I originally acquired two of these Monogram kits for the purpose of using as parts for a ModelCrap F-82 Twin Mustang what-if project to create a jumbo F-51 Mustang but that failed miserably and the project was binned. In my opinion, the individuals that created the ModelCrap F-82 Twin Mustang kits should be hunted down and hanged by their wedding tackle until they realize the errors of their ways. I have seen a lot of crappy kits over the years but nothing can compare to what ModelCrap created as far as being a horrible model with nothing that fit properly or mated up correctly. Anyway, after ridding myself of the offending ModelCrap Twin Mustang kits I was left with the Monogram kits languishing in the box for a very time begging for attention. At intervals I pulled the kits out to consider what could be done with the things then placed them back in the box until my Muse convinced me to look at them again later on. This went on for several years and it was only this past year that I finally decided to do some work on both Mustangs. Obviously out of the box construction was not on my list of things to accomplish with either of these kits.
The wings were assembled and the machine gun ports were removed. Next up was to fill in the shell and link ejection ports and back-fill the cavity on the inside of the wing behind the wing pylons for removal at a later date. This resulted in a hit or miss on both kit wings. The Monogram Mustang also has a removable panel section on the top of the wing to view the starboard side machine guns and ammunition supply as a feature that is nice and optional. I glued the bay covers shut and did my best to smooth out the surface blemishes on both kits. The new stores pylons are still to be determined. I have a decent supply of stores pylons sourced from some Accurate Miniatures B-25 kits and the stores pylons from the ModelCrap F-82 kits. The B-25 stores pylons are shown in the attached images and are quite unique looking in size and shape. The ModelCrap pylons are a bit vague on details and much larger but are still on the table as another option. Perhaps the B-25 pylons on one and the ModelCrap pylons on the other. Plenty of time before that decision needs to be made.
The fuselage was pretty much stock with the exception of modifying the vertical tail height by extending it using those specific parts from the ModelCrap F-82 kit on one of the Mustangs. The other Mustang has the tail cut to do the same but will be done with a piece of scrap plastic since I was not satisfied with the ModelCrap parts. One of the Mustang cockpits has the fuel tank behind the pilot's seat removed while the other cockpit retains it.
The engine cowlings on both Mustang kits have been filled in for the purpose of creating a gas turbine powered Mustang and possibly a compound engine powered Mustang where the exhaust is vented from the area behind the large radiator scoop on the bottom of the fuselage. By "compound engine" I mean something like the original V-12 Merlin or Allison with a turbo-charger/supercharger to boost performance. The gas turbine option is going to use the fairing from an Italeri 1/72nd scale AC-119 Stinger gunship as the gas turbine exhaust fairing to suggest that there is a Lycoming T53 gas turbine as the power source.
Attached images of the WIP, stores pylons and the AC-119 FLIR sensor fairings:
