Mountain Models P-51D Mustang "Dolly"

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

Shortly after getting into rc I picked up a vintage Cleveland P-38 made in 1942. To prevent myself from destroying it I decided to try my hand at a more moderm model first, so I picked up a P-51 from Mountain Models.
I'm already pretty far along in the process, this is where I'm at.

I picked up a graphics kit from Callie Graphics, this one is going to be the Mustang "Dolly" from the Planes of Fame collection. "Dolly" is the plane that inspired me to get more involved with aviation and volunteer at Planes of Fame. I pass her every Saturday on my way to work on the Flying Fortress.

 

[mach1 rc]

Shortly after getting into rc I picked up a vintage Cleveland P-38 made in 1942. To prevent myself from destroying it I decided to try my hand at a more moderm model first, so I picked up a P-51 from Mountain Models.
I'm already pretty far along in the process, this is where I'm at.

View attachment 150181

I picked up a graphics kit from Callie Graphics, this one is going to be the Mustang "Dolly" from the Planes of Fame collection. "Dolly" is the plane that inspired me to get more involved with aviation and volunteer at Planes of Fame. I pass her every Saturday on my way to work on the Flying Fortress.

View attachment 150182

Cool project!!You work on the flying fortress that's awesome.👍

 

[Turbojoe]

Subscribed! I'm a HUGE Mountain Models fan but have never been much into warbirds. I do have one of these Mustang kits in my large stash of spare N.I.B. Mountain Models kits. Because of this kits attention to detail a few guys have gone to extremes in scale execution. One guy even made a retractable tail wheel among many other really amazing scale details that seem almost impossible at this size.

Joe

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

Subscribed! I'm a HUGE Mountain Models fan but have never been much into warbirds. I do have one of these Mustang kits in my large stash of spare N.I.B. Mountain Models kits. Because of this kits attention to detail a few guys have gone to extremes in scale execution. One guy even made a retractable tail wheel among many other really amazing scale details that seem almost impossible at this size.

Joe

I'm really liking how well the Mountain Models kits go together, I'll definitely be trying out some of their other kits. I just wish they had a Grumman TBM!

 

[Turbojoe]

While Brian doesn't have the Grumman TBM he does have the Grumman F6F Hellcat. It's a Mike Molt design. I've built a few of Mike's designs and they're amazing.

Joe

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

While Brian doesn't have the Grumman TBM he does have the Grumman F6F Hellcat. It's a Mike Molt design. I've built a few of Mike's designs and they're amazing.

Joe

Might just have to build my own then...

 

[Turbojoe]

There are TONS of plans out there for download. Might be a fun build for you.

Joe

 

[buzzbomb]

Shortly after getting into rc I picked up a vintage Cleveland P-38 made in 1942. To prevent myself from destroying it I decided to try my hand at a more moderm model first, so I picked up a P-51 from Mountain Models.
I'm already pretty far along in the process, this is where I'm at.

View attachment 150181

I picked up a graphics kit from Callie Graphics, this one is going to be the Mustang "Dolly" from the Planes of Fame collection. "Dolly" is the plane that inspired me to get more involved with aviation and volunteer at Planes of Fame. I pass her every Saturday on my way to work on the Flying Fortress.

View attachment 150182

I clicked on the pic, so I could see the magnified version. Holy cow! That's an amazing amount of complicated work, just on the internal structure! Just beautiful. "Dolly" is two seater Mustang? Was she a trainer?

 

[Jackson T]

That's awesome! I wouldn't mind doing warbird restoring one day for a job, how would someone get started?

I'm thinking of building a PC 21 in a similar fashion to your Mustang, how big is the radius of the rear turtle deck? Curving the sheet around is my biggest unknown as of now for the PC 21.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

I clicked on the pic, so I could see the magnified version. Holy cow! That's an amazing amount of complicated work, just on the internal structure! Just beautiful. "Dolly" is two seater Mustang? Was she a trainer?

It looks complicated, but Mountain Models does a great job with their instructions and it goes together easily. Dolly was originally a single seater that fought in the Pacific, Planes of Fame has converted a few of their planes to two seaters for practical reasons, it makes it easier to transport personnel to airshows. Their P-38 is a two seater too.

That's awesome! I wouldn't mind doing warbird restoring one day for a job, how would someone get started?

I'm thinking of building a PC 21 in a similar fashion to your Mustang, how big is the radius of the rear turtle deck? Curving the sheet around is my biggest unknown as of now for the PC 21.

Keep up the good work!

Usually you need an A&P to work restorations at most museums, PoF lets non-mechanics work on parts of the B-17 like radios and the interior that aren't flight related.

As for the rear turtledeck it starts at about 2.5" diameter and tapers down to about 1.5". I usually lay a sheet of paper over what I'm trying to turtledeck and trace out the shape on that, then use the paper as a template to cut the piece I need.

 

[Jackson T]

What's an A&P and a PoF? That's a good idea with the paper. How thick is the balsa on the rear turtledeck? Did it feel like it wanted to break, or could it go further?

