8/12/2023 0 Comments P51 cockpit gauges![]() This is a great set that comes with resin details as well as a photo etched sheet that includes a few "bonus" parts (replacement cooling grills for the forward fuselage and a great little addition, the landing gear uplocks). Next up is Barracuda's cockpit sidewall replacements. I added a coat of future floor polish over the clear acetate instrument faces to give them just a little more depth and shine. A little shading followed by a little highlighting results in excellent visibility of the wonderfully clean castings. The instruments themselves are on clear acetate and require a white background. This set includes the stencils for the control panel surfaces just below the main instrument panel. In order to get the most out of this detail set it should be paired with the cockpit stencils and placards, also from Barracuda. Starting with the instrument panel, Barracuda makes a replacement panel in resin with photo etched bezels and resin details for the "T" handles. However, Major Preddy's airplane was "pampered" by the crew chief (he apparently had plenty of time to add lots of superfluous markings to the trim tabs, gun ports and antenna mast) so it was most likely relatively clean anyway. The customer also requested minimal weathering so this is not quite as weathered as I might do for myself. This was a commission build and the customer did not want the engine panels open (which saved a lot of detail time) but he is a detail freak, especially for cockpit interiors. Also, Eduard's exterior detail set offers many nice extras for the landing hear and gear bays. However, for those interested in an even higher level of detail, Barracuda Cast details offers upgrades and decal stencils and placards that will make this model look like you could climb in the cockpit and start it up! HGW offers a textile seatbelt set with resin replacement life raft that adds the finishing touch to one of the best aftermarket cockpit detail offerings available. ![]() Now that the Mustang’s together, I need to clean up a few of the seam lines, throw some paint at the wings to make sure the seams are properly filled, and replace some of the brass gun tubes I accidentally knocked into the wings while sanding the filled seams.Tamiya's superlative 1/32 P-51D Mustang builds into a fantastically detailed model straight from the box. Tamiya’s Mustang is the epitome of great fit, and if you’re careful you can get it together with a minimum of fuss. Once the wings were taken care of, the P-51 literally flew together. Surfacer 500, then sanded it down with 400, 1000, and 1200 grit sandpaper. After taping off the gun doors and the few lines that had to remain, I dabbed the exposed lines with Mr. Most Mustang kits, the Tamiya included, retain the original panel lines. To that end, North American Aviation filled all of the flush rivets and panel lines on the forward sections of the wings right on the assembly line, and painted them over with aluminum lacquer. In order to wring the most efficiency out of the wing as possible, drag had to be minimized as far as possible. The Tamiya kit’s representation of the P-51’s gun tubes is rather poor, so I drilled them out and replaced them with telescoping brass tubing.Ī lot of the Mustang’s speed and range came from it’s cutting-edge laminar flow wing. Once the cockpit was installed and the fuselage closed, I moved on to the wings. After painting and weathering, I used Airscale’s 1/48 instrument panel decals to punch up the gauges. Ultimately, my displeasure led me to steal the instrument panel from another Tamiya P-51 I have in the stash. When I cracked open the P-51 box, I was hit by a slew of aftermarket accessories I’d ordered once upon a time: Ultracast gear doors, seat, prop and spinner, Squadron vac-form canopies, and an Eduard PE set.Īfter painting the cockpit areas with Lifecolor Interior Green, Vallejo black and Floquil weathered black, I opted to use the Eduard PE set in the cockpit, and was immediately unhappy with the quality of the instrument panel. However, with the failure of willpower that culminated in my pre-order of Tamiya’s forthcoming 1/32 Mustang, the 1/48 kit has taken on a new urgency as something of warm-up build for that kit, and a perfect platform to work on my natural metal techniques and masking the 352nd’s distinctive blue cowls. My original intention – to use Tamiya’s 1/48 P-51D as something of a decompression build between the Sopwith Pup and Spitfire Mk.VIII – has foundered somewhat on the twin rocks of advanced modeler’s syndrome and the sheer epicness of Tamiya’s big Spit.
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