RAAF and SAAF F-51D Mustangs A68-720 and 361/"Miss Marounichi" (Airfix 1/72)

[Procopius]

So I went a little crazy:

I'm building two Airfix F-51Ds, one SAAF and one RAAF, using the AIMS UK & Commonwealth in Korea decals.

First off is 361/"Miss Marounichi", formerly F-51D 44-74863, of the SAAF:

Despite what the decal sheet says (red spinner and intake), it looks pretty conclusively to me like she was a yellow-nosed a/c. Apparently she had the uncuffed prop.

Second up is A68-720, formerly P-51D-NT-25 44-84482. I don't have an image for her (help in that area welcome!), but apparently she had a Dallas hood. I'm unsure if she had a cuffed or uncuffed prop, it seems to vary for RAAF F-51Ds.

Anyhow, gave them their bath.

[Rabbit Leader]

Procopius.. you may have washed the wrong sprues.... Isn't that a Sabre?

The Airfix Mustang builds up quite nicely.. the u/c is a bit thin, however a little finesse should do the trick.

Cheers mate ... Dave.

[Procopius]

Procopius.. you may have washed the wrong sprues.... Isn't that a Sabre?

He's providing topcover. They're in there.

[Rabbit Leader]

He's providing topcover. They're in there.

At least they'll be clean..

[Mozzy19]

The Mustang is proving to be more popular than the Sabre so far! I'll look forward to seeing them both progress.

Sean

[Jonners]

Tricky one about the nose and intake lip colour on the SAAF F-51. I'm looking at another colour photo of it right now; the spinner and intake lip certainly don't appear to be red, but they also don't seem to be yellow - the colour is very different from the yellow on the 2 Sqn 'cheetah' and the bomb bands. To my eye the colour is a deep orange, almost identical to the orange of the roundel springboks and the fin flash.

Also just check that the decals have the name spelled correctly: it's ' MISS MARUNOUCHI'.

'The South African Air Force at War' by Louw and Bouwer states that this aircraft (361) was Lt Jimmy Newton's machine and was also flown by Lt Vic Blackbeard. There's a photo of it with apparently minor damage after a starboard mainwheel collapsed at K-10 Chinhae.

Jon

[Procopius]

Tricky one about the nose and intake lip colour on the SAAF F-51. I'm looking at another colour photo of it right now; the spinner and intake lip certainly don't appear to be red, but they also don't seem to be yellow - the colour is very different from the yellow on the 2 Sqn 'cheetah' and the bomb bands. To my eye the colour is a deep orange, almost identical to the orange of the roundel springboks and the fin flash.

Also just check that the decals have the name spelled correctly: it's ' MISS MARUNOUCHI'.

'The South African Air Force at War' by Louw and Bouwer states that this aircraft (361) was Lt Jimmy Newton's machine and was also flown by Lt Vic Blackbeard. There's a photo of it with apparently minor damage after a starboard mainwheel collapsed at K-10 Chinhae.

Jon

Yep, the decals have it right, I have it wrong. Mea maxima culpa! I also agree, it does seem closer to a rich orange than either a yellow or a red.

[Panoz]

Here's a photo of A68-720 from "Mustangs of the RAAF and RNZAF" by Peter Anderson:

And a colour photo of 361 from the cover of the original edition of "The SAAF at War":

The other photo of 361 in the same book mentioned in a previous post is so small and of so poor quality that it's no point posting it here.

Edit: Regarding the spinner colour, it is orange to match the roundels and fin flash. my mistake.

Edited April 19, 2014 by Panoz

[HOUSTON]

Here's a photo of A68-720 from "Mustangs of the RAAF and RNZAF" by Peter Anderson:

And a colour photo of 361 from the cover of the original edition of "The SAAF at War":

The other photo of 361 in the same book mentioned in a previous post is so small and of so poor quality that it's no point posting it here.

Regarding the spinner colour, it is orange to match the roundels and fin flash.

I LOVE this photo.. Excellent...and almost close to MY own real name..

[Procopius]

Hmmm, looks like both Mustangs were overpainted with silver, which could make things easier when the time comes.

[Rabbit Leader]

RAAF P-51D Mustangs were delivered in NMF.

I will confirm later (need to mow the lawn now??) however, I don't believe that the overall Aluminium finish would apply to an RAAF Korean War Mustang.

AFAIK, this scheme only applied to CAC built machines.

Like always - happy to be corrected.

Cheers .. Dave

[Procopius]

Thanks, Dave! Any input is welcome.

[Procopius]

Offices assembled. I think the seats are supposed to be green, but everything else is black.

