N.A. Mustang Mk. XX -DONE- Pag.6

[DogfighterZen]

Would something like Clear/Future penetrate the cracks at all? It might help.

That might work...   
Haven't used that stuff in a while now... well, what i have is not exactly Klear/Future but an equivalent type of varnish sold here in Portugal... have to check the bottle to see if it's still usable.
But yes, even if the cracks still show, i bet they'll be much less visible so i will try.
Thanks for the idea, Ken! 

[Captain Canada]

Too bad about the windscreen ! Hiding all that detail now. The rest of her is looking good tho !

[Rick Lowe]

Would something like Clear/Future penetrate the cracks at all? It might help.

That might work...   
Haven't used that stuff in a while now... well, what i have is not exactly Klear/Future but an equivalent type of varnish sold here in Portugal... have to check the bottle to see if it's still usable.
But yes, even if the cracks still show, i bet they'll be much less visible so i will try.
Thanks for the idea, Ken! 

Worth a shot - it can't make it worse. 

Do you have a spare canopy as backup?

[DogfighterZen]

Nope, no backup canopy... i do have another one of these kits in the stash but i'll leave that one were it is.
This build isn't worth the effort of going through some boxes to find it... There aren't many 1/72 P-51H kits available snd the H is my favorite variant of the Mustang so i wanna keep another complete kit for a future build with the experience i gained building this one... and i may end up buying another one or two for different variants.
The canopy on this isn't as bad as it looked in that photo, the cracks are only visible from certain angles so i polished it and it looks much better now. The cracks are still visible but it worked well enough that when it gets the varnish treatment, it will probably make them almost invisible.
The problem that caused this was the same with my Kinetic 1/48 F-16s canopy. It didn't fit very well and the initial sanding adjustments weren't enough so, it just took one heavier push trying to make it fit and they cracked. The F-16 canopy has a worse single crack right down the middle where it had the mold line so i didn't notice it until i sanded off that line and the front end just wouldn't disappear. Then i noticed that the line extended beyond the clear part into the framing and that's when i realized it was a crack.
The Kinetic F-16 ended up back in the box, waiting a replacement canopy that i still have to request from Kinetic's customer service...
So, last night i got most panel lines done and the model's surface has been sanded and polished to remove some nasty scratches left on certain areas that needed a bit of heavier sanding. Now there's only a couple of panel lines left to rescribe around the canopy and engine cowling area that will need to be done more carefully.
Last step of this stage will be rescribing the lost rivets.
Then i'll just have to mask the canopy and get on with the painting stage.

[Rick Lowe]

Progress, even so! 

[DogfighterZen]

So, after almost donating this model to the shelf of doom, i finally got it to a point where it'll be enough to call it ready to move on.
The canopy was a real P.I.T.A because i managed to sand too much of the area in front of the windscreen and that messed up the windscreen's framing so, it took me a few PSR sessions to repair that damage. It's far from perfect but it'll have to do. I hate not finishing a kit and i just don't want to give up on this build.
Decals will be arriving soon and that also gave me the motivation to fix it.

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Maybe i'll still try to refine the framing a bit more after i mask the canopy but at least it's enough to get me moving forward with the build.

 

[George the Cat]

It looks good. 

[DogfighterZen]

It looks good. 

 

And after almost 4 months, this one is now waiting for some light weathering... i've been slowly working on it since i got the canopy frames fixed and since then, i've had to decide if i wanted it shiny NMF or a camo so i considered the backstory possibilities, researched and read a bunch of stuff regarding the Mustang and Griffon engine's development, especially the timeline.
This has made me consider a different idea, of a slightly earlier development of both the engine and the airframe after the Brits tested the Merlin on the Mustang X...

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[NARSES2]

  

[DogfighterZen]

Mustang is almost done, just needs a few antennas and main gear wheels and doors, then the props and a final semi gloss coat to finish...

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[DogfighterZen]

So, another one finally finished...
I thought about writing a backstory for this but it started to get complicated and i really can't spend the time reading and researching all the dates and details i needed to cobble up some sort of story that at least made sense so, i'll just tell you what the initial idea went like...

The RAF wanted NAA to build the P-40 for them but NAA gave them the P-51 instead and that began the whole Mustang story.
I've always liked the look of the R&R Griffon-powered Spitfires and wanted to see Mustangs with the Griffon instead of the Merlin...

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So, imagine that Edgar Schmued worked directly with Supermarine and the RAF, and began developing a lighter Mustang variant much earlier than it happened in real life?

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What if the P-51D never went beyond a prototype like the later E,F and G, taking the P-51H into production much earlier?

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In real life, the R&R Griffon engines with counter rotating props only began testing around mid to late 1944 so, what if the engine's development and production team had been sent over to Packard in the beginning of the war to speed things up instead of suspending the engine ?

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Maybe this could have resulted in earlier Griffon-powered Spitfires and others... It would also prevent disruption of the work and delays in production due to shortage of materials or loss of infrastructures due to enemy action, while keeping the R&R UK factories concentrating on Merlins?

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What if, after the Brits tested the Merlin on the Mustang X, a request was made for Packard to install the Griffon in the P-51 back in the US?

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I don't think this scenario is too far-fetched but it would need most of the dates to be earlier than they were in real life and to turn the P-51D variant into a mere footnote in the Mustang's story.

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The fact that the early Griffon variants were optimized for low altitude operation would be minimized in this scenario due to the Mustang's role in Europe, prompting the engine to be optimized for best performance at high altitude much earlier than it really happened.

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In the end, all i really wanted was to build a Griffon-powered P-51H with 20mm cannons and counter rotating props and sure enough, the shark mouth had to be included and this was just the first of a few that i have in mind.

 

[Old Wombat]

Nice! Looks like an MB-5!       

[PR19_Kit]

LOVE it! 

112 Sqdn. of course too, and that scheme works a treat.

[NARSES2]

Nice! Looks like an MB-5!       

Agree with both of those comments 

[comrade harps]

The tall tail of the H works well with the Griffin and contra-props.