P-51C Mustang Firewall and Oil Tank - Construction Part 1

Well its been a busy week so I haven't had much time to work on my model, but I did manage to get some things done and had a few headaches along the way. On top of that, I was bidding on my next few projects on eBay, two 30 year old kits: Star Wars X-wing and Shuttle Tydirium. The X-wing I built when I was a kid, but now I need to do it justice and the Shuttle Tydirium my dad built and it sat in the garage taunting me my entire life. Time to get my hands on one!! Should be some fun projects.

Anyway, on to the Mustang...

Before I could add any of my scratch built details, I had to remove the kits molded details, if they can even be called that. I clipped them off with wire cutters, filed them flat, and then used fine sandpaper to smooth the surfaces.

Do the same for the oil tank, but leave the molded-on straps. Digging out the strap clamps was fun. I used an X-Acto and sharp tipped file to get it all out. Everything else was fairly straightforward.

With the oil tank cleaned up, it was airbrushed with Model Master Acryl Yellow Chromate. This was my first time airbrushing with this type of paint. When I painted the oil tank, I didn't use any thinner since I had read online that this paint can be airbrushed without it. The tank came out ok, but not as good as I would have hoped. I thinned the paint when I painted the firewall and it came out much better.

To attach the metal straps, I scratched the paint off the molded straps and drilled a little divot, because I left a little bit of an extension in the simulated bolt that holds the strap together.

The straps were bent to shape as close as possible before gluing. This made life a little easier. They were glued down with super glue.

I did the same for the firewall details. Standard old super glue is the best thing I found to attack aluminum to plastic. Scuff the mating surfaces first and clear away any paint and it should hold fine. I wouldn't use it for any load bearing joint, but these are just light details.

Already things are looking much better than the molded details. Everything else was just glued in place. I took two videos to show the pieces. Please excuse the occasional blurriness. They were taken in a hurry with my phone.

Hopefully with a Christmas break from school I'll be able to get more done...