces. The idea was to replicate a "painted" wing and NMF fuselage. This worked pretty well and I may do this again in the future. I used a water soluble oil wash in the panel lines. ALL areas of the NMF picked up water marks (the Alclad and the SNJ). This actually adds a bit of "weathering" to the finish...BUT if you wanted a "pristine" finish this would have ruined it! A "sludge" wash with chalk pastel dust might be a safer method! I also applied a very selective flat coat; limiting it to just the colored striping and the stars and bars. That toned down the glossy sheen of the decals and gave the markings a more scale appearance. All in all, this was a fun, relaxing build. I chose American Beauty because I used to have it, but it was lost over the years in various moves. It's one of the more colorful Mustangs, and an ace's mount to boot. Hope you enjoy! Comments and critiques welcome as always! Cheers! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pyrman Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 Gil, that's a mighty purrty Mustang you built! I met a P-51 pilot (Dick Krauss) from the 503d FS, while working at the AG's office and asked him to speak at the club meeting. Very interesting fellow. He tested out the first G-suits toward the end of the war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClareWentzel Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 Very nice Gil. Love the markings. The SNJ on the fuselage seems to have worked great. The tail looks great. Is there a slight change of color under the HL on the left side of the fuselage? No complaint, just not sure what I see. Clare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted August 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 Sharp eyes Clare! YES, and it's MY fault! As I attempted to flat coat the black lines of the "HL" it bled over onto the clear decal. The NMF just beside it is slightly shinier. If I'd have left those decals alone it might have remained invisible. There are some areas where you can find the clear decal on the NMF (besides my screw-ups), but you have to look VERY hard to do so, and get the lighting angles just right. By the way, I couldn't make a good comparison between the Alclad and the SNJ as to how the clear decal areas were "absorbed". The decals on the wings have almost NO extra clear edges, while many of the decals on the fuselage do. All I can say is that I'm happy with both areas. And, there is one more MAJOR gaff on this model.....I'll leave it to another sharp-eyed modelholic to find it! Cheers! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonL Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 SWEET 'Stang! Am slowly doing the Testors kit 'just for the training' of scribing the panel lines. Maybe it just needs this kit, after all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papasmurf Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 WOW!!! Look at all the Cockpit details, what a beauty! Awesome, ghodges, simply awesome!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClareWentzel Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 Gil, it looks like all of the clear decal areas were invisible. I think that you said that the tail markings has broad clear areas. They are all invisible. Great job as usual. The seat and the seat belt details really make it jump out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregWise Posted August 18, 2008 Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 Very sharp! the only comment I can suggest would be to set the canopy down on the fuselage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted August 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 The canopy sits wrong because the I glued brace inside the vac canopy too low, and it rests on the fuselage, propping up the rear of the canopy instead of allowing it to "drape" properly. Oh well......that's just another reason it's a shelf sitter! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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