Hi all.
I've recently made a start on my Tamiya mustang which I picked up at SMW 2011. It's been,and continues to be, a very busy time for me but I'm making a determined effort to take a little "me time" and actually get some modelling done.
While I have a couple of other builds at various stages I thought I'd start a build blog for the Mustang for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, there seems to be a distinct lack of build blogs for this amazing kit on Aeroscale, expecially after the huge amount of enthusiasm which greeted its release, and secondly, if I start a blog I might get that extra bit of encouragement to actually crack on and get it done.

I'm going OOB, with only a set of seatbelts and some Grey Matter wheels to replace the kits rubber ones. I picked up a set of Roy Sutherlands cockpit decals at the same time as I bought the kit so I'll be using them as well.

What scheme I'm going for is undecided as yet, but I'd like to do something a bit different so we'll see what I can come up with.

The first few stages of the encyclopedic instruction manual cover the assembly of the Packard Merlin. Tempted as I was to add pipework etc I'm just going to build it as it comes. (I have a 1:18th Merlin to build which will get all the trimmings anyway).

Here's the engine. A base coat of my scale black (50/50 flat black and red brown mix), and some very thin filters of Tamiya smoke, Flat Orange, and various greys were finished off with a dry brushing of a few different greys and then a filter of Tamiya buff to draw it all together.









I'm very pleased with how it came out, and I've moved onto the oil reservoir/ firewall section now.

Nige

Oil tank/ firewall attached.





Onto the cockpit area next.
Going to have to narrow down my ideas for the paint scheme soon as the kit includes different instrument panels and seats for different batches.

Nige

I am definitely following this blog Nigel! I have been hinting to my minister of finance (read: wife) about this kit since it came out, but have never seen a complete build-up. So far, the engine and firewall look great.
Question; what brand of paint are you using?
Looking forward to the next installment.
Later

Great to see you getting some bench time fella, super work on the power plant so far as well. This is going to be a great thread to follow, so carry on sir !

Great so far Nigel!!!

John

Nice start NIge, I'm looking forward to seeing the progress on this

Will be watching. This is one of those kits I want to buy but can't justify the price. Looking forward to seeing more.

Im also very interested in seeing this kit being built. One day I will have this kit...oh yes...It will be mine (evil laugh)

Sorry guys, no update as I haven't had chance for any benchtime at all, and it'll probably be a couple of weeks yet before I get to sit down and progress any further.

Bruce, I'm using Tamiya Acrylics for the most part with details painted in Humbrol enamels.Depending if I go for a NMF then Alclad will make an appearance at some point too.

I'm aiming for an "unusual" scheme, ie one thats rarely seen, so it definately won't be a 352nd Blue Nose or anything along those lines.
Maybe a Scouting Force with a combination of markings,,I dunno, we'll see.

Mal, I'll definately be giving you a call when the time comes. I also need to order masks for 3 projects from you, all of which are at the painting stage but I just havent had any free time whatsoever since we spoke. I was hoping to drop you an email yesterday but it never happened

To those who are trying to justify the cost of this kit, all I can say is you get what you pay for, and it really is absolutely stunning. It's going to take me a long time to build it, and the price of the kit compared to the amount of hours I'll be spending on it more than justifies the expense,, but hey,, I can make a 1:48th Tamiya P-47 last a whole year

Heres an easy way to be able to afford the Tamiya Mustang. For every week it takes me to build this kit, put £1, or $1 in a jar. By the time I've finished it you'll be able to afford at least one example, and it'll be from the loose change you've collected

Back to the grindstone, and I'll try and get something to report on soon.

Nige

Or possibly a new house !

Your probably right Reg

Gearing up for having a few hours at the bench after the madness of December. Hopefully I'll be able to get a bit of bench time in over the next few weeks, but not too much as it means theres no work .
I've been through lots of potential paint schemes for the build but keep coming back to this one so I think it's going to be...........



"Masters Mistress" of the 3rd Scouting Force.

Planning on making a start on the cockpit tomorrow

Nige

Very nice scheme Nige, plenty of scope for another Alclad adventure. Got me thinking though, are you the Master, or the Mistress ?

Looking forward to watching the office come together.

Cheers, D

Probably the biyatch

I've managed to make a bit of progress on this over the last few days.
The main components of the cockpit area are together( dry fitted) and I've made a start blocking out areas of colour ready for detail painting and weathering.











It really is a fabulous kit!

