P-51d UC door question

[Guest]

I am in the final assembly stages of my 1/48 Mustprang and the uc doors are confusing me now.In some pix the doors with the uc down while on the ground are closed and in other pix they are open,wich would it most likely be just after shuttdown?

I recon they would be closed to not disrupt the air into the radiator.

Any ideas?

and what was the collour on the inside of the doors and wheelwels of Korea era P-51d's

Thanx

Theuns

[stona]

The position of the doors would be up on landing.The inner will not go down unless the hydraulic "T" handle is pulled - the T handle is located just above the fuel panel. This releases hydraulic pressure. In the USAF it was common practice for the pilot to do this at shutdown to allow his crew easy access to the bays. There is also a small latch in the left wheel well which is moved by the dropped door locking the gear position handle and preventing inadvertant raising of the gear. It really protects the tail wheel as the main gear won't move with no pressure. On modern restorations,if the handle is not pulled,the inner doors only droop by an inch or so after several hours. Wartime pictures of aircraft with doors half down must be due to a less well maintained hydraulic system.

Many pilots also dropped the flaps before shutdown allowing access to a step on the port side.

As for the colour,from mid WW2 they were painted in Yellow Zinc Chromate. I don't know if this was changed in Korea. I'll see if I have any piccies.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Morning Steve, thanx for that detailed info!

I have glued my doors shut and flaps down, the pilot has literaly just shut down ,but is still strapped in. You will see why when I post some pix later ;-)

I do however have a BIG problem, I hear the interior of the F-51's in Korea were black and not the interior green I have on.............rats!!!!!

Oh well, to late to change it now.

I hear that any alclad or silver has to be sprayed over a black surface, any idea why?

Theuns

[stona]

I hear that any alclad or silver has to be sprayed over a black surface, any idea why?

Theuns

That is not so. Alclad's own primer (known for taking an age to dry) is a gloss black and this has caused confusion. I have applied all shades over my normal grey primer with good results. My P-47 mate (Nigel) did a lot of experimentation with Alclad as well and he and I have come to the conclusion that only the "highly polished" finishes look better over a gloss black primer. Check my NMF Me262. There are numerous shades on there,some darkened with the addition of a drop of gloss black, all applied over a grey primer. The underside of my Lanowski P-47 is the same. Other silver paints are no different.

I've no experience of the rub 'n buff and powder type metaliser finishes so can't comment on them.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

I will try the "shading"of normal silver to simulate the different pannels, the plane I am doing would not by "high gloss" in theater.

I must first go and google to try and find a good 3 view referance to get the pannels right.

Thang Steve

Theuns