A P-51D called “The Duck. “
The very first photo was all I had of this real P-51D. With a good background in "ART" I drew a larger drawing of the duck and had a friend make me a decal.
I built this model in 1997 for one of my clients. I added several scratch-built items and took photo's of some of the parts next to an American penny which is about 5/8"/15mm in diameter.
I learned new building technics by going to the school of "ON LINE EXPERIENCE." Back in '97 we did not have the computer, nor its' internet system so it was called cut-and-fit; cut-and-fit until it fit's.
While living in San Jose, CA someone had a real WW-II P-51D parked outside and uncovered so I got permission to go down to the airport and take photos, plus take all the measurements I wanted. So everything you see here is 97% accurate to a real P-51D.
Another fine example of your extraordinary talent, Rodney. Simply amazing!
Truly amazing build, Rodney. @f2g1d
This detailed cockpit, the wiring is awesome.
The guiding rail (not sure how to call it correctly) in the cocjpit for the canopy is also a great addition.
Fully agree with the award you received.
John: I assume they had a technical name for the rollers and guided track, so I'm going to commission you to come up with a name. My track was not identical to the track in the real airplane.
Magnificent work from a true master of the craft! Rodney your Mustang is a WINNER from every angle you look at it. Well done!
Master craftmanship and lost of words (again), Rodney @f2g1d.
Congratulations!
It’s just a masterpiece, a true lesson in scratchbuilding all but the basic forms of a kit
To Pedro and all you guy's:
When I finished building, I gave all my photos of the real P-51D to a modeling friend. I some how never got them back. What I should have down was to take the real photo's and add them in with my model photos, then you could see that my parts looked just like the real ones.
Thanks to all the nice comment's from you guy's. Remember...if I can do it...SO CAN YOU!
Some excellent detail work! Nicely done.
Rodney @f2g1d
This is another beauty of a build ! It's every bit as detailed as the F2G conversion you did and the P-51B "Razor back" model you posted a little while back. After looking at how you guys have done things (mainly you, Jim Harley, and Marc Barris), I decided I would give it a try on my 1/48 scale Monogram B-24J landing gear wells. So I went to look at the Collings Foundation B-24J named "Witchcraft", and took a bunch of pictures of the plane in various locations, inside and out. Armed with these photos, I started cutting plastic and was very pleased with the results. Then I got sidetracked with a bunch of other builds and sadly nothing has been done on the B-24 recently. That will change however... I promise. I started a build journal of the B-24 build, and it's here on Imodeler. It's under the "Teeth and Fangs" group build that ended a little while ago.
Thanks for the inspiration ! Stay safe buddy. Talk with you soon.
Louis: How do I and others get to your "Teeth and Fangs" group build site? When are we going to see photo's of your B-24 project?
Hi Rodney @f2g1d!
Here's the link at the Teeth & Fangs GB:
https://imodeler.com/groups/teeth-fangs-gb/
And here's the link to Louis's @lgardner B-24 build:
https://imodeler.com/groups/teeth-fangs-gb/forum/topic/1-48-scale-monogram-b-24-j-tubarao-assembly-ship/
On the top right of iModeler, there is the "GROUPS" button: hit it, and you are shown all the groups of iModeler, both running and finished. Hit each group you like, and you are in, with all participants entries. On thre top right of each entry, hit the last number 1,2,3...and you will be directed to the last post of that entry.
Spiros, @fiveten
Thank you very much for doing this and providing the link to Rodney. @f2g1d
Yesterday I was quite busy with other things that had to be done, so I couldn't answer him right away. Too bad "real life" with it's numerous obligations often get in the way of our hobby... But it was still a very good day for us, even though I didn't get any time at the hobby work bench.
I just took a few minutes to skim through the 5 pages that document the work so far on this 1/48 Monogram B-24J. I really do need to get this B-24 "assembly ship" completed. I had some problems with my punch set, (since it had rusted), and that was one of the main reasons why I stopped working on the B-24. The group build time also ran out, so I shelved the kit. Pedro was very kind, and extended the time for the group, but the modifications I was doing to the B-24 kit took much longer than I expected...
I really do need to finish her up, especially now I have the Waldron punch sets fixed up and they're good as new. I had to soak them for several months in a rust dissolving solution to remove all of the rust which had accumulated on them over the years. The rust made it impossible to work with these tiny little punch rods. Now I can continue work, and begin building the inner landing gear well structure that can be seen inside the wing.
So you can look for it to be revived soon... 🙂 I just ordered some more Bare Metal Foil to have when I start covering it...
Thanks gentlemen for showing interest in this model.
No need to finish your B-24 as I have 2 of them here that you can have free. All you need to do is come to my house in Irvine, CA and pick them up.
When I quit modeling in 2016 I just packed all my tools in some boxes, including both set of Waldron punches. They sold the standard set which most likely you have. Waldron made the "Sub-Miniature" set which I also bought. I have a few boxes out in this garage with all my model stuff in them, including a few dozen bottles of Tamiya paints. I should try to sell/give all of it to somebody.