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A Laha Casualty – Tamiya F-51K Mustang “F-305” 3 squadron, AURI – 1/72


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I’m pleased to roll out and present to you my latest build, which was intended as a quick space filler between others. In the end she took a bit more effort than I had expected as I discovered the additional features of these machines.

 

The model depicted former Dutch RNEIAF F-51K Mustang “F-305” (ex 44-12754, H-305) as operated by No.3 squadron of the Air Force of the Republic of Indonesia (A.U.R.I.)  around early 1958 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_Air_Force. I chose this machine as she stood out when I purchased the Dutch Decals sheet nearly two years ago. However, upon matching the only image I am aware of her (below) in this colour scheme against the instructions it was clear there were differences – errors. I consulted Max Schep. It was agreed that the scheme, instead of being a single green, was in fact a two-green camouflage pattern. THere is no red nose apart from the sinner. In fairness Dutch Decals allude to this possibility. I then noticed that this aircraft carried the No. Squadron “3” on the fuselage side, believed to have been in yellow. This is not in the Dutch Decals sheet. Note also that the serial and axe are oversize!

 

AURI F-305

Credit; Dutch Decals Sheet

 

Later, while building the model, I saw that there were other differences. Firstly, the decal sheet shows the sharksmouth as having a red interior whereas the photograph clearly shows a very dark colour. You can match the red of the national insignia and it becomes clear. I opted for black as it matches other known black features like the eyes. The greens used for the upper surfaces are unknown too and so I have made a judgement call on what I think they were. Contrary to the decal sheet instructions I painted the undersides as natural metal rather than grey, citing the natural metal surrounds to the serial numbers. With help from other BMers, I chose black as my colour for the cockpit, citing the Dutch Air Force Museum machine as an example.

 

I used an Aires cockpit set that was languishing in a box under my desk 😉. I also had a F-51K prop ready but didn't need it. She needed new rocket rails and so I fashioned these from Plastruct rod using a photo of a machine in the Jakarta museum as a reference (below).

 

20170212_121955

Credit: @Troffa

 

Apart from the above it was reasonably straightforward. I used some aftermarket to spice her up a bit and tried to enhance detail by, for example, drilling out the exhausts. You can see that I dropped the flaps too. The only issue, and it has occurred with all of my seven Tamiya Mustangs, is that the windscreen takes some careful fitting. The wing panel lines were filled with PPP. Other things to change on the Tamiya kit are: 1) deleting the strengthening patches above and below the wings, and 2) modify the main gear doors as they dont sit right when following the kit parts locating positions.  The cockpit set was nice (no rivet counters please). It’s a shame that most of it gets buried!

 

auri8

 

auri9

 

The aircraft is depicted as she was during the troubles in Indonesia in late 1950s, fighting insurgents. This story is best captured here: https://www.dc3dakotahunter.com/blog/pby-catalina-26-invaders-p-51-mustangs-cia-rebel-air-force-attacking-indonesia-1958/. F-305 was damaged on 07th May 1958 during an attack by CIA-supported PERMESTA forces on Laha Airbase.

 

What did I do/use?

1.       Kit – Tamiya F-51D Mustang (54) in 1/72

2.       Decals – Dutch Decals Sheet (72070). The “3” was drawn by @Giorgio N and printed by Arctic Decals. Likewise the replacement sharksmouth was printed from my revised drawing by Arctic Decals too. I used Xtradecal white and black striping for the flap angle indication.

3.       Aftermarket – Aires cockpit set (7074   ), flaps from an Airfix kit (Thanks @rossm)

4.       Paints -  Colourcoats Green Olive Drab (ACUS19), USAAF Olive Drab 41 (ACUS15), Insignia Red (ACUS26) Matt Black and Tyre Black, Humbrol 27002 Polished Natural Aluminium and others. She has a final Satincote finish.

5.       Weathering – Prismacolor Silver pencil, Tamiya Weathering Powders and Flory Dirt and Sand

 

I hope you like her.

 

Martin

 

auri6

 

auri7

 

auri5

 

auri4

 

auri3

 

auri2

 

auri1

 

PS: Yes, I know it has a Hamilton Standard prop. It is correct, ;) despite being a F-51K.

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Martin,

 

Another very nice Mustang from your stable! Very attractive scheme, too! Proud of you for remembering to remove those wing reinforcement straps, which are only found on restored warbirds. If you can, you might want to see if you can re-sit that canopy so it's more tail-down at the back- IIRC, you got it done on a couple of your other builds. (It's the way Tamiya engineered the canopy that causes the problem.) Glad you liked the color slides, and I expect to see one of them as a future build. :like:

Mike

 

BTW- I have to access BM links directly from the website via an alternate browser, as ATT is still blocking any access to BM via their server; I have given up trying to get the asynaptic subcretinous morons who are in their IT customer service to fix the problem, as it is at their end. :angry:

 

Yep- they pretty much replaced the Aeroproducts props that came on the K's with a Hamilton Std. prop, as the Aeroproducts props were reported to have a balance problem that was hard to rectify.  

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6 hours ago, 72modeler said:

If you can, you might want to see if you can re-sit that canopy so it's more tail-down at the back- IIRC, you got it done on a couple of your other builds.

I might give it another go sometime, Mike. I have already bevelled the inner edge but clearly not enough. 

 

Thanks for your comments and your help and guidance regarding the prop ;)

 

Martin

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4 hours ago, SAT69 said:

Very nice and I do like the color scheme!

