firestone1121

I have a few posts in the kit building section but i'd figure I would start an official "rebuild" thread here. It's not really a kit build and it's a little more than "re-ARFing" at this point, so i thought i'd post it here. Maybe we should have a "restoration/enhancements" forum???? To make a long story short, I had bought the H9 P-51 "Marie" version a few years ago used. Solid, awesome flyer. I would wip this plane around like I stole it. Even the jet guys would say its a "hot little plane" lol. But since it was already a few years old when i bought it and i had put some pretty good wear and tear on it myself, (oil soaked balsa, a few thumbs went through the sheeting,hangar rash, on board bomb drop, rocket, etc) it was definitely showing it's age. I dont like flying a plane that looks beat, so i figured my winter project would be a "complete restoration". Here are a few pics of where i am at, the wings were the worst, the belly sheeting and landing gear area was pretty bad and it looked ugly. The first pic is the plane after its very last flight before stripped it down. Second pic is the sheeting and broken stringer removed before i re sheeted

firestone1121

More before/after resheeting....

firestone1121

now on to the wings, fuselage isnt completely done, that will be a backburner for now...... pics of rotted ribs and how I "restored" their shape.... pics of landing gear area before as well

firestone1121

to prevent future "oil soaking" i had applied a light coating of epoxy to the innards, it was light so im not too concerned about the weight. Now on to the completed wing... i must say it came out quite well. Not bad for hand cut wheel openings

firestone1121

Now for the covering scheme............ since there is open sheeting in the wings/stabilizer areas, i quickly ruled out paint. Here is what i am going with. Dakota Kid II

firestone1121

I love the sheen of chrome on a warbird, and ultracote silver wouldnt cut it. So i used the chrome ultracote. DO NOT BE AFRAID OF UING ULTRACOTE CHROME! IT WAS SUPER EASY TO APPLY/SHAPE!!!!!!!!!!! I was blown away at the appearance on the wings. Most full scale chrome warbirds have imperfections, bends, slight crinkling where the rivets run along, and the imperfect sheeting of the balsa gave it the similar effect..... where the ribs are seen thru the covering is where i will put the invasion stripes, so im not worried about the "skeleton" look.......... check it out.... This is my VERY first covering job... I need your review/constructive criticism on how i did.....

Ron101

My Feedback: (22)

Looking great!
I agree with you on chrome ultra coat, it gives a pretty nice metal effect. It's very light and much lower cost than options like flight metal.
When I started my gaint scale electric project, I wanted many scale features. Sound system, full cockpit, nice wheels and under carriage...this all adds weight.

So I went with ultra coat... if you really want to have fun with it now that you have it down. You can tape off each panel and use a mix of steel wool grits working in opposite directions on each panel and get a pretty nice effect. Looks really good in the sun!

here is my giant scale P-51:

firestone1121

WOW Looks awesome Ron! And that's how far i Am for now...... Now- this plane is discontinued by H9 with most parts being discontinued so this is going to be a little tricky. Horizon, however still has the cowl available (which i grabbed thank god) for this and unfortunately the canopy is discontinued, which sucks because the canopy was ruined upon removal. I DID, however, on a hunch, bought a canopy for a Top-Flite P51 .60 and did a side-by-side. WOW! It was an exact FIT! It actually looks better than the H9! and the newer "Blue Nose p51 .60" was a totally new plane, so most parts will not fit. This is somewhat of a sacriligious build, but oh well. This will make this plane stand out a lttle more. It honors a great plane.


