1/72 N.A. F-51 Mustang - Korean War
Item #60754

Product Description

About the North American F-51D Mustang (Korean War)
Sketched out in a New York city hotel in April 1940, the North
American Aviation Corporation NA73X went on to become one of the
best fighters to come out of World War 2. The U.S. Army Air Corps
gave it the title of P (for Pursuit) 51, and it was named
Mustang by the British. Of the several variations of the Mustang,
the P-51D is considered the definitive version and was the first
to have the bubble canopy. More "D" models were built than any
other variant, with a total of 9,603 being produced. Armed with
six .50 caliber machine guns, three in each wing, with 400 rounds
for each inboard gun and 270 rounds for the other four, plus
underwing pylons for auxiliary fuel tans or 1000lb bombs, the
Mustang was a true fighter pilots airplane. At the conclusion of
WW2, Mustangs were in operation all over the world, flying in
several nations air forces. When the Korean conflict broke out,
hundred of F (for fighters) 51's were in Japan awaiting scraping.
Because they possessed too slow speed maneuverability that was
absent in the new jets then entering service, the F-51 was ideal
to work with Forward Air Controllers (FAC's) on the ground in
Korea. The major drawback to this was the F-51's liquid cooled
engine susceptibility to anti aircraft and small arms fire when
attacking ground targets. This caused the Mustang to have the
highest loss ratio of any aircraft in Korea. A total of 194 were
lost in three years, with only 10 being downed in combat with
other aircraft.

Suggested Paint Colors

AS-12 - Bare Metal Silver
X-1 - Black
X-10 - Gun Metal
X-11 - Chrome Silver
X-18 - Semi Gloss Black
X-2 - White
X-4 - Blue
X-5 - Green
X-7 - Red
X-8 - Lemon Yellow
XF-1 - Flat Black
XF-10 - Flat Brown
XF-16 - Flat Aluminum
XF-3 - Flat Yellow
XF-5 - Flat Green
XF-62 - Olive Drab