Thanks mate. It was supposed to have been a simple quick build while I waited for my Su-7 decals to arrive. In the end it took a bit longer! Regarding the decals I see that DP Casper has now released a decal set that covers the same machine but they have clearly copied Dutch Decals’ research! It is a real shame about the DD decal set because they are printed beautifully.

 

3 hours ago, stevej60 said:

Very different take on the Mustang looks superb!

Thanks a lot, Steve :). I’m now considering a second build of a Uruguayan F-51D too - one day! @Ignacio :) 👍

 

Martin

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On 9/10/2021 at 4:51 PM, 72modeler said:

Glad you liked the color slides, and I expect to see one of them as a future build. :like:

Mike

I already built one, Mike @72modeler :) 

 

On 9/11/2021 at 5:29 AM, Wulfman said:

Lovely build, lovely colour scheme !

 

Wulfman

I’m glad you like her, mate @Wulfman. Having had success with the cockpit set etc I think I will pull another Tamiya box of the pile and add a second attempt at the FAU Mustang to my build list :) 

 

On 9/11/2021 at 5:39 AM, Learstang said:

Very nice! I love the P/F-51 in camouflage!

 

Regards,

 

Jason

Thank you, Jason. I appreciate your praise :). I also like the camouflaged machines but they were much fewer in number, sadly. 

 

Martin

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Martin my friend,

 

This is reason why I need to spend more time visiting this site.  You, along with the multitude of other outstanding artists and historians, make it interesting and inspirational to view these works of art.  As always, your overall presentation is superb and always worth the wait.  :like:

 

I am not worthy!!!!! :worthy:

Mike

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13 hours ago, Bobby No Mac said:

Really smart build and an unusual scheme. Everyday is a school day on BM! 🎓

Thank you my friend. Much appreciated.  I love the research as much as the modelling. I have a lifelong following of most things that fly and particular enjoy being around aeroplanes :). Like you I still learn something every day ;).

 

8 hours ago, 72modeler said:

I stand corrected, Martin! How did I miss this build? You've built as many Latin American Mustangs as the U.S. supplied, methinks! :giggle:

Mike

Ha ha, Mike :). It was a while ago and was the second of my more recent batch. The first was FAB-511 in its earlier natural metal guise. I think I will attempt one more Mustang soon too ;). 
 

7 hours ago, Sky Keg said:

Martin my friend,

 

This is reason why I need to spend more time visiting this site.  You, along with the multitude of other outstanding artists and historians, make it interesting and inspirational to view these works of art.  As always, your overall presentation is superb and always worth the wait.  :like:

 

I am not worthy!!!!! :worthy:

Mike

Mike, you are, as always, extremely generous in your comments. I simply enjoy the modelling and the subjects and so suppose that shines through. As my tag line alludes to, I like the unusual and I rarely follow the crowd (maintaining a grimace when I do).  I got your email and will get back to you very soon. :) Thank you.

 

Martin

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18 hours ago, kapam said:

Fabulous Mustang!

Love the colour scheme too!

:clap2::clap2:

Thanks mate. I love it too :). That Tamiya kit, with a bit of correction, can build up to being a nice model :). This is my seventh. 
 

Martin

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Hi my friend! Really good to know from you!

As usual, you made a superb  model!  I'm starting to appreciate these unusual schemes ☺

I'm looking forward to see something of your T-bird...

 

 

Saludos fro m Uruguay!

 

Ignacio

 

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Another fantastic looking Mustang Martin! Very nice finish and fantastic work on the interior.

 

I've built Airfix, Italeri and currently building an RS P-51H, but never tried the Tamiya. Will have to sort that!

 

Terry

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18 hours ago, Ignacio said:

Hi my friend! Really good to know from you!

As usual, you made a superb  model!  I'm starting to appreciate these unusual schemes ☺

I'm looking forward to see something of your T-bird...

 

 

Saludos fro m Uruguay!

 

Ignacio

 

Muchas Gracias, Ignacio ).

 

It is great to hear from you. The T-33 will be along soon, I promise. I have all the parts now and soon I will get the decals printed. :) I have have managed to source a nice flap set from Mike @72modeler too.

 

8 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Another fantastic looking Mustang Martin! Very nice finish and fantastic work on the interior.

 

I've built Airfix, Italeri and currently building an RS P-51H, but never tried the Tamiya. Will have to sort that!

 

Terry

Many thanks, Terry. Yes, that interior set is very nice. I haven’t built the Italeri but I have built a few Airfix Mustangs. Despite its flaws I still like the refinement of the Tamiya. I’m interested to see your P-51H :)

 

Martin

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  • 2 weeks later...
14 hours ago, F-32 said:

Great to see a Stang in this scheme, lovely work

Thanks mate :)

 

8 hours ago, russ c said:

Great looking Mustang there Martin, love the scheme. Really nice work

Thank you, Russ. I’m very pleased with this build :).

 

5 hours ago, loloskymaster said:

Nice build of a rarely seen scheme !

Lolo 

Many thanks. As my signature says, I prefer to keep to the unusual and different. I’ve been putting this one off for a couple of years but I’m glad I finally got to her!

 


Martin

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22 hours ago, Flight Line Media said:

Beautiful Mustang! I love the paint scheme, too. Great work, Martin!

Thanks a lot, mate. I love to try something different :)

 

19 hours ago, opus999 said:

Oh, that is outstanding!  Beautiful craftsmanship and well researched.  Plus it is a unique scheme.  Simply outstanding.

I really appreciate that, mate. In this case the research was limited by the available data, which was very little. I consulted Max Schep, as I said, and the rest was based on my interpretation of the one photo of F-305 in this scheme, and looking at images of other Indonesian Mustangs. I’m pleased with her. 
 

Martin

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