P-51 'Mah Sweet Eva Lea' 137322

[Killingholme]

Hi all,

 

I'm about to spend a coupe of weeks away for Christmas, but managed to smuggle an £5 Italeri 1/72 Allison engine P-51 kit into my bag. (along with some paint, glue, sanding sticks, masking tape... it's quite a big bag...)

 

I am worried that the Italeri instructions are inaccurate- for example, they call for a loop antenna on the fuselage spine which is clearly absent in the photo below. The paint instructions appear to be wrong- Italeri suggests Light Ghost Gray for the undersides!

 

Here's a picture of the real aircraft in Tunisia in 1943:

 

 

So, a few questions:

 

1) Were the undersides Neutral Gray or actually this very light gray that Italeri suggest in their call-outs?

2) Most profiles and built models depict this aircraft as overall olive drab. To me, the picture suggests a RAF-style disruptive camo pattern? Perhaps I've stared at it too long, but the dark area behind the exhausts and immediately behind the spinner don't look like natural variations in olive drab to me. If that's the case then presumably the undersides are RAF-style too?

I know photo interpretation is pointless, but could anyone confirm if 137332 was an airframe originally intended for the RAF?

 

3) Did this aircraft have a recon camera fitted to the rear deck- i.e. is it a F-6A?

 

Any insights appreciated!

 

Will

 

 

 

[Jure Miljevic]

Hi Will

I checked Joe Baugher's webpage and found the following:

 

MSN 91-11981/12130. For RAF as Mustang Mk IA under Lend-Lease as FD418/FD567.

Many were diverted to meet USAAF needs before delivery to RAF. Those diverted were later replaced from 43-6023/6032, 43-6093/6107 and 43-6208/6232.

37320 (FD418) delivered to USAAF as P-51-1 (later F-6A-NA)

37321/37339 (FD419/437) delivered to USAAF as P-51-2

 

Here is the link:

http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1941_5.html

Not much, but it got me intrigued. Probably someone with better knowledge on the subject will soon drop by and provide more information. Cheers

Jure

Edited December 21, 2016 by Jure Miljevic
missing line added

[warhawk]

Hello Will,

I plan to do the very same machine in 72nd (albeit from Academy box), so have already been digging around a bit...

Here's another good photo:

 

source: Mission4Today

 

Most sources agree that these first P-51s arrived in North African theatre in standard Olive drab / Neutral grey cammo, which then faded and got weathered a lot.

What I have concluded so far from these photos is that the cowling panel with the inscription is a replacement, hence the difference in tone (or even color).

The part of the fuselage between the canopy and the horizontal stabilizer, as well as the top of vertical stabilizer, look repainted rather than another camouflage color, since they show very little weathering.

 

No idea what the dark color under the fuselage star is, though...

 

23 hours ago, Killingholme said:

3) Did this aircraft have a recon camera fitted to the rear deck- i.e. is it a F-6A?

 

You are correct, this aircraft did have a camera installed at some time, although not present in the picture. There were two positions - pointing to the left (a standard rear side window), or to the left and back, slightly protruding from the fuselage (where the window needed to be replaced with a bulged one). I believe the second option is the case here... Which is the only thing stopping me from tackling this kit so far

For more info on cameras and rear windows, please see this topic:

http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=48828

 

Regards,

Aleksandar

 

[Killingholme]

Thanks Aleksandar,

 

yes, it's much clearer side-on. I agree, what I took to be camo demarcations are differences between panels. Solved one problem, but that 'blown' recon window is going to be a bit tricky to make!

 

Will

[Jure Miljevic]

Hi Aleksandar

Which Academy kit do you have, P-51 Mustang North Africa edition? What is it like? I have Academy P-51B and the nose of that kit is not deep enough, much too slim and with incorrect spinner for Merlin engined Mustang. It would probably be easier to convert Academy P-51B into Allison version than to correct Italeri kit's faults, starting with its P-51D wing. Although, at the end, I will probably do both. Cheers

Jure

[warhawk]

Yes, I have the "North Africa" box.

According to THIS review, it has "better accuracy than Italeri’s example and easier build than MPM’s with as much detail."

Haven't checked with the drawings yet, but one detail I like in particular is a little "corner nook" at each side of the cowling (between spinner and exhausts), where a slight clearance for the corner of the engine was needed.

 

On the minus side, the vertical fin looks a bit "squarish" compared to photos (not really a problem to correct), and the canvas detail is awful IMO.

Also, this Russian guy Identified a shape issue with the ventral air duct, but my sources dissagree whether this larger intake was introduced on P-51 or P-51A...

http://scalemodels.ru/articles/720-Academy-1-72-P-51-Mustang.html

He addressed the canvas by filling it in with CA.

 

I also heard that the Jeep is inaccurate, but I don't care. Gave mine away, came here just for the 'Stang  

Aleksandar

Edited December 23, 2016 by warhawk

[Jure Miljevic]

Hi!

Thanks for these information, Warhawk. I checked a Hyperscale review and was a bit surprised as I expected a variation on P-51B theme but, judging by the photos of the trees, those two kits are quite different. Still, rudder ribs and covering look overdone on mine, too (quite similar to A-4B rudder), and, yes, better saddle someone else with Academy Jeep as it is in 1/76 scale and apart from that is a mix of various models. Cheers

Jure

[warhawk]

No problem, glad to be of help.

I have also found this review, which states that Italeri P-51 has the wings from P-51D (?)

http://www.blindbatnews.com/2010/11/italeri-p-51-mustang-1-out-of-box-review/684

 

BTW, is any of you gentlemen willing to do the British version from Italeri kit? If so, I would be interested in buying decals for "Mah Sweet"

Based on my previous experience, i don't trust Academy decals one bit 

Edited December 25, 2016 by warhawk

[Jure Miljevic]

Yes, unfortunately Italeri kit has P-51 D wing. I mentioned this few posts earlier, Aleksandar. I can understand your mistrust of Academy decals, but ˝Mah Sweet Eva Lea˝ is also on my build list, so I am keeping mine. While Italeri decals are better than Academy ones, they still have their shortcomings, for example letters look a bit too bold to me. Perhaps someone has done AM decals for that plane? Cheers

Jure