I should have done this in the first place, but better late, so they say.
In 2019, my P 51B had gone through her first rebuild after lawn darting for some reason.
Got a few flights on her and then she spun in again. so the parts sat in the 'box' until lately when I finally figured a way to get the wings to attach to the fuse again. Somehow, the mounts in the fuse departed for parts unknown, but with the crash of BBD, the parts were available through salvaging her.
In the intervening years, the B's wings and fuse were used for experimenting with filling in the panel lines that were just too big. Used some dark green paint to give me some room to sand and they came up pretty well. Satisfied, they went back into the 'box' and sat.
Now, I had the means to reattach the wings and fuse, could it be rebuilt one more time? Considering the model has been out of production for years and spare parts are very very rare, maybe nonexistent.
Fortunately, FMS is still making the D model and many of the parts are interchangeable, such as the cowling and spinner, so I ordered them. Here's what she looked like just after reattaching the wings. Note the dust...
Did I mention that the motor mount was loose and had a screw broken off in it? No, I didn't think so
Being sentimental about this airplane, the exhaust stacks and the little square air intakes sat on my dresser for years, good thing.
The canopy had to be made from two broken ones and the port side rear window was replaced, it came out pretty well. She ain't perfect, but I wasn't setting out for show quality.
The pilot was that ugly FMS thing that HAD to be replaced. A spare pilot bust that Dave had experimented around with for the Spitfires fit in perfectly, so he was transferred from the RAF to the USAAF. The seat armor also got replaced and an N9 gun sight was installed. Thanks to Dave Gee for the pilot radio wires.
Before reinstalling the canopy, I repainted the collar to look more US than he did. Using some cardboard stock I had, I soaked it and shaped it over the dash to cover up the gatoring, it worked well.
Final product, well so far, looks like this.
I have nomenclature decals coming and some weathering and paint chipping to do yet, but not bad for a 12 year old lady returned from the grave.
Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)
In 2019, my P 51B had gone through her first rebuild after lawn darting for some reason.
In the intervening years, the B's wings and fuse were used for experimenting with filling in the panel lines that were just too big. Used some dark green paint to give me some room to sand and they came up pretty well. Satisfied, they went back into the 'box' and sat.
Now, I had the means to reattach the wings and fuse, could it be rebuilt one more time? Considering the model has been out of production for years and spare parts are very very rare, maybe nonexistent.
Fortunately, FMS is still making the D model and many of the parts are interchangeable, such as the cowling and spinner, so I ordered them. Here's what she looked like just after reattaching the wings. Note the dust...
Did I mention that the motor mount was loose and had a screw broken off in it? No, I didn't think so
Being sentimental about this airplane, the exhaust stacks and the little square air intakes sat on my dresser for years, good thing.
The canopy had to be made from two broken ones and the port side rear window was replaced, it came out pretty well. She ain't perfect, but I wasn't setting out for show quality.
The pilot was that ugly FMS thing that HAD to be replaced. A spare pilot bust that Dave had experimented around with for the Spitfires fit in perfectly, so he was transferred from the RAF to the USAAF. The seat armor also got replaced and an N9 gun sight was installed. Thanks to Dave Gee for the pilot radio wires.
Final product, well so far, looks like this.
I have nomenclature decals coming and some weathering and paint chipping to do yet, but not bad for a 12 year old lady returned from the grave.
Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)
Attached Files