Durafly P-51D MUSTANG 'Ferocious Frankie' - Phoenix R/C simulator

About

It was about time for me haul my ass back to my R/C aircraft hangar and start picking up one of my favorite aircraft to be 'immortalized' one of them into digital copy to be used into simulator.  On the far left corner of the room hanging among bunch of DURAFLY collection is the faded yellow nosed P-51D Mustang 'Ferocious Frankie' which is you all seen it before on my front page of my website, page contents and also on my Youtube video a lot especially on most of my media social page banner.  The plane was my most favorite 'go to' scale warbird R/C aircraft to go for R/C club meet and air bashes because its easier to carry around inside my normal Sedan car where else my DURAFLY F-4U Corsair comes in second.,, but my Pitts Special still kick azz.  My love for the P-51D goes way back when i was only 9 years old when i first stumble this sleek looking pointed nose yet pregnant looking tummy plane caught my eye at local hobby shop that sells scale balsa plane model on Monokote skin coatings which i learned soon as the awesome NORTH AMERICAN P-51D MUSTANG... ...3 year before that i thought the British HAWKER HURRICAN was cool before i eyed on the horse.  And so i've began collecting and flying R/C model based on P-51D model (bubble canopy type 'D') ...unfortunately i lost count how many i have but i do know i only own only 3x British which i only love the MK42 SPITFIRE (but no HURRICANE yet) because it looks close to Mustang outline appearance.  So the 'flying horse' have more nostalgia value growing up along my childhood and decided to put higher priority putting my favorites into virtual form inside my computer screen.  As year passes by my DURAFLY P-51D Mustang started to get some serious hangar rash; plastic canopy started to fade from clear to dark yellowish tint (i dunno why it turned that way, UV exposure?..my hangar doesn't have direct sunlight), body especially wings started to fade its color,  retracts place holder started to stretch wider open due to hanging load on the wall and other bunches of color rashes started to show up its age...it was about time for me to revitalized this model and immortalized into digital form which is putting it into simulator like making backup copies of this plane, lol.   In fact Phoenix R/C simulator already has handful of P-51D Mustang from various size and branding both from official release and from user's custom build however i don't like much since some models are way too easy to fly and lack some handling realism, plus they didn't have the Ferocious Frankie version from DURAFLY batch so i've decided to add mine into the inventory....yes mines slightly have authentic old hangar rashes for realistic R/C model looks.

*If you don't know much about the origin about this model here's the short story; DURAFLY P-51D Mustang 'Ferocious Frankie' was made available from HobbyKing.com was release end of the year 2011 to the public.  Its the only EPO foamy model nicely and uniquely made at 1100mm wingspan size with all the details equal to 1400mm and other bigger scale without compromising quality and appearance with price starting below $130~150 depending on warehouse availability.  Powered on electric brushless outrunner motor to turn 4x blade scale prop it runs on standard commonly use 3S 2200mah li-po which makes it more favorable to any park flier enthusiast thus economical for everyone especially me since i flew a lot of 450 size helicopter on 3s 2200mah lipo pack.  Throughout its inventory lifespan the plane existed through 2x cycle of variant which is the P-51D 'OLD CROW' on second introduction which lasted until early of 2018 where stock and inventory started to disappear including parts support for both P-51D model.  The R/C community forum for the following still hang around to support and keep the 1100mm P-51D Mustang enthusiasm alive. (Links: Rgcroups 1100mm P-51D thread).

The build

This model is easier to 3D model since i have the actual model itself as solid reference for 3D tracing/outline work and UV mapping from direct Ortographic snapshots taking at any angle i want and feel the sense of 'depth'.  So the task kind of more relaxing to work with nice warm coffee and chocolate cookies beside my Nvidia powered Notebook while leaving half brain thinking what R/C project i have to do next.   It only took 2 days to work with the 3d model meshes with a bit of cat nap on the sofa, sleeping on the chair and rock crawling my 1:32 scale Orlandoo around the table slacking about  in between the task hahaha!...but its just another way to enjoy and get rid of everyday stress.  So there's not much story to tell about since my 3d skills like 'walking around the park'  but i do can tell you the model quality is 100% identical replica with the exception of that black little plastic skid guard i added under the wing tip and wing fuel tank not present inside the 3D model since it not part of original DURAFLY P-51D accessories so that should be ok.  Stats about the model poly-count itself with the included "Collision" meshes required for the simulator the total worth of 3d meshes are; Vertices: 6344 and Faces: 7111 only which means lighter meshes for normal CPU to render the model into the games without breaking some sweats especially on lower end computers...good modeling ethics! (if you're used to be game 3d developer of course *wink *wink...yes i used to grow up on build 3d model on old Intel 166Mhz MMX..the pain is real!).

Texturing work and UV mapping is fully blown max out the template size and definitely something i would proud of among all the models i made for Phoenix R/C simulator.. nothing is wasted on the template itself..no unused space for UV mapping left behind. On 2048 x 2048 resolution template all those surface texture of my P-51D Mustang that i've snapped shots on my camera through direct 'Ortographic' view are nicely cut and fit tightly inside the template without wasting any empty space to ensure every parts of the plane 3d meshes receive high quality textures wrapped around without without looking pixelated.  Overall the plane production for the simulator are top notch quality.....looks even better that stock mustang in simulator itself hehehe!.   After UV mapping task texture completed, adding the surface control and pivot point for aileron, flaps, rudder, steering struts, landing gear, prop and etc inside the Phoenix R/C builder was straight forward job without any difficulty.  Overall it was an easy task to build my very own P-51D Mustang into the simulator with just 3 days...including slacking off (Zzzzz) doing something else in between.

