Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'Airfix: Scribing Woes'.
-
Hello everyone- After finishing the Mig, for the next project I'm doing a dual build, comparing the Airfix vs Eduard Mustangs. I got the Eduard one later and have read the general conclusion that it is superior, but let us see for ourselves. The Eduard one should have everything needed for a great built as provided inside the box. I have a photoetch set and some seat belts for the Airfix kit. I also have a set of Master P-51D brass gun barrels but am unsure if I will use them or not. This is actually the first time I've built a P-51 so I will eagerly accept the help and feedback when it comes to questions and accuracy issues I encounter during the builds. The Airfix kit will be built as a Swedish J26. The kit comes with decals for Red L of F16 based in Uppsala. The aircraft, numbered 26014 in Swedish service, was a P-51D-20-NA built with the serial number 44-72177. It was one of a group of Mustangs delivered to the Swedish Air Force at Bromma in April 1945, and was eventually sold on to the Dominican Republic in 1952. This is the plan for now; but I am in contact with a relative who flew the J26 Mustang at this time, and might switch to build his aircraft if I can get the information and resources. For the Eduard kit, I'm still deciding. All the aircraft are P-51D-5. I'm leaning towards Chattanooga Choo Choo on the box art or maybe the green-nosed Caroline, we shall see. The cockpit floors side-by-side: Eduard has some crisper detail around the control column. Comparing the seats brings me to my first research question. Both kit instructions call for the "two-part" seat. Eduard's is clearly superior. The airfix representation has a thick rim of the seat bottom, as well as built-in cushion and seat harness that I would like to replace. However, when looking at a preserved Swedish P-51D in Linkoping, I see that it has a different type of seat, a "bucket seat" with prominent rivets: As luck would have it, the Eduard kit supplies this type of seat as an un-used extra, and with minor work it will fit well to the airfix cockpit. So for my first question to any lurking Mustang experts, which seat type should I use in the Swedish example? The preserved aircraft is also a P-51D-20 from the same delivery, so in the absence of conflicting evidence I guess I can use the Eduard bucket seat? I'd appreciate any help in the matter. The Eduard seat armor has much more detail in the back, I'll wait to do some test fitting before deciding how much I want to replicate on the Airfix kit depending on how much will be visible. Now, the next research area I'm trying to figure out is gunsights. Did the J26 delivered to Sweden have the K-14 gunsight? The aircraft was delivered new to the USAAF in January 1945, and I think the K-14 was in widespread use by then. Looking at photographs of Swedish Mustangs, I can see two types of gunsight being used: I believe this is a standard N-9 reflector sight, not a K-14: And I've also found two images with gunsights that I can't identify. The bases look sort of like a K-14, and there are two panes of glass as part of the sight, but it's surrounded by a metal structure with circular cutouts. Maybe this is a Swedish-derived sight instead? Does anyone have an idea of what these are or what kind of sight to install into a J26 Mustang? Between the parts provided in the kit and some aftermarket I should be able to easily install a K-14 or a N-9, but I still don't know what the unknown type of sight is, and it might be harder to scratchbuild should I need it. Thanks for reading, and again I appreciate any help/feedback with my initial research questions.