After building a lot
of 1/72 kits, I started with 1/48 and 1/32 again, this was the first 1/32 kit
I've build since years.
Besides the Hasegawa
kit, I've used a Verlinden update set for the cockpit and a pair of True Details
weighted wheels.
All together it was a nice kit to build, although some fit wasn't that great in
some areas. I wanted to use the full engine in my Mustang, but when I
installed the engine in
it, the engine cover wouldn't fit that good. For the rest, it was quite ok.
The whole plane was
airbushed / painted with Revell aluminium, Model Master's Steel and
Interior green and for the rest Humbrol paints.
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images below to see larger images
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I chose to build a Dutch
P-51, but I wanted one with roundels, and not with the flags (like in the Dutch
decal set), So I needed to make the "number" decals myself. I've used
the Dutch Decal roundel set for the roundels, and for the rest the original kit
decals.
A brief history of the H-340
itself:
This plane arrived in crates
in Australia on August 1945 and was put together by the RAAF and delivered
to the Royal Netherlands East Indies Air Force on February 12th 1986. During
April and May all P-51's were flown to Tjililitan on the isle Java. The H-340
entered service as N3-640 serving with the 121 Squadron. Early 1947 the
number was changed to H-340. It flew both Police Actions (against the
Indonesian republicans). Somewhere during February / March 1949 the H-340
was turned over to the 120 squadron as a replacement for the old P-40N
Kittyhawks. The 120 squadron with the H-340 was the last active squadron in East
Indies, Together with a few C-47's.
With the loss of Netherlands East Indies the H-340 was handed over to the
Indonesian Air Force (AURI) as F-340,where it also served against the
Netherlands again during the '62 New Guinea conflict. It is unclear to me how
this plane ended it's life.
Regards,
Niels
Lelystad, The Netherlands
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images below to see larger images
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