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Cavalier F-51D 1/72 Airfix


Bedders

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A productive couple of days. After a fair bit of filling and sanding I reckoned that the fin shape was more or less OK.

 

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So i did a couple of other little jobs e.g. created those swept back antennae on the  sides of the fin mounted where the WW2 tail warning radar would have been, and added the rocket stubs (minus rockets).

 

At that point I couldn't think of a reason why not to throw some paint at it. I've no idea what precise colour these were painted so I went for something that a) might have been right at the time and b) I liked the look of. So Xtracrrylix ADC Grey was the choice. This was airbrushed on and followed with a protective hand-brushing of Alclad aqua gloss.

 

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Photos seem to suggest white or very pale grey wheel wells, and maybe the legs too, so I went for that. 

 

Justin

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18 minutes ago, RidgeRunner said:

Just a thought - does the canopy fit over the rear seat? 

Hi Martin, that's a good question! I think the answer is: if the canopy were scale thickness, then yes. But as I'll be using the original Airfix transparency, then no. But it looks about right when compared with photos and I'll be displaying it open anyway...

 

Justin

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Some more progress over recent days, and the finish line is creeping into view. First main job was the leading edges on main- and tailplanes, and fin. I think some of these aircraft lacked the black leading edges, but I had decided to model 67-22581 as this aircraft survives as firstly C-GMUS and latterly as a 'Lou IV' recreation, and it had the black bits when built. I also found some decent photos which have been helpful. So the Tamiya tape gods will hopefully be pleased by the sacrifices involved here.

 

Then it was onto the decals. The photos seem to indicate 25-inch diameter stars and bars, in slightly different locations to normal for a 'real' P-51. On the top of the wing, well inboard and quite a long way rearward, with USAF lettering in a similar position:

 

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But in a more outboard position under the wings.

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So that's what I've tried to copy here:

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I see from this photo that my F in USAF is not completely aligned. Oh well - my tired eyes had had enough! The letters were cut from the U. S. AIR FORCE fin/rudder decal from the Arfix kit, while the serial numbers are incorrect as they are British-style 4-inchers nabbed mostly from an Xtradecal Sea Fury sheet.  But not a disaster in this scale.

 

A second mistake to report is that whilst studying the location of the underwing star & bar, I realised that I should have filled in the 3 underwing ID lights - oops! So rather than fill, sand, repaint etc, my plan at this point is to slowly build up the void using layers of ADC Grey paint to approximately the right level. It won't be perfect, but it'll have to do.

 

Other jobs done include the propeller, which is Alclad polished aluminium with yellow tips on the front, and black without yellow tips on the back. So were getting there!

 

Justin

 

PS does anyone make those drop tanks in 1/72?

Edited by Bedders
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2 hours ago, Bedders said:

 

 

PS does anyone make those drop tanks in 1/72?

Maybe in the Recon version of the Sword P-80.They're the same tanks as installed on the wingtip of the single seat Cavalier Mustangs.

 Shane.

 

Had a nosey and found a pic SWORD-72105-RF-80A-over-Korea-37.jpg

 

 Maybe a tad too long and the shape of the Fletcher tank is almost identical to the P-51's aerofoil,so would need some sanding.

 

 tiptank.jpg

Edited by Gwart
More pics.
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Good info Shane. I had a feeling they might be the sort of thing I need. I'd like to do a T-33 trainer at some point but probably only one of the series as they say those intakes are a pain to fill & sand. So I'll need to get the right boxing if i'm going to have a pair of tanks left for m'Cavalier...

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4 hours ago, Bedders said:

Good info Shane. I had a feeling they might be the sort of thing I need. I'd like to do a T-33 trainer at some point but probably only one of the series as they say those intakes are a pain to fill & sand. So I'll need to get the right boxing if i'm going to have a pair of tanks left for m'Cavalier...

Nice, Justin. On my next F-51D I have used F4U underbelly Tanks with the seams sanded off. Not 100% but they are pretty close. ;). A nice choice of aircraft. I recall seeing C-GMUS in Baton Rouge in 1980. She was still in the FAB scheme at that time.

 

Martin

Edited by RidgeRunner
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Looking fine.  My preferred scheme would be the Cavalier civilian scheme with the cheat line as seen on many pics on line. 

Keep up the good work.

 

By the way, I built a couple tears ago using the original Airfix Mustang. Added a second seat from a dismantled Cessna O-2 tip tanks from a P-80 and my own version of civilain colour schemes ... very fictional but in keeping with the time of the late 1960's early 70's.  Alas no photos or the models now exist.

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After a few touch-ups on the paintwork, a light wash around the control surfaces and into some of the panel lines, and a coat of satin varnish, final assembly took place last night:

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So it's now done!

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More pics to go into the gallery soon.

 

Justin

Edited by Bedders
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Excellent! The tail conversion and the second seat are a real stunner. You built a great model beyond the usual Mustang - very well executed overall.

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Justin,

 

This looks great. I'd like to do one of these too but as a single seater with the Bolivian markings.

 

I have a nearly-finished Airfix Mustang on the go. It took me a lot of time and trouble to carve the canopy sills to get the canopy to contact its rails front and back. You seem to have achieved the same look with a lot less grief. Can you tell us how?

 

Alan

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