Love the Miss America. If I get another one its a toss up between that and a warbird scheme. Don't really need 2 mustangs but who cares, I like them.

Anyone got a good lead on a cockpit kit. The super scale ones are a bit over the top in terms of price and detail for my "semi scale" model. I was hoping to get one from flightmodel but they said they are not making any mustangs right now. Pity as their pilot was really what I wanted, I can make the seat and the other details but a good pilot is often hard to find.


This is the flightmodel one which would have been great.

This is how my cockpit started. Nothing but a dash panel and canopy.

I don't have any plans, so I just looked at some pictures and guessed and cut myself a cockpit opening with the dremel. Technically you should cut the width right to the edge to match a full size cockpit but I didn't want to loose the strength of the corner so I left some material on there

Next up I started making some "things" to go in the cockpit. I bought myself some knauf board from Bunnings. Its easy to work with, super light and unlike white foam you can sand it. Its very similar to the blue foam I see lots of people using.

So I cut some shapes and sanding some things. Then I started looking through my drawers of electrical random bits. Found a heat sink, I can use that. Found some other bits and pieces and off I went. Painted it all with basic acrylic craft paint.

The seat I made from balsa. The silver paint was a pain in the arse as it took about 5 coats to cover the balsa. Lesson learned there, the black and red gave good overage with 1 coat, for the silver I should have used some spray undercoat first.

The blue you can see is just some electrical wire, made some seat handles and a bit of a control column thing as well.

The black dash is book contract from office works, $3.99 a roll. Use a card to manipulate when applying it like doing a vinyl wrap on your car and make sure there are no bubbles, you don't want it bubbling in the sun later. I didn't need heat when applying it, just a light stretch.

I cut some black plastic into a boomerang so that it sat nicely over the edge and gave the dash panel a shade cover. This is stuck on with fashion tape. I use fashion tape on all my canopies, buy it off ebay, its clear double side tape, super thin, sticks really well and peels right off when you want it to.


Was torn what colour to do the rear deck, ended up coming with white. Again, book contact for $3.99 a roll.

It rained all weekend just gone and things kind of got a bit out of hand. I wasn't happy with a lot of my work so I started again on some things.

Here is my control stick. Its got a rubber boot on the bottom, made from aerial tube, some wire inside to keep it bent a little, bit of headshrink and an LED in the end. I also re-did my sun shade over the dash, wrapped it in the same contact so it matches the same gloss level as the front dash area.

I also like to put "edges" on my scale items to make them look much better. To do this I get some electrical cable (black) and I cut along it with my knife. Throw away the conductor and keep the insulating outer. If its the right size just slide it over the edge of the part and glue it on, makes it look like its got an actual rubber trim moulding around it. The dash got the treatment and the seat is underway. Wasn't happy with the head rest so make a new one.


By the end of the weekend ive got about 20 different ideas on the go. Plenty of things with glue drying or paint drying. Even starting undercoating some things ready to paint with gloss.


Nothing here is really scale, just ideas in my head that I think will look good, made from bits and pieces I had laying around.

Been slaving away making, remaking and tweaking. Looking pretty good so far. Just making it up as I go.
Also added some detail into the cockpit walls as well. Carbon stringers and then in behind some brass tubing on one side, the other side has braided control wires

awesome job

Final pics. Pilot installed and has been flying with the cowl and everything completed

Dang, that was over 3 1/2 years between posts. Looks good by the way!

Ha, can’t rush these things. It’s spent a lot of time in my trailer but I have had it out a few times lately. But, it’s back on the trailer now the virus has closed all our airfields

That's a beauty! I had the EZ ARF .60-size years ago, but would love a big gasser size like this someday

Looks great Trent. Flys well?

Another beauty mate... been getting much flying in up there lately?

You and your dad came up in a convo with a mate tonight.. he mentioned a video (your big seafury).. and I told him that I knew you guys and where you flew was where he did some pre race testing with a Cassuut! Been a while since I have have caught up with either of you guys..