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The British American - 1/48 Mustang Mk.1A

helios

helios

Well-known member
Hey Pup, if this GB isn't actually still open feel free to delete this thread and I can re-open one in Wesendorf Field.

As if I don't have enough irons in the fire, I was gently reminded the other day about a Mustang build we are doing in our local club. To bad it's specifically for the Mustang aircraft, as I've got several of the auto variety to choose from (most of which have been given to me over the years). But I do have 1 Mustang of the air variety on hand...and it's not a common one which is a bonus. Enter the Mustang Mk.1A.

I've got about 6 weeks to complete this one before our June meeting (this month's meeting will be our first in person meeting since February last year). By itself it shouldn't be an issue, but I've also got an A-4G that I've got going w/ a GB deadline of 6/6...so I think the F-100 is going to sit on the back burner for a couple weeks.

Enter Accurate Miniature's 1/48 Mustang Mk.1A. While it's no Tamiya as far as assembling ease, it has very good detail (better than most Tamiya models I've seen) and if my Dauntless is anything to go by, should fit well, if a little fiddly (test fitting of the fuselage halves shows promising fit) due to the extra parts. The kit also comes w/ 2 canopy options, the standard canopy fitted on American razorbacks as well as a Malcom Hood canopy options shown in the art work below. I'll be going with this option for the added uniqueness.

Unboxing
 
I spent about an hour or so fiddling with cockpit assembly while chilling in front of the tv after work yesterday morning. A little more work and the interior should be ready for paint. I'll have to track down some cockpit pics for coloring of some of the boxes behind the seat...though I don't think they will really be visible enough to worry much about. I will say the instructions are definitely from another era.... :lol: Not the most user friendly when compared to modern releases, but workable. It definitely requires a bit of patience and test fitting...but once sorted, things seem to fit well. That said, I did stuff up the location of 1 part, so I'll have to fix that. :smack:

 
Got my stuff up sorted. I fitted the side glass w/ some tape so I could actually get the camera to align w/ the opening. In doing so, I actually ended up mounting the subassembly on the opposite fuselage half that they call for in the instructions. Test fit of the fuselage afterwards shows no interference issues, so it looks like it's game on for now. I'll hopefully have the cockpit painted and fuselage closed up this weekend.

 
Looks good, Chris. I had issues with the radio shelf when I built one of these, as you did. It all fit eventually.
 
Before you close up the fuselage, the kit is missing the armour plate fitted to the seat back. The lower part is 10mm wide and 18mm tall. the upper trapezoid has a 7mm wide base, 3mm wide top and is 6mm high. The trapezoid overlaps the lower by 1mm giving an assembled height of 23mm.

Armour.jpg


The glazing for the oblique camera was usually replaced by a metal panel painted to match the airframe colours.

The kit propeller is the wider Mk II type that did appear on some Mk IA's in late 1944. The standard propeller is narrower with a taper to a rounded tip. Ultracast makes resin replacements for both types and you can see the difference on their site (Ultracast.ca)

When you get to the wings, fill in the recognition lights on the lower wing. They were a US thing and not on early aircraft built for the RAF. Allison engined Mustangs also had the main landing gear doors locked in the up position when on the ground. With weight on wheels, a cable, bell crank and rod system locked the landing gear system. The doors only dropped when the gear was being cycled or during maintenance.

Although a Mk IA was used as the prototype for the Malcom hood installation, very few received the mod. The majority flew with the "Coupe" hood throughout their service (FD472 was one of those). The Mk II's were delivered with the Coupe hood but almost all received the Malcom hood during their service life.

The kit colour schemes are for 168 Sqn aircraft. However, 168 Sqn turned their Mk IA's in in Jan 1944 and reverted to Mk I's. They flew them until Sep 1944 when they received Typhoon IB's and switched to the armed reconnaissance role until the end of the war.

According to RAF records, aircraft FD465 was never issued to an operational squadron. Aircraft FD472 passed from 168 Sqn to 268 Sqn as "M" in Jan/Feb 1944. It was SOC in Nov 1944 when 268 Sqn reequipped with Mk II's after a brief and unsuccessful trial of the Typhoon IB in the tactical reconnaissance role.

The camouflage colours are proper RAF Day Fighter Scheme (Ocean Grey/Dark Green/ Medium Sea Grey) as they arrived in the US equivalent Temperate Land Scheme (Dark Earth/Dark Green/Sky Grey). The spinner and fuselage band are in Sky. The majority of the 268 Sqn aircraft had invasion stripes neatly applied only to the lower surfaces. A few had full stripes applied around the fuselage for missions over the beach head and front lines after a few "friendly" intercepts by USAAF P-47's and P-38's. The upper surface stripes were removed in July.

The aircraft were well maintained and regularly cleaned and polished to get as much speed as possible.

Of course, we all know to fill the wing panel lines, excluding the gun bay doors, fueling panels and fuel tank access panels.

All that being said, you are off to a good start and I won't report you to the Mustang Police if you build it in a way that makes you happy.

Cheers,
Rich
 
RichB said:
Although a Mk IA was used as the prototype for the Malcom hood installation, very few received the mod. The majority flew with the "Coupe" hood throughout their service (FD472 was one of those). The Mk II's were delivered with the Coupe hood but almost all received the Malcom hood during their service life.
Click to expand...

Just to add something since Rich did a great job of information overload! :P
1621088961478.png

The photo shows exactly why I despise color profiles unless I see the image it is based upon.

Regards,
 
Slowly progressing. Should be able to get this one done w/o too much issue before the meeting on the 26...despite me taking off for a week camping between now and then. Nothing too crazy on the cockpit, just base paint, a light wash and some dry brushing w/ aluminum.

 
Ugh, I'm so damn slow. I figured an hour would be plenty of time to put a canopy on and get a bit of work done on the F-100 cockpit. Well, I was wrong. It took me over an hour to put 4 canopy pieces on...and I don't know why. :smack: The parts fit pretty well, I'm just pitifully slow. Anyway, I guess progress is progress. Hopefully I'll be ready for primer at least by the end of the weekend. Work has been getting busy again though, so I anticipate having to work the weekend again.

 
Chris, "I" am the one that is slow! Taking your time to properly fit parts, especially clear parts is not being slow but doing due diligence. :bigrin:

So far so good on the build, keep up the good work!
 
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