1/18 P51C Mustang "Lopes Hope the 3rd"

[TorbenD 1,759]

If shot with orthochromatic film then any yellow back cushion could easily appear as dark as it shows up in the photo with Don in. 

 

EG This largely bright yellow Gee Bee Z shot in orthochromatic looks almost black 

 

Shot with different type of film...

 

HTH

 

Torben

Edited July 21 by TorbenD

[Radub 2,763]

The "cushion" was placed between the parachute pack and the pilot's bottom. In the first photo above, you can see it as the darker/shiny item betwen  the canopy pack and the pilot's trousers. 
See more photos here: 

https://pilotsmanyourplanes.com/Page_168.html
https://www.historicflyingclothing.com/en-GB/ww2-usaaf-parachute-equipment/usaaf-an6510-1-seat-type-parachute/prod_15512#.XTQcxOj0mUk

The seat pan should be empty in order to make rooom for the parachute pack. The parachute pack neds to fit in the pan for the pilot to sit on it. The Irvin parachute was copied by the Germans, so if you google "Sitzfallschirm" you can find a lot of photos of that cushion. 

HTH 

Radu 

 

 

Edited July 21 by Radub

[Antonio Argudo 369]

There was some kind of cushion  attached  to the seat at least seen in some  "D" models, as these pictures proof and in George Preddy's seat you can see the paint on the bottom preserved by the cushion. 

 

 

Edited July 21 by Antonio Argudo

[Out2gtcha 30,129]

Wouldn't that just be the parachute or cushion attached to the pilots butt that creates that paint wear/effect?

[Antonio Argudo 369]

these are some interesting related pictures 

cheers

Edited July 21 by Antonio Argudo

[Antonio Argudo 369]

7 hours ago, Out2gtcha said:

Wouldn't that just be the parachute or cushion attached to the pilots butt that creates that paint wear/effect?

Hi Brian, the line is so defined  and straight that I'm inclined to think that the cushion had to be fixed  acting like a mask and  was later  striped off to show this effect, rather than a chute that was occasionally put on, also the holes on the base seem to be attach points for it, cheers

Edited July 22 by Antonio Argudo

[Antonio Argudo 369]

this are from a Swiss mustang 

 

[Antonio Argudo 369]

I personally wouldn't  add the lower cushion on your build, you can show some interesting chipping instead,  the cushion  you made has good textures but I think is a bit bulky and oversized comparing to the yellow one, some other interesting pictures here

cheers

Edited July 22 by Antonio Argudo

[MikeMaben 5,328]

20 hours ago, airscale said:

question:

 

 

do you think the cushion is a false lead - as in in the outfit Don is wearing does he look like he would have had a seat parachute, therefore if he got out of the aircraft there would be no cushion?

and note the life preserver / seat back cushion behind him - to me that doesn't look yellow, but is that just a trick of B&W photo's?

 

 

 

Yep , that's an AN7501 cushion , so he's wearing a butt pack chute which means there wouldn't be a cushion underneath him.

(unless maybe he was really short  )

 

 

[Chek 1,688]

It's probably an additional sack of candy, nylons and cigarettes to help get assistance from the locals if he crashes.

The same contents would most likely work the same if he came down in Occupied Europe or Germany too.

[Iain 9,902]

Beautiful work, as usual, Peter!

 

Iain

[airscale 9,358]

hi folks

 

Thanks so much for all your contributions - it's what keeps threads like this alive - we all learn something new about an airframe, and if that happens, I have achieved a purpose in posting

 

I discarded the cushion on the basis the pilot actually sat on a parachute pack which served the same purpose and in some ways I am glad as then the work on shaping the seat bottom can be seen..

 

I amanged to put myself out of action for a few weeks as I sliced my finger - not modelling but drying up a vegetable slicer - what a dumbo..

 

it gave me some time to do some design work that was overdue anyway and as I had been messing about with tiny bits of wire trying to do seat belts, I decided to create a small PE fret of seat belt parts, which ultimately grew as I went through the manual into an A4 fret with all sorts of other useful bits including window framing, gunsight parts, templates for the U/C doors and another set of panels that go around the exhausts as I want to try annealing them to get better curvature...

 

 

..that was about a weeks work...

 

also renewed my Rhino 3D trial and finalised the mainwheel..

 

 

made the gunsight - its some kind of N3 type but not much reference on the net on this particular variant, but I did have a few good Lopes resto shots to base it on..

 

 

 

and I love this shot of the signal pistol - I have the mount in the fuselage wall, but not the pistol or the metal part it mounts to.. - I wasn't going to include it at all as the gun would be too hard for me to design, but had a brainwave that enabled it..

 

 

..and here is the mount..

 

 

..now for the brainwave - it appears 1/18 is the scale of collector soldiers, and a company on the internet does small arms for them so I bought a couple of .357 Magnums for $0.65c each - bit of modification and we have a flare pistol

 

 

..I only need the handle..

 

 

..now for some parts that have been bothering me since I started - seat belts...

 

when I did my Spitfire, they were the parts I was least happy with - made with ribbon, they looked a bit duff if you ask me..

 

after playing with different tapes & ribbon, I tried rolling some lead wire - it worked a treat, but was too narrow, so I cut some lead strips and rolled them out until they were the right size.. the fittings were all PE and it all seemed to work quite well..

 

 

 

 

..they were primed, painted & washed & the paint scraped off the metal fittings - here before the hooking latch was added..

 

 

..in place with the cushion, I am much happier with these than the Spit

 

 

..the cockpit is nearly ready to close up..

 

 

 

TTFN

 

Peter

 

 

[Lothar 1,562]

A mastermind at work..... 

Lothar

[LSP_Kevin 26,744]

Just unbelievable work as always, Peter!

 

Kev

[Out2gtcha 30,129]

Astounding!!