Tamiya's P-51D

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June 23, 2015
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June 23, 2015
The fuel 'feed lines' were some stretched spru with the outer coating from the telephone wire I had, and the 'clamps' were ultra thin strips of bare metal foil. 🙂
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June 23, 2015
I completed the fuel tanks by adding scratch made fuel lines, using scraps of foil strips for the clamps
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June 17, 2015
The first bit for the build is the carburetta assembly
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June 17, 2015
The compressor
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June 17, 2015
The block
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June 17, 2015
Now the first lot of PE goes on
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June 17, 2015
The usual Tamiya detail is obvious here
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June 17, 2015
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June 17, 2015
The oil box
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June 17, 2015
The underbelly vent for the oil cooler with some more PE.
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June 17, 2015
And how it is assembled
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June 17, 2015
The "Pre colour" dash with the new style of clear parts with the decals applied to the back that can be seen from the front.
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June 17, 2015
The oil reserve, with foil straps.
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June 17, 2015
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June 17, 2015
The photo etched plays a big part in this model and the seat belts are one example.
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June 17, 2015
The floor pan with just a bit of foot scuffing through the copius zinc chromate.
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June 17, 2015
The armoured seat with belts installed and painted, to have a coat of matt a little later.
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June 17, 2015
The decals are all 'readable'.
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June 17, 2015
the squark box and batteries behind the pilot are now installed
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June 17, 2015
The first bit of foil is applied to the gun sight glass.
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June 17, 2015
The office was not a 'colourful' place and only what needed colouring had some importance attached to it.
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June 17, 2015
This is apparently an areial of some kind, but as it was part of the build, I had to put it in, via some careful drilling.
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June 17, 2015
The engine bay from underneath as the fuselage comes together.
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June 17, 2015
The painting instructions are called out where needed and here I used minute strips of bare metal foil for the hose clamps on the oil line.
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June 17, 2015
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June 17, 2015
Now for the first lot of the foil and it was more or less "experimental" as I had to learn how to "Burnish" (The art of making it stick and bring up detail.) and my instrument was a wood stick. !
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June 17, 2015
It was actually a tooth pick I had 'blunted' one end of and smoothed the tip until it was shiney and clean, and started 'rubbing down' the foil, gradually increasing the pressure and watched the surface detail come to life.
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June 17, 2015
The burnishing is done in small sections, and as the foil 'takes' you keep moving along until all is done. And keep it free of dust as it will show up under the foil too.
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June 17, 2015
Corners and edges need to be treated with caution, as this stuff is simply kitchen alfoil with a sticky back and it tares so easily, but a bugger to get off.
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June 17, 2015
Everything under the foil shows through, and I mean everything.
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June 17, 2015
Compound curves are really difficult and it is best done by keeping the foil you dont want laid yet, away from this area, and as the burnishing skills improve, so does your understanding of "HOW" this stuff behaves and how it works.
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June 17, 2015
Small areas like flaps are a great start because you have only applied small amounts, but as you get to larger areas, DONT't try and do it in one big go.
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June 17, 2015
Pannels, and treat them as such, just that. By doing each section at a time, you can actually create the seperate pannel 'Look"and trim with a scalpel blade, the bits that overlap, because the overlap sticks out like dog's balls in the moonlight.
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June 17, 2015
The 'compound' curve is really a matter of gradually 'encouraging' the foil to 'stretch' some what. and try at all costs to avoid creating any wrinkles, as they are so hard to iron out.
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June 17, 2015
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June 18, 2015
I am really now, not a big fan of baremetal foil, and it has its uses, like with trucks and cars, but I am findingthat the fine surface scratching seen here on the left inner wing is just too distracting .
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June 18, 2015
Sure you can see the camera in it, but the scratching on the top of the wing spoils the overall effect I was hoping to achieve. But what I see here is an 'Orange peel' effect from the sprayed on adhesive. 🙁
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June 18, 2015
Beautiful plumage gvnr' and on some areas there is a marked difference in the metal "Colour" but all is from the same sheet. !!!! :-/
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June 18, 2015
On small bits. like here or the fenders and headlight surrounds on cars its perfect, but !!
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June 18, 2015
On some angles, its just fine, but to someone who is willing to find fault, there will be heaps to choose from.
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June 18, 2015
Any bare alloy was painted with Testors "Buffng Metalizer" and it comes up well.
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June 18, 2015
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June 18, 2015
Again with the scratches. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
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June 18, 2015
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June 18, 2015
As I said before, each pannel should be treated as such
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June 18, 2015
On this angle, I will bring your attention to the "Texture" here, and it is clear that the adhesive on the back will make the foil finish look like it was painted, after all, the adhesive was sprayed on the foil first. :-/
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June 18, 2015
I have spoiled a perfectly good model here, as the 'orange peel' effect is so pronounced here, especially on the upper section of the tailpiece.,🙁 and to make any attempt to remove the foil would be a mamoth effort.
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June 23, 2015
that is the last of the foil, so now the rest of the build
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June 23, 2015
All the curved surfaces were a challenge but worth it.
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No surface detali suffered.
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A collection of Allied and Axis fighters of WW2 in 1/32 scale, All Tamiya.
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September 20, 2015

