Revell P51B Mustang

[jazzkat]

I have sprayed the underside of the model, unfortunately I got the amount of paint wrong and I ended up putting it on a little too thickly, so the pre shading was a bit of a waste of time!

I then turned to the camoflage. Now the kit instructions are 80% of this colour, 10% of that and another 10% of something else. Unfortunately the colour came out as

a bit too green for sea grey! But the pre shading had worked brilliantly!! Success.

I gave it a very light coat of grey to tone the green down which has worked ok, but has obliterated the pre shading! Doh.

A few bluetack sausages and a bit of masking later and we have

and

I was very carefull to remove the vaseline but it looks like I got it onto the planes fuselage, unless it "bled" somehow. I'm not too impressed with it Those edges need cleaning up. I have tried copydex on something else and that has worked like a charm so I won't be using the vaseline again.

You can actually make out the seat belts in this pic!

The next step is to paint a few bits and pieces (yellow on the leading edges, white stripes on the wings and fuselage rather than transfers) and finish the build before trying my hand at some detailing.

 

[jazzkat]

Things I have learnt so far!

Take more time in preparation

Be careful with the amounts of paint you mix and don't believe the instructions!

copydex is fantastic for masking canopies.

Bluetack is the best invention ever!

Oh, and this modelling lark is addictive.

 

[backonthecase]

Things I have learnt so far!Take more time in preparation

Be careful with the amounts of paint you mix and don't believe the instructions!

copydex is fantastic for masking canopies.

Bluetack is the best invention ever!

Oh, and this modelling lark is addictive.

Good work mate, I like the paint job and the preshading looks successful!!! Sorry to hear about the vaseline, but that's the kinda thing I suffered from when I masked that scratchplate a while ago!!! Copydex is the bizness for freehand masking, much better than Maskol!!!

Nice build.

Stuart

 

[Bunkerbarge]

I think this is a great model and if you have learned so much from it then all the better. The blue tac process on the camoflage edges has worked extreemly well but I think the vaseline idea wasn't quite as successfull. Stiill next time you'll do it even better!

 

[jazzkat]

I can't believe its been a week since my last post. Where does the time go?

I've finished painting....hurrah!

and building...............hurrah!

pics first.

I'm quite pleased with the exhausts, you can't really see in the pic but the original faun colour has been overpainted with some real rust mixed with a little matt clear. Its gives it a bit of texture and looks quite real (although probably miles away scale wise)

The silver for the drop tanks is rubbish (humbrol 11) and I'll perhaps look for some alclad or similar next time.

I had some serious problems masking for the white bands and the yellow leading edges. The paint just crept along the panel lines under the tape. I managed to paint over the "paint creep" with a very fine brush and a steady hand. I've tidied up the frame lines on the canopy a bit (the photo came out too blurry). There are still greasy marks on the fuselage despite being cleaned with soapy water. I'm hoping the klear I'm going to spray won't react with it. Wish me luck!

I'm not looking forward to putting the decals on. It never used to bother me but I don't want to cock it all up after putting so much time into what Ive done so far. I'm going to klear first to put a gloss finish on and I might pick up some micro sol or something to try to get the painted on look.

I have enjoyed this so much I've already become a model junky and have five more kits sat on the shelf waiting to go!

 

[jazzkat]

A couple of coats of clear (in an attempt to get fully gloss rather than satin).

In the end I gave up and went with the satin!

Then transfers on. I used micro sol/set and... wow what a great effect. Much different to when I used to just "wack em on" when I was a kid.

and another coat of Klear to seal them in. I'm going to try my hand with some weathering.

Even though I say it myself I'm really pleased with the results. This is the first model i've made in years and I'm really hooked.

Please post any advice/criticism, I'm thick skinned I can take it!

 

[backonthecase]

Nice job:bravo:

Glad to see the stain at the side of the cockpit disappeared under the Klear! I guess it was the vaseline that caused it?

Anyway, nice work, a great finish to the 'Stang!

Stuart

 

[jazzkat]

Thanks Stuart.

Yes the stain just disappeared! (big sigh of relief)

 

[jazzkat]

Finished!

I struggled to find any good pics of raf mustangs to model the wear and tear on so I used a kind of artistic license, yep I made it up!

I mixed some water soluble oil paint (black and burnt umber) into a wash and applied liberally (read slapped about!) all over the model. I left it to dry and then wiped off the excess. It really brought the panel lines out on the wings, less so on the fuselage though. It dirtied everything up as well making it look a little less new.

When this dried I applied some silver paint for chips on the leading edge of the wings props and where the pilot stands to get in (I probably should have done this before the wash really).

I bought some chalk pastels (good old ebay) and attempted to apply streaks around the wing cannons and from the exhaust, but couldn't get the chalk to stick to the klear. I ended up wetting the brush and making a kind of chalk paste. The effect is poor and I'm not sure if I should have done the chalk bit onto the matt paint surface before I went any where near the klear?

So there she is. I'll clear it once more and will experiment with adding talc to the klear to get a matt surface. I've also ordered some acrylic rod to mount it in flight as it were. I'll post a pic when its all mounted up.

In the mean time here she is!

 

[jazzkat]

Strange but the last post with all the final pics seems to disappear from this page?

It is in the thread list at the top of the page though! odd

 

[tag]

Looking good mate

As you know I very rarely do actual scale models except for my R/C boats are you going to a particular aircraft

as for masks I know its a bit dearer but there is artist masking fluid as well

 

[jazzkat]

Looking good mateAs you know I very rarely do actual scale models except for my R/C boats are you going to a particular aircraft

as for masks I know its a bit dearer but there is artist masking fluid as well

Thanks Tony,

I'm really pleased with it and have learnt loads on this site and a bit of time browsing t'internet.

I'm already into the painting of a Lancaster and halfway through building an FW190. The bug has truly bitten.

I've masked the canopy of the Lanc with masking tape, took ages, but the effect is worth it in the end. Loads better. I have used copydex for some round masking and it too, works like a dream, just rubs off with your fingertip.

My wife keeps asking, "where are you going to put them all?" I don't know the answer to that one yet myself lol!

 

[tag]

Hello Rob

I recently acquired a 1/72 Airfix lanc and like the Xwing Stuka its gonna be different

Am i right in saying Copydex is the same as Tippex

 

[kellysands]

Brilliant! The Mustang (By Matchbox) was the first plane I built on my own, some 30+ years ago.......that had the name of Dooley Bird, I shall never forget! To see your build after your 20 year break was truly inspirational! Having a son of my own now, I feel it won't be long before we embark on some memory modelling! Thanks for sharing.

 

[jazzkat]

Tony

Copydex is a glue, it seems rubber based or something. I originally bought it for glueing the edge of carpets to stop them fraying when you cut them.

It is great masking fluid. I masked the bomb aimers canopy an the lanc so I could paint the circular frame. Carefully paint with a brush and wash immediately because its horrible stuff to remove from brushes, it goes all stringy. I've not tried it on paintwork yet. It might pull all the paint off I don't know.

Kellysands - thanks, go buy a kit now! but beware its addictive!!

 

[Bunkerbarge]

Copydex is a rubber solution which can be very efectively used as a masking medium.

Do not confuse it with Typex though, this is a solvent based correction fluid that will etch the surface of plastic and be extreemly difficult to remove without damaging the surface.

 

[tag]

Thanks for the reply bunk I lost the post