Cadillac of the Sky - a few P-51 D made by two

Started by Pedro L. Rocha · 155 · 2 months ago · 1/48, Airfix, Eduard, P-51, Tamiya
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    Eric Berg said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Bueno, Tom @trcinla. I'll be watching M2. Hopefully better photos.

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    George R Blair Jr said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Great looking racer, Tom (@tcinla). The color scheme is very striking, and the modifications really make this into an interesting P-51 hybrid. Well done.

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    Pedro L. Rocha said 2 months, 3 weeks ago:

    Work on my 4 Ponies goes slow but steady.

    Here’s how one of them looks at the moment:

    I’m not satisfied with how that middle dark aluminium panel stands out. Need to find a more suitable shade, along with one for the fuselage panel located at the forward wing root accordingly to some period color photos.

    After a long lasting battle with panel lines and seams (those that Eduard asks us to fill in are also a pain) I believe I have all 4 models ready to move to OD paint and decals. Weathering will be my last step, though I’m a newbie when it comes to weathering NMF

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    Carl Smoot said 2 months, 3 weeks ago:

    She looks great Pedro (@holzhamer). Could the shading be toned down by misting on the base coat over this area. I don't want to see you wreck this following my suggestion, but but you might test it out on a paint mule.

    As for weathering the NMF, if you feel the surface is strong enough, you might try oils and white spirits. These can be wiped off if you do not like the appearance.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 months, 3 weeks ago:

    Looking excellent, my friend @holzhamer!

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    Pedro L. Rocha said 2 months, 3 weeks ago:

    @clipper

    Thanks for the hints Carl.
    I have already done yesterday a few sprays on a mule to see how that goes, but will try one or two shades more.
    As for the weathering, after a coat of acrylic varnish that is (mind that I used Xtreme metal for the fuselage and these paints are not acrylics) I always use oils as a medium. However I may try also other stuff ai have stored around.
    Cheers!

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    Pedro L. Rocha said 2 months, 3 weeks ago:

    Thank you Spiros! @fiveten

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 months, 3 weeks ago:

    She looks great to me, Pedro @holzhamer
    NMF is likely the most difficult 'color' to work with.

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    Pedro L. Rocha said 2 months, 3 weeks ago:

    @johnb
    Indeed so John! But this is a good learning curve, or better, 4 learning curves 😜

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    Louis Gardner said 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Pedro L. Rocha (@holzhamer)
    You are doing some wonderful work on these ponies ! I like how you have painted the bare metal finish. Like you, I think it might be a good idea to change the way the one panel looks on the side of the fuselage behind the cockpit area. It looks a little too dark on my computer screen, but it might be different in person. The color looks to me like it could be used as a very good representation of the stainless steel shroud cover that goes behind the exhaust and makes up part of the actual fuselage skin, (I'm not talking about the shrouded exhaust cover, as that's something altogether different). Isn't this the same color you used for this part I'm trying to describe ? It looks very similar in appearance.

    Keep it going !

    I have made some progress on the ponies in the kindergarten as well. I'll have to take some pictures and post them up.

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    George R Blair Jr said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    Looks great, Pedro L. Rocha (@holzhamer). This is a great canvas to try creating some effects on NMF. I don't do a lot of NMF, so I don't have any tried-and-true techniques, but it sounds like yours should work fine. Using artist oils has become my go-to for weathering and should work great on this model.

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    Louis Gardner said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    I have started using oils lately along with a few colors from the various Tamiya weathering decks. This seems to work well on my Corsairs so I think I’ll give them a try on these Mustangs too.

    I’m always learning from you guys about the various techniques that you use. Thanks !

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    Louis Gardner said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    I have been working on the Ponies but unfortunately I didn’t think about grabbing a few pictures during this.

    But I have found a few pictures showing some of the Ponies that I will be building as a part of this project.
    These planes will be made using some kits from my Mustang Kindergarten.

    I know that most of them have been made before on numerous occasions. But they are ones that I want to build for my collection.


    Shangri La. Gentile’s Mustang razor back. This plane was one of my favorites from my childhood. I built it originally using the ancient 1/32 scale Revell model.


    This is the same plane as covered by the decals that Pedro Rocha was so kind to send me. It has Donald Duck on the nose and going from memory here, I think the pilot was named Emerson.


    Chuck Yeager’s Mustang. He is another one of my heroes. I think I have enough decals to cobble it together.


    This one was another kit that I had built up as a kid. Back then I used the 1/48 Monogram Mustang and the kit supplied decals. Since then I have picked up a set of Lifelike decals and have plans to make it again, this time using either a 1/48 Tamiya or Airfix kit.


    This last picture shows a group of planes that were flying in formation somewhere over Central Florida during WW2. They were all based out of Orlando Army Air Base at the time. This is an amazing original color photograph.

    I want to make this picture but in 1/48 scale and they will be parked on the field.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    A lot of beautiful builds on the way, Louis @lgardner
    I love the idea from the last picture, which does indeed look beautiful in color.

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    Louis Gardner said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    Thank you John !
    These are the kits that I will use to recreate the original photo.


    Tamiya P-47D but I have to modify the cowling vents to make it look like the earlier version.

    This Accurate Miniatures P-51A will be the Mustang in the photo and I will add it to the mix here with the rest of the Mustang builds.


    I will be using this Tamiya P-38H for the Lightning. Thankfully I have picked up the correct decals for this exact same plane and I have found several other original WW2 color pictures of it online as well.

    This is going to be a neat project I think.

    The Mustang build will be covered here.

    Thanks !