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1/24 Airfix Mustang IV, post-war RCAF


RZP

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With the discussion around the old 1/24 Airfix kits, and Charlie's fabulous Spitfire Mk.I build below, I thought I would present my attempt at their almost 50-year old kit of the Mustang. Some of you will have seen it elsewhere, and I apologize. Mine was started four years ago, and it's getting close to completion. These old kits are still impressive for the amount of detail they included, and disappointing for what they omitted. The Airfix P-51D/Mustang IV is still easily the best foundation for a 1/24 model of the Mustang. Trumpeter's attempt was an enormous disappointment, although better fitting and finely detailed, it doesn't matter when most of it is inaccurate. The major problems with the Airfix kit are the lack of dihedral on the wings, the complete lack of anything in the landing gear wells, the too-long landing gear legs and the somewhat anemic shape of the nose. Most of these shortcomings have recently been corrected by fabulous aftermarket parts by ModelMonkey. There is a now set of brass gear legs from a chap in the States, and the Airscale instrument panel is stunning and a must. 

 

Of course, all of the aftermarket improvements except the instrument panel were not released until after I had scratch-built all of my own corrections! These kits will absorb as much work as you are willing to put into them. I had never scratch-built anything before, so it has been a slow but satisfying experiment. I learned a lot about the Mustang, in particular the modifications made to RCAF Mustangs in the process, and learned many new techniques for other projects. I also lost my fear of altering and improving parts, or making new ones. Although, there were a lot of, 'Oh crap, what the hell have I done!" moments. 

 

So, I started with the kit, Waldron 1/24 P-51D placards ( I would kill for another set!! ), the Airscale P-51D instrument panel, and the RB Productions USAAF seat harness. The rest was a lot of plastic card, aluminum tubing, solder wire and swearing. The decals were a combination of an ancient sheet of RCAF roundels from Can-Force, and the rest had to be designed and printed by me on decal paper. The RCAF Mustang stencils were a unique combination of North American Aviation instructions, and RCAF additions. I learned a lot about post-war RCAF markings!!

 

I hope people won't mind me sharing the progress photos that were taken during the build to date.

 

Richard

 

This is what I hope to achieve...soon:

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The first area to tackle was the wheel wells. I created a spar with double-thick card, and the roof of the wells from thin card on the wing top parts. The ribbing was added with a lot of fettling, and reference to the Tamiya 1/32 kit and photographs. I added detail to top and bottom wing parts, and the result was sandwiched together, and more small details added.

 

The start:

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Stringers and ribs added:

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Paint and wiring and plumbing:

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Almost finished:

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Next were the landing gear parts which needed improvement. The inner gear doors were not very convincing, so they were built up with laminations of card, sanded, shaped and filled with Milliput and Tamiya putty, detailed with Archer resin rivet decals.

 

The start:

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Closer to the finish. One primed and ready for paint, one detailed, and I left a kit part from the box as a comparison in the top left corner. Not perfect, but better to my eye:

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Same method for the landing gear covers, and the tailwheel well and doors:

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Gear covers with the cardboard templates at the top, and the finished door at the bottom:

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Looks fantastic  so far, you have posted your initial post twice.

Great work the U/Bay and doors look fantastic,  got one of these in the summer on a visit to the Battle of Britain  collection in Hawkinge.  Looking forward to seeing this progress. 

Chris

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Thanks for the kind words Chris.

 

I just saw that I've double-posted. I'm not sure how to delete the other one, I'll try to contact an admin.

 

Richard 

 

 

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The landing gear itself needed to be shortened by 1/4" or 5/16", taken from the oleo portion between the collars. I was concerned about the flimsiness of the legs after adding a fair bit of weight in extra parts in the fuselage and on the wings. I replaced the main leg with aluminum tubing, and slid a smaller diameter tube in to replace the oleo. The bottom part is white metal taken from the SAC gear set. The scissor links were the kit parts thinned and carefully drilled out, and care was taken to offset the scissors, and hand them left and right. I attempted to build new scissor links from stretched sprue, wire and left over photo-etched parts but that didn't go very well. Once the tires/wheels are attached I will add the brake lines at the bottom. 

 

The legs...the kit leg as provided on the left, a completed leg in the middle, and the starboard leg in progress:

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RCAF Mustangs were equipped with tires that had circumferential tread, which of course were not available in 1/24 scale. I ordered the Grey Matter oval tread wheels/tires, filled the tread with Milliput and Tamiya fine putty, sanded them down and then rescribed the new tread pattern. If I was smart I would have made rubber molds of them so I could cast more for later. 

