This is one of my first forays into the wingy things building area, so be gentle!

This is the very nice box art:


Got all my parts laid out as I was perusing the instructions and making my little notes here and there:


Deciding that I would take my sweet time on this kit, here is my two day progress on the instrument panel:


After looking through some reference pictures, I noticed that a lot of the cockpit floors were actually wooden, then the ground crews would paint them black. I decide to incorporate this into my build, but I wanted an aircraft that had been flown for a while, and seen some use. This is part of the result:

I normally use an airbrush when building my kits, but due to mine being somewhere in the US Postal System at the moment, this build will be done using brushes and rattle cans (much to my dismay mind you). The paints I am using are Tamiya Acrylics, Mr Hobby Aqueous Color (Sanyo Gunze Acrylics), and some Vallejo colors as well.

So far I am having a great time with this build, as per the usual Tamiya kits are of very good quality, and this one is no exception. I have only had to sand down a few very miniscule seams, and so far only one ejection pin mark has had to be filled and sanded. So far so good!

Here is the painted and assembled cockpit tub. For the interior color, I used Tamiya XF-3 and XF-5 mixed 1:1. I think it is a bit on the yellow side at the moment, but after I weather it, it will tone down just enough to give it a nice overall tone and feel.


Here is another view of the tub assembled, where I decided to flesh out a few more details on the instrument panel:

When I built this kit it fell together so well that I was certain something terrible was going wrong since I had never experienced a kit which builds so effortlessly. I was sure that I was doing something wrong. You've picked an excellent kit for your foray into wingy things

I have noticed that everything is coming together quite nicely so far. I was worried at first, thinking to myself "Nothing fits just right on the first try..."

Angry nice work my friend, I have one of Tamiyas P-51s myself, so now I look forward to getting started with it.

Pete

Nice start to a great kit. Your cockpit is looking real good.
For the Interior Green color, I also use the suggested Tamiya mix, but I add a few drops of flat black just to darken it up a bit, as it just too bright. Some of that brightness is due do to the camera flash. Also dry brushing with a neutral gray will give it that used but not abused look, and tone it down quite a lot.

Joel

If I remember correctly, I got the mix from one of your builds, a 1/32 P-51 if I recall correctly. I'll have to remember to add some flat black to the mix before I do the sides of the fuselage. Dry brushing was my next step, just not sure of the color. Thanks for the advice!

[/quote] If I remember correctly, I got the mix from one of your builds, a 1/32 P-51 if I recall correctly. I'll have to remember to add some flat black to the mix before I do the sides of the fuselage. Dry brushing was my next step, just not sure of the color. Thanks for the advice![/quote]

The build you're referring to is my brother Peter's 1/32 scale Tamiya P-51D Big Beautiful Doll. The colors that he used came from discussions on the LSP site.

Joel

If I remember correctly, I got the mix from one of your builds, a 1/32 P-51 if I recall correctly. I'll have to remember to add some flat black to the mix before I do the sides of the fuselage. Dry brushing was my next step, just not sure of the color. Thanks for the advice![/quote]

The build you're referring to is my brother Peter's 1/32 scale Tamiya P-51D Big Beautiful Doll. The colors that he used came from discussions on the LSP site.

Joel[/quote]

That's the one! I was on my phone at the time, and just noticed the avatar that you had, and recognized it.

You seem to be doing just fine without that airbrush. That weathered cockpit floor is great. Nice job. Have you decided on a paint scheme yet?

I've got this kit but have only built the staff car. Built it up as a black/silver civilian car. I can find a picture if you're interested.

Keep up the good work.