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Maverick's P-51D Mustang 1:72 Airfix


Julien

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Maverick's P-51D Mustang

1:72 Airfix

 

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The North American P-51 Mustang is one of the most famous and easily-recognisable of Allied types to have served during the Second World War. It was originally designed to a British requirement for a low-altitude fighter, and because it was designed around the Alison V-1710 engine, it had limited performance at higher altitudes. This shortcoming was famously addressed by the marriage of North Americans airframe to the Rolls Royce Merlin aero engine. Once so equipped, the Mustang was able to take on Luftwaffe fighters on equal or better terms up to 15,000 feet. 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. The outstanding feature of the aircraft was is 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."


The Kit

Airfix's Mustang has only been around now since 2012 and is a great little kit. The kit is part of Airfix's series one range and as such as a fairly simple kit, made up of just fifty three parts spread across two sprues of grey plastic and a single small clear sprue. The mouldings are clean and crisp and moulded detail looks good. The panel lines look pretty fine to me, but some will no doubt find them a little too deep. In my opinion they arent too broad though, so treatment with primer would seem to be the way to go here. The kit has been re-released a few times over the years and now again in a tie in with Paramount for the new Top Gun Film, which has been delayed on release due to the current situation. 

 

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The cockpit is assembled on top of a large floor piece which also acts as the roof of the radiator tunnel. Onto this are added an instrument panel (with a decal for detail), a gun sight, control column and seat. Sidewalls and radio kit is moulded in place. The inner sides of the fuselage have some nice raised/recessed detail which helps to add a sense of realism to the cockpit. Overall impressions are very favourable, particularly for a kit in this scale and at this price point.

 

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If you want the airscrew to be moveable, you will have to assemble it before the fuselage halves have been joined. This will make it a bit of a nuisance to paint though, so I would recommend adding it later and fixing it in place. Whichever route you choose, once the fuselage halves are joined then you can add the wing. The lower wing is moulded as a single span, which will help you achieve the correct dihedral. The main gear bays are boxed in and feature some convincing structural details. The tail planes are moulded as solid pieces, but the rudder is a separate part, so you can finish it in a deflected position if you so desire. There are separate flaps too, which is a bonus.

 

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The Finishing details show that Airfix has put some care and attention into the design of this kit. The mouth of the radiator inlet is moulded as a separate part, saving you the trouble of cleaning up a visible seam. The cooling air exhaust is also a separate part and can be posed in either open or closed position. The undercarriage doors are detailed on the inside and the landing gear itself is also very nice. The tyres have a cross-cut tread and subtle flat spots moulded in place. Two drop tanks are provided to hang under the wings. Two canopies are provided, but only the bulged version is used for the decal option supplied with this kit. The frame of the rear canopy is a separate part too, and of course the canopy can be posed in open or closed position.

 

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Decals

As this is a tie in only one set of markings is included, those for the aircraft Maverick owns in the film. The decal sheet is printed by Cartograf and includes a full range of stencils.

 

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Conclusion
This is a neat little kit and Im very glad that Airfix took the decision to re-release it. The level of detail is surprisingly good for the scale and price, and it looks as though this should build up into an excellent model. Recommended if you want to model the Mustang from the film, or just want another to add to your stash. 

 

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Review sample courtesy of logo.gif

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Two points.

- Very difficult to remove the control column (by simple cutting) without breaking it.  I used 'hot cut' using an old soldering iron.

- The elevators and tailplanes have 'each other's curvatures'.  Where they meet, the tailplane should be square and the elevator rounded: in fact the reverse is the case.  A curious mistake to make.

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9 hours ago, Denford said:

Very difficult to remove the control column (by simple cutting) without breaking it.  I used 'hot cut' using an old soldering iron.

:doh: ... OMG how come I never realized I could do that ! Ive had to scratch build two sticks now with these kits. 

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On 1/1/2021 at 8:20 PM, Denford said:

Two points.

- Very difficult to remove the control column (by simple cutting) without breaking it.  I used 'hot cut' using an old soldering iron.

 

 

Brilliant tip, thanks. I too have managed to break a few sticks and guns when attempting to remove them from the sprues of recent Airfix kits with the softer plastic they now use.

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  • 7 months later...

Hi, I'm just finishing off the airfix p-51d that is based on the same kit as this and I have a question about the canopy.

I want to have it in the open position but I'm not sure how it should sit.

When you rest the canopy on the slope of the cockpit sides the back of the canopy is raised 'in the air' above the guide groove on the fuselage behind the cockpit which doesn't look right to me. I've looked online at the real thing with the canopy open and although it's not always clear I'm pretty sure the back of the canopy is not raised and is indeed at fuselage level.

But if I rest the back of the canopy on the fuselage guide groove on the model then the rest of the canopy isn't flush to the slope of the cockpit sides and the front of the canopy sticks up, which also doesn't look right either.

I tried having the back resting on the fuselage groove and then pushing the front down on to the cockpit sides but this involves flexing the sides of the canopy and I'm not sure the glue would hold anyway.

I hope that made sense.

Had anyone else faced this and what did you do?

 

PS I also snapped the control stick on mine but managed to somehow stick it together quite neatly and my antenna was an absolute mess of flash and blobs and was beyond saving (with my skills anyway). Seems to be a common fault on this kit. Apart from that it's a really nice kit.

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@Dark Codthe problem is the the lower framing of the canopy is too thick. I thinned this on the couple I have built by finding a ball pen of the same approximate diameter as the top of the Mustangs fuselage, wrap a piece of fine wet & dry around it & use this to put a champfer on the bottom canopy frame till it sits down at both the front & back. Check as you go but there is a bit to remove & what you have done is not really visible when installed.

