WiP +++ 1:72 Vultee P-52B Vanquisher USAAF 336th FS, 4th FG; Debden (UK), 1944

[Dizzyfugu]

After the Me 351 kitbashing the next one is already in the pipeline. Mojo is flowing, as well as putty, so that I proceed with the next messy project that has been lingering for some years in the back of my mind.

Stay tuned. 

[Rick Lowe]

<Popcorn Emoji> 

[Dizzyfugu]

Here we go. As an introdution I must say something about the original idea behind this build - it was inspired by a Vultee Vengeance in Brazilian markings, which made me wonder about an American export fighter during WWII, something like the Vultee P-66 or Curtiss Demon, but later and with more oompf. The Vengeance's profile spawned the idea of a land-based F4U, because it's inception and development would fit my intended time frame. And as a de-navalized version it could have been much simpler - esp. with "straight" wings. So the original concept was an early F4U with P-47 wings and landing gear.
However, the more I thought about it the less plausible that became. Vought only did naval aircraft, and I did not find the whole thing convincing enough, including the export-only idea. So, the project lingered for some years, and I had already stashed away two(!) Birdcage F4Us as donors, as well as a P-47. But it was not right yet... Until I revisited the vengeance and thought: "Why not make the thing a Vultee aircraft, the 'better' P-66 that never was?". As an alternative to the early P-47A, which was not very convincing and rejected by the USAAF?

That was a better concept, and from there the work started for an ETO aircraft in late 1944 - the Vultee P-52B "Vanquisher"!

Work started with the fuselage, a Hasegawa F4U-1 (actually the -2 kit for the early night fighter, but it just has some extra parts), but being a Vultee aircraft I wanted to get away from the F4U looks, for a more independent design around the R-2800 engine. While retaining the basic hull structure I deciced to change the cockpit in two ways: moving OOB tub and windscreen/hood further forward (much like the XF4U prototype) and lowering the spine for a different, heavily framed canopy with extended glazing, reminiscent of a P-38 or a Mitsubishi A6M).


1:72 Vultee P-52B 'Vanquisher'; aircraft 'VF-K' of the USAAF 336th FS, 4th FG; Debden (UK), late1944 (What-if/kitbashing) +++ WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

More coming soon...

[NARSES2]

Looking forward to this one Thomas.

[Dizzyfugu]

...and there's immediately more to show. 

In parallel to the fuselage I worked on one of the major challanges, the wings and esp. the landing gear. The aerodynamic parts all come from a DZI Donetsk Toy Factory Vultee Vengeance, a rather basic kit from ~1970, and in this case the more recent ARK Models reincarnation. I really love Vultee's odd trademark wing shape, but the Vengeance wings could not be directly used - the span is too wide and as a result the wing roots too deep. A logical solution: cut away span at the wing/hull intersection. This created another problem, which I'd have tackled, anyway: the landing gear's track width would not work anymore, but I'd get rid of the Vengeance's rotating/backwards-retracting landing gear, anyway.
So I cut away the OOB fairings and filled the resulting gaps with 2C putty. Once dry the span was reduced by ~0.5" per wing - not much, but it has great impact, and the aircraft's proportions were good again.


1:72 Vultee P-52B 'Vanquisher'; aircraft 'VF-K' of the USAAF 336th FS, 4th FG; Debden (UK), late1944 (What-if/kitbashing) +++ WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Vultee P-52B 'Vanquisher'; aircraft 'VF-K' of the USAAF 336th FS, 4th FG; Debden (UK), late1944 (What-if/kitbashing) +++ WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

In fact, the slender sickle-wings match the cleaned F4U fuselage surprisingly well, and the look "fast"! From the lower wing halves new wells were cut out for a conservatve inward-retracting lang gear arrangement (the guns in the wings will be moved further outside, so it's plausible), with the help of new covers that I found in the scrap box, because the whole landing gear has to be scratched for the new arrangement. Not 100% certain about their origin - my guess, due to the material: leftover Me 309/609 parts from a HUMA kit. The Vengeance's air brakes on the wings had to filled/PSRed away for the "new" fighter aircraft, too.


1:72 Vultee P-52B 'Vanquisher'; aircraft 'VF-K' of the USAAF 336th FS, 4th FG; Debden (UK), late1944 (What-if/kitbashing) +++ WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

More to come soon...

[Gondor]

I like the idea and the execution so far. Keep at it as it looks good 

[Dizzyfugu]

Well, I have a "vision" for the thing. 

