Coen's "Old Crow" Tamiya P51D Mustang 1/32

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Mon May 26, 2014 12:42 pm

Here's a brief natter about what I think so far with the build.

[youtube]ScawsKEPZ5E[/youtube]

Apple · Post by **Apple** » Mon May 26, 2014 1:29 pm

Coen, Are you going to do the all green or the one with the green hood?

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Mon May 26, 2014 1:57 pm

I'm going with the all green with the light grey underside Apple

Apple · Post by **Apple** » Mon May 26, 2014 2:29 pm

Ok nice. Looking forward to the rest.. I am hopefully starting my mustang tomorrow or the day after.

generalgrog · Post by **generalgrog** » Mon May 26, 2014 3:51 pm

Coming along very nice!!

Never built a 1/32..the detail on those are just amazing.

GG

fly1ngdutchm4n · Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Mon May 26, 2014 9:45 pm

Awa habla wabaa blpp...

Sorry mate, was looking for my jaw on the floor, then I needed to roll back my tongue in my mouth...

DANG! That looks brilliant! Speaking of eye candy... MAN....
Keep it up Coen, I want more, more, MORE!

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Tue May 27, 2014 4:05 am

EasyEight96 · Post by **EasyEight96** » Tue May 27, 2014 5:25 am

Just finish watching yur vid Coen excellent job on the interior

will take your advice on the engine part there if I come around building mine next time

AchtungPanzer · Post by **AchtungPanzer** » Tue May 27, 2014 9:07 am

Very good work mate

jbellos1 · Post by **jbellos1** » Tue May 27, 2014 4:50 pm

Great vid! Thanks for the tip on the color callouts and the engine/cockpit weak point. I will begin this in June following Father's Day. LOU IV for me!

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Tue May 27, 2014 9:53 pm

Very good Jbellos

Glad to help bud.

Mad some massive progress today.
I had 6 hours at the bench.. the kiddies were out. Muhahahaha!

I got the interior detailed, decaled, glossed, washed and the fuselage put together.
Then I broke off the pilots right arm.

So a bit of touch up putty and paint is needed... I hope that I can do it without mucking things up anymore than they are.

So I repainted the instrument panel hood and the fuel cell behind the pilot with a blue grey drybrushing, hoping to make it look a bit more like rubber. It may need a touch of a black oil wash to bring out some detail and to darken it just a tiny bit, but that's for tomorrow.

I added another black oil wash to the engine, hoping to darken up the rust that I'd added earlier, not quite enough though. I'll add some wet oil streaks later.

Test fits of the fuselage halves showed me that I'll be needing to clamp the crap out of this thing to get it to stay together. Especially the small join just ahead of the cockpit. It also showed me just how much I'd be able to see into the cockpit with the pilot in place.

I painted the fuselage interior, glossed and washed with Ultimate dark dirt.

More test fitting...

The side walls painted, glossed, decaled, and washed.

The radiator all washed with Ultimate Dark Dirt and ready to install.

Drybrushing the fuselage ribs and details with Vallejo Air GunGrey

Ready to join the other half...

The better half all dun and dusted.

Let the clamping begin!!! This took ages... Lots of fiddling.

I forgot these and the little vinyl polycap and had to take it all apart again

It looks crocked... but it's apparently supposed to be that way.

The stand works.

I can finish detailing the exterior bits of the frames now.

Hey Bud!

I still have to clean up the framing here...

So that's all there is for today's work. I didn't think that I'd get that far actually.
Now that I got the fuselage buttoned up I'll be taking some time to work on my Tiger I for Nige's North Africa GB.
If I can get that finished by Friday I'll be a happy dude.
It won't be... but I can hope eh? haha.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Tue May 27, 2014 9:59 pm

Excellent dude, its looking damn good.

I just this second posted my pregess for the day too, I'm a bit behind you though buddy

UKguyInUSA · Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Tue May 27, 2014 10:05 pm

Holy Sh*t, that's good!

Nige201980 · Post by **Nige201980** » Wed May 28, 2014 6:34 am

Holy c**p that's amazing mate. And you say your not an aircraft builder just looking at that says your are stunning mate.

AchtungPanzer · Post by **AchtungPanzer** » Wed May 28, 2014 5:59 pm

Interior is awesome ...Master - great work

HistoryRider · Post by **HistoryRider** » Wed May 28, 2014 6:20 pm

HOKEY SMOKE!!!! nice, Nice, NICE work!!!! Bud Anderson would be Proud!!! Incredible detailing! Keep it UP!!

Apple · Post by **Apple** » Wed May 28, 2014 8:12 pm

Looking really impressive !!

kiwigav · Post by **kiwigav** » Thu May 29, 2014 9:05 am

Outstanding work Coen. You are a true detailing master and I have always learnt alot from your builds.
I am planning to build a Willys Ambulance Jeep that Italeri released for D Day Anniversary (when it arrives). As I have not had much experience in
Amour and military vehicles, I was wondering what advise you have as far as correct paint colour and weathering goes.

