P-51D/K Mustang 'Pacific Aces Combo' - 1:72 Hasegawa

[Paul A H]

P-51D/K Mustang 'Pacific Aces Combo'

1:72 Hasegawa

The North American P-51 Mustang ranks amongst the most famous Allied types to have served during the Second World War. The aircraft was originally designed to a British requirement for a low-altitude fighter which, owing to the use of the Alison V-1710 engine, had limited performance at higher altitudes. This shortcoming was famously addressed by the marriage of North Americans airframe to the equally famous Rolls Royce Merlin V-12 aero engine.

Once so equipped, the Mustang was able to take on German and Japanese fighters on equal or better terms. In common with later Spitfires, the D model of the Mustang employed a cut-down rear fuselage and a bubble canopy, giving pilots superb all-round vision. One of the outstanding features of the aircraft was its range, which enabled Mustangs to escort bombers all the way to Berlin and back. This prompted the famous quote from Reichmarshal Herman Göring: "When I saw Mustangs over Berlin, I knew the jig was up."

Hasegawa's D/K model Mustang has been around for a few years now, and although there is stiff competition from the newer Airfix and Tamiya kits, it is generally a well-regarded model. In common with other Hasegawa kits of this vintage, it is very well moulded and, if anything, is more detailed that its contemporaries from the Japanese firm. Each kit (there are two provided in this boxing) is made up of fifty six parts spread across four sprues of grey plastic and a single small clear sprue. The mouldings are clean and crisp and surface detail is comprised of very nicely rendered recesses panel lines and fasteners.

The cockpit is one area where this kit stands out in comparison to other similar kits in Hasegawa's line up. The floor pan has rudder pedals and a centre console moulded in place, along with a very well detailed radio compartment behind the pilot's seat. A good representation of the seat itself is included, although it does have an awkward ejector pin mark right in the middle. An instrument panel and a control column account for the remaining internal parts. The instrument panel is devoid of detail, but a fairly nice decal is provided instead. The sidewalls have some very nice detail moulded in place too. All together, this kit has a pretty good cockpit.

Before you can join the fuselage halves, you must install the roof of the radiator compartment and the exhausts. I must admit I prefer exhausts that can be fitted after the kit has been built and painted, but this is a minor quibble. The wings are pretty simple, being comprised of a single lower span and separate port and starboard upper spans. The main landing gear wheel wells are superbly detailed but look a little shallow. Once complete, the wings should be easy to fit to the fuselage. The horizontal stabilisers are solid parts, as the rudder (which is moulded in place with the fuselage).

Two different types of airscrew are provided the paddle-like Hamilton Standard and the more tapered Aero Products version. You will need to decide which of the marking options you wish to build at this point, as the type of propeller you use will depend on which option you choose. The landing gear is pretty good too. The tyres sport a very delicate hatched tread pattern and the landing gear legs themselves are nicely detailed, with good, sharp moulding. A choice of 75 gallon metal drop tanks or 108 gallon paper drop tanks is provided too.

Two different canopies are provided. They are pretty good, but not especially thin and some distortion is present when looking through the sliding portion on the canopy.

Three marking options are provided:
P-51K 'Mrs Bonnie', 348 FG, flown by Major Bill Dunham, August 1945;
P-51D 'Stinger VII', 15FG, 45FS, Iwo Jima, 1945; and
P-51K ' Sunshine', 348FG, Lt. Col. William T. Banks, June 1945.
All three aircraft are finished in natural metal schemes with various colourful additions. Whichever you choose, you will end up with a couple of very colourful models! The decal sheet is well printed and should perform well with the addition of some decal softener.

Conclusion

Competition is pretty tough in the small scale Mustang market, but these kits are good enough to hold their own. Unfortunately the price puts them at a disadvantage when compared with the Tamiya or Airfix offerings, but if you can pick one of these sets up for a reasonable sum, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

[Andre B]

The only thing I can say this kit suffer from is the shallow wheel wells and the thing that one have to install the exhausts from the inside of the fuselage halves. But glue some plasticard or plastic bits of the sprues on the inside of the fuselage where the exhaust are supposed to fit from the inside. This makes it possible to fit the exhausts from the outside after painting. The good thing with this kit is that it has both type of exhausts and propellers where the Airfix does not. So you could use this parts for the Airfix, tamiya or other Mustang kits as well!

Clearly recommended P-51D Mustang!
/ André

 

[kapam]

The crispness and detail of Hasegawa's 1/72 Mustang kits are still evident in the sprue pictures.  The issues with the depth of the wheel well and the exhausts are not deal breakers IMHO. 

The remarks about pricing are notable though.  Here in Australia I often see these double kits on hobby shop shelves - offering all the value of two kits for the price of...........two kits.