Are these fuel tanks "real" or not?

[John Howling Mouse]

Found these in a very old 1:48 "Nichimo" brand P-51D Mustang kit.  I've never seen fuel tanks exactly like these on anything, WW2 or otherwise, so I thought they could add that "what-the-heck-is-this?" effect to all sorts of aircraft Whiffs.  They are similar to those carried on Corsairs but they don't line up with Tamiya, Monogram, or Hasegawa's representations of those tanks.

But I first wanted to check with you folks to see if maybe these are actually an accurate representation of some sort of fuel tank that I'm simply not familiar with. 

Can anyone I.D. what type fuel tanks these would be?

[B777LR]

Looks like those any other P-51 carried, nothing whiff. The whiff aspect of it all, is the inaccuracy of it. Its too long!

See this photo:
http://www.historylink101.com/ww2photo/p-51-mustang.jpg

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Yep they're real, Barry, a wee bit mis-shapen perhaps but real..... have a dig around for pics of the VLR Mustangs based on Iwo Jima in June, July, August 1945, they carried these tanks as oposed to the more usual 'teardrop' or 'paper' type...... hang-on I'll have a quick Google and see if I can link a pic....  

Here you go, http://www.michael-reimer.com/CFS2/CFS2_Profiles/PTO_Allies_20_USAAF.html, scroll right to the bottom of the page.





Here too - it's the 506th FG page.
http://www.506thfightergroup.org


HTH

Ian

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Barry,

Considering the age of the Nichimo mold you are looking at what we would call "artistic interpretation" of what the real fuel tanks looked like.  The overall shape alludes to the 108 gallon paper tank blended with the 75 gallon metal drop tank.  Perfect for a WHIF but not for portraying a real drop tank as used on the P-51 or any other aircraft of that era.  You might want to consider using them for wing tip mounted fuel tanks after removing the small pylon.  

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

In the Monogram F-80 there are spare tanks of the exact same type. I used them on a Tamiya P-51 I built as a VLR machine many years back - it's still in the cabinet. I take your point Jeff - however, in my opinion it looks like Nichimos attempt at producing the same, as I say a wee bit mis-shapen, but definitely not a flight of fancy.

Ian

[Radish]

The ones in the P-80 kit are 100 gallon, whereas the usual fillting for P-51s was 75 gallon...UNLESS they were in Northern Europe and used British designed "paper" tanks of 108 gallon, or were in the far east.
There might have been examples using the huge Lockheed tanks (as for the P-38) which was certainly used on the P-47 in the Far East.

[John Howling Mouse]

In the Monogram F-80 there are spare tanks of the exact same type. I used them on a Tamiya P-51 I built as a VLR machine many years back - it's still in the cabinet. I take your point Jeff - however, in my opinion it looks like Nichimos attempt at producing the same, as I say a wee bit mis-shapen, but definitely not a flight of fancy.

Ian

Ian, do you mean these tanks on the right?  I think I may have scavenged this kit (who am I kidding?  I KNOW I scavenged this kit) so I might not have the tanks you're thinking of.



If this is the case, then I think everybody is correct, including B777LR.  In fact, these are not only too long, they are also too bulbous fore and aft.  In other words, PERFECT for a slight Whiff factor!  Thanks, guys.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

The ones in the P-80 kit are 100 gallon, whereas the usual fillting for P-51s was 75 gallon...UNLESS they were in Northern Europe and used British designed "paper" tanks of 108 gallon, or were in the far east.  There might have been examples using the huge Lockheed tanks (as for the P-38) which was certainly used on the P-47 in the Far East.

There were also the larger ferry tanks used only for transit from one location to another and not designed for the stresses of maneuvering in combat.  I would really like to see a 1/48th scale ferry tank for the P-38, it was about twice the size of the standard drop tank that was used on the P-38 and had the same overall shape, just larger. 

[famvburg]

        They almost look like some of the Grumman tanks used on the F8F & F7F, just not a pointed on the ends.

Found these in a very old 1:48 "Nichimo" brand P-51D Mustang kit.  I've never seen fuel tanks exactly like these on anything, WW2 or otherwise, so I thought they could add that "what-the-heck-is-this?" effect to all sorts of aircraft Whiffs.  They are similar to those carried on Corsairs but they don't line up with Tamiya, Monogram, or Hasegawa's representations of those tanks.

But I first wanted to check with you folks to see if maybe these are actually an accurate representation of some sort of fuel tank that I'm simply not familiar with. 

Can anyone I.D. what type fuel tanks these would be?

[Brian da Basher]

Those would make killer spats!

Brian da Basher

[GTX]

Those would make killer spats!

Brian da Basher

Down boy!!!

Regards,

Greg

[John Howling Mouse]

Those would make killer spats!

Brian da Basher

Is there such a thing as dualie-wheeled spats? (side-by-side or in tandem) 

[Brian da Basher]

Those would make killer spats!

Brian da Basher

Is there such a thing as dualie-wheeled spats? (side-by-side or in tandem) 

Everything is possible in Whiff-World, Mr Howling Mouse!

Brian da Basher

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Those would make killer spats!

Enough material there to make a set of tandem wheel spats or even better, a set of twin tandem wheel spats.

[John Howling Mouse]

Those would make killer spats!

Enough material there to make a set of tandem wheel spats or even better, a set of twin tandem wheel spats.

Yes, yes!  I'm thinking "oversized Antonov An-2 with tandem dualie spats"  (we've lost Brian now for the rest of the evening, haven't we?