North American P-51D Mustang Model

1. Introduction
1.1. Aircraft
North American P-51D Mustang
One-of-a-kind carrier-capable evaluation variant of the famous World War II fighter.
U.S. Navy. Serial number 44-14017.
USS Shangri-La (CV-38), sea trials, November 1944.

1.2. Story
In 1944, when the USAAF initiated the bombing raids against the Japanese Home Islands from the Marianas, the lack of escort fighters became a concern. One of the solutions under consideration was to launch fighters from the U.S.Navy's aircraft carriers located closer to Japan. However, no naval fighter had enough range (that is, without putting the carrier in danger of a retaliatory strike from the Japanese land-based aircraft). The only fighter which seemed suitable was the North American P-51 Mustang. The Mustang, however, was not a naval aircraft – it was designed without regard to the specific requirements peculiar to naval operations. Nevertheless, due to urgency, it was decided to modify a standard P-51D and investigate its suitability for carrier operations. Under the name "Project Seahorse", this program saw the outfitting of the P-51D serial number 44-14017 with a catapult hook, an arrestor hook and a number of other internal modifications to make the airframe withstand the extra stress. In September and October 1944, simulated carrier landing tests were conducted on one of the Navy's land bases (NAF Mustin Field) by Lt.Elder, a test pilot with experience of carrier-suitability trials with other types of aircraft. Enough data was amassed to go to the next stage: live carrier operations at sea. The USS Shangri-La, a newly-launched Essex class carrier undergoing her shakedown cruise, was selected. On 15 November, Lt.Elder made 25 landings and launches from the Shangri-La. Although these went well, it was clear that the landing parameters left too small a margin for safety (most worryingly, the margin between stall speed and maximum arrestor cable engagement speed was only around 12km/h). The whole process was simply too unforgiving for line pilots.
By early 1945, the islands of Okinawa and Iwo Jima were conquered. Their airfields provided the USAAF fighter units with bases from which they could escort bombers to mainland Japan. Thus the navalized P-51 was no longer needed, and the program never went any further.

1.3. Model Kit
P-51D Mustang from Airfix (kit # A01004), 1:72 scale.

2. Kit Overview
The Airfix Mustang, first issued in 2012, is a very good kit. It is accurate, well engineered and quite decently detailed – you can build a respectable model out of the box without buying any additional after-market detail sets. Good fit, easy assembly and adequate instruction deserve praise. And a special "thank you" goes to Airfix for giving us the flaps as separate parts. The enclosed decal, while not spectacular, is quite passable. Last but not least, the kit is inexpensive.
Photographs of the kit's content can be found inside the reviews referenced on the respective page at Scalemates.

3. Construction
3.1. Building

For me, this was one of the rare builds where, firstly, the aircraft itself is very simple in terms of shape and the amount of visible details (no insane tangles of stuff in the landing gear bays, no visible radial engine to be detailed, no intake or exhaust channels to build from scratch, etc.), and, secondly, the model kit is both well-detailed and well-engineered. Thus, not much additional work was required. My modifications included:
 1) Scratch-built catapult bridle hook and arrestor hook to represent the carrier-capable Mustang in accordance with available photographs.
 2) New main wheels from a resin set (produced by CMK). The kit's wheels are not too bad, but they have diamond-shaped tire thread, whereas the photographs of the "44-14017" show a different (square) thread pattern.
 3) A number of small scratch-built details, such as the gun camera window; the gunsight reflector glass; the tailwheel bay door hinges; the small poles inside the ventral intake and exhaust channels; the caps that covered the machine guns barrels (according to the available photographs).
 4) Clear navigation lights, including red and green wingtip lights and clear dorsal and tail lights.
 5) The radio aerial that, most inconveniently for us modellers, runs right through the transparent canopy.

3.2. Painting & Markings
According to available historical photographs, the "44-14017" was a standard natural metal-colored P-51D without anything in the way of special markings. On my model, therefore, everything (including the cockpit interior, the landing gear, etc.) is painted as it would have appeared on any standard factory-fresh P-51D.
The national insignia decals and some technical markings came from the kit, and the serial numbers I had custom-printed.

3.3. Presentation
Obviously, the only proper way to showcase the unique carrier-capable variant of the Mustang is to present it on a carrier deck. Thus my little vignette is replicating a historical photograph where the "44-14017" is getting ready to take off from the deck of USS Shangri-La.
The flight deck crew figures came from a couple of very old sets (Fujimi, Italeri), and the pilot's figure is the one included with the Airfix kit.

4. Reference Data
[1] General information on the P-51 Mustang in Wikipedia: link
[2] P-51 Mustang in Action | Aircraft in Action Series # 211 | Squadron/Signal Publications, 2004.
[3] P-51 Mustang Walk Around | Walk Around Series # 7 | Squadron/Signal Publications, 1996.
[4] "Project Seahorse" – information and photographs: link

Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat Model

1. Introduction

1.1. Aircraft

Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat

Carrier-based fighter (information in Wikipedia)

U.S. Navy. VF-9 squadron.

USS Ranger (CV-4), off the coast of Morocco, November 1942.

1.2. Story

An F4F-4 Wildcat of Fighter Squadron Nine sits aboard the USS Ranger somewhere during November 1942. The flight deck crewmen finish the process of unfolding the Wildcat's wings, preparing it for flight. At that time Ranger was a part of a large naval force assembled for the Operation Torch, an Allied invasion of the North Africa during the World War II.

