P-51B Mustang Miss Pelt 1/33 scale

[flpaperguy]

The cockpit assembly is too long to drop straight down into the fuselage, so I inserted the front end first and rotated it into place (as shown in the photos below).









The gun sight goes into the notch in the front edge of the fuselage opening. Align and glue the edges of the cockpit tub with the edges of the cockpit opening.

 

[mijob]

Its getting better and better, great job.

 

[Revell-Fan]

Would it be better to install the cockpit interior before closing the outer hull?

 

[flpaperguy]

Would it be better to install the cockpit interior before closing the outer hull?

I hadn't thought of that, but I think it is possible.

 

[flpaperguy]

The interior structure of then wing assembly consists of a 3-piece spar, 6 formers and 6 spacers.




Here is what it looks like when assembled.

 

[flpaperguy]

After cutting out the wing skins, there are a few things that need to be done to the skins. Two small, tapered slots need to be cut into the outer edges of each skin and then closed with small glue tabs (see red arrows). If the model is going to have landing gear down, the faux landing gear doors needs to cut out (see green arrow) and then the graphic landing gear wheels glued into place (see black arrow). If the landing gear is going to be up, nothing needs to be done to faux landing gear door (see the blue arrow).





On the inner side of the skins, the long glue tabs need to be placed along the trailing edges of the skins (see the yellow arrows). Add a couple layers of card behind the mounting area for the landing gear if used (see green arrows). Start shaping the leading edge of the skins by wrapping around a pencil or a dowel. Do not score and crease the leading edge.

 

[flpaperguy]

Shape and attach the wing extensions to the inner leading edge of the skins using the provided tabbed joiner strips (see the red arrow). Here's what it looks like when glued in place (see the blue arrow).




Do the final shaping of the wing skins by wrapping each skin around the wing skeleton. Then close the trailing edges with the previously installed glue tabs. After the glue is thoroughly dry, slip each skin onto the wing skeleton.

The instructions state gluing the wing skins to the ribs and spars is allowed but not required. I chose to put a thin layer of glue on the top and bottom of the wing spar. I also made a glue tab to attach the inner edges of the skins.

 

[micahrogers]

If you are going to display landed, Consider dropping the flaps. The flaps on the Mustang were hydraulic, and as pressure bleed down, the flaps dropped.

 

[zathros]

The fuselage is pushed in behind the cockpit, around the "Star" insignia. You might want to pop that out with a rubber tipped pencil or something.

 

[flpaperguy]

The last step in constructing the wing assembly is to close the wing tips by end gluing them.




Here are the parts for the belly air scoop.




The back portion of the belly scoop needs to be glued in place before the wing assembly is installed.

 

[mijob]

Looks great to me.

 

[flpaperguy]

Installing the wing assembly is a simple matter of slipping the wing spar into the slot in the bottom of the fuselage and aligning the back of the wing with the base of the air scoop. I applied glue in the three areas indicated with the yellow arrows.




Now you can finish building the air scoop by gluing the thin spacer (part 78) in place (see the yellow arrow) and then adding the front portion of the scoop.

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

This build is very clean, clear, and crisp!

 

[Toutenkarton]

A truly magnificent piece

 

[Revell-Fan]

Very nice indeed!

 

[flpaperguy]

Now that the wing assembly and belly scoop are in place, it is time to add the wing fairings. The larger top portion of the wing fairings have a hooked portion (see the red arrows) which should be folded under. This provides a colored surface to the visible underside of the fairing. The smaller parts (see the yellow arrows) are for the underside of the wings.

 

[mijob]

This is going great.

 

[flpaperguy]

Wing fairings installed.

Top view:


Bottom view:

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

That looks really good!

 

[Revell-Fan]

Indeed!