P-51C Mustang - Converting D to C Part 2

Well finding time to work on my model continues to be difficult. Now that I have my A&P license I have been spending a lot of time trying to find my first aviation job and pack for a potential move. So if you, or if you know anyone, are looking for an entry-level A&P mechanic, write me a line. It would be appreciated.

On to the model.

After making the commitment cut, I moved to the cockpit. The fun of converting a D-model to a C-model is trying to figure out how much of the D model kit can actually be used. Here's a hint: not much. The Mustang C cockpit structure was a little different than the D, which means the kit pieces that contain the structure are going to be scrapped and scavenged for the few components that can be used. Using several photographs, books, station diagrams, and the existing kit parts for reference, I marked what structure will be needed in the C model. I marked the lines extra long at the bottom because in the step my lines will be gone.

The cockpit structure needs to be completely replaced for two reasons. 1: It has to represent a C model and 2: I'm going to make the formers and bulkheads look more realistic than just the rectangular shape slabs stuck to the walls. So I pulled out the handy Dremel with a sanding drum and away it went. Now I wasn't only trying to remove the kit structure references, I was also trying to thin the cockpit wall itself to about half its original thickness. This way when I add the new structure it will look more like the actual aircraft.

Note why the long lines came in handy. I gradually used finer sandpapers to smooth out the side wall and redrew the lines.

Here's the part where I wish I had some magically easy way to explain to people who may not have access to the tools I do, but I don't. Luckily several years ago, I drew accurate fuselage formers for both the Mustang D and C in AutoCAD and had them ready to go after a little scaling. If you don't have this sort of tool, you may just have to take some measurements off the model and grab a couple of books and through some trial and error you can come up with the right shapes for the C-model turtledeck. But even I first printed them out, cut them out, and test fit them in place just in case I needed to tweak them.

After the necessary tweaks, I drafted out the actually parts and printed them out on contact paper. This way I could cut out the parts and stick them to .030" plastic sheet in order to cut them out of plastic. I designed the parts with 3 notches so I could add a few stringers to give a little more support for the skin when its added later.

Cutting these parts can be a major pain on the fingers but its part of the gig. The numbers marked on them are the actual station numbers from the real Mustang.

And now for a test fit of all the parts.

So far so good.

 You can tell in this picture the difference between the D and C structure thanks to the kit part next to the handmade Station 200. At this point, I'm not going to glue anything together, even though I probably could. There is a little more sanding and tweaking needed before I do that.

I'm not going to do anything else with these parts for the time being. Next up I'm going to concentrate on making the new cockpit formers with what will hopefully by the next trick in my box....the world's smallest vacuform machine. Making that will be an article unto itself.

P-51C Mustang: Converting D to C

At long last, work on the Mustang is finally back on. For the past few months I have been finishing up school and studying long hours to get my Airframe and Power Plant license which I am proud to say I have achieved. Now the job search begins so I can get out of my tiny apartment and the job that has a tiny paycheck so I can have more space to build models and enough money to buy all the kits on my wish list lol. Isn't that the purpose of having a house and money: more room for bigger models :)

I have reached the point in my project where I have to make some big decisions. The biggest feature of this project was the converting of the D-model kit into the C-model Mustang. There are several major structural differences between these two aircraft which will require major modification of the fuselage and the wing as well as many subtle differences in the cockpit, landing gear, and gun arrangement. The only way to accomplish this modification is the start with a ton of research. Sometimes I think I spend more money on books about the aircraft than on the model itself. But if detail and accuracy is the goal then you have to be willing to pay the price of spending hours poring over black and white photographs, technical drawings, and google scouring for pictures of aircraft under restoration hoping to find the one view that tells you the key piece of information that allows you to take the next step. Anyone who has built a detailed model will tell you this is how it is. So if you're not willing to put in the time with research, then just follow the paint guide in the instructions and build it straight out of the box. Thankfully I have acquired several books and drawings on C and D model Mustangs over the years and I have the former shapes already drawn in AutoCAD from an earlier project. After gathering my sources I was ready to take the next step. 

When making a major modification such as this it's always best to figure out exactly how you're going to do it before doing anything. I wrote out my procedure and worked it all out in my head before I made any cuts to the model. I also needed to work out how the new structure would be built, what it would look like and how the details would be added. Basically the top of the D fuselage would be cut off along the top longeron panel line. The inside of the model would be smoothed of any reference to D structure in the cockpit since there are several differences. New formers will be made of plastic to create the C-model turtle deck. Plastic strips will be laid over the formers to form the support skin to give the fuselage it's shape. And then, in order to prevent having to cut in panel lines, on top of the plastic skin I will glue soda can aluminum in pieces to create accurate skin panels giving me instant panel lines. Plus this will give me scale skin thickness around the canopy. All of this will make sense in the upcoming blogs. 

