discussion Tamiya 1/32 P51D Mustang - Passion Wagon

[BarryW]

I dont normally run two build threads consecutively but with this build I am exploring some new paints and, as such, doing a review of them used 'in action' rather than just for review reasons.

First though the kit.
This will be my third Tamiya 1/32 Mustang build. That might suggest that I am either a big fan of this kit or of the Mustang, or both. I am but as a kit, no more so that the other Tammy 1/32s and, as an aircraft, less so than the Spit. So why three build of this model?

Well for the first build, several years ago, I wanted to do an RAF Mk IV (112 Squadron with the firewall camo scheme) which I duly did. But I also wanted a natural metal finish and a few months ago completed that with a 'Red Tail' Creamer's Dream.

Here are pics of these first two builds:
View attachment 284435

View attachment 284436

When I was researching NMF aftermarket markings for the Mustang I came across several pictures of Passion Wagon and simply loved the artwork.

I could not resist it and as a result bought another Tammy Mustang to build it. There are lots of photos on the web and here are a few.
View attachment 284437
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This aircraft has an interesting history having been flown by Lt Aval Robertson before being passed on to Lt Chuck Weaver. Soon after Weaver had the aircraft a tail fillet was retrofitted, hence some photos showing this feature.

I will be depicting this aircraft when flown by Robertson, when it had six kill markings, no wing fillet and no D Day stripes.

When I bought the decals for this bird there was a second set, for Weaver's later aircraft also with some very interesting art work. I could not waste it and had to buy yet another Mustang so as not to waste this second set, this time though I got the ZM 32 scale Mustang instead of the Tammy. But that is not for this thread.

I am short of time for now and will post again when I get a chance, to finish introducing this build.

 

[BarryW]

The paints that I am using are the new MRP range that have had such excellent reviews.

These are airbrush ready, solvent based acrylic paints. They are more like Tamiya and Mr Hobby than the Vallejo and AK Interactive that I have used before.

I did review them previously on here some years ago having shipped a couple of bottles in at significant expense from Germany. The are made in Eastern Europe. I liked them then but did not explore them further simply because of availability issues and a limited range of colours. So what has changed?

They now have a UK distributor (Google them) and maybe John might want to stock them (hint...). I believe they may have an outlet in the USA.

The range is now much wider and, in fact, is excellent. They have a very comprehensive range for WW2, RAF, Luftwaffe RLM, USAAF, USN and the Soviet Union. They also have a wide range of modern Eastern Bloc and Western aircraft colours plus a WW1 range, note Wingnut fans....
http://www.mrpaint.sk/

As mentioned they are designed for the airbrush and are not recommended for brush painting. I will therefore be using AKI and Vallejo for detail painting but all of the main colours will be MRP.

What is good about the range:

• They are solvent based and dry quickly to a very robust finish that really 'sticks' to the plastic.
  
• They spray beautifully and reviewers say there are few if any clogging/tip drying issues.

What is bad:

• They do smell so you need a well ventilated space and/or an extractor. A mask is advised. That said they are apparently not as bad as Alclad and some others.
• They look expensive at £4.99 a bottle (discounts on larger orders), but, they are in 30 mil bottles and that makes them cheaper than Mr Color which are £2 for a 10mil bottle. But, you do not thin them and that makes a difference but not necessarily a prohibative difference when you take into account the cost of Mr Colour Thinner.

For clean up and thinning you use the Mr Color thinner.

We will see, as I go through the build, just how good they are and how we need to adapt to get the best out of them.

 

[BarryW]

Some further points about these paints from my preparations.

1/ They advise using a primer.

This is because the paints etch into the plastic, this etching can be seen on the surface through the paint. My experimentation shows that a couple of coats of matt varnish solves that. That said I tried spraying onto two types of plastic, the good quality Tamiya plastic and the soft poor quality Airfix plastic. This issue only showed up on the Airfix plastic. Primer is not an issue for those of us used to Vallejo MA and its use has a number of advantages anyway so this is not a hardship. I have obtained some of the MRP primer to use and I am hoping that this will provide all the usual benefits of the old Stynylrez primer but provide an even more robust finish. We will see. I will use the primer for the external painting but will try it without primer for the internal colours.

2/ I also tried various solvents on plastic painted with this as follows:
IPA - this melts the dried paint and could therefore be used as part of the airbrush cleaning regime.
Mr Colour Levelling Thinner - the ideal thinning/cleaning agent for this paint.
Mr Tool Cleaner - this is very strong stuff, I would not use this to thin the paint but as part of a deep clean perhaps between projects for the airbrush it is ideal.
White Spirit - this does not even scratch the surface of the paint. Consequently we can safely use enamel based weathering without having to lay down a protective acrylic gloss coat. If the paint is itself gloss, as many colours are, then we can decal and weather direct onto the paint reducing the number of layers applied.

3/ I have not yet experimented with how it reacts to liquid glue so I do not know whether there is a need to scrape away paint from joins. One good thing about the VMA was how scraping is not necessary. That is one to try on the model.

