North American Mustang F-51 (oz3970)

About this Plan

North American Mustang F-51. Rubber scale model fighter. Comet kit no 3901. Wingspan 24-1/2 in.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 7/5/2023: Replaced this plan with a (much) clearer copy scanned at high res 600 dpi, also scan of printwood parts plus decal sheet, thanks to RogerB.

Quote: "Mary/Steve, I have the Comet F-51 Mustang Kit No 3901 with the wood sheets. The wood sheets are not the printed type, but I did manage to take an ink pen and trace the cut lines of the parts that I scanned (see attached PDF as an example). I noticed you already have the plan set but is not very high resolution. I can scan the plan set and send the tif files if you would like. Let me see if I can find some time this week and get you some scanned tifs for you to update your plan set and add the wood sheets to. Thanks. Roger"

Planfile includes full build instructions.

Quote: "Build the fuselage side frames on the shaded layout of the fuselage side view. Put wax paper over the layout to keep the glue from sticking to it. Use straight pins to hold the strips.

When both side frames are made, cement F5 where it belongs between the two sides at the nose. Now glue the back ends together. While that's drying you can cut all those crossbraces you will need. The first crossbraces to glue in are the ones at F9 and F10. Now glue in all the others.

Now cement all the formers - F6 to Fin their proper places. Work closely with the plan so that you know for sure what goes where. Gussets 'B' and 'C' are needed on both sides of formers F10 and F12 to line them up right. Glue in tail gear brace F23 and part F11A.

Cement all of the top stringers in place. Look near the radio mast (F22) to see the size of strip you should use. The front and rear stringers are curved and go on the bottom of the fuselage. (see plan) glue parts F24 L&R and F25 L&R. F18 is next. Now add parts F19 and F20 (be sure you have space for the stabilizer under F19). The nose section (see 5,6 and 7) and air intake finish off fuselage.

Pin down F4 to building board after beveling the thickness (see note) and glue N2 to it with gusset 'A'. Gusset will line up these parts at the proper angle. Now cement N1 with F3. Glue the sides N3L and N3R and let dry well - coat joints again with cement.

Bevel the edges of N1, N2, and N3 L&Rr as shown, carefully with razor and sandpaper block. Now cement sides N4L and N5L in place. Use pins to hold edges down tight. Follow with N4R and N5R. Glue F1 and F2 onto F3 and let dry.

When the nose section is thoroughly dry,glue it lightly to F5. Now trim and sand away that extra wood. Match it carefully to former F5 so that it blends smoothly into the fuselage. Make the air scoop opening. The finished nose section can now be split left and right or top and bottom for a gas engine cowling. If your model is going to hang in your room or be flown by rubber power, glue it on to stay.

This is the best way to keep the shaped leading edge straight while you are pinning it down on your board. Get a square piece of wood or something like it to hold the back against when pushing in the pins... "

Supplementary file notes

Decals.
Previous scan version.
Printwood.

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