Once I had all this figured out, I had to decide if I was going to actually do it, which was actually pretty hard. I could have left it as a D-model and used  the kit pieces. Converting to a C-model is gonna require several scratchbuilt components which will involve several headaches. But of course, there is no backing down from a goal. So here it goes. 

I started by trying a jeweler's saw to cut the top off the fuselage, but found it rather difficult to keep the cut straight. Instead I ran my X-Acto knife slowly down the existing panel line several times until I worked my way through the plastic. This resulted in a much nicer cut. 

Now there really is no turning back. The C-model is coming....

P-51C Mustang Firewall and Oil Tank Completed

There were only a few things remaining to finish the firewall. First up were the arms that supported the oil tank on the bottom. Initially this seemed like a fairly easy task since I had made something similar on the main gear. I was going to take a strip of .015" x .030" plastic strip and cut it to length between the two pins and then wrap another strip around the end to form a hole, like this....


...then I would wrap the other end of the strip around to form the second hole and then slide the pins in and boom, its done. Well, things didn't quite go that easily. Feeding a .015" brass pin through a .016" hole in a tiny aluminum bracket and a plastic arm proved to be quite the annoying challenge. Inspiration hit me in the shower that I didn't need to actually have a hole here. The underside of the hole would not be seen. So...I cut off that underside.

Now I could just sit the arm on top of the pin without having to fuss with feeding the pin through the hole. I tried it with this piece and it worked beautifully. Unfortunately this particular piece was way too thick. The support arm should be roughly square. I had to try a few more incarnations of this and ended up just using 2 pieces of .015" x .030" strip, one cut to fit the distance between the pins, the other to form the visible part of the arm. Sure I could have used .030" square stock, but I don't have any. Just gotta work with what I have. The picture below shows the progression of this process. The top arm is the one that was used. I filed a little divot so the pin would sit a little deeper in the arm.


After a little green zinc chromate, the arms popped right into place with a little super glue.


And personally, I think they look pretty good. The pins are .015" brass rod cut to length with a little dab of silver paint on the ends.



Last but not least was the return oil line on the top of the oil tank. I showed the construction of the new line in the last blog. It was painted zinc chromate with a little bit of bare metal revealed near the top as per the real Mustant. I created the rubber connection hose by masking off the area and applying 3 layers of flat black paint. Once the masking tape was removed, it left a nice thick layer that looked like a rubber hose. This picture shows the hose already installed.



Here are some comparison photos of the original kit pieces and my modifictions. Its obvious the difference a few months of work can do.







Here are some other pictures of the completed firewall.




And with the completed engine. Of course it will look much better when the engine mounts, cowl structure, and additional cooling hoses are in place.


Next up will be some heavy fuselage modifications to transform the D model into a C model. It might have to wait til after I get my A&P license as I will be in hardcore study mode for the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, I may do a straight out-of-the-box build of a Revell ProModeler 1/48 F-84 Thunderjet that I have sitting here and do a couple blog entries designed more for beginners or people just looking to improve their building technigues. I gotta get my model building fix somehow :)

P-51C Mustang Firewall Construction - Part 2

I've been distracted lately with another model, not one of mine, so I haven't had much time to work on the Mustang. My dad has a friend who gave him a lowrider model to finish, my dad passed it on to me. I don't built lowriders. I look at this thing and don't have a clue what I'm looking at and the kit is so primative and crude, its almost an insult to have it near my Mustang LOL. Anyway, soon it will be done and I can get back to better things.

So now for part 2 of the construction of the firewall. This part has a lot of little details and I really wish I had a better camera. So please excuse the blurriness of some of the photos.

I started with the two turnbuckles that secure the top and bottom tank straps together. I first painted the .015" brass rod silver and glued them in the holes drilled into the straps. The turnbuckles themselves were first made with the same .015" brass rod, but this proved to be much too large for scale. So I switched to some .007" wire pulled from an electrical wire and straightened. To create the nut, I wrapped the same wire around a straighten piece.

I pulled the ends of the wrapped rod tightly and cut along the length of the straight rod. This left a tiny little ring wrapped around the wire. With tweezers I worked the ring to the proper shape and tacked it in place with a smear of super glue. After cutting it to length to fit inside the pins in the straps, you get something really small, but really cool.

