ICM P51B/C as RAF Mustang III 1/48

[MiGFan79]

As a bit of light relief from taking several years to get one 1/48 Phantom over the line I'm intending to try and complete a couple of P-51's for this GB.

 

First up is the ICM P-51 B/C boxing, with the intention to finish it as an RAF mk3 courtesy of Techmod decals (yes i know Tamiya have actually done this as a boxing but the ICM kit was a tenner....)

 

Basically it's a less accomplished version of the Tamiya kit (softer plastic, no locating lugs and some silly errors like no landing gear leg hole on one side). However it's not too bad - i've taped the fuselage together to check fit and glued the upper wings to the lower just to make sure the fit wasn't so bad I needed to pull a Tamiya one from the stash! The definition on the trailing edge of the wings is a bit vague compared the Tamiya kit but other than that it doesn't look too bad a kit. 

 

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Plan is for an Eduard Zoom cockpit set but otherwise OOB.

 

I am also doing an RAF P-51D but i don't have that kit to hand just at the moment to photograph for a thread.

 

 

[Bonhoff]

Hi,

 

Had a few minor fit issues with the same kit on a previous Mustang GB - Here

 

HTH

 

IanJ 

 

 

 

 

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good afternoon MiGFan79

Welcome aboard have fun with your build

All the best

Patrice

[MiGFan79]

Neither of my projects in this group build have progressed as far as i'd like to be honest. A combination of busy workload and frustration over a defective airbrush sort of killed the initial mojo!

 

However i've had a good couple of days on both kits in the past week.

 

Interior green sprayed, Eduard Zoom set fitted....

 

 

 

As Bonhoff pointed out in his build, the fit of the cockpit is less than positive, in fact it took me a while to get the instrument panel in a position where the pit would actually fit at all! I'm not sure it's 100% right but it was the only way it was going in. As i'm building this alongside the Tamiya "D" I sort of wish i'd gone with the Tamiya "B/C" now, the ICM kit isn't anywhere near un-buildable but everything has just taken a bit more effort due to the comparative lack of finesse in the moulding despite being obviously based directly on the Tamiya plastic.

 

 

 

Case in point, the fuselage halves need copious taping and stitching together due to lack of locating pins and less accurate joint. I resorted to superglue and clamps in a couple of places. Then the "ramp" that goes between the radiator and tailwheel bay came unglued once the halves were joined, and sprung up into the fuselage, requiring some tomfoolery to bend it back down and superglue it into the correct position. Reckon i'll be fettling the join over the coming week and getting the wing unit glued in place. I'm a bit up against the deadline now but I still intend to try and get both kits over the line.

 

 

 

[gingerbob]

I recently described the ICM Mustangs as "a Tamiya kit for which the molds are shot, if one could imagine that situation."

[MiGFan79]

I've got this to the "primed and filled" stage but realistically i'm not going to get both Mustang projects over the line for the end of the build so I'm going to concentrate on the Tamiya P-51D in my other thread and save this for a future RFI. There's more work with spraying a camo scheme and masking canopies etc and i just don't think it's going to happen by the 15th!

 

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good morning MiGFan79

 I am really sorry for you given all the hard work you have already done so far but If you can't complete the ICM kit before the 15th to place it in the Gallery you can still finish it there ..

 

All the best

Patrice