Steve.

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Hi stevehnz,

Many thanks for your reply.

I found some clearer cockpit images and was coming to a similar conclusion.

I'll definitely try your method for sanding it, sounds more precise than the freehand sanding I was going to try.

Thanks again.

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  • 9 months later...

For the canopy, one could always just fix it so it's not fully but just cracked open thus negating  any work to the main frame.

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On 5/28/2022 at 1:24 PM, John_W said:

Possible Spoiler Alert.

The Mustang used in the film is a two seater conversion. Also has puttied wings and painted silver on wing surfaces and some of the fuselage.

 

This is correct.  Airfix also failed to provide a 1/72 Jennifer Connelly for the rear seat.  Unforgiveable.  

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  • 10 months later...

Propeller - as i understood p51s were either hamilton standard or aeroproducts

 

Judging by the photo below, i cant see the "cuff" at the blades, meaning its aeroproducts? But then the stickers on the blades are hamilton standard logos? 

 

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23 minutes ago, brinjal said:

Propeller - as i understood p51s were either hamilton standard or aeroproducts

 

Judging by the photo below, i cant see the "cuff" at the blades, meaning its aeroproducts? But then the stickers on the blades are hamilton standard logos? 

 

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The mustang used two HS props the cuffed one as per the kit and an uncuffed on which is in the F-51 boxing, I think that is indeed the HS one though his one would have orrignally been fitted with the aeroprodocts one as its a F-6K 

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15 hours ago, PhantomBigStu said:

The mustang used two HS props the cuffed one as per the kit and an uncuffed on which is in the F-51 boxing, I think that is indeed the HS one though his one would have orrignally been fitted with the aeroprodocts one as its a F-6K 

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Means neither of these propellers are correct on Tom cruise's Mustang now. 

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On 5/1/2023 at 4:34 PM, PhantomBigStu said:

Actually I’ve looked into it and his has been converted into a p-51D so it’s “correct” 

Not sure i followed, but his mustang was from the dallas plant, would have originally been fitted with aeroproducts (the one on the right in the instruction sheet pic).

 

So my question was, it was obviously changed it because now the blades have hamilton standard logos. 

 

What i didnt know was there were actually two types of HS blades, cuffed and not cuffed. So can I assume that this mustang today is fitted with the not cuffed blades?

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7 hours ago, brinjal said:

Not sure i followed, but his mustang was from the dallas plant, would have originally been fitted with aeroproducts (the one on the right in the instruction sheet pic).

 

So my question was, it was obviously changed it because now the blades have hamilton standard logos. 

 

What i didnt know was there were actually two types of HS blades, cuffed and not cuffed. So can I assume that this mustang today is fitted with the not cuffed blades?

Yes, his mustang was  Dallas produced F-6K (a P-51K with cameras fitted) with the AP prop, many K's were ftted in the field with HS cuffed props as the AP one had poor performance, and led to HS producing their own larger and superior uncuffed one. As for cruise's I don't know when it acquired the cuffed prop but certainly had it after it was converted into a D in the 90's and sold to Cruise. 

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WHat about the thunderbolts? What blades did they use?

 

Is part 29 the right hamilton standard paddle blade non cuff propeller that is seen on Tom Cruise's P51 nowadays?

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3 hours ago, brinjal said:

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WHat about the thunderbolts? What blades did they use?

 

Is part 29 the right hamilton standard paddle blade non cuff propeller that is seen on Tom Cruise's P51 nowadays?

 

P-47Ds used a number of propellers but none of them would be suitable for a Mustang, the P-47's all had a much larger diameter. 

The uncuffed HS propeller appeared at the end of the war and was used and rettofitted on many postwar Mustangs. Both Airfix and Tamiya include one in their 1/72 F-51D kits. Both have this part on a separate sprue in addition to the original wartime cuffed HS propeller. 

I'm sure there are also aftermarket options.

As Airfix already have the moulds for the uncuffed HS prop it would have been nice to see them adding this extra sprue to this kit if the real aircraft has this! Guess that they didn't check or maybe believed most buyers wouldn't be bothered

Edited by Giorgio N
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25 minutes ago, Giorgio N said:

 

P-47Ds used a number of propellers but none of them would be suitable for a Mustang, the P-47's all had a much larger diameter. 

The uncuffed HS propeller appeared at the end of the war and was used and rettofitted on many postwar Mustangs. Both Airfix and Tamiya include one in their 1/72 F-51D kits. Both have this part on a separate sprue in addition to the original wartime cuffed HS propeller. 

I'm sure there are also aftermarket options.

As Airfix already have the moulds for the uncuffed HS prop it would have been nice to see them adding this extra sprue to this kit if the real aircraft has this! Guess that they didn't check or maybe believed most buyers wouldn't be bothered

Thanks a lot for the info. Everything made sense now. I was looking through facebpok seller groups in my part of the world and asking them to show me the propeller of the kit! Cheers

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On 5/1/2023 at 12:12 PM, brinjal said:

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Means neither of these propellers are correct on Tom cruise's Mustang now. 

@Giorgio N This is the instruction from Tamiya's F51. Hamilton standard = cuffed, the other one being aero products. Or Should i just use the aeroproduct one. slightly trim the edge of the blade, and stick the "hamilton standard" decal on it?

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15 minutes ago, brinjal said:

@Giorgio N This is the instruction from Tamiya's F51. Hamilton standard = cuffed, the other one being aero products. Or Should i just use the aeroproduct one. slightly trim the edge of the blade, and stick the "hamilton standard" decal on it?

That’s the HS uncuffed one. This is the AP prop 01.jpg

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