Uncle Ian’s RAAF 3 Sqn. Mustang III

Flight Lieutenant Ian Howard Roediger served with 3 Squadron RAAF for two tours of WWII.

 

Married to my Grandmother’s sister, F/L Roediger was my great uncle. Family folklore held his exploits with the Kittyhawk in high regard. He is on the far left of the second row in this photo.

 

3 Squadron was the first RAAF unit to be equipped with the North American P-5l Mustang III. From reading through the Operations Record, it’s clear that F/L Roediger initially flew Mustang III FX942, later Mustang III KH613 during November 1944. For the final mission of his second and final tour, on 6th December 1944, he flew Mustang III KH615, code CV-B. The op was an armed reconnaissance run over Sarajevo, and it’s this Mustang I'm building.

 
 

 The Arma Hobby 1/72 P-51B/C will comprise the base on which I will be working. Thanks to Franklin Hobbies for the great service as usual!

 

The decal sheet for 3 Sqn. FB244 has everything I need for KH615, apart from the correct codes and serials. In a spot of good luck, one of the other options has the serial KH516, so I’ll chop that up and rearrange it!For the codes, I will utilise a ‘B’ from the Ventura sheet V3279. White 8” serials in 1/32nd scale. 12" 1/48th, 18" 1/72nd.

Because I haven’t been able to locate any definitive photos of KH615, I’m making an educated guess on the shape, but there’s a nice blocky ‘B’ that matches the ‘CV’ quite well.

One aspect of the KH series of Mustang IIIs I have noticed in photos is that they all have a fin fillet, so I’ll be sure to choose that option. I’m otherwise assuming the camouflage pattern and colour (Ocean Grey / Dark Green over Medium Sea Grey) should match the FB244 diagram, but would love to have this confirmed by anyone in the know. I would really appreciate any input on other details that may be relevant.

So far I've begun clipping out, cleaning up and assembling some subassemblies. This is the first time I've tried photoetch, so I'm challenging myself to use all the parts provided.

 

 

I’ve been back modelling for about 14 months, and have made some quite nice recent Airfix models and a lot of ‘classics’. This is the first kit I’ve made that feels like a fundamental shift in technology since those I made before the turn of the millennium. The fit is just astounding- I found myself dry fitting parts just to see how the engineering has been considered.

Clipping out some larger parts enables the basic aircraft to be assembled, without any tape to hold it together:

    

Very cool to be building a subject that involves a family member. Looking forward to seeing you get this together.

Thanks Fritz!

I’ve just wrapped up the interior. Arma Hobby have provided the modeller with a plethora of absolutely exquisite detail, and I’ve really enjoyed putting it all together and detailing the parts.

I’m a bit frustrated with myself for getting the harness slightly wrong, but nonetheless happy with the overall result. For a first go at photoetch I really like the medium, but it requires a delicate touch- I’m still working on that front!