[Rick Lowe]

Interesting. 

[Dizzyfugu]

More to show! Fuselage halves have been closed, the F4U's fin cut off and replaced with the shortened part from the Vengeance. Wings have also been mounted - the fit surprisingly well into the Hasegawa kit's respective holes in the fuselage, after I cut off the dorsal area between the Corsair wings (the Hasegawa kit has a single lower wing section as part) and glued it into place. The spine behind the relocated cockpit has also already been cut away, bridged with a styrene piece from the scrap box, and roughly PSRed into general shape.


1:72 Vultee P-52B 'Vanquisher'; aircraft 'VF-K' of the USAAF 336th FS, 4th FG; Debden (UK), late1944 (What-if/kitbashing) +++ WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Vultee P-52B 'Vanquisher'; aircraft 'VF-K' of the USAAF 336th FS, 4th FG; Debden (UK), late1944 (What-if/kitbashing) +++ WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Here the spine has already been fine tuned, and the glazing dry-fitted. The OOB F4U-1/-2 birdcage canopy has been cut into two sections, the new rear comes from an Airfix Fw 189 (part for the open "tail" for the rear gunner).


1:72 Vultee P-52B 'Vanquisher'; aircraft 'VF-K' of the USAAF 336th FS, 4th FG; Debden (UK), late1944 (What-if/kitbashing) +++ WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


...and at this point a fundamental solution had to be found: the R-2800's oil coolers! The F4U has them in the wing roots, but in the case of the P-52's inward-retracting landing gear and rel. thin wings this was not an option. I also considered one or two ventral "ducts", but these would have killed the more or less elegant lines - so I eventually located the oil coolers into the cowling, using an Italeri F4U-5 cowling ring (hence the dark blue styrene color) and then sculpted bulges ("hamster cheeks") with putty, the airflow would exit through the original cowling's flaps. Looks more Corsair-ish than intended, but it was the most plausible solution.


1:72 Vultee P-52B 'Vanquisher'; aircraft 'VF-K' of the USAAF 336th FS, 4th FG; Debden (UK), late1944 (What-if/kitbashing) +++ WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The new main landing gear has also been mounted. The Me 309 covers were cut into two pieces, for a P-51-ish arrangement. The main struts come from a (horrible!) Academy MiG-21F, with extra bits from a Me 262. As already mentioned, the wheels will come from the F4U. The tail wheel well has been shortened since there is no more need for the arrester hook, and I used the Vengeance's tail wheel, with covers scratched from styrene sheet.

More coming soon...

[Dizzyfugu]

And even more to show. Painting phase started, and this became a bit complex. The plan is to adapt USAAF 336th FG unit markings - from a P-51 - to this very different aircraft, and in a specific post-D-Day time window. At that time American aircraft were already delivered in NMF only, but AFAIK some P-51 and P-47s were post-camouflaged with olive drab on the upper surfaces, probably to protect aircraft on the ground at their bases. Additionally we have Invasion Stripes as quick ID markings at that time, and these were subdued quickly, at least from above, too, what creates some interesting paint schemes. And this P-52 model is supposed to "unite" all this!

Paintwork therefore started with an overall spray coat with White Aluminum (Duplicolor acrylic) from the rattle can, after the canopy had been mounted and protected with Maskol. That initial "primer" coat revealed a surprisingly good surface finish after so much PSR on combinations of unlikely kit parts.


1:72 Vultee P-52B 'Vanquisher'; aircraft 'VF-Q' of the USAAF 336th FS, 4th FG; Debden (UK), late1944 (What-if/kitbashing) +++ WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

A look underneath shows the new landing gear and offers a look into its wells: they received an interior made from plastic inserts from cookie blister inlays! Was a late addition, after the wings had been "closed", and pressing the parts into the openings was a fiddly affair - but worth the effort because they hide the rather ugly and messy rest behind them...   The "radiator cheeks" are also visible in this shot, a ventral pylon (for a drop tank), the exhaust stubs (from the Vengeance kit) as well as a display holder implant behind the wings.


1:72 Vultee P-52B 'Vanquisher'; aircraft 'VF-Q' of the USAAF 336th FS, 4th FG; Debden (UK), late1944 (What-if/kitbashing) +++ WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

[kitbasher]

Interesting.

Hints of Blackburn Firebrand, with a slight whiff (geddit??) of Firecrest.