Comments

1 17 June 2015, 12:22

Bart Goesaert
somebody has a lot of time on his hands, but the builds are all high level...

17 June 2015, 12:26

Kerry COX
Look who's talk'n mate LOL. 🙂 And being the retired gent that I am, I do have extra bits to get my teeth into, and I have always had a couple "On the go" to keep my thinking fresh.

17 June 2015, 12:32

Holger Kranich
Hey "Kezza" 🙂 are you building this one? Oh this delicate Packard-Merlin!

scalemates.com/kits/..erican-p-51d-mustang

17 June 2015, 12:58

Camilla Øksenholt
Looks superb as always Kerry! 😄

17 June 2015, 13:42

Kerry COX
Holger, I am currently building the P-51, but I bought two of them over two years ago and been building one now for the last two months.
It may sound strange, but I have always had two or three model "On the go" and it keeps my thinking fresh, as I don't get tied down with just one build, as that to me becomes tedious, just one build, so I vary it a bit and I have a long work bench and I play 'musical chairs', jumping from one to the other. ;-/ 👍
Camilla, flattery will get you everywhere !! He He He. . Thanks for that mate. 🙂 👍.

17 June 2015, 15:11

Ben STONE
Love the foil. Looks fantastic

17 June 2015, 22:53

Choppa Nutta
Dare I say it ?
It looks too clean !! 🙂
Still looks cool though and yeah the foil looks great 😄

17 June 2015, 23:22

Ben STONE
Foiled again!
"He would've got away with it if it wasn't for those pesky kids!"
🙂

18 June 2015, 00:39

Choppa Nutta

"dag nab it"

18 June 2015, 01:04

Kerry COX
thanks guys.🙂 The next one is with Alclad. 🙂

18 June 2015, 01:07

Ben STONE
You might find this useful Kerry. Astounding workmanship. Check out the Spitfire also.
spitfireinmyworkshop.net/spitfire.php

18 June 2015, 01:38

Kerry COX
Fantastic images hey. !! ?? Thanks for that Ben. I am now getting an other bug in my duds, I need to scratch and a Spittie' just might do it LOL 🙂

18 June 2015, 02:14

Ben STONE
Yeh, it's just mind boggling the craftsmanship this guy has got. The story behind it was really good also. I gather you had a good look at the P-51 also.

18 June 2015, 03:00

Kerry COX
NO, I missed something there for sure, so I will have an other look mate. :-/
I didn't see the search bar at the top Ben, but now I have, I am convinced they are both 1/1 and not 1/5 scale. Just stunning. :-O

18 June 2015, 03:04

Ben STONE
Yeh, I meant to link to the P51 but it didn't turn out that way. Have a read of his background, click "About me", and where he got some of his skills from and "George" that inspired him.