Oh wait!  actually during those public 'sneek peek' screenshots revealing my P-51D undergo beta flight test i did some 3d mesh error on the front nose of the fuselage being 'too thin' or too slender, made quick fix bulking up its 'chin' side and top hood of the engine to make it looks more look alike the day after.  Phew!

My real DURAFLY P-51D Mustang:

3D construction:

Texturing works and decaling:

Applying control surface and parameters:

Final production in R/C Phoenix:

Below are the virtual stock attributes value on P-51D that influence a lot on how it flies in Phoenix R/C, i setup close to my real world DURAFLY P-51D Mustang specifications:

• Wingspan: 1100mm (variant 1) and 5460mm (variant 2)
• Flying weight: 1.25kg (variant 1) and 25.2kg (variant2)
• Propeller unit/motor (1100mm variant):  4 Blade 10x8" , 750KV Brushless Outrunner motor (Max rpm in sim: 750KV x 11.1v lipo battery = 8325 rpm)
• Main wing airfoil type (flaps + aileron): Trainer Profile
• Vertical stabilizer airfoil type (rudder): Flat profile
• Horizontal stabilizer airfoil type (elevator): Flat profile
• 3x wheeled landing gear (tail dragger): functional retracts + front guided + front gear bay doors

Flight characteristic

Flight characteristic of this plane leaned toward 'Advance' level flying because (because i wanted to give you hard time flying my plane, muhahaha!) i've flown it a lot in real world and its more agile in 1100mm wingspan than on my docile 1400mm FMS version of P-51D Mustang (BIG BEAUTIFUL DOLL and the RED TAIL) or the giant 1600mm HK P-51D DAGO RED because the bigger the plane are the less nimble yet easier to fly so smaller  (1100mm and below) version are more twitchy yet nimble which is why i flew the DURAFLY more than my FMS/HK models for more 'sweaty thumbs' thrilling moment.   I also have the 800mm version and its even more twitchier yet fast responses on thumb stick but that's on different scale.  Unlike other 'stock' simulated version of P-51D model in Phoenix R/C simulator this model i created have more 'unforgiving' flight characteristic such as inertia spin, realistic stall rate and every characteristic displayed by my Durafly Mustang in real world so it won't be forgiving for those who doesn't have much common sense about scale R/C flying and much of understanding its scale R/C aerodynamics. Also the package i made for the simulator also comes with two different models (2x variant) each one have its own different flight quirks; the first one is the actual original scale size of 1100mm wingspan true to its specification both power, handling and etc while the second variant is the larger size 5.4 meter wingspan build for better visual cue flying at the airfield with handling and performance similar 'feeling' to my very old Hobby King P-51D RED DAGO at 1600mm wingspan specification but definitely much easier to fly than the smaller 1100mm.  So if you want original park flier size 1100mm model install the "xl_p51dff_1m.pkg" file  else if you want more bigger presence in the skies, easier to fly and more docile then install the "xl_p51dff_5m.pkg" file, make sure unzip the package first before acquiring all the *.PKG files for model installation, download below page for the packages.  So go ahead and enjoy replica R/C model base on my real R/C hangar collection of DURAFLY P-51D MUSTANG  with those natural aging looks, hangar rashes, plastics decays and over used appearance...trust me my hangar is very clean. ya! roach free! ;)  

Video

Tools used to create these custom model:

• 3D Modeler program: 3D Zmodeler v1.07 and v2.0 (*.OBJ support)
• Compiler tools: Phoenix Builder v1.0.p
• Texture editing program: Corel Photopaint

• Rcgroups.com forum: Durafly 1100mm P-51D Mustang
• Real Aircraft website: http://www.ferociousfrankie.com/
• Hobbyking.com: Durafly P-51D Mustang 1100mm (PNF)
• Manufacturer website: Durafly
• My real model flight video: Durafly P-51 D Mustang - Hazy beach fly
• My real model flight video: Durafly P-51 D Mustang - Beach fun fly
• My real model flight video: Durafly P-51 Mustang & F4U Corsair

General info | model: DURAFLY P-51D Mustang 'Ferocious Frankie' | platform: PC | simulator version: Phoenix R/C v5.5 | type: Aircraft | class: Electric | style: Scale | level: Intermediate | power: Electric | Manufacturer: Durafly | avg ZIP file size: 18.5MB | date released: 31-Jul-2018 | Revision: v1.0

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*Installation instruction:  How to install custom models in Phoenix R/C

 
*Note: This models are available for free distribution and for non-commercial purposes.
*'DURAFLY' and ''DURAFLY P-51D MUSTANG" are trademarks of the following company © DURAFLY.COM. All Rights Reserved
*'FEROCIOUS FRANKIE' are trademarks and signature of the following company © FEROCIOUSFRANKIE.COM. All Rights Reserved