Marco1965 Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 When the P-51 first went to war during WWII, nobody would have thought that the last air to air combat the Mustang would see, would take place almost 30 years later, in a war between two small Central American countries. The Mustang fighting for the Salvadoran Air Force in July 1969 was quite different, it had been “upgraded” to a COIN version by Sarasota Aviation Corp. (later Cavalier Aviation Corp.), with reinforced wing spars, additional racks and capable of carrying more external ordnance, 110 gals wingtip fuel tanks, higher vertical stabilizer, new instruments, gunsight and provision for an observers seat instead of the fuel tank behind the pilot, and designated “Cavalier F-51 Mustang II”. I took excellent Tamiya F-51D Mustang Korean War 1/48 model as the starting point to assemble one of the six Salvadoran Air Force Mustang II, FAS 404, the last Mustang ever to have been shot down in air to air combat. Apart from the quality, the Tamiya kit includes an essential part to assemble a Mustang II: the Hamilton Standard Cuffless prop (although Tamiya erroneously identifies the propeller as an Aeroproducts). A basic Eduard PE set, a vacuumformed Dallas canopy and Aeromaster resin/PE bombs were used, but most of the Mustang II modifications were scratchbuilt, including: 1. Vertical stabilizer 1,5 feet taller 2. Remove fuel tank and radio equipment behind pilot, remove armor, and add observer seat (similar to pilot seat) 3. Update cockpit, including accelerator lever, side panels, gunsight and armament panels on top of the instrument panel 4. Delete “U” shaped canopy frame reinforcement, add headrest to the rear end of the inner canopy frame 5. Add four bomb racks (these should be marginally longer than the original P-51D ones, but I simply made resin duplicates of the ones provided in the kit) 6. Add 110 gals Wingtip Fuel Tanks 7. Move the pitot tube to an outer position under the wing, not to interfere with the lateral bomb rack 8. Add VOR antennae each side of the vertical stabilizer Salvadoran Cavalier Mustang IIs were delivered in 1968 in SEA paint scheme, glossy finish, the same scheme they used during the July 1969 war against Honduras. Cockpit and wheel wells were painted light gray. External ordnance used during the war consisted only of 100 pd bombs. FAS 404 was shot down on July 17, 1969 by a Honduran F4U-5N. It´s pilot, Capt. Douglas Varela, the last pilot ever to be KIA fighting in a Mustang. The scene shows FAS 404 as it could have appeared while preparing to taxi for its last combat mission. Marco 35 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reini78 Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 excellent work! good conversion 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britman Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Really nice, thank you for sharing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossofiron1971 Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Stunning Model, great conversion! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcode Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 looks great nice job.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invidia Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Looks great, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozothenutter Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 That's cool...really cool.....next uo the turboprop conversion? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 superb work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Dyck Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 An excellent piece of work there!! Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Lovely job How did you manage the tip-tanks? I had the Heritage conversion with the turbo-prop engine, but it's a bit wobbly in places, so put me off 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco1965 Posted November 1, 2016 Author Share Posted November 1, 2016 Hi Mike, wingtip fuel tanks were kind of difficult. I could not find any conversion that fit the shape/size for the 110gal tanks. With the actual measures of the real wingtip tanks, I basically scratch built them by cutting, trimming, adding front end - mid section - tail parts from my spare parts box. Marco 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 That's one beautiful Mustang Marco,beautifully painted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Yes, great build. Nice modifications. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Top marks for research and modelling, and for sharing the story. Inspired, and inspiring, build! Kind regards, Joachim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Lovely! What paints did you use? Cheers, Andre 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveyGair Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Very nice, neat and clean model. Davey 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildeSau75 Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Nice to see something different - guess I never saw that Version of the Mustang before - didn't know that there was one with a 2nd seat for an observer. Your Building skills do this Special plane justice. Cheers, Michael 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco1965 Posted November 2, 2016 Author Share Posted November 2, 2016 Thank you for your comments. The colors I used were Gunze Acrylics for the Dark Green/Medium Green and Camo Gray undersides, and Model Master Dark Tan. Weathering was kept to a minimum as FAS 404 had been delivered only 8 months before the war started. Marco 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedders Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Very nice job and really like the tall tail. Justin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestFan Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Nice job, looks great. Perhaps you should do the turboprop version next?! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrianm2 Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Very attractive version and top modelling skills. Great build Marco. Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearmatt Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Such a beauty and somehow refreshing :-) Great job cheers b. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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