18 June 2015, 03:12

Kerry COX
What a story teller that man is, and I found the whole story quite uplifting, even with all it's sadness, a beautiful story, no less.
We don't get much of a chance to see a real master at work in the neighbourhood any more, and sadly, down here, none exist.
Ben, I am most grateful for your encouraging me to keep going back and look at the story you posted, as it sure makes me feel better about things that I do have, as there are many more who don't.
Cheers my friend.
Kerry. 🙂

18 June 2015, 04:26

Ben STONE
Not a problem Kerry. Glad you enjoyed it.

18 June 2015, 04:31

Kerry COX
THOROUGHLY, INDEED!. 🙂

18 June 2015, 04:39

Soeren R.
Really nice one so far Kerry 🙂

18 June 2015, 11:11

Kerry COX
Hi Soeren, Have you read my text on each image near the end, ? as I am not happy with it.🙁

18 June 2015, 11:19

Soeren R.
I did but there comes always a time were you arent that happy with one kit. Even I've learned that after only 3 kits 😛
But the cockpit for example looks awesome in my opinion

18 June 2015, 11:36

Kerry COX
Soeren, You always have a positive outlook. !! 🙂 And I do appreciate your confidence mate, but I was mostly getting the point over that Bare metal ain't all that it's cracked up to be, and now that alclad is gaining more acceptance, I should have waited. 🙁 But never mind, as I am still enjoying the build and the cockpit did go together well I might add., So I am not that far off finishing and that should be in a couple of days.

18 June 2015, 11:51

Choppa Nutta
engine parts look good too, really nice kit, shame you've ballsed it up😉
Just kidding, you know that I know that you know I am kidding, very tidy build, as always 🙂

18 June 2015, 13:11

Holger Kranich
Moin Kerry,

Interesting hints for me, when it comes to BMF! My next project should be the same kit but i´ll go with alclad. I have some foil home but never tryed it out. Looks as it works better on smaller areas...

18 June 2015, 13:12

Kerry COX
Holger, I am glad you read my "review" of the kit as I was going along with the processes I had to take, and like I said and you did too, it is really only meant for small areas, like autos and the such. ! 🙁.. And Choppa, I did balls it up , but as I had come so far, it really was pointless in pulling the plug on it, so I persevered, and overall, I am really happy with the build and the detail, and the PE is really good too. And, as always, your comments are really helpful and encouraging, and thanks again, 🙂 👍.

18 June 2015, 13:43

Hanno Kleinecke
Gee, that looks pretty !!!!! 😮 Must have been quite a piece of work, especially on the multispheric areas round the wing roots ?
Did you make a template for each panel as you went through ? Applying this stuff without krinkles is al ot more challenging than Uschi's
wood decals for sure !

18 June 2015, 14:08

Choppa Nutta
Your worst critic should always be yourself !😉

18 June 2015, 14:10

Hanno Kleinecke
Oops , should have read the captions first....... 😳
I don't think you should loose any sleep about it, have the originals
been free of scratches and uneven baremetal surfaces after some amount of use ?

18 June 2015, 14:31

Kerry COX
The hardest thing I found was getting the foil to "Stretch" and it don't. Templates would be ideal if you could get the foil not to tare when you lift it off the backing sheet. It has no strength, so you have to take the part you want to cover and place it over the foil and using a scalpel blade to make sure you don't "Bunch" the foil when you cut out your needs and there is a lot of unavoidable waste, unfortunately, but that is BMF.
As for covering the curves on the fuselage, go a little bigger than the part you want to cover, as that will 'allow' some degree of slack that can be gently persuaded to go around corners so to speak.

I did a lot of practice with some ordinary kitchen foil that I sprayed the back of with some adhesive, the type of spray that is used to glue photos to backing boards.
After the adhesive has dried, I placed a sheet of the carrier paper the original BMF came on that I had all used up and placed the foil I had prepared on it, and it was a cheap version of BMF, but good enough to 'practice' on older unwanted kits.
In fact, I did take some shots of the attempted 'stretch' of the foil that I will find and post.