4/ These are very thin paints, as mentioned before more an ink than a paint. I am expecting to have to be careful about joins and build flaws and work as if you need a perfect surface for an NMF.

5/ I am expecting to have to change how I work to get the best from these and I will be interested to see how post shading works out.

For this model the main MRP colours I will use are as follows:

US Interior Green
RAF Dark Green
RAF Medium Sea Grey (this aircraft was painted in the UK with these, not OD/NG)
RAF Marking Yellow
RAF Marking Red (I may see if the decals can be used for the chequeboard, or maybe at least the red squares, but we will see!)
Silver Primer (a full range of metalisers are offered by MRP but I will be staying with AKI for these except for this one colour)
Tyre Rubber (I am still awaiting a delivery of this colour)
Black primer
White primer

I expect to post the first part of the build in a few days or perhaps at the weekend. Now I must get and do some work....real work that is.

 

[dave]

Thanks for the information. It is going to be interesting to follow this build.

 

[BarryW]

There is another review worth looking at:
https://doogsmodels.com/2015/11/27/test-drive-mr-paint/

 

[yak face]

Now I must get and do some work....real work that is.

This IS the real work barry , the other boring paid stuff is just a necessary evil to get money to buy more kits!!!

 

[BarryW]

LOL Tony, quite right.

 

[BarryW]

Build preparation is done and I have started cutting plastic.
Inspiration on the wall, a pic of the aircraft I am building.
View attachment 284514
I cannot waste Tammy's own artwork so up that goes...
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I have labelled all the major sprues with post-its for easy identification and the boxes are sellotaped together and to the draw modules so they dont get knocked off...
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I have my research notes ready including the Tammy colour codes for easy reference.
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Spray area all cleaned up and ready. This set up is good for Vallejo as it filters the particulates but it does not vent to the outside so it is not ideal for the smelly MRP paint. I will have to also open windows and wear the mask every time (I did not bother much with VMA). My mussus is not aware of my paint change so life will be easier if she does not smell the paint. I need to stop it leaking from the garage into the main house...
Note the MRP primers have replace Stynylrez on the rack and MRP varnishes have replaced the AKI ones..... The older materials are safely stored for future use..... or maybe disposal?
View attachment 284518
The tool rack restocked with micro brushes from my reserve and I have also treated myself to some new detail brushes. All the other brushes have been deep cleaned and 'restored'. Knives all have new blades...
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Instructions out and ready... I have been through them and made some notes...
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Another 'treat' I sourced the Citadel snipper and seam scraper. My early experience of these is excellent. I would rank the snipper as the best I have ever used, better than the Tammy ones, strong and well designed to get into tight areas. They also look rather cool....
View attachment 284521
I am 'knocking together' the Merlin. This will be closed up inside as the main focus of this build is the beautiful nose art. This is the fifth Tammy Merlin I have put together and with a Spitty and Mossie to do I have three more to build. This is where I got to last night.
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Now a quick overall shot of my build area, the stash on the top shelf along with some completed builds on the shelves. This was taken at the end of my session last night, just as I left it. You can see the MRP paint racked up ready alongside the VMA and AKI that I am keeping 'active'.
View attachment 284523
The exercise machine that can be glimpsed bottom left is not mine, it belongs to the missus, she only uses it when she cannot get out for her 6 mile run....

Tonight I will get to finish the Merlin and will make a start on the 'office'.

 

[papa 695]

A fantastic building area Barry well set up and laid out. Also a nice start on the engine, it does look very nicely detailed.

 

[monica]

very nice area for working in,well setup,like it

 

[tr1ckey66]

Barry
That's a beautiful brace of Mustangs there. And 'Passion Wagon' is sure to be another triumph.
Quality work Barry

Cheers
P

 

[BarryW]

More progress shots.
The Merlin all ready. As mentioned I wont be painting this as I am closing up the panels.
View attachment 284587
The 'office' will, of course, be fully painted and weathered so I am putting together the sub-assemblies to ready them for painting. So far this is where I have got to:
The seat
View attachment 284588
The instrument panel and front wall.
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I will apply the decals to the back of the transparency and I will fit that into place only after the front of the panel has been painted and weathered.
The seat harness. This is the Eduard 'Steel' set. I find these the most manageable option and look fine when fitted. They do not look as good as the fabric ones but I really cannot get those made up and have wasted far too much money on them in the past.
View attachment 284590
Even with those steel sets the USAAF ones call for a small piece of p.e. to be glued on its edge, who on earth are they kidding!!!! Fortunately no-one will notice its not there.
I am 'distressing' this part to show wrinkles in the fabric. A file and sanding sponge really improves the appearance, still a little work to do on it with the sanding sponge. This is painted yellow and fits on the back of the seat. A life raft I believe.
View attachment 284591
That is it for now...

 

[BarryW]

I have been progressive no the build to the point I will start spraying the internal base coats.
All the pieces for the office and ducting are ready for painting.

