P-51C Mustang Engine Details - Continued

There were a few more details to scratchbuild before painting could begin. I used the same methods mentioned in the last blog to assemble the oil filter and the duel drive. It's odd that a kit as detailed as this would leave off the duel drive that is mounted to the front of every Merlin directly below the propellor shaft. Even the Trumpeter kit has this detail, it looks like crap, but at least it has it.

The oil filter was fairly simple. The worst parts were trying to figure out how to simulate the bolts. I eventually used very thin wire cut to length. I cut slots in the flange with a thin razor saw and epoxied the wire in place.

 

 

The duel drive presented a fun challenge since it has to fit inside the engine mount framing and that hasn't been built yet. I guess that will make it a challenge later in the project. Using several images, I broke the component down into basic shapes using a .080" rod as a base to hold everything together.

 



I slid all the pieces together on the rod like a shish-ka-bob and added the details.


There were a few hose connections made from .030" rod and cut them down after the glue dried.


Here you can see the size of all the details. Next up...painting