Mustang: F-51, A-36, F-82, Cavalier, and Piper PA-48 Enforcer

[kitnut617]

Zac,
Nice article on doing this in 72nd scale.  Should be able to use the info for 48th.
http://hsfeatures.com/features04/enforcerpd_1.htm

and depending on how good your German is (or German to English translator), here is a write up on converting the exact same kit you have.
http://www.modellversium.de/galerie/8-flugzeuge-militaer-modern/3388-piper-pa-48-enforcer.html

Heritage Aviation has just released a 1/48 conversion to do this:
http://www.heritageaviationmodelsltd.com/cavalier-turbo-mustang-111-29-p.asp

[elmayerle]

    I don't remember where I got this, but it's supposed to be a real proposal for a Reno air racer by John Crocker, IIRC.

Hmm, definitely interesting looking and he drops that one-piece wing a fair distance.  I wonder how something similar with an R4360 and the aft fuselage of an F-82 would look?

[Just call me Ray]

I wonder how something similar with an R4360 and the aft fuselage of an F-82 would look?

Well here are some interpretations

[GTX]

Some of those are starting to look a bit like the Boeing XF8B:



Regards,

Greg

[Just call me Ray]

Some of those are starting to look a bit like the Boeing XF8B

Not an accident. In fact I was somewhat tempted to say that it would probably end up looking like an XF8B (or an XP-72, essentially a P-47 with a Wasp Major). Both aircraft were used as templates when I redid the F-82.

[kitnut617]

Considering that the Boeing XF8B is twice the size of a Mustang, I think the engines shown in the profile are a bit underscale to the Mustang fuselage.  I would think you would need to compare the Mustang to a radial engined Fw.190 to get something to look like the profiles, these aircraft being close to the same size.  I can't remember where I read this, but wasn't the BMW engine a licenced copy of a smaller American radial.

[jcf]

Considering that the Boeing XF8B is twice the size of a Mustang, I think the engines shown in the profile are a bit underscale to the Mustang fuselage.  I would think you would need to compare the Mustang to a radial engined Fw.190 to get something to look like the profiles, these aircraft being close to the same size.  I can't remember where I read this, but wasn't the BMW engine a licenced copy of a smaller American radial.

BMW license built the 9-cylinder P&W Hornet A, and a modified 'metric' Hornet as the BMW 132, the BMW 801 was a home grown 14-cylinder twin row engine.

http://www.enginehistory.org/German/BMW/BMW801.pdf

Jon

[jcf]

Merlin (two-speed supercharger)
Length: 71"
Width: 29.8"
Height: 43.0"
Weight: 1,450 lbs.

R-4360-4W (Single-stage, variable speed, water injection as used on Martin AM-1)*
Diameter: 52.5"
Length: 96.75"
Weight: 3,413 lbs.


*The Goodyear F2G-1 used a similar engine, the R-4360-10 used in the Boeing XF8B-1 was 130.75" long.
Jon

[GTX]

A real world oddity that falls right into the "what an obvious idea" category - a single F-82B was converted into a photo-recon RF-82B in the late '40s:

In flight trials:




Pod in construction:



With an without pics:




Might add it to the list of "To be built" ideas and do a fully operational one.

Regards,

Greg

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Looking at the shape of that camera pod from below I can not help but notice how similar in shape it is to the center section of the P-38 Lightning.  What if you used those parts from a smaller scale or same scale P-38 as your pod?  There are several P-38 kits available that have the camera section as a build option so it might make it much faster to replicate by taking this approach. 

[famvburg]

      Not sure where you got your info, but it's not quite twice the size of a Mustang. Maybe 50% bigger, but nowhere near 200%. 37' span compared to 54' & 32' length compared to 43'.

Considering that the Boeing XF8B is twice the size of a Mustang, I think the engines shown in the profile are a bit underscale to the Mustang fuselage.  I would think you would need to compare the Mustang to a radial engined Fw.190 to get something to look like the profiles, these aircraft being close to the same size.  I can't remember where I read this, but wasn't the BMW engine a licenced copy of a smaller American radial.

[kitnut617]

      Not sure where you got your info, but it's not quite twice the size of a Mustang. Maybe 50% bigger, but nowhere near 200%. 37' span compared to 54' & 32' length compared to 43'.

I've compared my models is where I got the info and twice as big only makes it 100% bigger 

[dy031101]

Some recent rumours about the possible revival of the PA-48 in response to a US requirement for a light attack fighter has gotten me wondering- rather than looking for Mustang airframes in storage for conversion, would it have been more expedient to find a company that makes two-seat, full-size replica of the Mustang and then to base the new PA-48 on the replica?

That is, if there is a company that builds such replicas- all replicas that I've actually heard of have been sub-scaled ones......

[famvburg]

       Without trying to give a math lesson, I think if you multiply a number by 200%, it is the same thing as multiplying by the number '2', as in 'twice the size'. Multiplying a number by 100% gets you nowhere. 50% bigger would actually be 150% bigger than original.

      Not sure where you got your info, but it's not quite twice the size of a Mustang. Maybe 50% bigger, but nowhere near 200%. 37' span compared to 54' & 32' length compared to 43'.

I've compared my models is where I got the info and twice as big only makes it 100% bigger 

[famvburg]

     IIRC, the PA-48 had very little in common with the P-51D's structure. I believe dimension-wise, it was about 10% larger. I'm pretty sure that's what I read.

Some recent rumours about the possible revival of the PA-48 in response to a US requirement for a light attack fighter has gotten me wondering- rather than looking for Mustang airframes in storage for conversion, would it have been more expedient to find a company that makes two-seat, full-size replica of the Mustang and then to base the new PA-48 on the replica?

That is, if there is a company that builds such replicas- all replicas that I've actually heard of have been sub-scaled ones......