Here are some pictures showing today's progress.

Using some of the pictures I had previously taken of real Mustangs, once again I made a brake line. This time it was for the other side, so things were a mirror image of what I did yesterday.


Knowing what to do, (and now how to do it), things went a lot smoother for me than it did yesterday. I completed the main landing gear. I will repeat this process once again for "LOU IV". However right now I'm concentrating mainly on getting "Cripes-A-Mighty III" done before Christmas. Otherwise I would be building another set of brake lines and getting the landing gear parts finished for "LOU IV" right now too.

Once this gear strut was completed, I glued it in place. It fit well and the angle was self centering.

I left the main wheels loose, and didn't glue them permanently on purpose. The wheels have a flat spot on them and I wanted to make sure they sat flat when the model was displayed. This couldn't be done correctly until the tail wheel was installed.


Which is what I did next. I finished painting the tail wheel strut and the tire. I also applied some foil to the oleo strut. Once it was done I simply glued it in position. The fit here was good too and it's easy to add at this point of assembly.

Happy with having the landing gear now done and installed, I took this picture.

I didn't get much more done otherwise. I hope to get some more work done tomorrow. I'll be sure to post it up when I do.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures of how "Cripes-A-Mighty III" looks at the moment.

I'm super stoked over how the landing gear turned out.

The inner clam shell doors look good too. I'm very pleased with how the Molotow made the inner portion of the doors look.


Here is a close up of the landing gear with better lighting and a lot less clutter.

I still have to repaint the exhaust pipes, and start work on the sliding canopy next. Then it should be time to add the decals.

Thanks for stopping by, and as always, comments are encouraged.

Indeed stunning, Louis @lgardner
Whatever you are working on, it turns into another great part of these builds.
This landing gear is another example of that. A perfect match of the original one.

Spiros Pendedekas (@fiveten)
Once again I thank you for continuing to follow along with these two Mustang builds. I have made some more progress tonight, but not nearly as much as I would have liked to get done. My self imposed Christmas Day deadline is quickly approaching.

John vd Biggelaar (@johnb)
I thank you too for the continued support with commenting on the dual Mustangs "combo" build. I have been trying my best to replicate what I can to make it look as realistic as possible. Please stay tuned for another update. It's coming right up next.

George R Blair Jr (@gblair)
This has to be one of the very best compliments I have ever received for one of my bare metal finishes. I will try doing that, and I will take the model outside to see what it looks like. I'm hoping you are correct ! One thing that makes a bare metal finish stand apart in my opinion, is if you can use something like foil. The foil made by "Bare Metal Foil" comes in three different finished for use on aircraft, and even automobile models. Theres the original color called "Chrome", then they came out with "Ultra Bright Chrome", and finally they developed a color called "Matt Aluminum". If you use a combination of these colors it can give the impression of having individual aluminum panels, as we can see on some aircraft more than others.
Foil is really not too hard to use, especially on flat or slightly curved areas. I have found the Molotow works excellent for covering the areas that have multiple or compound curves.

If you spray the Molotow in conjunction with using foil, one can achieve some very nice results. I'm certain this is something you can do and have very impressive results on your first time.

I have plans to build up a 1/48 Airfix P-40 and I will spray parts of it using Molotow, using some decals for a plane like this one.

I also wanted to build up Rassmusen's P-36 at Pearl Harbor. He was the famous "pajama pilot", and I think by using the methods I mentioned above, these will turn out looking decent once done.

There are also plans to finish up the 1/48 Monogram B-29 as "Command Decision" I have started (but not created a build journal for it yet), as part of our Korean War group. That one will have Black undersurfaces and use foil combined with Molotow and other paints to make it look realistic.

Thanks again gentlemen for the kind words.

Please stay tuned. I have tonight's installment coming right up.

Still a great progress, my friend @lgardner! Love the guns representation, as well as your exhaust stain approach. Your updates are a joy to read, so much research and attention to detail!