18 June 2015, 14:31

Choppa Nutta
I've been experimenting with the foil you get with Green and Blacks Chocolate, quite thin but no too easy to tear.

One thought occurs though with the stuff you're using is to leave the backing film on, cut the shape you need but oversized a bit, apply to the model, rub onto the chosen area and then remove the backing film.
Afterwards run a sharp scalpel around the panel lines and remove excess, rub whats left for a thorough sealing then repeat.

Compound curve areas I would start with the "long" side and work my way round allowing the foil to fold in in on itself and rub till smooth, this works with gold leaf very well as the metal compresses and can form a seamless join and if you do get some creases showing, and they should be very fine, like hair line fractures, they can be easily filled with a tube of aluminum oil paint (AK Interactive ?) feathered in to form a seamless fine filler 🙂

Or you could just use paint for the compound curves and any difference in shading will add to the effect as all the panels will generally be a subtly different shade & gloss level etc.

Anyhow, that will be two pence please !!
Payment due within 5 working days😉

18 June 2015, 14:50

Kerry COX
Bite me. !!! :-O LOL 👍.

18 June 2015, 15:49

Kerry COX
Choppa. That is really interesting, but have you seen the thickness of the paper the BMF comes on mate. ? and BMF you have to peel from the paper first after you have cut the desired amount for the part you want to cover, then apply it to the model.
But the only drawback it has is that it leaves you with finger marks and any dust that is in the air, on the foil, and then it has to be applied to model.
So, what I do first is "Tac paper" the model to remove any dust and I use very fine tweezers to lift the foil from the paper.
And knowing where the excess side will be, that is where I use my finger tips to lift the foil completely away from the carrier paper, and that excess part that has finger mark will be the part to be discarded.

THAT will be four pence please. !
Payable before or after you read what I have just written. 🙂 👍. ;-O

18 June 2015, 16:05

Choppa Nutta
you forgot to deduct my five pence reading expenses so that'll be one pence please 🙂

Yeah had not considered the backing paper might be unmanageable.
Perhaps one might transfer the foil from the thick sheet to a finer backing paper and apply that way ?

Mind you, if you have got it working well no point in trying to fix it now, but that last thought will cost you another penny, so your total is now running at........
.
Two pence!
payable on demand !! (no later than yesterday is good for me) 😄

18 June 2015, 19:09

Ben STONE
Just wondering Kerry if you have to seal the foil once it's on and if not will it dull over time? Can you apply decals straight over the top, and are you limited with the paints you can use over it?
Personally I think it looks great and even if there's certain aspects of it you're not content with it looks like a great process and something to look back on in future and enjoy.

18 June 2015, 19:33

Kerry COX
Ben, Oxidation is the enemy yes, as ALL metals are subject to it except gold, you are quite right, and I plan to give the whole model a coat of clear gloss, acrylic of course, and then the decals on top of that. This method I believe will be the best way to overcome the unknown of decals straight to foil. :-/
I may have sounded a grumpy old fart, going on about how bad everything is with it, but in all truth, the experience of getting the stuff to go on and stay there was fantastic, as I have never seen such detail revealed as BMF does with it.
I would do it all again, but with a different technique used when burnishing the foil into the curves and uneven surfaces.
I have achieved yet an other skill in life mate, and more to come too I guess.
Cheers. 🙂 👍.

18 June 2015, 20:28

Choppa Nutta
with the decalling at least silvering won't be an issue😉

18 June 2015, 20:30

Kerry COX
You hit the nail right on the head Choppa, NO silvering is expected at all. 🙂 👍

18 June 2015, 20:40

Ben STONE
You must have the patience of an angel Kerry. I think I would've been dropping f-bombs and everything else that would come to mind.

18 June 2015, 23:29

Kerry COX
Ben, Thanks for that loverly compliment, but you are far away enough to NOT hear all my F bombs going off, as I have plenty of them mate LOL. 🙂

I am an aged pensioner mate, and I have limited funds really, so I can't afford to be stuffing things up as I used to, and the money I have spent on this hobby is embarrassing really. :-/ so I value every thing I gather around me and only 'bomb' the place when no one can hear, if you know what I mean. 🙂
And just now, my 'chain hoist's' have arrived from the US and I am posting images of them on the B-17 build, Yippee !!!.
Cheers. 🙂 👍.

