Tamiya P51

[paddy]

Sorry i forgot you had started this Bob, dont want to step on your toes. The Eduard instructions show the surface as Rich says with silver and fine silver however i found its hard to make a different finish show unless its quite a large difference and it looks a bit odd if you do that. again its
trying to find out what it looked like at the time and not what the restorations looked like as bare aluminum in the British climate would be a non starter for any restored aircraft. That's why all Spits over here are semi gloss to give at least a little protection to the weather.. Of course Pacific aircraft would be different but then you have the salt air factor ? I suppose what i am saying is you would be hard pushed to say any or either finish was right or wrong ? but a polished P-51 in England in 1944 might be an oddity.

 

[moon puppy]

but a polished P-51 in England in 1944 might be an oddity.

Oh I get it. I remember reading something a crew chief said about the Mustangs on Iwo Jima, there was nothing else to do there except work on the aircraft so the finish was very well maintained.

I'm going to get a good shine on this then weather it back, think it turned out well on the old Jug I did a while back.

 

[moon puppy]

Well I had given up hope of finding the canopy rail and was looking for something else to work in. Did some repair jobs on broken bits that were damaged in the move. Contemplating on what to do next I pulled down the box for the SK 251 Flak halftrack thing. While doing inventory of the various parts and what showed up?

The boys thought I was having a heart attack but it was really a modelGasim!!

So the P51 game is back on.

 

[Rhino]

The boys thought I was having a heart attack but it was really a modelGasim!!

Too funny!! My Dad used to tell me "If you are looking for something and can't find it, stop looking." He was right!

 

[jeaton01]

Good Karma!

 

[Heavens Eagle]

That's too funny Bob!
Glad you found it.

 

[moon puppy]

I got motivated and installed a 1x4 between the crossmembers and installed this other light I picked up at Costco a while back. I forgot how easy it is since it's ready to plug in. It can actually plug in tandem with the other light and pick up it's settings. Got my electrician coming tomorrow to install a switched box up there and I'll have all my lights switched then.
What a difference!

Since the juices are flowing I got the canopy installed.

Glued the rail on then used PVA for the clear part. Going to let that dry before trying to primer.

Progress Baby!

 

[moon puppy]

Squirting paint.

I'm going to seal this up with some gloss and mask it. I'm kinda thinking backwards from my norm, get this color on then do the NMF.

 

[Paulw]

Got the lip stick on I see. Getting her ready for the prom next?

 

[moon puppy]

 

[moon puppy]

Thanks to Greg for getting the Alclad primer to me. As he suggested, needs a rub down as it's a wee bit gritty. Sanding from 6k to 12k smooths it out well.

I'm still debating what colors to use here. The polishing pigment are intriguing to me but it sure doesn't photo well.

Flap on the left is unprimed, bare plastic. One on the right is primed and polished but from the photos, it looks like high polished black. What do yall think?

 

[moon puppy]

Oh I tested the peal test with masking tape, the polishing pigments really seem to standup to no lifting.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

On my P-47, I used the Alclad gloss black. It is such that it will bond to plastic just like a primer. After spraying it on I used Mr. Retarder with a light mist/ not quite wet coat of the retarder that leveled the gloss out so it was like black glass.
After using the chrome and then some of the other lighter aluminum colors to give some weathering to the metal I actually applied Tamiya decals directly on the metalizer using Solvaset. Had no problems with the small ones at all. The larger ones had some issues, but that was more with the Tamiya decals than with the paint.

 

[jknaus]

Looking good Bob. looking forward to seeing it in markings. Keep on Keeping on
James

 

[moon puppy]

I was asking about the metal pigments Paul. Thanks.

 

[sharkman]

looking great Bob!

 

[Rhino]

Look at you! Modeling in the Big shed!

 

[centaur567]

Looking great so far. Gary S.

 

[moon puppy]

Hey I'm squirtin' paint!

Used the RAF Speed Silver I got from @Greg Kimsey
Going to seal it in, mask it off and might do the pigment treatment. Will see.

One thing for sure is I gotta get that pressure regulator closer to me.

 

[Barney]

Hey I'm squirtin' paint!

You poor soul. I am sure that the local doctors have something for that.