About half done with the weathering.
A bit of pin wash, a flat coat and fiddly bits and I’m done.
Wait, 5 days!!!??? Better hurry. 
A bit of pin wash, a flat coat and fiddly bits and I’m done.
Wait, 5 days!!!??? Better hurry.
6 Likes
I’m hurrying. Got the streaking done tonight, added the inlet cones and the rudders.
Got the gear together, nearly ready to install. A final seal coat or two and I might be done by Sunday.
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…and done! Some mistakes made (the borderline between white and grey should be a little higher), but in the end I’m ok with this build. The decals by Caracal were much better than the kit’s ones and very good to handle.
Better pictures will follow, when the final coat of varnish is on.
Cheers
Peter
7 Likes
Mark @md72 that Blackbird simply looks superb. A real classic … beautiful finish on it…
and Peter @B-17-peter with those decals on now yours is equally as impressive, it really stands out now. Both excellent builds 
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Mark, beautiful build. The weathering looks very nice on the black.
Peter, well done. Very unique looking aircraft with all the ELINT stuff on the nose/fuselage.
1 Like
The M577 has shoes now. The davit’s position was moved (I think it’s where we kept it with the spade box mounted). Lights are all on. I’ve got three days to figure out the making of the hootch. If I fail at that, well then, some young PFC, while cleaning out the hot pot-bellied stove, managed to catch it on fire.
Mike
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It’s been a terrific build Mike. You have done a great job with so much effort… a real joy to watch…
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It looks awesome. Great job.
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Really outstanding build Mike. Great weathering too. Even if you don’t finish the hootch, it’s an excellent model.
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Looks awesome, Mike! Really crisp details and all your extra time and effort really shows in great details and lots of realism.
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First attempt at using Milliput. We’ll see how it goes once it dries. Interesting process and kind of messy, especially with the baby powder - little ‘squirt’ and it just about went everywhere!
Mike
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Almost there, seal coat is on, gear is on. All that’s left is a final flat coat and a fuel spill.
I tried to dress the gear up by continuing the brake line over the scissor links down to the wheels.
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Excellent work, Mark! The weathering looks great and gives that special touch, my congrats!
Cheers
Peter
1 Like
By “fuel spill” you mean every panel on the plane, right? SR71s were notorious for leaking, as the skin was effectively the fuel tank and the joints only tightened when friction made it expand! Absolutely remarkable planes, and available in Henry Ford’s (allegedly) favourite colour…
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Well true, they were notorious leakers. But I’m aiming for something a bit more subtle.
Maybe a drop or two of clear gloss, blown backwards by the airbrush to simulate the last leak before the joints seal.
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Raises an interesting question! They used to take off with only enough fuel to reach a tanker for inflight refueling before setting off on their missions (to save weight on take-off), and the refuelling happened at the sedate airspeed of only about 300kts before all the fast stuff that heated the skin, so presumably they’d still be leaky then? I know when parked on the ground the area below them could resemble a rain forest…
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Hi Everyone,
Coming in on final! I want to say, that the number and very good finishes so far are impressive! Congratulations to all of you that have completed some beautiful builds, truly inspiring. This campaign has certainly tempted me to do something that zips around on the ground!
In my last update I went over a failed effort using the salt method. I did a self review on what I didn’t do so well, and think that the salt was too course, and way to heavy in the areas I did. I’m contemplating another go, but next time will finer salt, and much less of it.
After repainting the experimental area, the bird was glossed using Mr. Color Clear and decals applied. Sadly some of the decals were out of register, most notable were the US flag (I was able to trim them and make it less obvious) and the ID numbers, given that this was a pick-me up build, I didn’t dwell on it too much. The whole airframe then got a panel wash consisting of Tamiya dark brown wash. Taking my time, and lightly dampened Q-tips (ear buds) with turpentine, I cleaned up the over wash going in the direction of the airflow.
