John Thompson

'Twould be nice, but cutaway drawings of the MB.5 show no sign of that third frame from the nose having a slight angle. https://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/scratch-building-aircraft-design-3d-cad-174/11650928-martin-baker-mb-5-giant-scale-build.html It is, however, present on the most familiar versions of the P-51: https://conceptbunny.com/north-american-p-51-mustang/ John

I'm curious to see what they do with the Heller/Smer Yak-3. I can't imagine it'll be improved in any significant way except for decals. John

That's my hope, too. I'm having trouble with the opinion expressed elsewhere that it's only a simplified (parts eliminated or combined) version of the existing Airfix P-51D. Maybe some of the same digital masters were used (I'd be surprised if they weren't), but this must be a totally new kit otherwise. I haven't seen any mention of release date, except "Spring 2024"; I know it's not a Yak-9, but I'll probably order 2 or 3 anyway! John

I'm disappointed to hear that; I thought it was a completely new kit, not a gutted version of Airfix's 2012 P-51D. Would it even be possible to eliminate ~19 parts from the existing P-51D? I hope some sprue images will be posted soon. John

Well it was off-topic anyway. I'm sorry! John

There you go - Airfix scoops both Arma and Eduard by beating them to market with a new-tool P-51D! But the big question is - will the wing panel lines be puttied or unputtied?! John

The point is not whether the offset is visible in 1/72, the point is that it exists on the real aircraft, and that Arma attempted to recreate it, to their credit. John

Sometimes dreams do come true - Eduard said in their most recent newsletter that both the 1/48 P-51B/C and the 1/72 P-51D would be released this year: "One More Mustang Given that the Mustang at Line is a P-51D, you might think that the fit’s not quite right, since we are releasing a P-51B. The secret in this recipe is that we won't just have one new Mustang this year, we'll have two….that’s two Mustangs. With an ‘s’! We also have our P-51D in 72nd up our sleeve. We should have it ready so that it will hit the market in June, allowing us to premiere both Mustangs, a big B and little D simultaneously. Mark your calendars, folks! It's going to be big and Pilsen's ‘Little Rebel’ will have a great time! " https://info.eduard.com/en/01-2024-1/page-5 John

Yes it is, and props to Arma for bothering to get such a tiny detail correct. If all of the kit is that accurate, it'll be a masterpiece. Until I get my hands on it... John

Foosh and foosheroo (in the immortal words of Colin Glencannon) to all of you - my plan is to fill in the panel lines on the Eduard kit, and to scribe them on the Arma one, just to mess with everyone's heads. But FWIW, I just went and looked more carefully at the Arma P-51B, and it appears that Arma is currently in the unputtied panel lines camp. Regardless, it's a beautiful kit! I'm not a big Mustang buff, but if both companies release a P-51D, I want my share no matter what they do with those lines. Now, if one of them decided to do an Allison Mustang, I'd just hand over my debit card and say, "Let me know when the delivery truck will show up.". John

It's pretty amazing to find that kind of attention to detail in any kit, never mind 1/72. Proper respect to Arma! John

Oh now you're just being cruel... John

Relax - I'm not loading anything onto you, because the kit manufacturers don't listen to me. If they did, we'd be swamped with 1/72 Yak-9 kits, wouldn't we? I have no misconception about what can be seen, but I think you have a misconception about the durability of that putty in real life. It's been said again and again that it tended to fall out, or even that ground crews, for whatever reason, would remove it, using rags and gasoline. John

I don't understand why this is such a contentious issue. Logically, it's much easier for the average modelbuilder to fill and sand a few unwanted panel lines, compared to scribing, neatly and accurately, panel lines that aren't there. I vote for panel lines! John

Well I'll be darned! First we (supposedly) had Tractor Green on VVS aircraft; now we have Combine Orange. I had no idea that was the origin of International Orange - I thought it meant "universal". Like @Troy Smith says, Britmodeller answers "questions you didn't know you needed to ask"! Thanks, Roger! John

Gotta be careful around those zombie microblogs... John

Three-view drawings presented in magazines and reference books are better called "general-arrangement drawings". They show the general shape of the aircraft and some details, but they are by no means accurately to scale, nor are they (probably) intended to be. I also think the accuracy of more detailed drawings is sometimes misjudged by the neatness of the draftsmanship. If the line weights in the drawing are neat and precise, and if the style of the lettering is consistent and pleasing to the eye, we perceive the accuracy to have the same quality. John

I actually stepped on the canopy from a Zvezda 1/72 Yak-3 easy-assembly kit. Squashed it flat, but with not a single crack. Other canopies would have shattered into a dozen pieces. John

Okay, folks, time to start saving your money to make the MiG-3 Late kit a top seller - April will be here before we know it. I might revise my own purchase estimate upwards, but I can't do this on my own! Buy, buy, buy! Does Armory take pre-orders?! Roll up, roll up!!! John

Interesting - that explains how Zvezda kits are distributed in the west by someone in Austria, as I've read previously. John

Maybe I'm grasping at straws, but when I see "MiG-3 late" on things like the decal sheet, it suggests to me that a "MiG-3 early" is also in the pipeline. John

Useful article by Massimo Tessitori regarding differences between early and late MiG-3 aircraft; may be helpful in modifying the Armory kit to produce the early version: https://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/mig3/short.html I guess it's not totally out of the question that Armory might release an early version, but there are enough differences that a new fuselage and wings, and possibly tailplanes, would be required. On the other hand, it would be helpful to see the sprue images showing the parts breakdown - the designers at Armory might possibly have taken the differences into account, with the intention of releasing an early version later. (Since they're releasing a late version earlier... ) John

I'm very eager to see sprue images; nothing yet on Armory's FaceBook page, but soon, I hope! John

@kotey - Is there (again) any hope of a 1/72 sheet for the Brengun Yak-1 and Arma Yak-1b kits, sooner than Christmas 2024?! It seems that Zvezda will be adding a 1/72 Yak-1 to their easy-assembly kits next year, so the time is right, finally. Thank you for any answer you can give! (The latest ICM Po-2 is a sweet little kit, though: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235065343-172-polikarpov-u-2po-2vspo-2-by-icm-released/&do=findComment&comment=3728312 ...and well deserving of an aftermarket decal sheet. Hmmm - I haven't bought any new kits in ages - maybe... ) John

Considering the realities of life in Ukraine, I hesitate to be so selfish, but I'm ready to make my tiny contribution to the Ukrainian economy - when? I need 2 or 3 of these! John