Kovozávody Prostějov P-51D-5 Mustang 20th FG & 361st FG (KPM0440 & KPM0442) 1:72

[Mike]

P-51D-5 Mustang 20th FG & 361st FG (KPM0440 & KPM0442)

1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov

 

 

The P-51 was developed by the North American Aviation company as a potential fighter for Great Britain, but due to the poor performance of the original Allison engine at altitude it wasn’t suitable, especially for a specification that included combat at high altitude over Britain.  In a fortuitous attempt to correct this deficiency, they decided to bolt a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine to the front of the airframe that it brought out the best of its design, which included the energy efficient laminar flow wing that gave it the potential to escort Allied bombers all the way to Berlin with the addition of drop-tanks and a lean fuel mixture when not in combat.  It was flown in this guise as the Mustang III in British service, and as the P-51B/C in US service with a “razor-back” spine and scalloped rear-view windows behind the cockpit, until some bright spark took a blown hood that had been used successfully on the Spitfire and fitted it to British Mustangs, garnering the nickname Malcolm Hood after its manufacturer.  The P-51D was altered to have a bubble canopy and cut-down aft fuselage that improved the pilot’s situational awareness, with an additional fin-fillet widely added later to regain some of the stability lost due to the new shape and fuel tank location.  In British service it was known as the Mustang Mk.IV, and the same variant made at the Dallas factory with hollow AeroProducts props that was designated P-51K in US service was known as the Mk.IVa in RAF service to differentiate.  Sadly, the hollow prop was prone to vibration thanks to some inferior quality control at the factory, so was often swapped out in the field.  The most prevalent P-51D is the Mustang that most people think of when they hear the name, unless they’re more of a petrol head or a bit horsey, although us modellers are more likely to ask “which variant?”.

 

 

The Kit

This is a new tooling from Kovozávody Prostějov, which has been released in several boxings with different decals, of which we have two in for review.  Both kits arrive in a small end-opening box with a dramatic painting of the subject matter on the front, profiles of the decal options on the rear, and inside are two sprues of grey styrene, a small clear sprue in a Ziploc bag, a sheet of decals, plus the instruction booklet that is printed on a sheet of folded A4 in black and white.  Detail is good, with fine engraved panel lines, raised and recessed features inside and out, and a nicely detailed main gear bay.  KP Models kits are medium run, and there is evidence of this in some panel lines that may need extending to their full length around the wing leading edges, a little flash in places, and there appears to be a very slight patina visible under magnification to some of the open areas that should be looked at after a coat of primer to establish whether it will show through, in which case a very light sanding of those areas would be advisable to ensure a good finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the instrument panel, which has the rudder pedals moulded-in, and a dial decal is applied to the front after painting, adding the gunsight to the top of the coaming.  Detail painting instructions are given for the cockpit sidewalls, then the floor is painted a wooden shade as indicated, adding a console on the port side, the seat and armour to the rear after applying decal belts, the control column in front of the seat, the panel with coaming, and a bulkhead at the front of the floor.  To the rear, the fuel tank with radio gear on top is glued to the floor, and the completed assembly is inserted in the port fuselage side along with an insert for the tail wheel bay, and a plate that blanks off the air pathway behind the pilot.  The tail gear bay roof is a single part that receives the tail-wheel and is inserted into the port fuselage before closure, dealing with the seams in your preferred manner, and fitting intake lips under the nose and on the belly intake to complete them.

 

 

The lower wing is a single-span part, which has the well-detailed main bay installed and painted, mating it with the fuselage before adding the upper wing halves, ensuring there is a 5° dihedral once the glue has set.  The elevators are each separate parts that are attached either side of the tail fin in the usual slot-and-tab manner, using the parts appropriate to your choice, then gluing the rudder panel into the rear of the fin.  The flaps and ailerons are separate parts, affixing to the trailing edges, with the possibility of posing the flaps lowered and the ailerons deflected if you wish.  The four-bladed prop with cuffs are moulded as a single part that is trapped between the front and black-plate of the spinner, inserting the short axle at the rear into the nose of your model, adding a pitot probe under the starboard wing, an aerial mast on the spine behind the cockpit, and the two-part canopy/windscreen assembly over the cockpit cut-out, with a rear-view mirror on the apex of the windscreen.  A choice of two styles of exhaust stacks is offered in this boxing, so check your references to see which is appropriate for your build, then install the main gear legs and wheels into the outer ends of the main bays, with captive bay doors against the struts, and inner bay doors hinging down the centreline, with a choice of colour options for the interior.  Finally, a pair of two-part drop-tanks are included with pylons to mount under the wings outboard of the main gear bays, as shown in the final instruction step.

