|
With lot's of
photo's to look at, I'll hi-light the rest of the story, and let the photos
do the talking.
Many
years ago, I started making my own scribing templates. I selected empty
beer/cola cans for my material, which is about .005" thick. This thin
aluminum is ideal, as it will bend around many curves on your model. It will
also crinkle, which ruins the template......so if you make your own, use
caution ! Once I have these templates positioned correctly, I tape them to the
model, using ordinary "high-tack" masking tape. The Scotch - #230
"low tack" drafting tape does not hold the scribing temp on the
model that good ! The "wing-root" temp worked like a charm, as did
the others for access maintenance doors, etc.
| The
main gear door pivot hinges were fashioned from "K & S" brass
stock, while the latches were made from "K & S" aluminum
square-tubing, and flat stock. They are attached with super-glue. By the way........I use only super-glue
(s.g) on my models and no other
type of fillers.
The
hydraulic actuator's for the main gear doors were made from selected sizes of
brass, aluminum, and stainless-steel tubing. The small coiled springs were
made from .005" diameter copper wire. I found this wire in the worn-out
motors on kid's "slot-cars," which race around a little track in
your living room during the holidays. |
|
Click on
images below to see larger images |
 |
 |
|
|
The
arm-brackets for the 108 gallon drop tanks were fashioned from "K &
S" flat brass stock. The first bracket took the longest to make, but once
it looked like the real thing, heck, the other three was a snap to build. I
drilled holes into the brass, then slipped in the round styrene rod, which had
the little round disk super-glued on the other end. On final assembly, I
attached the pylons to the wings, then the brackets, and then the tank. With
proper alignment achieved, I carefully slid the round rod down to the tank.
Once the little disk hit the tank, I applied some thinned-down white glue
around the disk, and on the bracket. Presto they are finished !
| The
pitot tube, and the .050" cal. guns, are like many items. They were built
using a variety of materials. |
Click on
image below to see larger image
|
 |
|
| You
will note that I included rivets around the installed "kit"
windscreen, and the vac-u-formed one piece canopy and frame. If you try this,
please use "caution !" I use a very sharp pointed needle, chucked
into my pin-vise: (see pin-vise photo with the pitot tube in it). If you push
too hard on the pin-vise on the injection-mold clear plastic, it can crack,
and or craze....."needless-to-say;" you have to replace the
windscreen. The vac-plastic is quite a bit thinner than the injected plastic
and is much softer. You push too hard, and your pin will go through the
plastic. You may be able to repair the hole with super-glue, if not, then you
must start over with a new vac-canopy.....that's no fun at all. |
Click on
image below to see larger image
|
 |
|
"HOW
NOT TO FOG YOUR WINDSCREENS"
I
tack it to the fuselage using "micro-dots" of super-glue, using a
.006" diameter brass rod, which has a tiny loop on the end. I
apply Future Floor Wax; (f.f.w.) several times to the area where the
windscreen meets the fuselage. There
is “always” a fine-line gap once the f.f.w. dries. Now you can apply all the super-glue desired, as the Future
stops the super-glue fumes from entering the inside of the windscreen.
After the windscreen is sand flush with the fuselage, add your panel
lines and rivets, then final sanding. Look
at the close up of the finished windscreen and you will see what I mean.....it
looks like a real Mustang.
With
good quality photos, which I took of a P-51D at the San Jose, California air
terminal, including the wheel wells, and most important -
"measurements." I built a "master" for the main gear,
including the torque links and the arms, which attach to the upper section of
the gear strut, and holds the outer gear door in place. I had a guy make the
gears, using what they call; "The lost wax casting process." It's
expensive, but the end results are to perfection. There's no pot marks, like
you find in the pot-metal castings, and they don't bend ! The upper strut,
which fits into the wheel well was made from different diameters of aluminum
tubing.
The
three under-wing navigation lights were created by using clear round acrylic
rod, or I may have used colored rod......can't remember !! If it were clear
stock, I used Tamiya's clear red, green, and amber to color the lens. The red
and green wing-tip lights were made from colored stock.
