CDW

As I work through this model, it's all coming clearer to me as to why I stopped building it so many years ago. It had a very bad reputation with other modelers who tried to build it and they talked about it. As years have gone by, I'm not nearly so particular and fussy about everything being just right. Just build it and make a reasonable effort to overcome the short comings. It will never be a show winner, but it will make a reasonable replica of a famous aircraft and that's what I want on my shelf. To be able to show the grandkids and tell them about the men that flew the aircraft. One of the choices I have for decals is for Bud Anderson's "Old Crow". I just watched him narrate a video where he told the story about flying a winter mission and realizing his olive-green camo was too easy to see from above against the snow-covered terrain below. On his return from the mission, he mentioned to his ground crew that the aircraft would be much more difficult for enemies above to see if it were NMF rather than green. The next time he suited up for a mission, his crew stood there with their hands bloody, having just finished stripping and polishing the aircraft to NMF. They had worked all night to do it. He showed nothing less than love, honor and respect for his ground crew. Made me have a very good feeling to hear that story from such an accomplished pilot/ace.

Shortened the wheel well height by about 2mm by cutting away plastic. No way that wing could have fit without doing that. A ton of leaves and Oak tree bloom. Raked and bagged about 40 of the 42 gallon contractor bags from the front yard alone. There will be close to that much in the back yard, yet to be done. The leaves and bloom have almost finished dropping now. One more pass will be required in a couple of weeks from now. We also spread a ton of new mulch in the front yard flower beds. The joys of home ownership. 😀

I've wrestled the wing to the fuselage using tape and clamps to bind it as best I could while the glue sets up to dry. Plenty of gaps to fill in and smooth out before any painting can be done. I have several choices I can make to finish the bird. Whether I do it in NMF or camouflage will depend on how well I can make the joints look when it's all said and done. My preference is a NMF, but won't hesitate to do it in camo if the joints are not up to par. I used my own version of "high powered clamps" to close the final gap between the leading edge/wing root join of the wing and fuselage. Here in Florida, Spring cleaning is the order of the day/s. I dread this time of year for all the clean-up that's required. Most of my time is occupied in that endeavor so modeling time is hard to come by until it all (spring cleaning) gets done.

Yes indeed, the landing gear bay is too high. A Dragon models design flaw among several others I've found in the kit. To correct the LG bay, I cut approximately 2.5mm from the height of it then glued the top of the bay back on. This gave me the clearance I needed for the fit. As far as whether the wing sits too far forward, I cannot say. I have not taken any detailed measurements and scaled it to the actual P-51 airframe. If it was/is off a bit, I will just live with it. The photoetch set included with the model is rather useless. Much of it doesn't fit and must be trimmed and filed to make it fit. The cockpit detail is weak as well as are other features which are designed to be displayed open if the modeler so chooses. The panel lines and rivet detail is too heavy as well. In my opinion, buying lots of aftermarket parts to upgrade this model would be a waste of time and money. If one intended to build a highly detailed 1:32 P-51, the kit of my choice to use as a base model for that would be the Tamiya kit, hands down. This Dragon kit certainly has its flaws, but I think it might finish up looking decent as a shelf model. My first clue that this model might have flaws was when I only found one build video of it on YouTube. Flory Models did a four-part video series of the kit a few years ago. At the 2 minutes 20 second mark of this video, Flory briefly described his encounter with the wing/wheel bay/fuselage fit by stating that he used some "high powered" clamps to squeeze and force the wing into position to join to the fuselage. Not sure why he chose that method instead of cutting down the height of the LG bay.

With the fuselage halves glued together, a dry-fit of the lower wing to fuselage reveals a problematic join. It’s going to require some relief between the wheel wells and the fuselage to get a proper fit. Even then, the way the forward part of the wing joins the fuselage seems peculiar.

If memory serves correctly, Moskit exhausts were also produced in Ukraine.

Not sure when I'll get around to the tasks, but I have the 1:32 Tamiya, Zoukei Mura, Trumpeter, and new Revell P-51D kits all in the queue. It will be interesting (to me) to see how they compare with each other.

Glad you're all aboard. I've been plugging away on the model the past few days but have neglected taking photos in favor of getting a little further along before I bore everyone with non-motivational construction photos. Right now, it looks like the wing to fuselage fit might be a little dicey. To get a good silver finish, a good fit will be essential as we all know is the case with shiny metal finishes.

Excellent! Very nice, Baker.

Those exhaust look fantastic. There once was another company that produced very thin, realistic exhaust similar to these for a large variety of different kits. Was the name of that company, Moskit, or something similar? I have not seen their products on the shelves in a number of years and I have wondered what happened to them.

But I do find lots of cars to model. And tanks, planes, ships, etc. 😀

My granddaughter brought me this gift tonight.

Does anyone know who made the WnW's decal sheets? Decals almost always are a gamble unless you are dealing with a specific brand every time. What works with one brand can vary wildly with what works with another. That's a lesson learned the hard way many times for me.

I read that after WW2 ended, this particular aircraft was shipped back to the USA, where it served with various air national guard units. In 1957, it was sold as surplus for $775.00. 😐 It remains in flying condition all the way up to the current day. Amazing.

Nearly 20 years ago, I bought the newly released 1:32 Dragon P-51D Mustang kit. Almost immediately after receiving it, I promptly started building and painting the interior assemblies, then for reasons I cannot recall, boxed it all up and set it aside for other projects instead. As I looked through my storage items for a model swap-meet I attended a week ago, I ran across my old kit and decided to go ahead now to finish it. There are internal details that can be exposed by cutting away panels, I plan to finish the model all buttoned up. The photos reflect where I am with the kit today after dusting it off and touching up a few things here and there. This will be a "quickie".

OC You're as good with a brush as most modelers I've seen. I say, go for it. It's useless just sitting on the shelf. Why not enjoy the model and the experience of it all?

Looks perfect

Very nice work Mike

Will love following your build, Tim. After building the same Triumph kit, always regretted not taking time to wire the spokes. In this large scale, the effort will be well worth it.

Wow, Alan...what a magnificent display. This sure will attract a lot of attention from your visitors.

Indeed, your woodgraining is superb. I agree 100% with what you say here. Far more often than not, many of the photo etch pieces included with sets intended for a particular model, particularly the WnW's kits, go unused as they are either not as good or no improvement over the kit parts.

What color was the Riviera you saw, Yves?

Is 318 the actual number of curves? I know from experience there are a bunch, but never heard of or thought of counting them.

Thanks for your kind comments, Dan. I have not watched the movie Ferrari. Will look for it and watch.

Maybe we should take the Ferrari 250 California Spider out of the garage and ride that dragon tail in it, instead?