The Top Flite Canopy is on the right, the H9 on the left...... You can see the different shape. The TF is a little more sharper looking....

firestone1121

More canopy pics..... Looks great!

acdii

Guys, you convinced me to go with Ultracote for my 51-c. After seeing your wing, I can see it is looking very much like what I am looking to get from mine.  The cowl will be the only part that will be difficult to match, but going to try Ultracote. Monokote is too difficult to use.

firestone1121

I had considered the challenge of finding a fuel proof chrome paint also. The search continues..... I am also considering making the cowl a pure checkered design. No, it wouldn't be dakota kid but it would solve the chrome dilemma. Anybody know where i can find flexible and fuel proof chrome paint???

acdii

I have been searching for markings close to what Kermit has on his, but with more of the cowl covered in paint, haven't found any yet.  Closest I could find was Princess Elizabeth, but it isn't in the colors I want to do. 

acdii

firestone1121

I would say no, considering this is not metal covering, it shrinks just as good as all the other ultracote colors, even if it was metal, say- like Flitemetal, they had done tests with radio reception and determined to have no discenible issues. http://www.scaleaero.com/flitemetal_faq.htm

firestone1121

or this- http://004edc4.netsolhost.com/FM_and_2.4_Radios.htm

Ron101

My Feedback: (22)

If you guys steel wool it to look like aluminum like my plane... you can use flight metal, aerofoil, or even aluminum tape from home depot
It's a great match... none of the paints will match well

The other thing you can do is what I did on my fiberglass radiator scoop... just cover it with the ultra coat. With low heat it goes on very well.
You will have to be careful to not get bubbles... but it's not that bad. I'm sure the cowl could be covered with it

firestone1121

Im going to try to cover my old cowl with the UC chre, if i have as much luck with that as i did with the wing i'll go with that. If not, i will try a coat of this on the old cowl and see how it turns out- http://www.tcpglobal.com/spraypaintd...te-finish.aspx those are my options for now!

jamesc43

My Feedback: (2)

I'm curious. How visible is the chrome covering when it is in the air?

firestone1121

When i find out, I'll definitely let u know! Maybe Ron101 will chime on this.....

DAKOTANOVASS

My Feedback: (17)

Hi Firestone,
I just caught your thread and was blown away that you are going with dakota kid for your P-51. I was wondering if you have any ties with the plane. The reason I'm asking is Dakota Kid II was own by a Henry Reichert of Bismarck ND, I live about 20 miles away from him. I have seen the plane fly many times over town. He also visits us at our local rc field on occasions also. I have many pictures of Dakota Kid II if you need some for reference. I'm currently working on a TF giant P-51d, which will be Dakota Kid II. I wanted to get the autograph of the original pilot, Noble Peterson, but he passed about alittle over a year ago. Noble also lived fairly close also. I will be watching your progress on Dakota Kid II. Keep up the good work.

Terrell

firestone1121

Terrell- Thanks for your encouraging words. I would love more pics/documentation of the plane! I have no ties to the plane, and to be honest, the INITIAL reason i have chosen this plane was for the clean cut paint scheme. The more I am getting involved with the restoration, the more i am following the history of it and pilot(s). I was amazed to see it was also the Long Island Kid. my email address is [email protected] if you'd like to send pictures. Thanks for following the post, I will do the best that i can!

DAKOTANOVASS

My Feedback: (17)

As far as Long Island Kid goes, the pilot's crew chief was from Long Island, so Noble let him put his markings on it also. I believe he still resides there to this day.

Terrell

Ron101

My Feedback: (22)

I have had three P-51's I've done in unltra coat chrome and one in monokote chrome over the years.... I've had many flights with chrome covering and have never had an issue seeing them in flight.
Some guys do feel there hard to see... you can get the blue sky reflecting in the covering. I still have not had that issue.
I can tell you that it looks really good in the sky and will throw back some cool sun light at times....lol

Here is a video of my GS Top Flight flying that may help you some to get the idea...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE-S4fUAgK4&list=UUZs_85GBgFakA1dJ1oKqyhA&feature=plcp[/youtube]



Here is a picture of my hanger 9 I did in chrome monokote.

firestone1121

haha wow! that looks pretty cool. I think we have the same plane. I am going to do custom wheel pants as well, h9 discontinued them too. Who makes those struts? Are they pretty sturdy??

Mustangman40

My Feedback: (1)

Looking good, your doing a nice job on it.. I had one of these planes years ago and I know why you are redoing it, they fly great..Definitely worth the effort for such a good flying plane, keep up the good work...