Retro-Tucano

[TallEng]

Anybody noticed the similarity between a Tucano and a Mustang?
Me neither
However as these sprue shots will show (I hope) they're pretty much
the same size



Now you maybe wondering where this is all going....
Well, when Airfix was having one of there Black Friday sale things
I'd ordered some kits and needed something to make it up to 30 pounds for the
free postage. The Tucano was it And I honestly had now idea what to do with it
if anything. Then I saw the desert camouflaged one from a year or so ago
and thought that Back dating it might work.
I have a Merlin to replace the turboprop
and I'll move the main gear forward so I've got a tail dragger and give it some wing mounted
Machine guns or cannons. and well I'll see where it goes.....
thoughts etc?

Regards
Keith

[NARSES2]

Now I've seen Mustangs with turbo-props but not a back dated turbo-prop aircraft.

This will be good

[kerick]

What Spock said, "Fascinating".

[PR19_Kit]

I have a Merlin to replace the turboprop
and I'll move the main gear forward so I've got a tail dragger and give it some wing mounted
Machine guns or cannons. and well I'll see where it goes.....
thoughts etc?

You'll end up with a Mustang. 

I had noticed how similar in size and performance the Tucano was to a Spitfire XIV or XIX before now, but the visual similarity to a Mustang is much more marked. Did the Brazilian Air Force have Mustangs at some stage? Hmmmm......

[JayBee]

Anybody noticed the similarity between a Tucano and a Mustang?

Yes actually. A good number of years ago I was in Edinburgh prior to going on a back shift. I came out of a shop in Prince's Street just as an aircraft passed over heading for the airport. It was below 2,000' and as it was routeing over the city centre it was VFR and not on the ILS.
The view I had was a low, rear, three-quarter one and my first thought was Mustang.
Almost instantly the sound told me I was wrong and that it was a turbo prop.
So it had to be a Tucano.
When I got into work (air traffic) I checked the movements log and yes it was a Tucano, one of three that had come in.

Jim

[kerick]

I'd leave the turbo prop and go with some retro paint and markings. Mustang stuff should be easy to find.

You could say it flew through a time tunnel/worm hole blah blah back to 1943 or that its a commemorative paint job for some anniversary or another.

[Tophe]

I am very much interested to see what you are going to build/how you will combine them

[Captain Canada]

Does sound interesting. A single seat fighter variant of the Tucano would look pretty cool. Especially sat beside a Hawk 200 or whatever those single seaters are called !

[perttime]

I've seen a photoshopped photo of a singleseat Tucano or Super Tucano. Done with a long nose, I think.

[TallEng]

Update!
Just to clarify things a bit, I'm not combining a Tucano and a Mustang, I'm
trying to back date a Tucano, although to make it confusing I am using the
Merlin engine/cowling from a Mustang
Anyway: Pictures 'cos pictures are always good



Now somethings not quite right at the moment
but I'm not sure what?
Its possible its because it still looks just like a Tucano?



Or is it because the rear fuselage seems to slope downwards? In the picture above the mainplanes are level with the
squares on the mat and you can just (possibly) see the downward slope I mean. So I might have to make a slight 'v' cut in the
top of the fuselage to correct that.
One thing that may or may not help with making it look different is when/if I find a canopy for it.
Thoughts....

Regards
Keith

[McColm]

Float plane!
Or twin?

[perttime]

Careful now with the nose alignment. You don't want to point the nose up too much either. On a Mustang the nose slopes down a little - and achieves correct thrust line.

A Mustang canopy would be too Mustang. Any Spitfire canopy would probably be too small. Something from a late WW2 US fighter, or an early jet?

[PR19_Kit]

It's that monster fin on the Tucano, compared to that of the Mustang.

It's only that big to get future Tornado drivers acclimatised of course...  

You're going to need a radiator somewhere too, belly scoop or wing rads?

[TallEng]

It's that monster fin on the Tucano, compared to that of

Quite I seem to remember one of the Torndo's nicknames was the 'Mighty Fin' 
Although I can't for the life of me think what it was called when I worked on it? (Early Eighties)

Regards
Keith

[Captain Canada]

Looks fine to me. The sloping rear fuselage isn't even noticable. At least I can't see it !