Small Scale Military Headquarters

I didn't see this posted here, and I thought you all might like to see it. I thought it was pretty neat, and from what I can see in his pics looks like he did a decent job converting this to a -B mustang. He also got a nice price for his work.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=019

Yeah, that was me that got it. My main concern is that in some of the photos, their appears to be an obvious colour difference between the original P-51 and the work he added. But in some photos it doesn't show up.

At any rate, I figure that now BBI or someone else will release one to TRU for $30 and with the correct wing profile also!!

That's OK, it wont be the first time I took a bullet for the team.

I really like his F-5!

chunks wrote:Yeah, that was me that got it. My main concern is that in some of the photos, their appears to be an obvious colour difference between the original P-51 and the work he added. But in some photos it doesn't show up.

At any rate, I figure that now BBI or someone else will release one to TRU for $30 and with the correct wing profile also!!

That's OK, it wont be the first time I took a bullet for the team.

Hey chunks. By "Wing Profile" do you mean the wing dehedral thing? Just curious buddy. Thats one thing that really sticks out to me about BBI's Mustangs is the lack of a wing dehedral which does bother me a bit.

If you look at it in plan view, you'll notice what today would be called leading edge extensions at the wing root where the leading edge cranks forward. The earlier 'stangs didn't have them, they were straight from tip to root.

Regards

Don't misunderstand me, I'll think it'll be great or I would not have bid. If anything all I'm saying is I'm aware of some of the things that could not be modified without a total rebuild or from scratch.

Good job on scoring that custom, Chunks. It looks beautiful! You'll have to give us a review with some photos when you get it. That guy's work looks top notch.

Congrats on winning that custom, it does look like a very nice piece. I too would be interested in a review with photos when you receive it. The guys work does look "top notch" as pokeyjtc says.

I'd be glad to. In fact it already appears that my initial views on the wing plan was wrong!! After looking at several photos, it's unclear to me when the leading edge changed from straight to cranked, but it's correct for this one.

Hey Chunks congrats on your win. But a note to you buddy and thats that the 352nd didnt wear the VF B fuslage code. I believe those were worn by the 4th FG you may want to change that. Thats just a heads up. The guy did a great job though and again congrats on winning it.

MM

MightyMustang wrote:Hey Chunks congrats on your win. But a note to you buddy and thats that the 352nd didnt wear the VF B fuslage code. I believe those were worn by the 4th FG you may want to change that. Thats just a heads up. The guy did a great job though and again congrats on winning it.

MM

Thanks, I'm sure other things like that will show up also.

$530!One expensive custom there. But it his very nice work!

I think that is a good piece of work there

"Blue Nose Bastards of Bodney" 352nd FG
328FS PE
486FS PZ
487FS HO

You could have the blue nose sprayed red for the 4th FG 336FS.

Nice score!

Rogue wrote:"Blue Nose Bastards of Bodney" 352nd FG
328FS PE
486FS PZ
487FS HO

You could have the blue nose sprayed red for the 4th FG 336FS.

Nice score!

Thanks for the info!! 'ppreciate it.

The only thing about the 4th though I dont think they applied the Red Noses until they recieved the P-51D. I could be wrong on that. If they did apply the red nose to their B model Mustangs it was only around the ring of the nose. I will have to check on that.

MightyMustang wrote:The only thing about the 4th though I dont think they applied the Red Noses until they recieved the P-51D. I could be wrong on that. If they did apply the red nose to their B model Mustangs it was only around the ring of the nose. I will have to check on that.

Thanks, let me know what you fine.

Regards

Ok, here we go. I'd like to give a review, as has been requested, but given how this showed up it will be a difficult job, it's taken some time to figure out how to present this.

It looked like a real good effort. The stabs were loose in the box, which then proceeded to mess up the finish, big time(foil, not paint) and tear the canopy off. Given that, it still looks more like a practice session then a final product.

However, I'm still confident that taking this bullet will result in FOV or someone else having this available for $30 at walmart, TRU, or whareever, shortly. When that happens, this one will be retired to work and replaced by the other.

Sorry to hear that, especially considering the price. Could you redo it with silver spray paint and some good masking? I'd still like to see some pics despite the damage. I'm curious how he did the conversion.

The real question is how he made the canopy. Was it vacumed or just a bent piece of plastic? A head on shot of the canopy in the photo shows that the canopy's frame has a little sag in it. Does the swing up access canopy open? How is the turtle deck finish to the top of the fuse ? Did he get a good finish ? Did he match the panel lines? A silver finish is one of the hardest thing to do. It shows up ALL of the imperfections. Maybe that is why he used the foil?

The conversion involved no compound curves, with one exception, more on that later. The fastback appears to have been made my removing the existing decking about 1/2 inch in front of the stabs forward to the cockpit. For the new decking imagine taking a piece of paper (tho in plastic for this) and folding it without creasing to form an inverted U with one end smaller than the other. Kinda like a half cone. Fit to the missing deck area. There is a very noticeable step and angle change at the join. The cockpit is made up from flat clear plastic with the frames represented by the same type of silver foil. This foil also hid the gaps between the pieces. It does not open. The only compound curve is a small clear piece that joins the top of the canopy to the flat top of the windscreen, that transition is what appears as a sag in the photos.

I'll try to get photos up, but I'm not sure when that will happen.