¹⁄48

Edmonton Special

introduction

The P-51 Mustang was an accidental success. Produced in great haste for the RAF, it was nearly an also-ran until North American's fantastic airframe was matched with Rolls Royce's superlative Merlin engine. The resulting aircraft outclassed all other contenders throughout the remainder of the war, equipped many air forces in the immediate post-war period, and served well into the 1980s in many South American nations. Mustangs are highly prized by warbird collectors and air racers and thrill many thousands of airshow spectators up to the present day.

the model

This is an RCAF Mustang IV that I just completed. I used the ICM 1/48th Scale Mustang IV kit to depict a machine from 442 Sqn, RCAF. I added tape seat belts to the interior and the canopy frame cross-member had to be scratch built since the one in the kit broke. These particular P-51K's had the louvre nose vents so I made new ones out of sheet stock and installed them after the perforated vents had been filled in and sanded. The plane was painted in the ANA paint equivalents of the RAF dayfighter scheme and this consisted of Olive Drab, Gunship Gray and Light Gull Gray. 90 gallon paper drop tanks from the spares box were used to depict the larger tanks carried by these Mustangs. Lastly, Aeromaster Decals were used to depict the "Edmonton Special" from 442 "Caribous" Squadron, RCAF. This particular squadron participated in the raid against the Channel Islands following VE-Day. All in all this was a fun build and the ICM kit builds up into a nice rendition of the vaunted -51.

Construction-wise, the kit went together very well. Just some minor flash and the usual sink marks to deal with on the wings and fueselage. The louvres on the nose vents were the only modification to the model to make it a true 442 Squadron RCAF Mustang. ICM uses a pretty hefty mould release agent so the plane does require a nice detergent bath before construction to keep the paint and glue from falling off at a later point in time! Other than that, generally a fun build and it turns into a pretty nice rendition of the Mustang. I took a photo of a spare 1/48th K-model I had in the stack showing the original "cheese grater" vents on the cowling. The second shot shows a close-up of the new louvres. Essentially, I filled and sanded the "cheese grater" vents on the kit. I then took four strips of sheet stock and placed them over the original vents. I then sanded the four pieces to get the sloped shape of the louvre vents.A wash of Future Floor Wax mixed with black paint was then applied to shade the louvres to give them depth. Not sure at what point in the production line these Mustangs got them but I found great B&W photos of 442 Sqdn. K-models with these style vents fitted.

This build is respectfully dedicated to all those RCAF crews who took it to the Axis with "Speed and Angels".