Next up I used some burnt umber oils, mixed with white for some areas, and black for others, and blended it in. One area I left pretty much alone was the engine cover area as original photos showed this to be quite clean compared to the rest of the airframe. After drying, I used a silver Prisma pencil to replicate areas where the paint had been sand blasted away during operation. Next I sprayed a fairly heavy flat coat of Mr. Color clear flat, down at it was time for the few add ons. While not many, the most challenging were the landing gear. While set with the correct forward angle (When viewed from above the gears axel should be just visible from the leading edge of the wing) they did not want to straighten out, one angling in the other out. Once again I delt with glue that didn’t want to glue (despite the obvious odor of ethyl acetate, and cleaned plastic of residual paint). This resulted in an hour battle using tape, square bottles, less than colorful language aimed at its lineage, followed by kind encouraging words as things got firmer. With the gear looking right the struts were fixed into place with some super glue, ending the battle. All the remaining little things were taken care of such as the replacement exhausts (thanks Academy for the various exhausts for their P-39), gun barrels with the ends drilled out, formation and navigation lights, some ground pastel for the tires, and finally the aerial antenna wire, using fine charcoal EZ-Line.
With that, I’m calling her done! While my phone camera doesn’t pick up the oil washes too well, they are there and look pretty close to the era photo. I even used a little white oils to represent the real bird stains on the rudder! Therefore, I present Accurate Miniatures 1994 molding of the P-51A-2NA, of the 154th Observation Group, 68th Observation Squadron, as part of Operation Tourch, Tunisia, Africa, flown by Lt. N. F. Bush, in 1943.
Overall, this is a really good kit for one wishing to model an Allison engine Mustang. It captures the prop and carb scoop nicely, and has the flaps in the correct position for the parked position (note. it’s up to the modeler to get the gear doors correct!). Additionally, the cockpit is correct for this variant and includes a nice camera. The positives are fairly straight forward assembly, very good overall fit needing little filler, accurate instructions. On the downside, no landing lights, challenging canopy only in the closed position, less than banner landing gear behavior, and slightly out of register decals. If one is looking to build an accurate P-51A in 1/48th scale this is it! I highly recommend this for the beginner for ease of buildability, through the experienced modeler as the airframe lends itself to endless possibilities.
I’d personally like to thank all the amour folks that participated as I really got to broaden my weathering skills using your techniques, very much appreciated! Thanks all for allowing me to participate, this was a most enjoyable group build, complete with so many different things that help to pierce the fog of war. Till next time, stay safe and have fun!
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As usual, when this Group Build was mooted I was full of big ideas. I lobbied for the inclusion of Fantasy subjects. And then (as usual) – nothing. Realisation dawned my original intention was beyond me. I then thought about a Ruritanian Generalissimo from spare Historex parts (still Fantasy, I think), but a similar build for another GB proved a bit of a disaster. O.K., if not Fantasy then Sci-Fi, machines are easier than people… An Orbital Command Platform would be easy. Too easy, I kept letting things get in the way, and (again as usual) time was running out. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I was visiting a friend and he let me loose to loot his spare parts box. When I got home and was sorting through the spoils I realised some bits belonged together; I had most of the parts for what I believe was some long OOP WH40K “Comms Array”.
I believe it may have been intended to look something like this:
Having no instructions may actually been of benefit. Some things were obvious; the long pole aerials were never going to last long on a wargames table and I didn’t rate their chances in a display cabinet either. The other thing was GW’s skull addiction, I’m happy with them as decoration in Victorian Gothic themed stuff but here I eliminated half-a-dozen of them for something more generic. I also didn’t want to just glue a few bits together, it felt like cheating in a Group Build where others have laboured hard and long. So I personalised it with odd bits such as a section of plastic tube and a small plastic Slinky toy. I also found use for a 1:100th scale Sherman road wheel as a nod to all the tank kits sacrificed to Sci-Fi scratch builds. I ended up with an item in two pieces for ease of storage (the third, similar, item on the left of the photo was constructed as a present for a friend in parallel with my submission).
This is what I ended up with on Saturday 29th April, with a full day in hand – a remarkable margin for anything I’ve participated in.
and this is the reverse, to show I didn’t forget the back:
Not what I intended to offer, but marginally better than nothing.
Regards,
M
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10 AM and I need to get ready for work. Boo! Considering I got up a 9 AM, which is TOTALLY unusual for me to sleep past 5 AM…
The hootch was painted just a bit ago and it’s drying. The straps for it have been cut (lead sheet). When I get home tonight, I’ll mount the straps and then the hootch to the M577, give is some weathering and take final photos.
It’s been a good run with all the different builds.
Till tonight!
Mike
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You got it looking very good with some nice extra detailing as well…
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