John1

BTW, don't know if you need references for the rear crew stations but a guy on the FB Tracker page posted a couple of nice pics. https://www.facebook.com/groups/170958172924626/

Thank you very much, those pics are fantastic and pretty much answer all my questions.. Disappointing that I'll have to toss some of that nice Barracuda resin and build those avionics units instead. Any idea which radio setup was more common in Korea? The ARC-3 or the other one? Looks like the IFF was standard (along with the control panel in the cockpit which shouldn't be that hard to replicate). That RF-51D I posted above appears to have the BC-453 radio installed, along with something else fitted between it and the pilot's armor plate. Regarding those radiator cooling vents - those I was never aware of. Anyone know if the Tamiya D/K kit has these? I don't think I'd be able to replicate them.... Also, are they on both sides?

The info in this thread is truly fascinating. Had no idea that those early RLM colors were so prevalent on late-war aircraft. I am specifically curious about the Ar-234. It was mentioned above that many (all?) of those jets were finished in these early colors. However, the NASM, who typically does a good job of researching their subjects, painted their jet in 81/82. Did they miss something or was this particular jet actually painted in late war greens? Same goes for their Do335.

I wonder if that was just as dangerous? If as mentioned before, the bombday doors blew out on impact, I would imagine the force of the incoming water would blow out the aft bomb bay bulkhead as well. PBS (Nova) just did an episode on a just discovered B-24 that ditched in the Med. Everything aft of the cockpit was in really good shape, everything forward was just a jumbled mess. Worth watching if you have "on demand" cable. The B-24 in question was the TulsAmerican, the last B-24 produced at that facility.

From what I've read, almost always, the crew in front were typically killed during ditching. Can't imagine what it would be like ditching a Lib on open ocean. That test was done on a glass calm river. Doesn't get any better than that. The Lib is a beautiful bomber (IMO) but she definitely wasn't as rugged as the B-17.

No worries at all! Thanks for taking the time to help, it's greatly appreciated. John

Looking good. I think you made a good decision going with the repaint. Don't worry about the appearance of "2-tone" green. Honestly, folks aren't convinced that there ever was a 2-tone scheme and right off those pics as just artifacts of shadows and lighting, same as your picture. Keep up the good work!

You're gonna love this kit! I'll be following your work closely. I know you said you are building it stock but if you have any interest in some really nice aftermarket decals, head over to Fundekals and check out their offerings. Great work so far on the cockpit!

Nice! When are we finally going to get a new tool Saber series?????

Nice work Andy. Saw your posts on ARC originally, glad to see you are still at it. That interior is awesome!

Man, that flight sim thread you linked is a huge treasure trove of details on all the post-war modifications made to these Mustangs (and apparently their were quite a few). However, without the pics, it does little from a modeling standpoint. Can anyone provide further details (ideally with pictures) on what the radio / battery configuration should be for a Korean War F-51D and (ideally) what needs to be done to the Tamiya kit to get there? I've got the Barracuda aft cockpit set, gonna be a shame to hack that up but it sounds like it will need to be done.

Hey Chuck, Great minds think alike. I'm right behind you, just trying to wrap up my Corsair. Ziggyfoo's linked threads should help. Those AIM's decals are the only ones out there (that I've been able to find). They are nice (no idea how well they will go down) but still a bit lacking. For decent HAVR's I plan on buying the sprue from the Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair kit and probably the decals since they have very details stenciling markings for those rockets. Other than those items, you should be good to go (unless you need to add a black box or two in the cockpit, on that I have no idea). The Tamiya D/K kit comes with appropriate drop tanks to use as Napalm bombs (gonna paint mine that garish yellow color that was often used). Only other things you'll need to decide on is whether to putty the wings or not and whether to go with an upgraded overall black cockpit or leave it in the original WW2 spec green. I'm still not sure I fully understand those issue, will be doing more research when I get closer to starting this project. Despite these details, for me the hard part is going to be replicating the "beat to ****" appearance of these aircraft. Faded natural metal and covered in dirt and grime. I'm not sure my finishing skills will be up for the challenge. Here's a good example I posted elsewhere. I'm going to be struggling with that finish. No shiny chrome paintwork on this one, like you see on so many other models. Good luck, post plenty of pics. I'll be taking notes.

the 3 rules cardinal rules of an aviator - Always look cool Never crash If you do crash, at least try to look cool

Dead calm, trained test pilots and the aircraft still catastrophically failed. Now I see why the Lib had such a horrible ditching survival rate.

I can’t imagine any WW2 vintage Corsair had this armor removed. For that matter, given the headrest was attached to it, even post-war, when the USN removed a lot of the armor plating, I’m guessing this piece remained.