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

What's an A&P and a PoF? That's a good idea with the paper. How thick is the balsa on the rear turtledeck? Did it feel like it wanted to break, or could it go further?

A&P is an Airframe and Powerplant license required for all aircraft mechanics. PoF is Planes of Fame. The balsa on the turtledeck I believe is 1/32", it's about the consistency of really light poster board. Wet it with water and it's really pliable, it's more likely to rip then snap.

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

New England played Kansas City today so I didn't get much done, but I did start covering the fuselage. I decided to do it in several pieces because I've never covered a plane before and some of the compound curves under the Mustang can be difficult. I'm covering with Monokote, it's a bit heavier of a covering but I really like it so far.

 

[Turbojoe]

I'd be VERY careful with that Monokote! Aside from being heavy on a plane this size if you use too much heat the shrink rate can easily distort and even crush the structure. I'd be especially careful on the wing.

Joe

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

I'd be VERY careful with that Monokote! Aside from being heavy on a plane this size if you use too much heat the shrink rate can easily distort and even crush the structure. I'd be especially careful on the wing.

Joe

Thanks for the tip

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

I'm probably going to start working on the electronics tomorrow, but the instructions aren't very clear on how to install the motor. Does anyone have any advice? I have a C-pack radial lying around and was hoping there would be some way to use it in this.

 

[Turbojoe]

The Mustang kit was designed back when the GWS stick mount geared motors still ruled the hobby. GWS is gone now and outrunners are the norm. You can get outrunner stick mounts and they're cheap. It took a lot of searching but I finally found some specs on that "Radial" motor on Banggood. On 3S that motor is capable of 2.5+ times thrust to weight ratio! There IS such a thing as too much power. I'd shoot for around 100 watts on 2S to keep the weight down. War birds already have high wing loading. You don't want to add any unnecessary weight.

Joe

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

The Mustang kit was designed back when the GWS stick mount geared motors still ruled the hobby. GWS is gone now and outrunners are the norm. You can get outrunner stick mounts and they're cheap. It took a lot of searching but I finally found some specs on that "Radial" motor on Banggood. On 3S that motor is capable of 2.5+ times thrust to weight ratio! There IS such a thing as too much power. I'd shoot for around 100 watts on 2S to keep the weight down. War birds already have high wing loading. You don't want to add any unnecessary weight.

Joe

Thanks for the help! Maybe an A-pack motor might be a better idea?

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

I'm running into a very distinct problem with this kit- some of the components this kit was designed for are discontinued or not really used anymore, i.e. the motor and retracts. I'm going to give an FT A-pack radial a try, it may even be a bit too powerful but it's light enough. I'm using a 35a esc to run it with a 10' prop.
The biggest issue I've run into are the retracts. The kit was designed around the old Great Planes blue .10 size retracts, however Great Planes changed the design? The retracts I bought are the same ones currently listed on MM's website, but they don't fit without substantial modification. After about a whole day's effort I managed to get one installed, but I had to butcher the mount with a Dremel and sand down virtually the entire retract to do it. Not particularly enjoyable and the end result looks sketchy but if it doesn't work I guess I could always just use fixed gear. I do like the GP retracts though- they're smooth and it doesn't look like getting them to work should be too difficult.

 

[Turbojoe]

I'm running into a very distinct problem with this kit- some of the components this kit was designed for are discontinued or not really used anymore, i.e. the motor and retracts. I'm going to give an FT A-pack radial a try, it may even be a bit too powerful but it's light enough. I'm using a 35a esc to run it with a 10' prop.
The biggest issue I've run into are the retracts. The kit was designed around the old Great Planes blue .10 size retracts, however Great Planes changed the design? The retracts I bought are the same ones currently listed on MM's website, but they don't fit without substantial modification. After about a whole day's effort I managed to get one installed, but I had to butcher the mount with a Dremel and sand down virtually the entire retract to do it. Not particularly enjoyable and the end result looks sketchy but if it doesn't work I guess I could always just use fixed gear. I do like the GP retracts though- they're smooth and it doesn't look like getting them to work should be too difficult.

As I said earlier the old GWS stick mounted geared motors are long history but shouldn't be an issue if you use an easy to find outrunner stick mount. Ditch that heavy 35 amp ESC!!! You shouldn't need more than a 15 amp ESC at most. Also the retracts specified in the manual are again long history GWS items NOT Great Planes parts. I used GP10 retracts when I built the FireStorm prototype for Brian. They are far too big and heavy for the little Mustang. You're working with an old kit that requires parts that are no longer available. You're going to have to be creative in your search of today's parts to work with a yesterdays kit. For me that's not a negative but 90% of the fun of building an old kit. Be VERY careful with how you power this bird. If you overpower it your maiden flight will most likely be your maiden crash. Stick with or maybe even think a touch lower than the 100 watts per pound rule. Be mindful of the A.U.W. as well. War birds have high wing loading to begin with. Don't add any weight if you can help it.


Joe