Not so Accurate Miniatures RAF Mk1 pony

[Glorfindel]

Picked this kit up last summer to build during the winter and now that winter is here....

....I finally opened up the box to see what appears to be a very easy build. I'm looking at three tree's of sprue and a single sheet of instructions printed on both sides that have four horribly drawn illustrations and construction in paragraph form. I have the fuselage assembled and there are extra parts (clearly for a different version model) with no information to go along with them. So today I'm researching Accu Minny and I found out that they have gone out of business. Guess who's late to the party! ;D
Got this kit for $15.00, so I can't really complain.
Well it actually is an easy build with a lot of pre-painting done before assembly. I finished off the interior by preshading the walls and toothpicking the buttons on the side panel controls. The camera mount was neat as I put a drop of Future on the lens to help it pop and look like glass.


Finished off the wheel wells with a pastel wash after high lighting the tubing with a silver pen and colored pencils.

Had a bit of fit issues with the fuselage and couldn't figure out where and what was preventing the halves to clam shell nicely together. Hello Mr.Clamps and 5 minute epoxy!

After 5 minutes it was time for some seam work with Mr. Clamps and Mr. Epoxy's bench mate....Mr. Surfacer 1000....Thank you, thank you very much.


So last night I finished with getting the tail thingies on then called it a night.

I have some nasty looking seam things going on with both sides of the front leading edge of the wings at the wing root. The problem is more on the, dare I say cowling, then the wing. I just ordered up some Aves 2-part Epoxy Paste as some of the guys at SSM seem to love the stuff as a putty. I have to wait for that to come in before I start any more body work. Until then it's landing gear time.
Thanks for checking this out.

 

[Fruit]

Great progress on a very interesting aircraft! The office is progressing really nicely - all it needs is that sweet Mustang IP .

I must say, I was going to buy this at the LHS, but then I saw a 1/16 version and jumped on that...

 

[Myke]

Nice work. Sorting this out in quick time.

Fruit: you found a 1/16 mustang? That must be the size of your living room. haha

 

[Glorfindel]

So I ordered the Aves Epoxy Paste but of course I can't wait. I need to fix some ailments on the body that give me eye pain.


[size=10pt]KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHN!!!!![/size]







The seam joins are drying nicely but the pinholes will need another drop of Mr. 500.
But first off to Costco to get Buffalo wings, Scallops wrapped in bacon, Pigs in a Snuggy, beer, a case of Shasta and a ton of mozzarella cheese for a fifteen pound tray of baked ziti for the Super Bowl!

 

[Myke]

Man, you are getting that shopping done early. Good planning!
Bummer about those pin holes. I feel for you.

Good luck!

 

[ShutterAce]

Ummm... those holes are supposed to be there. ???

 

[Glorfindel]

Really? What purpose do they serve? I can easily clean them out so not all is lost.
And thanks for the input ShutterAce.

 

[Glorfindel]

Dang ShutterAce your right! I saved this pic for reference and I should have looked more closely.
My bad.

 

[the Baron]

Ummm... those holes are supposed to be there. ???

Really? What purpose do they serve? I can easily clean them out so not all is lost.
And thanks for the input ShutterAce.

I was thinking the same thing. At least, I was thinking the same thing about the holes in the after part of the fuselage. I don't know for sure about the P-51, but on other of its contemporaries, there was a hole aft, to allow ground crew to insert a bar and lift the tail for maintenance purposes, for example, when sighting guns, without having to load the aircraft into some kind of derrick rig to lift the tail. Some USN aircraft had similar holes for a lift bar; the Boeing F4B series comes to mind.

Regarding the hole forward, if it's supposed to be there, it could have been a vent hole of some kind. Here I really am in Speculationland, and I have to look at my photo resources, to see if the holes are there.

Don't know if that helps, or just muddies things for the time being.