1.3. Model Kit

F4F-4 Wildcat from Arma Hobby (kit # 70047), 1:72 scale.

2. Kit Overview

This is one of the best 1:72 scale model kits that I have handled. Its accuracy is superb. The kit requires neither aftermarket items nor any scratch-building. This is the first time that I see an 1:72 model kit that, out of the box, does not need any additional detailing in either the cockpit or the landing gear or the engine. The comprehensive multi-color instruction booklet also deserves praise.

In regards to the plastic, some minor issues – as I see it – are as follows:

 - The wing halves, when joined, result in a very thick trailing edge that will need addressing.

 - The panel lines are a bit too subtle / too shallow.

 - The manufacturer could have provided us with transparent parts for external navigation / position lights – these would have been very easy to mold in plastic and would not have required more material than, say, the plastic machine gun barrels that are included in the box. Alas, hardly any model kit company would do this very simple thing.

The low point of this kit is the enclosed decal. At first glance, the decal is accurate and generous (10 marking options in total). Unfortunately, a serious problem pops up when you actually try to apply the decal: it is very stiff, it refuses to properly adhere to curved surfaces (such as the curves of the rear fuselage spine) and refuses to "sink into" recesses even when treated with decal setting solutions.

Photographs of the kit's content can be found inside the reviews referenced on the respective page at Scalemates.

3. Construction

3.1. Building

When building my model, I made the following modifications worth listing:

 1) The Wildcat has a very interesting and unusual way of folding the wings – a uniquely Grumman's design. I wanted to showcase this by presenting the wing in the process of being unfolded by the flight deck crew. To model this, I have attempted to use a resin aftermarket set produced by CMK. This set has good detail, but suffers from poor fit and poor sizing, so that eventually around half of the set's details had to be modified or re-created through scratch-building. This was the most tedious of all modifications, but it was "self-inflicted", since the kit, of course, could very well have been built with both wings unfolded.

 2) Arma Hobby has designed an excellent rendition of the Wildcat's immensely complicated landing gear and the respective fuselage compartment. All key elements are provided in plastic. They were quite right not to attempt to replicate an impossible tangle of tubing and wiring that is also present in this compartment on a real Wildcat. I have tried to add at least some of the tubing, but despaired: nothing more could be done in this scale.

 3) On a real Wildcat, you cannot look into one of the lower fuselage windows and see right through to the other window because the central fuel tank is in the way. There is no need to replicate the fuselage interior fully, but at a least a shape resembling the tank should be installed to block this "see-through" effect on your model.

 4) Machine gun barrels were made from thin metal tubes, and a sketchy imitation of the gun camera window was added (left wing leading edge).

 5) Trimmer push rods were imitated for the elevators, the rudder and the left aileron.

 6) At the aft end of the fuselage, some details were added to show the arrestor hook head and the catapult holdback attachment point.

 7) Painting the solid plastic red or green or blue to imitate the navigation / formation lights is unacceptable, in my view. Therefore, all lights had to be done from clear plastic. These include: a) red and green wingtip navigation lights; b) clear blue formation lights on the upper sides of both wings; c) clear blue and clear white lights on top of the fuselage. In addition to this, there is an opaque white light at the aft end of the fuselage. The wing-mounted clear landing light is provided for in the kit.

 8) Dorsal wire aerial was imitated. Note that there must be no wires (shown on many drawings) between the fuselage sides and the horizontal stabilizers of an operational carrier-based Wildcat.

3.2. Painting & Markings

My Wildcat wears the standard Blue Gray over Light Gray U.S.Navy color scheme of the period (good historical photo showing this color scheme: link). The aircraft involved in the Operation Torch had a yellow outline around their fuselage and lower wing national insignia. At that time, the Wildcats of the VF-9 from the USS Ranger still had their full squadron codes on the fuselage sides. This is the photograph of the "9-F-12" that I have replicated: link. The national insignia decals came from a generic sheet produced by Techmod, and for the squadron codes I used the kit's decals.

The Arma Hobby's instruction booklet provides good and detailed painting guidance. However, at least one thing needs correction: most of the subject matter experts have, by now, came to the agreement (e.g. look for comments from Dana Bell) that the cockpit interior color on the F4F-4 was Bronze Green and not Interior Green.

3.3. Presentation

My F4F-4 is shown positioned on the carrier flight deck. The crewmen finish the process of unfolding the plane's wings, preparing it for flight (the Wildcat's wings were folded and unfolded manually, one after another; the ailerons, with the wing folded, always pointed upwards).

As to the crew figures, to get the desired poses and attire, I had to combine torsos, legs, arms and heads from several old sets – Fujimi, Hasegawa, CMK and Airfix.

4. Reference Data

[1] General information on the Grumman Wildcat in Wikipedia: link

[2] F4F Wildcat in Action | Aircraft in Action Series # 191 | Squadron/Signal Publications, 2004.

[3] F4F Wildcat Walk Around | Walk Around Series # 4 | Squadron/Signal Publications, 1995.

[4] F4F Wildcat in Detail & Scale | In Detail & Scale Series # 65 | Airlife Publishing Inc.