19 June 2015, 00:34

Holger Kranich
Kezza, congrats! But we demand more pix of her!
I wonder that even the superb rivets are visible under the metal foil!

23 June 2015, 08:55

Marko Paakkanen
Huh huh! what details... Amazing work!

23 June 2015, 09:09

Hanno Kleinecke
This "Kite" looks brilliant all covered in foil ! Holger's right - more pictures please ? !

23 June 2015, 09:14

Ben STONE
I'm guessing you're entering it in a model show? If so best of luck Kerry

23 June 2015, 09:16

Kerry COX
I'll show you what I store them in mate, along with the other prisoners. LOL 😛

23 June 2015, 20:44

Clifford Keesler
DROOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

23 June 2015, 22:30

Ben STONE
Nice work Kerry. The P-51 looks great

27 June 2015, 00:30

Kerry COX
Thanks Ben, and I have just a couple more to post.
Cheers 🙂

27 June 2015, 00:45

Ben STONE
How did they go at the show? Awards?

27 June 2015, 03:11

Kerry COX
I missed because there was a bi-plane with a lot of scratch built in it and biased judges, but I was happy to have had something on the table. The categories were all mixed in together, a total balls up in scrutineering.
The only problem with the judges, they are all members of the clubs competing and they know which members models are on the table.
But last year, I raised a point of order at the judge selection and there were a lot of independent judges sought, obtained and a totally different outcome was had by all. Independence is vital in judging scale modelling.

27 June 2015, 04:07

Bart Goesaert
it's the same story everywhere. Here we have a very talented club, and some members place the club-logo on their models. In my opinion, these should be banned because they are influencing the judges... willing or not...and yeah, sometimes not the best model wins... a friend of mine took part in a modelcontest with the masters an didn't get a medal in his category... so ok nothing happened, next competition, the same club gives him a special award and comes by to ask him wether he wants to compete with his model on their show... some duhhh-moment...

29 June 2015, 09:48

Kerry COX
For years, it was the same guys winning with crap and the effect was that the comp table thinned out to just two or three clubs.
Now there is change and a different selection system, the numbers have improved.

29 June 2015, 09:56

Tim Heimer
I love your work on these mate! Just need a few more pilots to finish it up.

18 March 2017, 14:12

Kerry COX
Timothy, Thanks for your looking in on "Blondie" mate. 🙂
I have got these in my display case with the pilot and his parachute hanging off his arse and he really looks a treat. 👍.
These were my first and only effort with the bare metal foil, as it drove me nutts with all the curves I had to work out without taring great holes in the work. 🙁
The judging when I placed these was all club based and outsiders didn't get a look in, but that's all finished now with the new and fairer selection of judges. 🙂
Cheers Timothy and thanks again. 🙂

18 March 2017, 14:34

Tim Heimer
Funny I was thinking ..what a pain it had to be foiling that! But it looks good!! As well as the other birds. Keep up the good work mate, Cheers from up north! LOL

19 March 2017, 01:50

Kerry COX
Timothy. 🙂
"Up north" eh.? lol
I attempted a 1/32 Hasegawa 'Starfighter' F-104 with the foil, but even though it had cleaner lines, it was more difficult as there were so few single panels to deal with. So it's now keeping the silverfish company in my stash recess. :-/
Right now I am in the processes of screwing up a Dragon Sd.Kfz.251 C, turning it into an "A" but I should have looked before I leaped into all the dramas. 🙁
But I do persist. 🙂

19 March 2017, 03:35

Katya Hodgson
That's just stunning... I could never manage anything like this...

15 February 2019, 21:13

Kerry COX
Katya. It is not as hard as it looks. It's just patience and keeping it all dust free and clean.

15 February 2019, 23:04

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This model I covered with bare metal foil.

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