Eduard Cavalier Mustang Mk.2 - Fuerza Aerea El Salvador

Started by Tom Cleaver · 24 · 2 years ago
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    Tom Cleaver said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    The Halberd conversion to do the Cavalier Mustang Mk.2, supplied through MDAP to several Central and South American air forces. The Salvadoran Air Force was the last place the P-51 saw rat-a-tat-tat combat in the legendary "Soccer War."

    The Halberd conversion gives you the tip tanks, the extra underwing ordnance pylons, the vertical fin extension, and a very nice decals sheet to do any of the airplanes on the box cover. Quality of the resin castings is superb, also the decals.

    Halberd also does the Turbo Mustang for the Eduard kit, with a full resin fuselage with similar surface detail to the Eduard kit.

    These things get released on their eBay store in limited numbers - I went to get the Mk. III Turbo, but it was sold out. Got the Cavalier Mk. 2 for $29,00. I'm using the Eduard P-51D-20 "Weekender" for the kit.

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Looking forward to this not so often seen Salvadoran Mustang, Tom @tcinla
    Never heard about this short war, interesting to read.

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    Andrew H said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Great build Tom, that Halberd resin really looks top notch. I missed their first round of the Turbo, and have been watching for the next round. What's not to like about having fine resin mods to an Eduard Mustang?

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    You never stop amazing us with your out of the norm choices, my friend @tcinla!
    Looking forward to it!

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    Eric Berg said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Glad to see you’re tackling this TC @tcinla. I also missed my chance for the Turbo set. Hopefully there will be another round released soon.

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    Tom Cleaver said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    I e-mailed the guy to notify me when that happens.

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    Bob Torres said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Nice choice for this build Tom @tcinla.

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    Michael Paquette said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Nice to see a version different from the more typically known allied versions.

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    Tom Cleaver said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    It's not a difficult project. Here it is assembled. I did cut the rudder just a bit short, so had to use some evergreen sheet when I couldn't find the bit of rudder I'd cut off.

    A lot of Latin American P-51s got tinted canopies, and I think this will be one that did. I sprayed thecanopy interior with Tamiya clear green, thinned 30% paint-70% thinner. It was OK but a bit uneven. Then I got the bright idea to dip the canopy in Future. When it dried, it was nice and smooth and shiny, and the color had diffused. Since the cockpit of the Cavalier Mustang has a lot of detail differences, which the conversion doesn't include and I didn't want to try rebuilding, I am thinking I will do the airplane with the canopy closed. You can see everything in there, just not totally, so the fact it isn't all "right" won't be so noticeable.

    5 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Looking fantastic, my friend @tcinla!
    Nice trick with the tinted canopy!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Great progress, Tom @tcinla
    Never saw a Mustang with wingtips before.
    The trick with Future is really nice, noted.

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    Tom Cleaver said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Now painted.

    First, preshading with Tamya X-19 Semi-gloss Black.

    Camo was a mixture of XF-2 flat white with a couple brushfulls of grey to get the "off-white/grey" undersurface camo. I then used XF-59 Desert Yellow for tan, XF-26 Deep Green for the lighter green and XF27 Black Green for the darker green. All colors were post-shaded to mimic sun-fading down there in El Salvador.

    8 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Really beautiful camo rendition, my friend @tcinla! Loved the off-white and the top sun-fading!

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    Stellan Schroeder Englund said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Looks fantastic! Great fan of the Mustang family. What thinner do you use for your Tamiya paints? I find Tamiya to become so extremely matte.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    That is an amazing scheme and beautifully applied, Tom @tcinla