Great ideas for follow-on models, Louis (@lgardner). The P-36 sounds cool, but the B-29 sounds really cool. I managed to save all of the bigger Monogram models in my stash, except for a B-29. That would be a really fun challenge. I think I will approach my first all-NMF plane with just paint to see what I can do. I may try the foil after I work with the paints, but the Molotow may slip in there earlier. I still struggle with exhausts that look right. I need to try your method.

Here's tonight's update.

I wanted to drill out the wing mounted MG barrels. I didn't want them too large, or too small, so I did some basic math.

This is the result of taking the number .50 which represents the caliber of the wing mounted weapons, and I divided it by 32, because this is a 1/32nd scale model. Had I been working on a 1/48 I would have divided by 48 instead.

The answer was 0.0156

In my previous life I worked as an automotive machinist, and I knew there is a set of number drills that correspond with various decimal sizes. This chart shows us the closest drill bit size I have available to the scale barrel opening, which for me is a number 78.

If a person has a 1/64 inch drill bit that would be perfect !

I chucked a number 78 in my pin vice, and made sure it was centered in the vise.

But before drilling I wanted to do something to make the MG barrels look a little more realistic. The kit molded plastic parts are rounded. The original MG barrel has a flat "stepped" face at the muzzle.

So I took a modeling flat file and carefully filed all of the barrels down to a flat surface.

Then I used an "exacto" knife and carefully made a purchase point in the center of the barrel for the drill bit. This was done to keep the drill from accidentally creeping to one side or the other.

Both Mustang MG barrels were drilled out this way. I also drilled out the inner opening, but I used a larger drill bit for it, since the end of the MG barrel is recessed on the inboard weapon and not exposed.

This is how the MG openings look on "LOU IV" at this point. They will get painted later.


Next I carefully painted the drilled out holes using Flat Black. Following this step, I used Model Master "Gun Metal" from their discontinued Metalizer paint line. This is how the wing mounted MG's look on "Cripes-A-Mighty III" now.

On most of the P-51's you can see how a replaceable patch was used on the side of the fuselage. This patch was replaced after the flare pistol was fired by the pilot. This left a residue on the bare metal. The residue was caused by the use of Clear Dope, which was used to adhere the patch over the flare pistol opening. You can see how this looked on Major Preddy's Mustang in the picture above.


I tried to replicate this look by painting the hole in the fuselage Flat Black, and then using clear Scotch tape to cover the hole. I brushed on some Tamiya "Smoke" color along the borders of the tape. It's not a perfect match, but I think it's better than nothing at all.

Remember when I glued on the ailerons ? I messed up the Aluminum paint finish on top of the Starboard wing when glue oozed out of the joint. This had to be fixed.

So I used some sticky "Post It" notes, and low tack 3M painters tape, to mask off the aileron and nearby D Day Invasion stripes. Once this was done, I sprayed on another light coat of Plate Aluminum color, again using the MM Metalizer paint.

This is the results after the post it notes were removed. I used the Post it notes (and 3M low tack painters tape), because they both have a low tack adhesive and they work well when used on top of foil.

Since I was spraying the Aluminum Plate color, I painted the drop tanks again.

Next up, it was time to spray some Flat Black. I carefully masked off the inside of the canopies for both Mustangs.

I also readied the parts that get glued to the clear sliding portion of the canopy, and painted them too. Here the paint was just sprayed on and it has not yet had ample time to dry.

I masked the lower fuselage and sprayed the Flat Black part of the D-Day Invasion Stripes. This is how they turned out. Close enough for me...

Here is a close up showing the cockpit and the flare pistol patch. It's getting closer !


Finally, I used some poster tack adhesive and I rolled up a little button of the clay like substance. This was pressed on the back of the Eduard propeller hub, and I pressed the propeller assembly in place. This will be removable, so I can take pictures of the Mustang posed the same as how we see it in the various pictures found the the Eagle Editions book that came with the fantastic set of decals.

That's all for tonight. I hope to get more done tomorrow, and I will post another update then.

As always, comments are encouraged. Thanks for stopping by and good night.

Really nice work again, Louis @lgardner
The drilling on the barrels is indeed a great improvement.

Amazing job, my friend @lgardner!