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

[kitbasher]

Any aircraft that has the radiator below the fuselage seems to "look like a Mustang".

Viz and MB5, of any variation.

I once had a guy at a show say 'Is that a British built Mustang then?' when looking at an OOB 1/72 scale MB5 built as the prototype! 

I have a CA-15 that I intend to do in US service, just to mess with people's heads.

Then do another as the prototype MB.5?

[sandiego89]

Fuselage complete and wing join



added a bit of span to the horizontal stabilizers









Primer on





Rescribed some panel lines

[DeeBob]

Wow, that looks really good- I think I may find myself putting one together thanks to you!

[zenrat]

Looking good Dave.   

[Gondor]

That is looking good.

[NARSES2]

That is looking good.

Indeed    But for some reason my brain still can't deal with just how big she is

[DogfighterZen]

 

[frank2056]

It looks good! The lengthened fuselage and new wings make it look like an updated/upgraded P-51 (which it is, sort of)

[sandiego89]

Did gray primer, lightly sanded, then black primer as sprayed natural aluminum shows every imperfection.  Hmmm, it looks great in black.....

[Rick Lowe]

 

[Mossie]

One of these on has been at shows on the UK What If SIG table. The guys were grinning at my multiple attempts to fathom what was going on. I could see it was 'wrong' but couldn't work out what on earth that wrongness was.

[PR19_Kit]

One of these on has been at shows on the UK What If SIG table.

I think that's one of OGL's but could be wrong of course. It certainly 'looks the part' to confuse the JMNs as well. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Looks sleek! 

[sandiego89]

Paint on

Rattle can rustoleum aluminum over gray, then black primer.  All hardware store variety.  Have not set up my airbrush yet in my new home- it is in a box....somewhere..... 



I also decided to make up the Matchbox P-51D as a companion and for comparison. 

stock Matchbox D on left, half Twin Mustang on right



the belly radiator scoop on the twin mustang is more forward than the D. 

[sandiego89]

P-51E (half a Twin-Mustang), Yomiton Airfield, Okinawa

Backstory:  In the fall of 1944, the anticipated performance of the P-82 Twin Mustang, with its lengthened fuselage and impressive range figures was impressing the USAAF.  While the P-51D had impressive range, it was uncertain which bases would be available for the final assault on the Japanese home islands. USAAF planners asked North American if a single fuselage version of the Twin Mustang could meet range requirements, at a cheaper price and less complexity of the Twin Mustang.  A proposal to mate a P-82 fuselage with the high power, Allison V-1710, onto the P-51D wing was quickly accepted and an order was placed in September 1944, for the P-51E, with first flight in January 1945. 

The Kits:
1/72 Monogram F-82, 1973 mold, 1975 new box
1/72 Academy P-51D, 1988 tool.