11bravo Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Looking for something a bit different than just another ETO P-51D, I opted to build a Korean War era F-51D. Differences between a WW2 spec Mustang and a Korean War version varied from aircraft to aircraft but in general - "cuffless" Hamiliton Standard props, additional radio equipment aft of the pilot's seat, provisions for 6 5" HVAR rockets on underwing stub fittings and (in some but not all cases), a locked down tailwheel. From a painting standpoint, I learned that many of these Mustangs were actually painted Matt Aluminum during refurbishment, instead of being left in natural metal. At the same time, many had the cockpits painted black. One thing that attracted me to the F-51D was that unlike in Europe where these aircraft were cutting edge thoroughbreds, in Korea, they were expendable "bomb-trucks" that often flew 4-5 times/day. As such, most of these Mustangs were absolutely filthy. Here are a couple of examples of the real thing, I used these as guides for my weathering: Below, note the scratched "USAF" which was from foot traffic during the rushed re-arming process. And one of the the cockpit. This is an unrestored F-51D, note the heavy weathering and patchy black finish. Here is the finished model. It's the Tamiya P-51D/K version. Aftermarket bits include Barracuda resin wheels and cockpit bits, Quickboost resin propeller blades, Brian Fawcett resin HVAR launchers, donated Tamiya HVAR's and for decals, Barracuda's awesome cockpit placard set, Print To Scale's F-51D set and Fundekals P-51D stencils. All the radio gear in the back and many small odds and ends were scratchbuilt. Cockpit: And the finished kit: And for those that are curious about my "colorful" napalm tanks, I got my inspiration from this: Thanks for looking! 47 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorty84 Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Hi, I've been following your build on LSP and you really put a lot of effort into it to create an accurate Korean War Pony. Came out great 👍 Cheers Markus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 That really is something special,...... well done mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binbrook87 Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Fabulous. The weathering is sublime 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky Keg Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 This is an outstanding replica of the famed Mustang during a lesser known timeframe. You did a great job at research and the results are absolutely beautiful. I congratulate you for this masterpiece!!!!!! Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busnproplinerfan Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 So if you see a Mustang in this scheme at an airshow it's all wrong and should be a dirty mess. This looks great, glad you have good colour pictures of the real ones. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanfrandragon Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Love the quality of the build, the weathering and attention to detail. Great photos too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Lime Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Jaw-droppingly outstanding! Just superb in every way. Mark. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 That's exceptional. Great to see wear and tear and weathering so faithfully reproduced. It's an excellent use of good references and skilled modelling. Well done 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 That's fantastic work, absolutely brilliant 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmerboy Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Stunning in every way, masterpiece! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 A model that's breathing 'real'! Also a humbling lesson in how to apply research to construct a model that looks true to the original, and tells the viewer something of the circumstances it was deployed under. Superlative modelling from all respects. Kind regards, Joachim 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Marvellous Mustang ! A weathering master class ! Superb modelling. Wulfman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 So very nice, so realistically weathered! Fantastic scale modeling! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Awesome work--Best, Erwin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11bravo Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 Thanks very much guys. I had a family member who served in Korea as a US Army 2nd LT. He was stationed on the front lines as a Forward Observer. It's quite possible that he might called in "Butchie" at one or more times for close air support. Not sure why I didn't post a full build log here, I shall do so on my next project but if anyone is interested in all the research and minute details on this project, the build log is over at: https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/80450-forgotten-war-mustang/ Thank you again for all the great feedback! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11bravo Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 11 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said: So if you see a Mustang in this scheme at an airshow it's all wrong and should be a dirty mess. This looks great, glad you have good colour pictures of the real ones. I came across pics of other F-51D's that were much worse off than "Butchie" but I didn't have the courage (or skills) to weather my Mustang to that level. These workhorses really did have the crud kicked out of them! Thanks very much for the compliments! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busnproplinerfan Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 1 hour ago, 11bravo said: I came across pics of other F-51D's that were much worse off than "Butchie" but I didn't have the courage (or skills) to weather my Mustang to that level. These workhorses really did have the crud kicked out of them! Thanks very much for the compliments! As they say,less is more, doing as much as you can is good enough. Strange(well maybe not) what was once the hot ride is now the beater. Just look at Constellations and Cadillacs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habu12 Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Love the napalm! Reminds me of FosChek. And it’s all dirty! Love it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairtrigger Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Inspirational... Research your subject and add outstanding modelling skills ..😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Superb ! really nice Mustang there 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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