 

Markings

There are three decal options per boxing, and from each box you can build one of the following:

 

20th Fighter Group (KPM0440)

 

 

 

361st Fighter Group (KPM0442)

 

 

 

The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas.  This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film.  It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain.

 

 

Conclusion

A couple of nice 1:72 late Mustangs with some interesting transitional schemes that retain some of the olive drab in places around the airframe.

 

Highly recommended.

 

P-51D-5 Mustang20th Fighter Group (KPM0440)

 

P-51D-5 Mustang 361st Fighter Group (KPM0442)

 

Review sample courtesy of

 

[Atlis]

How can a blatant Tamiya kit copy get a high recommendation is beyond me. 

[Mike]

On 23/01/2025 at 07:29, Atlis said:

How can a blatant Tamiya kit copy get a high recommendation is beyond me. 

Apart from having a totally different parts layout on the sprues, build process, detail level etc., where's your proof?  Is it because it looks like a Mustang?

[georgeusa]

On 1/23/2025 at 1:29 AM, Atlis said:

How can a blatant Tamiya kit copy get a high recommendation is beyond me. 

Careful Icarus.

[Atlis]

I don't need to be careful about anything. 

 

It is clearly a chopped up Tamiya, modified and reassembled. A pretty typical approach of AZ/KP we have seen already in the past.

 

Feel free to compare your photos Mike with the original Tamiya, look for it's typical features and you'll see. 

 

It the same "new tool" kit like their L-410, that is just a modified Gavia (which they of course deny). Adding sloppy detail, reshaping parts, shuffling parts on sprues for epoxy forming is a practice they are pretty well known for. Like it or not.

 

 

[Graham Boak]

Evidence?  I don't need any stinkin' evidence!  My unsupported prejudice is good enough for everyone.  Wake up to the 21st Century, you old guys.

[Atlis]

Go through this. Tamiya and Hasegawa parts are pretty obvious: 

 

https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2020/09/25/north-american-p-51d-mustang-comparison-build-hasegawa-airfix-and-tamiya-kits-in-1-72-scale-part-i/
https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2020/10/02/north-american-p-51d-mustang-comparison-build-hasegawa-airfix-and-tamiya-kits-in-1-72-scale-part-ii/

Things have been modified, riveted, combined, sanded, scribed or just used straight from those kits... 

I'll give you a hint. Tell me how KP managed to make this exactly the same:

Edited January 25 by Atlis

[2996 Victor]

13 hours ago, Atlis said:

I'll give you a hint. Tell me how KP managed to make this exactly the same:

Erm.....because they're both miniature representations of the same assembly from a P-51?

 

13 hours ago, Atlis said:

Things have been modified, riveted, combined, sanded, scribed or just used straight from those kits... 

So in fact, not comparable because of the very differences you've stated 

[Graham Boak]

It always struck me as sensible that a model manufacturer should look at how the competition approached the subject, and learn from them.  With a comparison to the original, of course.  Direct copying isn't illegal, providing changes are introduced to count as a new work.  Such things are not patented.

 

However, the rules of this particular game are that if AZ produce a close copy they are nasty cheating illegitimates, and if they don't they are ignorant and incompetent illegitimates.  I'm a little surprised they aren't taken to task for making their wheels round.

[Atlis]

Obviously, Mustang will look like Mustang and Spitfire will look like Spitfire. But when parts look exactly the same, down to ejector pins, that is not coincidence or inspiration. Just like copying an entire model and just adding a few details to cover the origin. 

 

I don't judge anyone's moral compass in this. 

 

On the other hand, if a kit is evidently a copy of someone's kit and not even a good copy and there are far superior kits on the market (Eduard, Arma...) I don't understand why a kit can be Highly recommended. What should those then? Uber recommended? 

Edited January 26 by Atlis

[ABeck]

At least a step forward to see in the future. Maybe some brand will offer all four in one box (hopefully Eduard in 48th).

Edited January 27 by ABeck

[Giorgio N]

Honestly I struggle to see how this kit may have a place in 2024. The pictures show how the mould is not particualrly sharp, there are panel lines that are filled with plastic for part of their length and some don't even look completely straight. I can understand that the manufacturer may not use steel molds but today there are short run kits that are much more refined than this one. I also believe I can see some pixelation on all decals that are not in black, a well known problems with this company.

Really the only advantage I can see against the older kits is the fact that here we have some Block-5 aircraft that have not really much reproduced until now . Against the Eduard kit the only way to compete is to offer the kits at a much lower price...