Some internals are attached to the inside walls
View attachment 284685
Then there are the other pieces ready for paint.
View attachment 284686
All the sub assemblies went together well. Perfect fit.
I need to sort out the colours and prep for painting and it will be time to get to work with the MRP Paint. Hopefully over the weekend I can post more pics and a briefing of how the paint went down.

 

[papa 695]

Nice work Barry, I'm looking forward to your review of the paints.

 

[flyjoe180]

Great subject and lovely looking kit Barry. Looking forward to the progress reports on this Mustang build

 

[BarryW]

I have done my first painting session with MRP.
When I first got back into the hobby I started with Humbrol, enamels and acrylics, as I used to use back in the 70's. I struggled with the airbrush and then found out about Vallejo Model Air and gave it a try and it was a revelation. I found I could get a decent result from my airbrush after all... I have since tried AK Interactive which, if anything, spray a little better than Vallejo and Gunze which are a very good paint but not so much better that I was inclined to change my main brand.

First impressions of MRP........ I want to spray nothing else but these ever again.....
These are as big a revelation to me as VMA was. It is very different, of course, using them on a kit to the initial practise spraying and this is where you really find out about them.

I had a 40 minute session spraying four colours, Olive Drab, Yellow, Interior Green and Black.

The black I used was the MPR primer black but I used it as a base coat, not a primer. The other three colours were sprayed direct onto plastic.

For colour changes I first used Mr Levelling Thinner for cleaning but found that this was by far smellier than the paint and for the last colour changes used i.p.a. which worked perfectly and while it has an odour is nowhere near as bad as MLT. That is good, of course, because i.p.a. if bought on-line in bulk is a lot cheaper than MLT. I did use half a cup of MLT at the end of the session and then did a strip clean. I found the airbrush rather easier to clean than after a session with VMA and a lot cleaner and easier than after using Stynylrez primer. One up for MRP.

To deal with the smell of the paint I opened my garage windows, put my extractor fan on and wore, initially, a face mask. As it steamed up my glasses I ended up removing the face mask (I need to get that sorted) and did most of the session without a mask. The smell from the paint was not as bad as I thought it would be so I am less concerned than I was. My garage is attached to the house and my missus did not realise that I used anything different to the usual, passed that test! One thing I did do to keep any smell down and dissipate it more quickly was empty my bin of smelly tissues used for cleaning straight into my outside bin.

Now the important bit...

The paint sprayed beautifully, no tip drying, no spluttering, it went down beautifully. I used a 0.4 needle in my H&S at about 12 psi. I will experiment with a 0.2 and a lower air pressure as I progress. I laid paint down slowly in thin coats building it up to a smooth finish. It dried very quickly indeed and a good hard robust finish.

I found no difference to how the primer behaved to the ordinary paint but, there were signs that the ordinary paint etched the surface of the plastic a little. MRP do advise the use of primers and I will use them when I paint the external airframe. It will make no difference on the inside.

This paint gives me the confidence that I can now do things with the airbrush that I could not do before.

View attachment 284760
Above you can see how much the pigment settles to the bottom of the bottle. This means you really need to shake these bottles. Fortunately they have an agitator in the bottles to help. I start off giving them a good initial shake by hand and then place them in my paint bottle shaker. OK, its a nail varnish shaker (a bit pink...) and my missus still takes the pee over it, but it does take the hard work out of mixing the paint. I set the paint to shake while I get on with something else... The bottles really do need a good shaking to get rid of that sediment.
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Here are my initial efforts...
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I would have given you a close up showing the way the paint etches the plastic but it did not come out on the pictures. Because the Tammy plastic is good quality it is very slight.
here is one close up - I did all this in the one session when I paid down the yellow paint. You could not do that with VMA given the time needed to dry and cure....
View attachment 284762
Once the yellow was dry did washes of thinned orange and yellow VMA. I still need to apply decal softener and a semi matt varnish. Looking at the pic it looks as if I need to soften the orange a little with another yellow wash. What do you think?
I then managed to even start some masking ready for another session with black. I may take several sessions to do all the masking needed but this is a start.
View attachment 284763
So far so good......

 

[colin m]

Great update Barry. All quite inspiring, I must pick up some plastic soon !

 

[BarryW]

I have to say that finding something new as good as these paints really make me impatient to get back to the bench.

The missus (bless her) and work get in the way.

Mind you I may get a bit more than normal time in from Thursday, my beloved is going into hospital for an operation and won't be out until Monday so I will be able to spend a bit more time at the bench, even if just to take my mind off what she is going through.... Not life threatening and she is very fit, I must add, but nevertheless I don't like to think of her going under the knife. She will be in a hospital a fair distance away and the family have split up the visiting, I will take her there, see her Saturday and collect her Monday, leaving me with a lot of time to myself and at the bench.

 

[Steve Brodie]

Looking good, and i hope all goes/went well for your wife.

 

[dave]

Thanks for the update on how the paints handled, hope everything goes well with the op.