P-51D Mustangs

[Don Boose]

Wow! A lifetime of beautiful Mustang D builds!

Gerardo gets the award for best typo of the day, although somehow "bog beautiful" actually sounds pretty good. Maybe you have created a new slang expression, Gerardo.

Anyway, I like the Chinese Mustangs, Dave, and look forward to a greatly reduced teaching load this summer with vistas of actually building some models, perhaps including some of these Mustangs and the Red-tail Thunderbolts, after completing the Maryland Air National Guard Texan and the Army F-51 chase planes of course.

Don

[MacSongLi]

I thought you said that Miss Suzi-Q was not doable? I guess I had better get moving! Promise!

Gary

[thepaperguy]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

Wow! A lifetime of beautiful Mustang D builds!

Gerardo gets the award for best typo of the day, although somehow "bog beautiful" actually sounds pretty good. Maybe you have created a new slang expression, Gerardo.

Anyway, I like the Chinese Mustangs, Dave, and look forward to a greatly reduced teaching load this summer with vistas of actually building some models, perhaps including some of these Mustangs and the Red-tail Thunderbolts, after completing the Maryland Air National Guard Texan and the Army F-51 chase planes of course.

Don

Bog Beautiful coulda been its pacific sister lol

[airdave]

Chinese Mustangs are still coming!

I gave the kits to Gary (MacSongLi) for a test build.
So, I think I want to wait until he finishes them before I release them.
(not rushing you Gary!)

In the meantime, I have Suzi-Q almost done.
Ray/Texman (who requested this model months back) is doing another amazing miniature build.
While I've got Gerardo (milenio) doing a full size build to make sure everything lines up properly.
This model really was a nightmare to get all the diffrent graphics and patterns in place.

I already see from Gerardo's build, a couple of necessary tweaks here and there.
Not a problem, I am making final adjustments.

Enjoy these pics of the almost completed build by Gerardo...
I think the tail is the best looking part.
It really came out nice.
Theres just too much going on here! LOL

[MacSongLi]

I'm working on them. PLAAF first, the formers are laminated, and I've started on the exhaust and small parts first.

Great work on "Miss Suzie Q", Ray!

You did beautiful on her Dae.

Gary

[airdave]

Pics shown are Gerardo's build, but not to worry.

Take your time on the Chinese Mustangs, Gary...do a good job.
You've got until Friday.

[MacSongLi]

Sorry Gerardo(did mean to give creit for your work to somebody else). Your doing a great job as always, very clean!

Dave, Friday! (of what month and year?)

Gary

[airdave]

And we made the front page!
Maquetas y modelismo en papel - Portal


Thanks Gerardo.

[SCEtoAUX]

That's good. Congratulations.

Nice airplane model build, too.

[airdave]

Still haven't got Suzi-Q ready for the store yet...sorry...but its coming soon.


...

This is a P51D update....but its more of a future modification.
I don't have immediate plans to update all the older kits with this mod...
but it will definitely be applied to future P51D releases.
(Suzi-Q is already finished, so I won't be modifying it)

I've never been 100% satisified with the way the Windshield attaches to the fuselage on my P51D model.

I admit, its an awkward area to recreate in paper, much like the wing root fairings, with some varying compound angles.
The lower windshield framework (on a real P51D) is part of the upper fuselage...its not a windscreen fastened on top.
After all the parts of the fuselage and windscreen are connected, the seams are filled with putty and paint to smooth it all over.



Its difficult to recreate this assembly without a lot of sectioned parts and pieces, especially at smaller scales.
So the common approach is the make a separate windscreen and fit it on top.



Unfortunately the exact placement of the windscreen (position on the fuselage and vertical angle) is left up to the builder
and can easily vary from build to build.
Even I have fitted a windscreen more than once, getting it into the desired position.

So, I have always wanted to play with this and see if I could come up with something different.
Not necessarily better...there will always be necessary seams and connections in paper models...
but maybe I could eliminate the guesswork of placement and position?

After a couple of tweaks, I came up with a way to fit the existing windscreen flush to the fuselage



I did have to modify the shape of the windscreen a little bit...I also added some lower length.
But the main alteration requires removing a section of the fuselage, and fitting a simple recessed part underneath the opening.
The windscreen now fits into the "hole", making its edges flush with the fuselage edges.
The shape of the opening also dictates the placement, shape and vertical stance of the windscreen.

I'm not the most patient builder, but the fit is quite good.
With some careful trimming and gluing, I think you could improve on this.







So, watch for this "update" to be applied to future D model Mustangs
and if I can find the time, I may modifiy some of the existing kits.
If you are currently building a D model and want to try this mod, just let me know what kit you are working on.
Send me a photo or two (so I can see your progress)...and I'll do up some modified parts for you.

I am working on some more tweaks for the B/C models, and I am going to try a simialr windcsreen modification to those kits.