Japanese captured Mustang "Evalina"

**member_3** · #1 10-30-2009, 12:36 PM

This is not a build thread but rather a place for me to show AirDave what is going right (and wrong) with the test build of his P-51 repaint.

The section 1/section 2 skins aligned almost perfectly.

The section 2/section 3 skins (with top and bottom center lines aligned) have a problem as outlined in the red rectangles below. The misalignment error is equal on each side and is about 0.5mm in magnitude.

The circumference of the aft edge of section 2 is slightly greater (about 1mm) than the circumference of the forward edge of section 3.

PHOTO 1 - Port side

PHOTO 2 - Starboard side

I'll play with the wings (should be no problems there) in the interim.

**airdave** · #2 10-30-2009, 02:23 PM

I know this P-51 kit is not a super accurate one...there are definately minor fit issues all over the place...I acknowledge that a "fair to mid" level kit like this can't be perfect and may require some tweaking...

but, wow...I have no idea what to say to this one.

looking past the repaint and colouring, the panels underneath
and the panel lines are part of the original kit...as used in all my tuskegee models,
and I have already two assembled fuselages here that all line up properly.

what are the seams (for each section) like?
can you show me the underneath area to see how each section has joined together.

now, that I look a little closer, I do see some line up issues that will exagerrate the graphics issues so I will take another look at the parts and see if I can find (and fix) the problem.

**member_3** · #3 10-30-2009, 03:10 PM

I had a similar issue with my incomplete build of "Joedebelle" but not to the same degree (perhaps half the magnitude.) I haven't gone any farther with this fuselage and I agree with you that the underlying panels should not be a problem since that is the original artwork. I can try printing and assembling it again if you like...

**GreMir** · #4 10-30-2009, 03:30 PM

Ron, Dave
Those are exactly the same issues I encountered, except in my case they are even more pronounced since I enlarged the model to 1:33 scale...

**airdave** · #5 10-30-2009, 03:38 PM

There is definately some small errors with the alignment of the panel lines in the original model.
and my upscale to 1/33 has probably enlarged those errors.

I still acknowledge that this is not a "high end" high priced kit only for advanced modelers...and so I have to give a certain amount of leeway...

but its still nice to keep tweaking things and improving as much as possible!

One of the more obvious errors in the front section of the fuselage is the marked out area for the engine exhaust (on the second fuselage section)... the parts on the third section of fuselage do not line up properly at all.

I have already made some small adjustments to this area.
And I have tweaked the position of the misaligned panel lines.
I have also made these changes to the three other Mustangs in this series.

Would you like to try the new fuselage page?
If you are planning on reprinting, maybe you should do it with these adjusted parts?
or would you rather just continue as is?
I can email the page to you if you like (its a 1.2mb pdf)...let me know.

**member_3** · #6 10-30-2009, 03:42 PM

Please send the new fuselage page - I'll restart with that.

**airdave** · #7 10-30-2009, 03:50 PM

and can I recommend, when assembling the fuselage sections, be careful with the internal formers, they appear to be a little large in places.
(I eliminated half the formers in my INA build when I dropped the "butt" joint connections and went with joiner strips).

the underbelly seams for each section can be trimmed to get the panels to line up better...but this changes the overall size of each section and the formers will need to be adjusted down.

I can see in your second photo, at the bottom of the fuselage, the section is slightly oversized...probably caused by the larger former. If the former was slightly reduced there, and the seam was trimmed, that section would tighten up and the panels would almost align!

**member_3** · #8 10-30-2009, 06:17 PM

Roger all of that - I am using single formers and joining strips. One of the characteristics of most of Marek's "classic" (earlier) models is the slightly oversize former/bulkhead issue. I think the only former I did not have to trim was the first one ("A".) I'll give the new skins a whirl over the weekend (when not entertaining grandkids and out-of-town visitors...)

**member_3** · #9 11-03-2009, 01:48 PM

OK - grandkids full of pizza and candy, visiting eldest son back in Baltimore and we are back from a medical trip (routine follow-up) to Charlottesville, VA. I can report that the new sheets you sent worked fine and the troublesome panel lines are now aligned. I'll get back to work on it and get a few more pics up in the next day or so...

**airdave** · #10 11-03-2009, 02:10 PM

great!! sounds good...

take care of your health and family first!!!!...we will wait patiently for model updates.