Once again Love the Mustang

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Thu May 29, 2014 10:28 am

The weathering is entirely up to you Gav, at least as far as how much you want to do. The vehicles that landed on D-day were newish, well kept, and recently maintained vehicles. So they'd be in pretty good shape paint wise. Not many chips or damage.
An ambulance would have arrived a few days after the beaches were secured and would be fairly well used almost immediately. So mud, dirt, dust, etc would be the order of business that I would choose.
As for paint colour, for most US vehicles I've been using Model Masters ANA613 for the Olive Drab colour and filtering it until it gets to the shade that I want. I really like the look of the colour.
It's and old question though... how olive is your drab? haha. Modellers debate about it all the time.
There's really no right answer though. The paint wasn't all that tough and it was really matte so it faded quickly and changed colour when it got wet or damp. When you add dust, mud, and start the chipping it gets even harder to tell.
So I would pick a colour in the paint line that you prefer that matches your references as close as you thing appropriate and go with that.

Apple · Post by **Apple** » Thu May 29, 2014 10:50 am

Damn Coen, You're almost done mate !!
Excellent work..!!

chief5437 · Post by **chief5437** » Thu May 29, 2014 10:52 am

What can I say that hasn't already been said. Stunning work Coen, stunning!

kiwigav · Post by **kiwigav** » Thu May 29, 2014 11:04 am

Cheers Coen, once again top job

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Thu May 29, 2014 11:10 am

You're welcome Gav...
And thanks fellas.

Mike00 · Post by **Mike00** » Fri May 30, 2014 12:55 am

WOW!! Fantastic work. Loved the interior.

mannloon · Post by **mannloon** » Fri May 30, 2014 5:51 am

that's gorgeous man.

strawnobi · Post by **strawnobi** » Fri May 30, 2014 7:32 am

Your P51 is looking fantastic as well. I like the touches of rust on the engine. I might add that to mine. Just about ready to button up the fuselage myself. Hopefully I'll have more time this weekend. These Tamiya kits are so amazing.

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Fri May 30, 2014 9:48 am

Thanks guys,
ya these kits just fall together. It's a heavy part count and it's a crap load of steps, but for the money that you pay for the kit that's to be expected. In fact it's what I want.

wappynutter · Post by **wappynutter** » Sat May 31, 2014 11:00 pm

I'm noticing a lot of P51 Mustang's appearing in this GB....

I ain't doing a Mustang....
Excellent as always Mike... Very nice cockpit detailing....

I'm thinking you should have had a go at that foil technique with Nige though...

Good luck buddy.....Stay safe and well my friend...

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Sun Jun 01, 2014 11:29 am

Thanks Andy,
If I were doing the unpainted version of Old Crow I probably would.
He makes it look easy doesn't he? Haha.

Nige201980 · Post by **Nige201980** » Sun Jun 01, 2014 11:36 am

Coen wrote:Thanks Andy,
If I were doing the unpainted version of Old Crow I probably would.
He makes it look easy doesn't he? Haha.

It is

HamilkarBarkas · Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Sun Jun 01, 2014 1:59 pm

This interior looks incredibly detailed, you did a superb job on painting it up. the cockpit deserves more attention than some people assume.

ChubberLang · Post by **ChubberLang** » Sun Jun 01, 2014 10:40 pm

This is just truly amazing so far.

Ozzie21 · Post by **Ozzie21** » Wed Jun 04, 2014 12:57 am

Thought you said you were an "Armour Builder" not a "Plane Builder" Bloody good plane build so far

Cya
Ozzie21

davidowers · Post by **davidowers** » Wed Jun 04, 2014 6:13 pm

it looks the dog dangly bits coen wow great job wish mine came out like that

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Wed Jun 04, 2014 8:05 pm

Thanks guys.
I'm hoping to put some more time into this later this week. I just want to get a bit more done on these tanks... Like Ozzie pointed out... I'm a tread head. haha.

George · Post by **George** » Wed Jun 04, 2014 8:17 pm

Starten to look like an "Old Crow". Nice work.

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Thu Jun 05, 2014 9:48 am

Have you started yours yet George?

Thomas2542 · Post by **Thomas2542** » Fri Jun 06, 2014 1:57 pm

That looks brilliant. the rust effect on the engine is amazing.

Matthew · Post by **Matthew** » Fri Jun 06, 2014 9:34 pm

Looking great dude

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 1:58 am

Hey Fellas,
It's been ages since I've done anything to this build.
I can't even be sure what I was doing last.
The last thing that I posted was joining the fuselage halves.
Since then I've masked the canopy and finished the engine construction and painting... at least that I think that it's done.
I've also attached the tail plane, built the tail wheel boxes, and the beginnings of the wing assembly.
This kit is kicking my but with steps. It's highly labour intensive, I'm going to wear a path in the floor rolling back and forth between the paint bench and the build bench.
It makes thing very slow going.

Here's a few pics to get me caught up..

I'll add a wash to all these parts later once I figure out when the panels go on for the exterior painting. That's a long time from now.
At this point I hold little doubt that I'll have this done in the next two days, but I'll keep slogging away regardless.

Nige201980 · Post by **Nige201980** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 7:07 am

Looks great mate you really are turning into a aircraft builder lol

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 10:06 am

Don't say such things Nige haha.