Nige

I hope to start mine soon, the man cave is coming on Every time I see one of theses I want to start mine. It isn't difficult to make it look good but you have one of the best renditions of the warn painted look on the plywood floor, how did you achieve it Nige?

Looking great fella, I gotta get me one of these someday. Hmmmmm . . . . . . Birthday in March, subtle suggestive notes to wife and kids, and so it begins!

Cheers, D

Cheers Mal.
I thought about how to go about this for a while and it turned out to be really easy to get the desired effect.
First I sprayed the whole area in the green interior colour. This save messing about trying to mask off the floor to paint the lower area around where the control stick goes. Once this was dry I filled this area with Humbrol liquid mask and let it set.
The floor of the cockpit was then sprayed in IJN deck brown with a patchy overspray of Dark Earth and another one of Buff with a drop of Dark Earth added. I then let this dry for a couple of days so it was properly cured.
I sprayed the cockpit floor with my usual "scale black", ( a 50/50 mix of flat black/red brown) and while the paint was still wet I used a stiff brush pulled from front to back to scrape away some of the black paint. This dried very quickly so rather than respray the black and do it again I slightly dampened the brush with Tamiya Thinners and carefully removed a bit more of the black in the areas which would get the most wear.
Takes longer to describe than it did to do.



Its worth pleading D,
My kit was a joint birthday/Xmas pressie from my son, the other half and me to myself in 2011.

Might even get a bit more done this weekend

Nige

Nice work so far Nige!

This kit is on my "one day" list too! It was way out of reach price-wise for me when it came out, but now I'm working for Oxfam... well - one day!

It's amazing that Tamiya's Mustang has had so little coverage on Aeroscale - I may be wrong, but I don't think it's ever made the Frontpage as a Feature, which seems extraordinary for a kit of this quality...

All the best

Rowan

Hi Rowan.
Yes, you'd think there would have been a load of these built on Aeroscale but I've only seen a couple.

I'll keep plodding on with this one and do some photos for a feature when it eventually gets finished.

Nige

Hi Nigel, Just wanted to say great choice on the color scheme. Vincent would like to see that when your finished. And yes he is still alive and well. Have you had a chance to read up abit on him? he earned 2 d.f.c. while flying b-17s with the 385th gp. Real nice guy he is now retired( I think) hes a g.b.y.o.n. (vagina doc) hes married to a lady about 35yrs younger than him, shes hot to. So yeah hes still got it.

Hi Warren.

Many thanks for your reply.
It's good to hear that Mr Masters is doing well and that theres now "no pressure" for me on the build
I was aware of his "career change".

I work very closely with Peter Randall from Little Friends who also hosts the Scouting Force website. Perhaps you could pass on a couple of questions to Mr Masters that he has about the 3SF.

"All 3SF a/c had one of the 3 codes of the 55th FG as did the other two SF units share their "Host" unit codes. 1 & 2 SF differentiated with bar either over or under the squadron code letters.
Did 3SF also use a bar to differentiate their aircraft from the host groups, apart from the obvious rudder decoration?"

Peter has a copy of Jack Hitts mission list complete with mission abort codes and authentification codes and wonders if Vincent would like a copy of this.

Also if at all possible, could you supply Peter with Vincents service number and hometown for the records?

Please reply via a PM.

Best regards and I'll get some progress done on "Masters Mistress" soon

Nige

Hi Nigel, just wondering if you had gotten anymore work done on "Masters Mistress"?
Later

Hi Bruce,
I've managed to find time to do a bit of work on the cockpit and I bagged myself a nice set of fabric seatbelts for it the other week but no progress worthy of a photo yet I'm afraid.

I've resolved to try and get the 3 W.I.P kits I had finished,( or at least 2 of them) before getting stuck into this beauty properly. So far, I've managed to get one finished, which is the first one I've finished since last August!
Working for myself means time at the bench is few and far between but fear not, the build hasn't stalled, I just havent had any time available.
As soon as theres any progress I'll continue posting

Thanks for asking though

Nige

Nigel, Been following your build with great interest. Your engine looks just like cast aluminum.

I've yet to take the plunge into any 1/32 scale kits, sticking with 1/48 scale, which has always my comfort zone other then 1/35 scale for my time in Armor. With each new Tamiya release, it gets harder and harder not to bite the bullet. With their soon to be released Corsair, I just don't know how I can resist it any longer.
Joel

Nige
New to the forum and just catching up on your build. Some very nice progress on the Big Mustang. A few months back I completed the Tamiya Mustang in the markings for Big Beautiful Doll. One gorgeous kit and you're going to have a ball building her.
Peter