Broken P-51 Mustang

[tcoat]

This is a long one!




Don Gentile was a leading Ace in WW2.




On April 13, 1944 he was stunting for the press over an airfield in Briton when he crashed and totally destroyed his P-51 Mustang. He walked away but the almost brand new 'Stang did not fare so well.




This is my journey to model that aircraft. So buckle up and join the ride.




Before:



After:





A quick search told me a detailed Merlin engine was going to cost me more than I wanted to pay for the project so I was very happy when I found somebody had thrown a tarp over it.







This allowed me to plan things out:









Not surprisingly a kit with the appropriate markings was available



So time to take a very nice kit and plan to cut it up!



So everything that needed to be mangled or missing is cut off. Pretty much doubled the parts count of the kit!



Then put it back together. Sort of.







Since the aircraft was only in service a few weeks before he crashed it the cockpit was done up looking new(ish)










All closed up and interior painted. Brace in place to throw tarp over missing engine. Torn skin not on until ready for exterior paint.



Since the cowl will be off I need someplace to put the nose art. Sooooo



Base coat on. Bubble canopy is for masking purposes only.


Torn and buckled aluminum is made from ... well ... torn and buckled aluminum. It is the heavy aluminum tape used for duct wok. Base coat is covered with tinted Future (Pledge) to start weathering and give a good foundation for decals











Decals on and more weathering added

















All tarped up and prop in place.








And with canopy. Most of a canopy. Half of a canopy?
















And salvage pile of removed parts on a dirty tarp





And done!







Or so I thought.



So here I was all proud of myself when I stumbled across a picture I had not seen in all my research.



There in all their glory are the oxygen bottles. I thought they were further forward or had been removed since you can't see them in the other shots so had not included them. That would never do so...

[Whiterook]

This is truly a stunner of a build! The subject story is awesome and it takes a lot of confidence to chop up a kit like that…and it’s just amazing what you accomplished! The building, scratchbuilding, and painting are all superb.

The big learning take away for me was the heavy aluminum duct tape for crinkled fuselage skin…OMG, brilliant! I’m going to have to add that to my arsenal! It looks amazing! 

The innards of the plane at the breakup is also amazing… what detail! The tarp is killer, and has a story to tell there, as well. The challenges for decaling. Looking at the reference pics and then the finished model…it’s so uncanny! Wonderful!!!

Man, I could go on and on! This is definite favorite build of mine that is not only artwork to me, but inspiration of what is possible!

How did you get the curl on the propellers? And did those seatbelts come with the kit? …they are gorgeously detailed

[tcoat]

Mar 9, 2023 13:32:04 GMT -5 Whiterook said:

This is truly a stunner of a build! The subject story is awesome and it takes a lot of confidence to chop up a kit like that…and it’s just amazing what you accomplished! The building, scratchbuilding, and painting are all superb.

The big learning take away for me was the heavy aluminum duct tape for crinkled fuselage skin…OMG, brilliant! I’m going to have to add that to my arsenal! It looks amazing! 

The innards of the plane at the breakup is also amazing… what detail! The tarp is killer, and has a story to tell there, as well. The challenges for decaling. Looking at the reference pics and then the finished model…it’s so uncanny! Wonderful!!!

Man, I could go on and on! This is definite favorite build of mine that is not only artwork to me, but inspiration of what is possible!

How did you get the curl on the propellers? And did those seatbelts come with the kit? …they are gorgeously detailed

Thanks. It did turn out better than I had ever hoped. Didn't hurt that it was a superb kit to start with.
The prop blades were just very, very, VERY carefully bent with my fingers a little bit at a time. They are so thin that I was afraid to heat them up.

The seatbelt/harness is just a picture of a real one from the internet that I printed in scale, carefully cut out and stiffened with Future and a flat coat. I prefer this method over photoetch since the meatal always looks to stiff even when painted up. 

[McCoy]

Nice build mate I love how you've gone outside the box with your build.

[Whiterook]

Mar 9, 2023 13:56:38 GMT -5 tcoat said:

Mar 9, 2023 13:32:04 GMT -5 Whiterook said:

This is truly a stunner of a build! The subject story is awesome and it takes a lot of confidence to chop up a kit like that…and it’s just amazing what you accomplished! The building, scratchbuilding, and painting are all superb.

The big learning take away for me was the heavy aluminum duct tape for crinkled fuselage skin…OMG, brilliant! I’m going to have to add that to my arsenal! It looks amazing! 

The innards of the plane at the breakup is also amazing… what detail! The tarp is killer, and has a story to tell there, as well. The challenges for decaling. Looking at the reference pics and then the finished model…it’s so uncanny! Wonderful!!!

Man, I could go on and on! This is definite favorite build of mine that is not only artwork to me, but inspiration of what is possible!

How did you get the curl on the propellers? And did those seatbelts come with the kit? …they are gorgeously detailed

Thanks. It did turn out better than I had ever hoped. Didn't hurt that it was a superb kit to start with.
The prop blades were just very, very, VERY carefully bent with my fingers a little bit at a time. They are so thin that I was afraid to heat them up.

The seatbelt/harness is just a picture of a real one from the internet that I printed in scale, carefully cut out and stiffened with Future and a flat coat. I prefer this method over photoetch since the meatal always looks to stiff even when painted up. 

I would have never guessed those seatbelts were scaled down printed pics! Nicely done… I always have a hard time on anything print scaling so, I admire your getting it so perfect! Did you have to print out several before finding the perfect size, or do you use some formula?

[tcoat]

Now has a base although not sure I will stick with this version.

[Whiterook]

I like the base… the pictures bring a lot of context. I wonder if maybe a solid, Matt, dark black rectangular pad under the model would help make it pop better… kinda gets lost in the woodgrain a tad. A mirrored pad might be better, so as to see under the plane and the great detail you’ve got, but mirrored bases can deflect the eye badly from lights and surrounding space. Just thoughts… I do like what you’ve got here!