[Rabbit Leader]

Procopius,

Not sure if you have seen the nice range of Grubby Fingers Aussie Mustang images, however here is a link for A68-729 which by all accounts should be very similar to -720.

Wot - "Copy and paste" is not working on my Britmodeller. Sorry you need to Google Grubby Fingers Aircraft Illustration / Profile Drawing / Airplane Drawing Gallery / Mustang Drawings

My Mustang references suggest that -720 was indeed finished in NMF with a black anti-glare panel. That strange thing inside the canopy is a Ferry pack. A kind of sleeping bag looking thing to carry odds and sods around.

Good luck.. Dave

Edited April 19, 2014 by Rabbit Leader

[Panoz]

This photo from Pentland's "Aircraft of the RAAF 1921-78" could show either A68-720 or A68-726.

Caption doesn't give a serial number and according to http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a68c.htm A68-728 was not used in Korea:

I don't know why "Procopius" came up with the notion that the aircraft was painted silver.

In the previous photo of A68-720 that I posted it can be clearly seen that the cowling panels are a different shade.

[Procopius]

Sorry, I guess my colour perception isn't the greatest. It and 361 looked to be a constant shade to me.

It looks like in the first photo of A68-720, that the props are of the cuffed type, rather than uncuffed in the later one.

[Procopius]

Getting everything ready for the black interior paint.

I added the bomb pylons onto the wings, and drilled out holes for the rocket stubs on one of them. I suppose I should fit rockets with both, of course. I'm not really sure if I want them to be carrying identical weapon loads, but I don't know what Korea-appropriate bombs I have that I can steal from other kits. Can the Airfix F-86 bombs go on the Mustang's pylons?

I also painted A68-720's spinner Tamiya Flat White in preparation for a future coating. Here's my plan: I have the Xtradecal RAF Type D decal set, and I'm thinking I can cut off strips of the tail flash bits they supply to make the red and blue portions of the spinner with slightly more exactitude than if I masked it and airbrushed it. But I'm open to suggestions...

[Panoz]

Went through some Korean War photo books and found out that 2nd squadron SAAF operated F-51Ds with either red, yellow or blue spinners.

(Apparently indicating separate flights within the unit).

So the decal instructions are correct and 361's spinner is red.

Note that all SAAF Mustangs were natural metal, it's that the different shades don't show that well in poor quality photos.

[hgbn]

And operating from forward almost unprepared dusty/muddy bases which dulls almost any finish

http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/brent_best/misc/Napalm_02.jpg

Edited April 19, 2014 by hgbn

[Procopius]

A red spinner seems so prosaic, but oh well.

Painted the props, and also painted the cockpits and cockpit interiors.

I also picked up an apparent micro-mesh equivalent at Hobby Lobby today, the name of which escapes me, but it was made by my neighbor to the north...no, not Wisconsin, Canada! So hopefully that will prove helpful when the time comes for NMF.

[Panoz]

Sorry, I guess my colour perception isn't the greatest. It and 361 looked to be a constant shade to me.

It looks like in the first photo of A68-720, that the props are of the cuffed type, rather than uncuffed in the later one.

According to the following link:

http://www.mustangsmustangs.us/thehangar/index.php?topic=108.0

As per T.O. 1F-51D-4 (Parts Catalog), the square tipped, uncuffed blades type 6547A-6 were factory-installed in P-51D-25-NT's 44-84674 through 44-84989 and 45-11343 through 45-11542 plus P-51D-30-NT's 44-11543 through 45-11742.

A68-720 was P-51D-25-NT 44-84482

A68-726 was P-51D-25-NT 44-84728

so the second photo I posted "probably" shows A68-726.

[Panoz]

Thanks to your sharkmouthed SAAF Mustang enquiry, I dusted off my old Aircam Mustang book and found another photo of A68-720:

The photo is much older but I don't think that it's appearance would have changed that much four years later.

So uncuffed prop and apparently it has a "Dallas" canopy.

[Procopius]

Uncuffed! Dang! And after I painted the cuffed one, too.

[Panoz]

I added the bomb pylons onto the wings, and drilled out holes for the rocket stubs on one of them. I suppose I should fit rockets with both, of course. I'm not really sure if I want them to be carrying identical weapon loads, but I don't know what Korea-appropriate bombs I have that I can steal from other kits. Can the Airfix F-86 bombs go on the Mustang's pylons?

Airfix F-86 bombs could definitely be used on the Mustang as well.

Since Airfix gives you drop tanks in the P-51 kit you could use them as napalm bombs.

Photo from "Korea: The Air War 1950-1953" (Also notice Red and Yellow spinners):

[Procopius]

Was just looking at that photo myself last night, and also thinking of giving one napalm tanks.