Arma P-51B/C and Airfix P-51D 1/72nd

Started by Stephen W Towle · 43 · 1 year ago
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    Stephen W Towle said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    About 8 1/2 months ago I had to walk away from the bench and live life vicariously through the effort of other modelers. These two kits where on the bench and where in progress and rather than leave them to gather more dust,I will finish them and move onto a Roden Gladiator project. Fortunately, Louis was busy doing his Revell P-51D-5 builds which gave me an opportunity to look at photos and pick up on some of his observations about everything Mustang. My two kits will represent two fighters from the 79th Fighter Squadron.

    5 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Tom Cleaver said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    If you're thinking of doing Happy Jack's Go Buggy those decals are completely wrong - that's the incorrect warbird. When he was flying the airplane in its original finless state. it had the earlier 20th FG nose markings, not the "keyboard", and the codes were MC-O

    Photo attached of the airplane in the correct markings. Only people who ever did this right was Meteor/Cutting Edge. Dave may still have 1/72 decals of the sheet in stock.

    Fiebelkorn's markings are correct, and since the Arifix kit is finned, that's the one you want.

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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    George R Blair Jr said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Looking forward to your two Mustangs, Stephen (@stephen-w-towle). Both of these kits should be a great platform for some great models.

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    Stephen W Towle said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Thank you both for your kind comments. Kit worlds decals are subject. Happy Jack's Go Buggy is a good subject but, its been done. I've been looking at photos of other aircraft and will be using some but, not all of the decals provide on the sheet. Not all of the 79th Mustangs had white capped spinners some of them were in natural metal with back half painted in black , some earlier P-51 B/C where painted in solid black. The anti-glare panels on many of the aircraft were painted up in Olive Drab. The white and black bar pattern on the nose of the aircraft didn't always have white paint they were left in natural metal. Kit world would have you paint the anti-glare panel in black. For the Airfix kit the D model I will be doing P-51D 44-51198 MC-L "E.K. and Jay Bee/Suzanne". The Arma kit I'm toying with the idea of either doing a War Weary machine or using the Malcom hood with a machine that had a tail fillet installed on a B/C model. I've been looking at some gaming skins too for cross referencing. Some of the artists do some reasonable research.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Would be amazing to see both kits built, my friend @stephen-w-towle!
    Looking forward to them!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Looking forward to these Mustangs as well, Stephen @stephen-w-towle
    Happy New Year.

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    George R Blair Jr said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Great ideas for the models, Stephen (@stephen-w-towle). I like war weary planes because they sometimes have interesting markings and paint schemes, and they are a great pallet for some great weathering.

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    Stephen W Towle said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Yeah, along time ago I got tired of doing box top models. Which are still a good thing but, they focus on the aces or folks who did something extraordinary who posed in front of "their" aircraft for the press. Everything is righty, tighty, neat and clean. War weary planes have story to tell. While doing some research, I came across some photos of A-10s flown in the middle east showing the noses of several aircraft that had dings, bumps and bruises from being hit by the booms of tankers repeatly. Something you normally don't see on the net or in press releases or from photos taken at airshows. War time conditions, the reality for pilots and crews who flew the aircraft. Which where used and abused and did/do what they were designed for. Bring on interesting markings, paint schemes and weathering.

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    George R Blair Jr said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    I agree completely, Stephen (@stephen-w-towle). I am always on the lookout for paint schemes that are a little bit different than the "box top models". The problem with well known paint schemes is that they are well known, and there are modelers who know every nuance of the paint and markings. I don't want to step on anyone's toes, so I really like lesser known schemes or generic schemes. Recently I have gotten into paint schemes where there are only one or two photos on the internet of the plane I am doing, so I suppose it is possible to have too little info. Having been an Air Force pilot, I can tell you that planes are almost never as pristine as they look from a distance. The C-141s that were flying in Desert Storm were a little scary when you got close. Cheers.

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    Stephen W Towle said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Ok where winging it. Two apples and oranges builds. The Airfix wing is on the top and to add a little interest I'm filling in the engraved panel lines.

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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    Stephen W Towle said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Here is part of the cockpit section of the Arma kit. The details in this kit are comparable to what you'd find in a 1/48th kit. Great details and a lot of decals. The seat belts and instrument panel is from Eduard. The decals being so small that its hard to remove the carrier film at times. Lots of decals are placed with tweezers, tooth picks and a magnifying glass. The carrier film at times is bigger than the piece being decaled. The work around for me is drench it with micro-sol and cut some of the clear film off. Fortunately, Arma supplies two sets of decals for the cockpit.

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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    Stephen W Towle said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    A shot of the fuselages. Again more decals, I've spent about six or seven hours doing little tiny decals. The Airfix kit has one decal for the instruments. I managed to break the control stick and shoot the Quickboost seat into oblivion. Spent 4 hours on the floor with a flash light praying to the model gods and using color commentary. The Airfix is on hold until a new seat gets sourced.

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Amazing progress, my friend @stephen-w-towle! Hard to believe these are 1/72! Affixing those decals is definitely an accomplishment by itself!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Progressing nicely, Stephen @stephen-w-towle, except for losing the seat.
    Let's hope you find it, or a replacement, soon.
    These dimensions for decals are definitely not easy to handle but the result looks great.

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    George R Blair Jr said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Interior looks really great, Stephen (@stephen-w-towle). I have built a couple of Arma kits and really like them. I lose stuff all the time. It sort of makes sense when a tiny piece that I can barely see gets lost in the carpet, but I lose things like gear doors. How can something as large as a 1/48 gear door fall into the carpet at my feet and disappear? I think there is a huge void just below my chair that is currently hiding pieces from 107 models. And people think the Bermuda Triangle is bad.