I spent almost the entire day on her yesterday and I hope to do so again today. Still there is no hope that she'll be finished in time.
Either way I'll finish her just to get her off my bench.

As builds go I have to say that I'm not really enjoying this one. You would think that with all the money and ease that is expended on this kit, that I would sing it's praises all day and night.
Not really. It's tedious for me.
I'm an armour builder at heart and I'm used to building things in a certain pattern. Even the aircraft that I build I try to conform to this plan. With this kit it's impossible. It's build a few pieces, paint a few pieces, build a few pieces, paint a few... it's driving me batty!!!
The constant switching of work spaces is getting annoying. I've long ago given up priming the small pieces. I've been mixing lacquer thinner with my acrylics to turn them into primer. Without that it would take a day to paint and build one sub assembly instead of an hour.

Anyway... enough blather.
Here's where I am now. I'd say 60% built now.

I started off with the machine gun bays. This took surprisingly longer than I expected, but I like the look of it. It will look cool when I get a wash on them I think.

Then I detail painted the conduits in the wheel wells.

and Chromed the back of these light things...

The upper and lower wings went together very easily and not a drop of filler was needed, but when I came to join the wings to the fuselage the front of the fuselage didn't fit into the space in the wings very well, and there was a gap in the wingroot's leading edge. The rest of the wing root needed a bit of clamping to stay tight while the glue set, but there's no gap or step.

I'm pretty sure that it's being caused by some of the plumbing in here...

I also built all of the control surfaces, these went together as easy as beans an wieners. Getting them into the wings was nerve wrecking though. They were really hard to get in without breaking them.

I also built and painted the radiator scoopy thing.
It doesn't fit as well as I had hoped that it would. It's in two pieces and the seam is large. There's also very fine rivet detail on the part that will be destroyed while dealing with the seam. There's a step too, just behind the intake that I'll have to deal with.

So here's how she sits as of this morning.
Today I'll be trying to fox those gaps and seams then I'll move on the the landing gear. I have the wheels up plate in it at the moment.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 3:27 pm

Looking good mate, sorry to hear your not enjoying the build

Mines put to one side for now till i get the mojo back for it

Tiger131 · Post by **Tiger131** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 4:10 pm

Coen i hear whet your saying im building Tamiya's F-16 and i cant get the hang of this build and paint.....masking hell its a nightmare. ..but loving your work so far mucker

Missing your vids im running out of things to watch while i build

Deacon · Post by **Deacon** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 4:26 pm

You're an armour builder, you're not used to being delicate and using finesse on a beautiful machine like the P-51!

Then again, the photos prove otherwise.

Great progress mate and well done for keeping at it.

Deacon

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 5:11 pm

Ya, us ham fisted tread heads should never be allowed near airplanes haha.
I'm sure that once I get the millions of sub assemblies done and move on to the main build and final painting I'll get the ol'mojo flowing again.

Nige201980 · Post by **Nige201980** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 5:58 pm

I'm sorry you've had some small problems mate for the price it's quite a disappointing kit but you are doing a cracking job with it buddy.

AchtungPanzer · Post by **AchtungPanzer** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 6:16 pm

O YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Mike

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 10:25 am

I know that the GB has ended and all, but I kept sloggin away at this anyway.
I've got it built and almost ready for paint now. I just need to touch up a few seams on the leading edges of the wings... just sanding.
I also need to figure out what to do with the engine cowlings.

I built up the landing gear without too much drama. They were pretty cool in fact. Separate hoses and tires. The detail looks awesome.

The bay doors looked nice too when they were all done...

The trouble showed itself when they were installed....
The small panels that cover the screw heads that hold the landing struts on don't fit snugly, even after I pulled the magnet out and moved it to a better position they still didn't sit well. Unless I permanently glue them on, there will always be a gap.
This occurs with several more of these magnetically attached parts. Some of mine are warped and they don't fit as they should unless I add glue.
I'm really disappointed with that.

The engine cowls are the worse. The thing looks cool with the cowlings off,

But when I add the cowlings there are big assed gaps.
The first one goes on fine for the most part...

Once the others are on they bulge out not because they are under pressure... it's because they're warped and have memory...

Even more so are the gun bays. I don't think that I can fix these without glue. The bend in them is too subtle to fix with a bit of heat.

Oh well... Needless for me to say, I won't be building another one of these $100+ Tamiya kits. The F-16 that I have in my stash I'll sell as soon as possible.
I don't have the chops, not the patience to build these monster kits and I'm just wasting the kit. That's a crime in my books haha.
I'll sell it to someone that will show it the proper love.
I'll finish this one but it won't be for a few weeks. Those panels have totally sucked my mojo for the moment.

Here is how she sits now... she still needs the wings sanded a bit and the cowlings and gun bays dealt with.

Nige201980 · Post by **Nige201980** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 6:11 pm

Mate I feel your pain and for that price everything should be just about perfect with it I think I'll stick to my 1:48 for the mo your doing a cracking job but it's a wise decision to put it to one side for awhile. And I'm sure you will sort it when you get back to it.