Aluminum
tubing stock was inserted into the leading edges of both wings for the gun
tubes. Then lots of super-glue was added. Once nice and dry, I used #4 &
#6 files to flare-in the contour so they looked like the real machine gun
farings on the Mustang.
“JUST
REMEMBER “
When
you plan to do a “bare-metal” model using SnJ Spray Metal Aluminum paint !
YOU MUST sand the model down to a 2000 grit finish.
If you stop at 600, or even 1200 grit, you will see all kind of scratch
marks. Once my model is completed, I start this sanding process.
Begin with 600, then use 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, and finally 2000.
It’s time consuming, but you will be rewarded with a flawless finish.
On
a 1/24 scale P-51D, and on my conversion from the "D to a B;" I got
the bright idea to paint the wings and fuselage separate. This worked out
A-OK, so I did the same thing to this model. Once finished, I then joined the
two sections together in my alignment jig and super-glued it together. After
final sanding and touching up the panel lines and rivets, I mask it off and
sprayed on the SnJ Aluminum paint. It worked out just great !
"AIR
BRUSHING - DECALS - DRY TRANSFERS"
 |
|
Original picture of the
artwork on the full size plane |
|
I
like the idea of air-brushing on my insignias, and fuselage call letters; etc.
This way, one does not have to worry about the items sinking down into certain
panel lines and rivets, like decals. On many models, I run a little home made
plastic bevel-edge tool over my wet decals in the panel lines and push in any
rivets with a round pointed wooden toothpick; ( the sharp point on the
toothpick has been rounded off ).
On
the "DUCK" as I call this model, this was my first time using
"dry-transfers;" (D.T.’s). Experimentation is @ hand. I cleaned
the left side of my second P-51D kit and did not sand the plastic. The Duck
logo, the kill marks, and the data block went on to perfection. On a pre-sanded wing; (2000 grit) and air-brushed with SnJ Aluminum, I applied more
D.T.’s. Some went on OK, while others left the sticky adhesive on the paint,
or lifted the paint from the plastic. The paint was very dry, as it had been
on the spare wing for several weeks. Low tack drafting tape will not lift the
SnJ paint off the model, after only one-two hours of drying time. I got into a
real dilemma on this model. I had to repaint several areas over. My client
finally hired a decal maker, and I finished the model using decals. You can
read more about my P-40 over at Brad Hagen's P-40 web site at http://www.p40warhawk.com
|
|
|
Click on
image below to see larger image
|
 |
|
With the problems I found in the markings my client lined up Woody
Vondracek to produce a totally new dry transfer set of markings. I
have been working with Woody on the markings and with our 6th proof set
we think everything is to perfection. To redraw the Duck I used
tracing paper and followed the dot outline on the photo. The mouth
was the most troublesome part. As a side bar, Woody Vondracek owns
Precision Dry Transfers and plans to add this set to his line of quality
transfers. His sample dry transfers are worth their weight in
gold. In my years of modeling I have not seen this quality in any
decal set.
My
work log says I spent 2,000+ hours on the DUCK. There were over 400 hours just
building all the parts for the wheel wells and over 100 hours on the
"master" for the gears.
The book: "DONALD'S STORY."
It stated that Lt. Donald R. Emerson came home to America in the summer of
1944. His original aircraft with the Donald Duck logo bearing serial
number of "413317" was given to another pilot. Prior to his
return to England, he was given a promotion to Captain. Rejoining his
group, Donald was assigned another Mustang, his last one. It was a
P-51D "VF * D" with a serial number of 415054. This is
why I put Lt. Donald R. Emerson on my model, as he did not fly said aircraft
as a Captain.
On Christmas Day, 1944, Donald was
returning home from a mission. His last message was: "He
was on the deck and heading home." As he crossed over into Allied
territory, he was hit by flak. His plane was seen crash-landing near
the Holland/Belgium boarder, which was occupied by the British Army.
The medical report stated that he was killed by enemy gunfire while
crossing over the Germans' lines, and his death was believed to have been
instantaneous.
This is a sad ending, but it came to tens of
thousands of people, just like Donald. In fact the war killed millions
of us humans.
Happy modeling
Rodney
|
|