 

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I was given one of these by a friend a few years ago and have completed the cockpit but was put off starting the wings by having to build the wheel wells, but you’re making it look relatively easy. Perhaps I’ll resume after I finish a 1/32 Spitfire Vb I started a couple of years ago.

 

John

 

PS excellent work on the tread pattern. I’ve seen pictures of Mustangs with different tread patterns on each wheel so perhaps some ‘ artistic license ‘ could be used.

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Oooooo the work on the U/C legs is phenomenal,  great work and the tyres too

 

John

43 minutes ago, Biggles87 said:

Perhaps I’ll resume after I finish a 1/32 Spitfire Vb I started a couple of years ago.

You said it now to a wider audience , your committed now!!! 😉

 

Chris

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8 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

I was given one of these by a friend a few years ago and have completed the cockpit but was put off starting the wings by having to build the wheel wells, but you’re making it look relatively easy. Perhaps I’ll resume after I finish a 1/32 Spitfire Vb I started a couple of years ago.

 

John

 

PS excellent work on the tread pattern. I’ve seen pictures of Mustangs with different tread patterns on each wheel so perhaps some ‘ artistic license ‘ could be used.

Thanks so much John!

 

It wasn't difficult to do the wheel wells, but it was a lot of time and trimming, and dry-fitting. I used the wingspar template from the old old Patrick Stephens book. Of course on my next one I'll just use the set from ModelMonkey, which looks spectacular. I could never approach the detail that he's incorporated into his set. 

 

https://www.model-monkey.com/product-page/1-24-p-51d-p-51k-and-mustang-mk-iv-wheel-well-inserts-for-airfix-kits

 

The tires on the RCAF Mustangs were very standard, so I couldn't get away with mismatched treads. I could do that on my next one though, a Mustang IV from 303 Squadron in 1945.

 

Richard

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Next up was the cockpit. When it was released in 1972 it must have seemed fabulously detailed. I was impressed with how much they did include, although it was not as sharp as we expect today. It was clear that Airfix did examine a real Mustang, unlike Trumpeter. That being said, there is lots of scope to refine and add more. The Waldron placard set for the 1/24 P-51D was gorgeous, and I wish I could find another...for almost any price. The tiny instructions on the placards were legible under a magnifying glass! 

 

However, inserting all the tiny sections of wire to represent toggle switches was not my favourite part of the build. 🙂

 

The kit seat was a weird hybrid of the Warren-McArthur seat, and the metal Schick-Johnson seat. Both were used in late production Mustangs, and the one I was building had the Schick-Johnson. Once again, it was cutting and fitting plastic card and tubing to create the proper seat.

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The armour plate in late Mustangs was extended higher to protect the pilot better. I had to add a section of card, and replaced the headrest cushion and added the associated radio equipment behind the plate.

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The cockpit floor in the kit is curved, which is not correct. I replaced the floor with thick card, built a new well for the control column, and added details like the fuel gauges in the floor, the fresh air control, the relief tube and the canvas cover under the seat. 

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The cockpit sidewalls were taken apart and reassembled with new stringers. I added the map-case and gun storage on the port side. The floor console on the port side was taken apart, with the trim wheels cut off and refined, and the moulded on landing gear handle removed and replaced with a section of landing gear from a 1/72 scale kit. Again, the Waldron placards just make the finished parts pop.

 

Map case and report folder added, with the cockpit sill replaced.

 

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Trim wheels, and flap handle and upper control box

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The control console was widened with a layer of card, and then detailed with all the bits from above. The Waldron placards made me very happy!

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Pretty much everything in place:

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One of my favourite bits, and a little insane...was the flare cartridge bag. The kit version looked like a hot dog bun, so I sculpted one from Milliput, and for the zipper, I used a photo-etched 1/72 machine gun belt meant for First World War aircraft. 

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Superb work! I just love to see these old Superkits being spruced up, and this is looking amazing.

 

I've learnt something too. I've been scratching my head for ages wondering how to replicate the zipper detail on the canvas lining of the 1/24 Bf-109E wheel wells I've been tackling. I never would have thought of using 1/32 WW1 ammo belts, but it looks the biz. Problem solved!

