Eduard 1/48 P-51B Mustang

Started by Tom Cleaver · 14 · 6 months ago
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    Tom Cleaver said 7 months ago:

    So, the unmarked white box arrived from Prague yesterday, with the first review kit of the new P-51B/C Mustang series.

    This kit follows the "traditions" of the P-51D kits. The cockpit was either a bit extra fiddly or I was reading the instructions wrong (the latter is likely. However, as can be seen in the photos, all's well that ends well. The kit is modified from the D in that there are no connecting parts from the wing to the fuselage that need to be cut away for ease of assembly.

    This new kit makes the Tamiya P-51B obsolete. It has a correct cockpit, the same stunning surface detail as the P-51D kits. We Mustang fanatics will be happy.

    This will be done as Ralph "Kidd" Hofer's "Salem Representative."

    8 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 7 months ago:

    Fantastic entry and super progress, my friend @rcinla! Looking forward to it!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 7 months ago:

    Very nice entry, Tom @tcinla
    It must be great to have the opportunity to review these kind of kits.
    The interior looks really good.

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    David Odenwald said 7 months ago:

    Noice...

    I hope I don't have the same USPS 'adventure' when Squadron ships my P-51B Royal.

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    Tom Cleaver said 7 months ago:

    It's as easy to assemble as an Eduard P-51D (some may argue with me that that's the case) and it certainly is as "definitive" as the earlier kit.

    5 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 7 months ago:

    Looks excellent so far, my friend @tcinla!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 7 months ago:

    Great progress, Tom @tcinla

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    Tom Cleaver said 7 months ago:

    Now painted.

    Since "Salem Representative" was a NMF airplane, I painted the anti-glare on the nose with Gunze "Olive Drab 2". Since it was camouflagd "in the fie;d" in England, I painted the upper surfaces with Tamiya RAF Dark Green. The D-Day stripes were Tamiya Flat White and Flat Black; fortunately, the photo of the airplane with full D-day stripes shows they were like most - not neat and straight. I followed that in paying out the D-Day stripes and I think it improves the look. The NMF was overall Mr. Hobby Super Duralumin for the fuselage and horizontal stabilizers; the lacquer on the outer underside of the wing is Tamiya lacquer "Gloss Aluminum;" the fuel tank area inboard of the D-Day stripes is Tamiya "silver" (a great color for doing the center panel of an F-86 wing for those interested, if you thin it down and shoot tight so you get a flat surface); the rudder and the lower elevators is Mr. Hobby "superfine Silver 2". The red nose is Tamiya X-7 Red, with a little bit of Tamiya Orange in it to get British Scarlet, which is the color the 4th FG used.

    With the NMF now applied, you can see the beautiful petite surface detail Eduard provides.

    Decals tomorrow.

    5 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 7 months ago:

    Fantastic, my friend @tcinla! Thanks for all the color info, most helpful, especially for the metallics.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 7 months ago:

    Beautiful paintwork, Tom @tcinla
    Thanks for sharing the paint info, will have a look into the Tamiya "Silver"

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    Tom Cleaver said 6 months, 3 weeks ago:

    Here it is finished. Full review at Modeling Madness on Thusday.

    The photo of "Salem Representative" shows the D-day stripes were the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am variety - not so carefully painted, none "straight," spacing off, etc. And you can see the brushstrokes for the white paint. All of which I recreated.

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 6 months, 3 weeks ago:

    Excellent result, my friend @tcinla! Looking forward to the review!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 6 months, 3 weeks ago:

    A very nice result, Tom @tcinla
    First time that I see the usage of those white band tires, which are clearly visible on the original picture as well.

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    George R Blair Jr said 6 months, 3 weeks ago:

    Looks great, Tom (@tcinla). Nice job recreating the improvised nature of the D-Day stripes. In photos from a distance, they always looks so nicely done, but closeups show how unevenly they were really done.