steh2o

Yes, it is the over-weight old tooling. The Mk.XVIII is a nice addition though... it is for sure a development of the very nice Mk.XIV

Lovely choice, bravo Airfix!

Interesting , I must check my kit and verify if the sculpting is salvageable. As for the sink marks, my kit has only a very very slight mark on the fuselage side in correspondance wit the map case all the rest is perfectly fine.

It would be really nice to have several canopy choices, at least early- and late Inglewood, and at least one Dallas.

Awesome Tony! Lovely result! Keep'em coming! Stefano

Hello Christian, Gingerbob is right, it is an e-winged aircraft like most ( if not all ) of the RM/RN serialled Mk.XIVs. In the photograph below you can see that the cannon mounted in the inner station would protrude much more In the photograph above I think we see the collar of the cannon fairing aligned with the .050 fairing in background, sort of a trompe-l-oeil. Indeed the .050 fairing is lower than the cannon one, that being possibile only if it is in the background. I spent some time on the matter of Mk.XIV kitbash, although in 1/72nd -perhaps you can find something useful here PS be careful, the shape of the cannon blister of the outer station is different from that of the inner station, higher at the back and shorter

Here we go, the first accurate-shape 1/72 P-51D in 1/72... let's hope so. It is no minor feat because nearly every part has to be redesigned, exception made for the undercarriage legs and wheels, flaps, and propeller/spinner assy. The easy part, plenty of original engineering drawings, and al least three "reference" models to look at (Tamiya 32nd, Meng + Airfix 48th)

Definitely no antiglare, I m convicted now!

Tony try and check if it's only glare with the painted model, after all it is accurate enough to reproduce lightning effects as the real thing...anyway it's really weird that the actual a/c did not have an antiglare- painted area in front of the windscreen what do you think?

Oil canning (or stressed skin) effect of the flaps and fuel tank cover panels is a design feature of the kit, and is done with incredibile finesse. These elements were un painted on the real NMF a/c and the effect was very evident on still new and polished skin elements.

Great work Tony! Eager to see it painted!

😄 😄

Allright I have an Hasegawa and will check this point better, thanks for the heads-up!

No Mk.III apparently had the standard factory pistol grip as fitted to the american aircraft. Spade grips were reportedly fitted just to earlier Allison engined Mustang Mk I s

Hey now that I notice it: the kit has markings for RAF a/cs but does not offer Sutton harness for the seat. IIRC, RAF P-51B/Cs had Sutton harness fitted and standard NAA pistol grips for the control stick

Hello Occa, could you please better explain this point? I have found these pictures by Randy Malmstrom and the sides of the fin seem to follow the tail in a straight line (without an "S"). At the leading edge the fin narrows a bit but so does the kit, it seems to me?

Hello Tony, following eagerly! Now the first question is: are there sink marks on the surfaces so big that the kit is totally unbuildable?😄 If so don't spend a minute on it and send it to me

The wheels have been criticized because: - the tread is not etched all the way around (true) But also because: - there is just one of the possibile tread patterns - the writing on the tyre is correct on one of the two and specular on the other ....

That's great! Lovely Liberator!

Anyway, I understand that ever single modeller has his own focal points in appreciating (or not) a model. For my parameters this P-51B is just great so I think I will contribute to that 1/48 Hurri project after all

Hello Zigster, I' m just saying that the sink marks seem very light and could disappear with just a little sandpaper. My P-51B is on it's way, when I receive it I will be more certain about their entity.

Thanks Cookie, doing my best to be totally obsessed to get a good-looking Spitfire!! 😉

Hello Charlie, I'm following with interest your work on the Fine Molds F-4C/D, it's coming along nicely! I'm 51 now and short-sighted too, so I work with glasses+optivisor to get a magnified scene with some depth of field. I used the 15x monocular just because it's rather difficult to make a hole centered in a 0,4mm circle! The sad thing of our age is that you must use glasses to even see what you have built! The good thing of our age is...that we reached it, and we must be grateful every day for that! Thanks for your appreciation!

...and a very nice one too!

The kit is reviewed here https://www.kfs-miniatures.com/1-72-p-51b-c-mustang-expert-set-arma-hobby/ sincerly I do not share the criticism about the sink marks (they seem to be very restrained) while I appreciate the overall shape as very close to perfect (it is so much better than Tamiya's for an example). The scuff plate of the main wheel doors seems to be the worst shortcoming found until now, and it is quite minor. I don't like that much the open bubble canopy, it is better replaced with a vacuum formed item. A good modeller can address all the limits it has turning it in a masterpiece with just using the parts in the box