 

Steve

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17 hours ago, fightersweep said:

Superb work! I just love to see these old Superkits being spruced up, and this is looking amazing.

 

I've learnt something too. I've been scratching my head for ages wondering how to replicate the zipper detail on the canvas lining of the 1/24 Bf-109E wheel wells I've been tackling. I never would have thought of using 1/32 WW1 ammo belts, but it looks the biz. Problem solved!

 

Steve

 

They are loads of fun (and work) but I think worth the effort. 1/24 is a bit of a curse...because they are so large you can put in as much detail and work as you are willing. At the same time they are so large you NEED to put in as much detail and work as you can. 

 

Glad I was able to give you an idea that could work. That's the beauty of these in progress threads, I've learned so many ideas and techniques from builds by other modellers that I can incorporate into mine. Once you get over the fear of building or modifying parts from scratch almost anything is possible. I think 3D printing will make that even easier!

 

Richard

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More on the cockpit. This is the Airscale P-51D instrument panel, painted with additional knobs, switches and placards. It really is worth every penny, and the instructions are very clear. Like I said, adding the tiny wire toggle switches was a chore, but makes it come alive.  Much more convincing than the kit panel! 

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A view with everything in place:

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The gunsight needed some refinement and beefing up. I added the lenses on the top which project the pips onto the glass. They were slices of plastic tubing which were then filled with drops of Future dyed green. The "NO HANDHOLD" was from the Fundekal sheet, it's meant for 1/32 scale but it worked. The reflector glass was a bit thick but I'll live with it.

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The signals fit in the later Mustangs was changed to the SCR-695, so I built one with card and photoetch added to a spare radio box. The addition of the SCR-695 set required the battery to be moved to the engine compartment, on a rack in front of the firewall. You can tell this modification has been done on Mustangs by the small vent added to the port side of the engine cowling, just above the leading edge of the wing root.

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Richard

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The version of the boxing I used thankfully had the later Hamilton Standard prop without the cuffs. The blades were a bit thick, so had to be sanded down to a thinner profile. The openings for the props in the kit spinner were round and fit tight against the blade shaft. For the Hamilton Standard arrangement, the openings had to be bigger, more peanut-shaped, and at a slight angle. With some careful cutting and filing I got something that looked better. 

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And the finished unit (the tiny black cap at the very tip was added later):

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Oh my word,  that cockpit detail looks amazing what a fantastic job, love the zip too, great idea and the prop and spinner looks absolutely ace.

 

You mention the wing spar dimensions are in a book, please can you confirm the book details as I think when funds allow I had better get a copy even if purely for the wingspar. 

Thanks

Great work 

Chris 

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1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said:

Oh my word,  that cockpit detail looks amazing what a fantastic job, love the zip too, great idea and the prop and spinner looks absolutely ace.

 

You mention the wing spar dimensions are in a book, please can you confirm the book details as I think when funds allow I had better get a copy even if purely for the wingspar. 

Thanks

Great work 

Chris 

Thanks so much Chris!

 

The wingspar template was from an old Patrick Stephens publication from 1973, "P-51 Mustang, Classic Aircraft #3: Their History and How to Model Them", written by Roy Cross and Gerald Scarborough, with Bruce Robertson. It is still a useful book, even if the conversion and modelling techniques are dated now. 

 

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Don't know if this would be helpful, but I made templates of the parts for the wheelwell, with a scale to adjust when printing on a photocopier. I could send you the image by email. It's crude and hand-drawn, but could be a start. There was a fair bit of sanding and dry-fitting to get it all together. 

 

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Cheers,

Richard

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16 minutes ago, RZP said:

Don't know if this would be helpful, but I made templates of the parts for the wheelwell, with a scale to adjust when printing on a photocopier. I could send you the image by email. It's crude and hand-drawn, but could be a start. There was a fair bit of sanding and dry-fitting to get it all together. 

 

Wow, Thanks Richard that is brilliant I have printed out and will use, very kind fella.  I will be fine using that I am sure.  Might still look out for the book when funds allow. 

Thank you very much

Chris

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The instrument panel is amazing, as are the trim wheel/knobs.

I also have that P-51 book and had forgotten about the wingspar so I’ll dig it out of the pile when I’m ready to resume. As you say, although dated the series is still very useful, I have most of them, bought in a second hand bookshop in the ‘90s. I still regularly  use the Spitfire volume as one of my references. 

 

John

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