Here's the turnbuckle glued in place. This looks so much better than the kit parts, even though it's so small, its likely to be one of those overlooked details. But for those who see it, it will be mindblowing!


Before gluing the oil tank to the firewall, I had to fasten the strap mount brackets in place. I did this by eye, because the kit mounts were cut and filed off. Once I was satisfied with their position, I drilled a hole through the firewall for the "bolt" that will hold the mount. I slid a brass rod (painted silver) through the back of the firewall, protruding it on the front side enough to be a good scale bolt.


I scrapped away a little of the paint on the front of the firewall around the bolt so the glue surfaces would be more clean. I glued the mount in place with super glue.


The oil tank was glued on and two more brass rods were painted silver to create both the pins and the rods to finally mount the straps to the fire wall. It could some experimentation to get the length right, but once in place you see it all come together beautifully.


I had to add a few little details that were left off the kit oil tank, which can also be seen in the above photo. The dip stick tube and filler cap were made from plastic rod. The pull tab on the dipstick tube was made from soda can aluminum. Here is another picture of these details.


The hose running from the firewall to the top of the oil tank was included in the kit, but any one who has built a kit with round parts knows they are never actually round and there isn't much that can be done to fix them. So I made a new one from a paper clip. The clip had some corners which were easily filed down to make it more round.


I also had to cut off the hose from the filler port on the oil tank and hollowed it out so I can fit the new hose inside.


The hose was painted zinc chromate and is currently awaiting its attachment. That will be continued in part 3.

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...

P-51C Mustang Firewall - Oil Tank Mounts and Brackets

I could title this blog "More Fun with Soda Can Aluminum" but I'm getting the sense that this title would apply to many blogs in this project. I'm finding it to be a very good medium to work with and a good scale metal. Mathmatically speaking if the real Mustang used 1/16" inch aluminum then in 1/32 scale it would be .0019" thick. Soda can is .003" thick and well if you can see the .001" difference then I'll eat my next soda can. The aluminum is strong, yet you can cut it with a razor, X-Acto knife, scissors, and can scribe it easily as well. It can be smoothed and shaped with fine sandpaper and doesn't have much spring back when bent. Granted, if you bend it too many times it will snap. It can be drilled even with small drill bits without damaging the bits. And the best thing about it is it is free and plentiful, if you drink a lot of soda :)

So now let's get onto it. The Mustant oil tank is held on with two metal straps (see previous blog). These straps are secured to the firewall with a variety of mounts and brackets, which is what this blog will be about. I'll take it piece by piece.

 I'm not sure what this piece is for, but it sits by itself over the oil tank mounted to the firewall. It was a simple rounded triangular shape with a bent flange. Reference photos provided the shape and size.

The oil tank straps are fastened to the firewall with this bracket. It is made from a thin strip of aluminum. I cut one end into a point, drilled the hole in the middle with a .015" carbide bit, bend the shape, drilled the second hole, cut it to length, and then rounded down all the corners.


This bracket attaches the strap to the mount in the previous photo. This annoying little beauty was made from an aluminum strip cut as wide as the piece is long. Again reference photos were used to get this length. The piece of bend over the edge of a .040" plastic sheet and then cut and sanded to shape. The holes were drilled last so they would line up right.


This second annoying little booger is mounted low on the firewall. It actually holds two supports arms that are mounted to the bottom of the oil tank. It was made using a similar method as the bracket above, only this one had the added bonus of being angled. Hopefully it is visible in the photo, but the vertical flanges don't protrude straight out. They point towards the top of the firewall. It took a couple of tries to get the angle and shape right. Luckily the usability of soda can aluminum made this a little less of a headache.


This next part is the mount of the oil tank where the supported arms mentioned above will attach. Ironically this flat piece proved the most difficult simply because of the curved cut necessary. Its much to small to just take a pair of scissors and cut it out and you have to get it to match the curve of the bottom of the oil tank. To make this easier, I filed and sanded a piece of thin plastic to match the oil tank contour to act as a template. Then I laid it over my metal and scribed it with the sharp point of my dividers. With a nice groove carved into it, you can now cut it the rest of the way with an X-Acto knife and clean it up with fine sandpaper.


These are the finished mounts cut to shape with the holes drilled.

Here are all the detail pieces for the firewall laid out around a dime for size reference. All made from soda can aluminum. My only tools were simple hand tools and a little creativity.


Next up - a little destruction of the original kit pieces to make room for the new improved details and some painting. This is, hopefully, where I'll start to see all the hard work pay off.