1/48 Tamiya RAF Mustang III, 112 Sqn "Sharkmouth"

[Boldman]

I'm building this as a SIG build on another forum but thought I'd share it here as well.

So this is the box and here are the sprues

I've bought the

Verlinden cockpit detail set plus Eduard paint masks. I did also buy a set of decals from Techmod but decided I preferred the sharkmouth decals that come with the kit so if anyone wants them...



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Buy Techmod TM48033 1:48 scale from Hannants. We sell Aircraft decals (military), models, decals, paints & books.

they are yours for a fiver (£5) postage included!

112 Squadron was based in Italy during 1944 having been equipped with Kittyhawks during the Algerian campaign. There was little air combat at that time so they were mostly used in a ground attack role, so these will be built with bombs.

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[yak face]

Nice choice andrew. Ive always had a soft spot for the earlier mustangs and they look great in RAF camo. Itll be interesting to see the difference between the kit cockpit and the aftermarket one. cheers tony

 

[Brickie]

Don't think your font code has worked very well, by the way...

 

[Boldman]

bah, that was copy-pasted from elsewhere and the font stuff came with it, now removed!

 

[Boldman]

Progress has been made over the Christmas holidays... Let me first say that I think the Verlinden resit cockpit is complete rubbish and I would seriously try to dissuade anyone else from buying it. It takes a huge amount of work to get it to fit and the detail isn't anything special - I used the kit seat and pedals because the resin versions were just not very good. I wish I'd stuck with the kit console as well as the resin one doesn't have the same level of detailing as the rather nice decal that comes with the kit. Anyway, criticism over lets look at the build...



First the seat. Its The kit seat with some Eduard PE seatbelts left over from previous builds, cut down to fit the Mustang seat...



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Next the cockpit before the fuselage went together

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Since then the fuselage has gone together, with just a touch of filler required around the rear of the radiator and a couple of spots on the underside. More to come but I need new batteries for the camera... sigh

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[stona]

I can't see the piccies in your last post Andrew,don't know if it's just me! I'm interested to see how you sorted out the cockpit. I used to use quite a bit of resin and I have to say I never had an interior that was easy to fit. I've had to thin down fuselage sides and wings (for resin wheel wells) until you could see through them. Thankfully a lot of the newer kits have decent detail in the injection molded kit parts.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Brickie]

Not just you, I can't either.

 

[Boldman]

Okay I've edited the post and re-uploaded the images...

 

[stona]

Gotcha now! That looks good,surely worth the effort.

Cheers

Steve

 

[papa 695]

Its looking very good Andrew even with the fit issues a job well done

 

[James Q]

I'm liking the look of this, the few resin cockpits I've used have always been a pig of a job to get to fit nicely.

 

[backonthecase]

Everyone seems to be building from my stash these days, humph!!!

Looking good so far, agree with the early Stangs looking good in RAF schemes

Stuart

 

[Boldman]

Progress has been a little slow due to Christmas and Sara and her chainmail bikini however things have moved along. Lots of little bits done like painting undercarriage and wheels, but major milestones are putting the wings on and masking the cockpit ready for painting:

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Then underneath, the wheel wekk has been stuffed with wet tissue and the flaps have been added.

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I did a base coat of XF-16 Flat Aluminium for the prop blades, then add some dabs of maskol before finally painting black. When this was dry the maskol was scraped off and we get some bashed about prop blades!

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No I haven't lost one, it was take on the sprue to test fit into the spinner... speaking of which this got the same treatment, silver undercoat, maskol, top coat and then some scraping to produce a bashed up spinner:

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Sadly I appear to have lost the poly cap that is supposed to sit inside the spinner I'll just have to fix it permanently.

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[Boldman]

Lots of progress over the last two weeks but only two photos to summarise:



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Camo paint was done using Tamiya rattle cans AS-30 (Dark Green 2 (RAF)), AS-31 (Ocean Grey 2 (RAF)) and AS-32 (Medium Sea Grey (RAF)) which were originally bought for the 1:32 Spit I did at the beginning of 2011 and have showed sterling service for a couple of other builds last year.

After all that dreid, its has had panel lines picked out with a pin wash, then its first coat of Klear. Canopy frames have been painted both inside and out, undercarriage has been weathered and brake line added although it still needs to have a flat spot added to the tyre. Spinner has been assembled with the scratched prop blades and two bombs have been prepared.



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I'll be adding another Klear coat tomorrow once I'm sure this one is dried and cured.

I've begun work on the base as well. This will be a rough scrub-like airfield in Italy, with some fuel barrels and maybe an RAF figure or two.

I'm saving the pilot figure that comes with this for the Revell Mosquito I plan to build at some point in the near future, but doesn't come with any crew. I want to portray it flying to avoid the well known problems with the undercarriage, but I then need a pilot and navigator... this sorts one of those out!

Back to the Mustang... Decals will go on over the weekend I'm hoping.

Next time I'll hopefully be able to show some progress on the base. Currently its just an old picture frame with a layer of claycrete coloured with yellow ochre and Burnt Sienna artist acrylics.



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[Boldman]

While the Klear has been drying, I took a little diversion to build a base. Now we're in Italy and I found a lovely photo of some of the airstrips in Italy, and its pretty rough and ready, so I took one of my old picture frames I picked up cheap at some charity shops in Bracknell (where thee entire town centre appears to consist of charity shops!) and added a layer of claycrete, landscaped to provide a nice flat bit and a couple of small humps on either side.

A thin smear of plaster of paris was painted over the flat part to even it out but still keep the surface irregular.

Once dry, artists acrylics were used to paint it the right colours. MiG pigment was then dusted over the flatter area while the paint was drying to give the surface a dusty texture.

There are some plaster rock outcrops and some extra small rocks and branches, plus a light scattering of static grass with a selection of grass clumps added to give it texture. In the middle are two wheel chocks scratch built from balsa and cotton. In the corner is a small fuel dump under a tarp.

which also includes a BUCKET!!!

Having looked at the pictures, I think the jerry cans look much to clean, so I'll have to dirty them up a bit. Now thats complete I can return to sorting out the decals!

 

[yak face]

Fantastic base andrew, and a bucket too! Welcome to the club!!!! Looking forward to seeing this with the mustang on it , cheers tony

 

[Richy C]

Looking very nice Andrew , great work mate.

Richy

 

[James Q]

Love that base Andrew!

 

[Boldman]

Nearly there!

Just a quick one to be goign along with - if things work out, I shall be finished tomorrow...

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Decals and matt coat in place, just attached the bombs and u/c spinner almost complete but realised I'd forgotten the yellow tips!

Need to do a little more weathering on the tyres to get it in place on the base plus add a flat spot.

All that left is pitot tube, open cockpit door, radio aerial and dorsal light.

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[Ian M]

I have never felt the urge to build a Mustang, but seeing this and a couple of other great builds I could be tempted.

T'is looking good Andrew.

Ian M