 

[the Baron]

And I have to add, as one who took 13 months to complete a pair of 1/48 Mustangs, you're moving at a breathtaking pace

 

[Glorfindel]

Baron buddy there are only perhaps 20 pieces for the cockpit which I sat down and pre painted first along with the interior sidewalls. I think I spent all of two hours AB the green then moving on to pre shading with a Prismacolor marker. Tooth picked buttons and switches were virtually no time at all. Seven pieces make up the fuselage and wings. The seams along the belly and spine were negligible so all they needed were a light sanding and a touch of Surfacer to help make smooth. That was it. Plus being 48 scale it's all of 7.5" long without the prop and spinner.
Once I fix those joins at the fuselage (filled, sanded, re-scribed) I'm priming. But that most likely won't be until at least next Friday. OK, maybe a little Sunday morning. ;D

 

[the Baron]

Good point, I did get mine assembled relatively quickly. All told, I think it took about 12 hours. Most of those 13 months was sitting and thinking about masking and attaching the canopies. Isn't that always the way--when we stop and think about a built, we fall into that trap ;D

 

[Glorfindel]

OK, quick update. Got some bench time in Sunday morning, pre-Superbowl, and managed to prime this bird. I found out I had some seam issues which priming revealed and snapped to it and fixed it. A little Mr. 500 here....a bit there and all looks better after some more light sanding. Re-scribed a bit too which is not my strong point.
So this afternoon I accidentally bumped into her and her airbags went off. Funny how they take the form of masking? So that's the Staples bought white tac (they didn't have the blue stuff) and I masked off the cockpit, rear tire well, and wing wheel wells underneath. I also managed to break off the rod on the nose that the prop mounts onto inside the spinner. Looks like the prop will be of the fixed variety.

Also fixed some alignment issues with the front of the wings from earlier pics. And a big shout out to ShutterAce for pointing out those holes. I chucked a bit into my pin vise and re-drilled them out. Good as new.
Thank you kind Sir.


And finally my base coat.

That's it for now and thanks for looking.

 

[Chris S]

You've had a bit of a struggle with this one buddy ,but she came out good !! looking forward to the decs going on

BTW ,if you do decant anytime ,remember to let the paint breathe for a while before you use it ...otherwise you will end up with bubbles in yer finish

Chris.

 

[Glorfindel]

I hear what your saying Chris. I've watched three or four video's on YouTube about decanting and am still a little gun shy about it. That'll be another first I'm willing to learn about. All for this hobby.

 

[Moon Puppy]

The hole in the engine cowl is for oil sump drainage. The Baron is spot on about the aft holes. Not sure about the MkI but I don't think the holes are on both sides of the cowl.

Looking great!

 

[Myke]

Smooth coat on there! Tamiya rattle cans are pretty solid though!

 

[Glorfindel]

You've had a bit of a struggle with this one buddy ,but she came out good !! looking forward to the decs going on

BTW ,if you do decant anytime ,remember to let the paint breathe for a while before you use it ...otherwise you will end up with bubbles in yer finish

Chris.

Thanks Chris. There actually is a camo scheme on this Mustang so I need to mask off for that and AB on the next color. Then there is a lighter grey for the tummy of the plane and a yellow stripe on the leading edge of the wings. I'll be up to my earballs with paint before decals.

The hole in the engine cowl is for oil sump drainage. The Baron is spot on about the aft holes. Not sure about the MkI but I don't think the holes are on both sides of the cowl.

Looking great!

MP there is a photo of this kit built up on the bottom of the box and from that I can see the aft hole is still there. I'll keep the holes because they no longer bother me. The technique of masking for camo I've never done before so that's what I'm really looking forward too. New things to try my hand at....looking forward to it.

 

[Moon Puppy]

I"m sorry I wasn't clear, the aft holes are on both sides, it's the sump drain hole on the cowl i'm not sure about.

Doesn't matter, looking good, always neat to try new things. 8)

 

[PANZERMAN]

Keep plugging away, Glorfindel. Sometimes the ones you stuggle with, turn out the best.
Looking good so far. Paint work looks great. Bill.