P-51 B Kovozavody Prostejov Operation Frantic-2
Well, it's the end of the year. This is the fourth Mustang I've built in 12 months. The latter is so special that I come back to the KP brand again, having much more experience. So this time I will start unusually with a description of the model. this is a typical Short Run. Made very well for this standard. There are options for lowered flaps and deflected ailerons. I bought the model at a fairly good price, but it came without decals, which was a big disappointment. Can't the seller check it carefully before shipping instead of creating unpleasant surprises? Fortunately, I had already purchased a set of Hell-Er-Bust decals from the 352 FG that I wanted. The only problem was that the decal kit was 20 years old. However, after using Liquid Decal Film, the decals behaved completely correctly, although they tended to silver locally. Either way, I'm really happy with the result. The cockpit has a lot of nice details, no additional sets are needed except for the belts. The worst element of the set is definitely the transparent parts. The fairing doesn't fit very well, but when you cut it open it can be adjusted much better, even in the closed version. In the case of the open version, to fit it to the hull, it must be glued with strong glue because it springs when pressed. I also have reservations about its transparency. Maybe she was also harmed by the cutting process, which, however, went completely smoothly. In general, construction was carried out with a minimum amount of putty. The wings fit almost perfectly. It is worth investing in replacing the barrels with other ones that are rather weak. I painted it as a typical OD over NG, with white stripes of early recognition. Of course, the typical blue nose (in this case, quite faded as in the photo) is a typical feature of the 352 FG. The disadvantage of the set is the lack of suspended, removable fuel tanks. So I bought an appropriate ArmyCast resin kit. It turned out to be really good and worth recommending. Overall, I can recommend the model to slightly more advanced modellers for work, because it has many interesting solutions, nicely made undercarriage bays, and, like me, you can probably cope with the fairing, maybe even better?
PS. Landing lamp I made by kristal klear glue.
The history of this aircraft is again connected with Operation Frantic, specifically Frantic-2. Over Brest near Bug river Ed. L. Heller in his P-51 B shot down an enemy Bf-109 after a long dogfight. It was the furthest enemy plane destroyed from base (1000 miles). He then landed his damaged Mustang at Myrhorod Airport in Red Army-occupied Ukraine. The pilot was determined to return to base as soon as possible after making repairs, but he damaged the propeller during landing. After repairs were made, the engine failed during take-off. After its replacement, He flew homeward via Middle East ATC route alone, airplane confiscated by envious base commander in Casablanca, so Heller finally returned to home base of Bodney in England by ATC. Edwin L. Heller was an American Ace who recorded 11 aerial victories. He later participated in the Korean War, but that's another story. Lieutenant Lis will be back with another project soon.
Ed Heller was nobody for the Russians to cross. In Korea, he scored all his victories "north of the river" (i.e., in Manchuria). When he was shot down and ejected, he was 110 miles inside Manchuria and he landed 50 yards from the stopped train carrying the delegates to the Panmunjom Peace Negotiations, so there was no way the USAF could say he'd been in "hot pursuit" of the MiG he shot down in front of the delegates (and was then shot down by the wingman). China finally released him in 1954, after the Armistice.
Nice work on the model.
Thank you Tom for the detailed information. They are very interesting and unknown to me so far. Thanks for nice comment! regards!
Another excellent model, my friend @lis!
Super job allover and an awesome result!
Well done!
@fiveten Thank You My friend!
Nice informative article and great photos, good job.
@chinesegeorge Thank You!
Well done, Bernard (@lis). KP kits can be really difficult, but you have created a really nice model. I love the diorama and the black and white photography.
@gblair This KP kit is very good as short run.
An outstanding build, Lis. @lis
@jdtruby Thank You!
A very impressive looking Mustang, Bernard @lis
Those blue nose Mustangs look very nice and you clearly shown that.
Nice work on the diorama as well.
@johnb Thank You My friend!
A nice looking fast-back Pony! Well done.
@gkittinger Thank You!
Well done!
@chasbunch Thank You!