P-51E, half a Twin-Mustang. *finished*

[DeeBob]

Hey, when this is done you can use the leftovers for some sort of insane, asymmetrical Mustang derivative that engineers from Blohm and Voss knocked up in operation paperclip....

[sandiego89]

Unboxing the Academy P-51D, crisp mold.  She lost her belly radiator for the intake on my jet-augmented P-61 Black Widow. 



Now for some fuselage comparisons.

The P-51D is in gray

The Twin Mustang in Silver, quite a bit longer. 

[sandiego89]

Egads, Frank2056 is correct, the Monogram kit of the P/F-82 is pretty rough, with raised panel lines that would likely be 4-5 inches in scale! Lots of sanding in my future. 

That's true, but it's a kit of its time, and it's outline accuracy is very good. 

[/quote]

Great to hear! Good thing you and I enjoy these inexpensive 1970's kits! 

[Charlie_c67]

Looks to be thinner as well? Or is that an optical illusion?

[Leading Observer]

Apologies for being late to the party, but would the wings from the P-75 Eagle work?

[Captain Canada]

Excellent ! Congrats on retirement and the move ! Glad you're back in the whiffing fold now. Looking forward to seeing more of this build !

[perttime]

Oh, I fear the stock P-51 wing will really look small - and not enough wing for high altitudes.
Time to mock up some wing options?

With the two F-82 fuselages, you could make a low altitude one with a small wing (with a torpedo?) and a high altitude one with a longer wing. A bit like Ta 152C and H.

[sandiego89]

Suregery commencing.

Regarding the wings, the profile of the wings of the P-51D and the F-82 do look quite similar, but the F-82 does not have the inner kink. Perhaps it was essentially a H outer wing?  I have amended the backstory to placate the naysayers, ahhh constructive comments, that called for a longer wing.    "The USAAF was satisfied with the medium altitude capabilities of the P-51 wing and worried a revised high-altitude wing would delay production...." 

The wings in comparison:





Now for the test fit





awkward, or elegant? Maybe both!  ha

[DeeBob]

Looks damn good I say, looks fast! When I see RW aircraft with ungainly proportions it always makes me think that there must have been a serious dedication to function to end up with that form, and the same applies here.

[frank2056]

Looks good - it reminds me (just a bit) of the Fisher P-75A

[jcf]

Looks good.
Interestingly P-51E was originally assigned to the Dallas built P-51Ds, it was changed to P-51K.

[NARSES2]

Looks good - it reminds me (just a bit) of the Fisher P-75A

I can see where you're coming from

[PR19_Kit]

Regarding the wings, the profile of the wings of the P-51D and the F-82 do look quite similar, but the F-82 does not have the inner kink. Perhaps it was essentially a H outer wing? 

It was indeed, from what I read anyway.

[Rick Lowe]

That doesn't look out of place, comparing it to the Fw-190D... it has the same sort of almost-needs-more-wing-but-still-works-look.

And yes, congrats on the retirement and move. Hope the house sale goes smoothly. 

And I meant to say; when you come to use the Academy Mustang fuselage, remember to cut the exhaust stacks down by one per side... they're 7 long, not 6

[zenrat]

How about that.  I had always assumed a Twin Mustang was just that.  Maybe I should make one from two Mustangs, take it to a show and see if anyone notices...