phat trev Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Many thanks to PhoenixII on here for selling me an Academy F-51D. I have read there are faults with the model dispite the nice engraved detail. What should I be looking out for and improving/ correcting? The F-51 is being built alongside my Mustang Mk1 (Academy) and P-51B (Hasegawa) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master Zen Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Hmmm, the Academy D is sadly not as accurate as their A and B/C. The nose seems a bit stubby compared to the more accurate Hase and Tamiya offerings and not sure there's a simple way of correcting that. There's some oversized rivet detail on the nose which would be an easier fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck1945 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Many thanks to PhoenixII on here for selling me an Academy F-51D. I have read there are faults with the model dispite the nice engraved detail.What should I be looking out for and improving/ correcting? The F-51 is being built alongside my Mustang Mk1 (Academy) and P-51B (Hasegawa) worst of two worlds - the Hasgawa P-51B is one of the less accurate B models since it sports a 'D' model wing leading edge, and the Academy D is worse that their (Academy's) P-51B that in turn is better than the Hasegawa version of the B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phat trev Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 worst of two worlds - the Hasgawa P-51B is one of the less accurate B models since it sports a 'D' model wing leading edge, and the Academy D is worse that their (Academy's) P-51B that in turn is better than the Hasegawa version of the B. I have managed to get around the D Wing on the Hasegawa model as I have an old set of wings from the Revell P51B (Just a bot of TLC and a file needed here then. Maybe I can use the Hasegawa D wing on the Academy D model? or does this not solve anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck1945 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 (edited) If you can fit the Revell P-51B wings to the Hasegawa P-51B, you will get a more accurate wing. And then if you can fit the Hasegawa wing to the Academy P-51D, you should get an improved 'D' - although I must admit I haven't looked at the Hasegawa P-51B kit in a long time so while the wing has too much forward kink for a 'B', the kink itself may not be in correct position for a 'D' either. Hard to describe, but the 'B' has a slight forward kink in the leading edge of the wing beging near where the landing gear legs are attached. The 'D' has much more of a forward kink, but it begins closer to the fuselage. I hate to fall back on the cliche, but even built 'as is' the Academy kit will look more like a P-51D than it will anything else, not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but recognizable. In the end it will depend upon how much effort you are willing to make for any improvement. Edited January 24, 2011 by Chuck1945 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phat trev Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 If you can fit the Revell P-51B wings to the Hasegawa P-51B, you will get a more accurate wing. And then if you can fit the Hasegawa wing to the Academy P-51D, you should get an improved 'D' - although I must admit I haven't looked at the Hasegawa P-51B kit in a long time so while the wing has too much forward kink for a 'B', the kink itself may not be in correct position for a 'D' either.Hard to describe, but the 'B' has a slight forward kink in the leading edge of the wing beging near where the landing gear legs are attached. The 'D' has much more of a forward kink, but it begins closer to the fuselage. I hate to fall back on the cliche, but even built 'as is' the Academy kit will look more like a P-51D than it will anything else, not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but recognizable. In the end it will depend upon how much effort you are willing to make for any improvement. Hmmm ok, thanks Chuck. Maybe taking the 'kink away maybe a better idea (hasegawa) and cutting the corrected shape from the Revell wings to glue onto the hasegawa model. (the revell wing does not fit the hasegawa model in and around the intake which is a damn shame. Lots of big gaps) As for the Academy kit, I am keeping all the main parts together as it does look good, maybe a little fat around the cockpit? and i am going to replace the rudder and tailplanes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Add a gunsight to the cockpit and, if you can be bothered in 72nd, a more accurate instrument panel for the rest is well enough detailed. Other missing part is the landing light. Nice kit for a quick and easy build if not the most accurate shape. Cheaper than the Tamiya kits but not build one of them so can't compare. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 If I recall, the Academy '51 had 7 (SEVEN) exhaust stubs!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phat trev Posted January 29, 2011 Author Share Posted January 29, 2011 If I recall, the Academy '51 had 7 (SEVEN) exhaust stubs!!!! early mouldings did yes! this one is a little more upto date with the proper 6 on each side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck1945 Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 (edited) If I recall, the Academy '51 had 7 (SEVEN) exhaust stubs!!!! The first Academy P-51D was a kit of the little known P-51D that was a trial aircraft for Packard's experimental 14 cylinder version of the Merlin. They (Academy) realized this was too esoteric, so they redid the kit in more common production form with V-12 Packard Merlin. Edited January 29, 2011 by Chuck1945 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 The first Academy P-51D was a kit of the little known P-51D that was a trial aircraft for Packard's experimental 14 cylinder version of the Merlin. They (Academy) realized this was too esoteric, so they redid the kit in more common production form with V-12 Packard Merlin. Don't suppose you'd be interested in joining the What-if GB Chuck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Severus Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Many thanks to PhoenixII on here for selling me an Academy F-51D. I have read there are faults with the model dispite the nice engraved detail.What should I be looking out for and improving/ correcting? The F-51 is being built alongside my Mustang Mk1 (Academy) and P-51B (Hasegawa) The best correcting would be buying Tamiya's one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre B Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I will say that Tamiya is overpriced. If you could get one for the price of an Academy or Airfix kit I would say go for it. But as it is for now I say no. I've built four P-51D Mustang's more or les in he same time. They are from Hasegava, Academy, Italeri and Airfix. I like the Hasegava modell best but the Academy stands well up to Airfix or maybe a little better. The cockpit and instrumentpanel is better on the Academy kit and I like the way they did the nose. It's a loose part so you can paint it easy for example yellow with the prop without masking the hole model. And the Academy kit also has loose flaps... I think the kit to avoid today is the Italeri kit. It has som strange solutions,for example loose parts for the canons wich means it needs filller and sanding. One of the older kit that could turn out not so bad is the Heller one. With some sanding and new rescribed panellines and a new cockpit this could be a surprice that is hard to guess it's origin. Matchbox Mustang is always fun to build. The old Airfix is ok to get if you want the Swedish decals. Concerning the old Revell - don't get there (but it has nice decals)! When it comes to decals the best ones are Airfix, Heller and Revell. I don't like the Academy as they are glossy and don't goes to well with Micro Sol and Set. Italeri never get i right. RAF Mustang IV YT-E "wheels up landed" at Getterön airfield, Varberg, Sweden on April 1945. And the Italeri markings does not look like the markings on this aircraft seen on pictures... Best Regards! Andre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfqweofekwpeweiop4 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Having built the new Airfix P-51D and the Tamiya, Hasegawa, and Academy P-51D's, I can safely say the Academy one is the worst of lot and not worth bothering with. Sit it next to the other 3 and you'll see why! I still think the Tamiya kit is best for it's overall detail and being easily the nicest to build. The last 2 have cost me £8 each, which is about the same as the Airfix F-51D kit. If you want something cheap but quite good and you (like me) have plenty of aftermarket markings to use up, the basic Airfix series 1 P-51D (new tool) is a good choice being between £5-£6 and a decent enough kit. The Hasegawa P-51D isn't bad either but it's just not as nice as Tamiya or as cheap as the Airfix one. Still, it's worth it if you can find it cheap enough as Hasegawa have done plenty of interesting marking choices for it. As for the P-51B/C, best go for the Academy kit. It's the only mainstream P-51B/C that has the correct wings and although not perfect in other respects, it's cheap, well detailed, fits together quite well. thanks Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre B Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 (edited) I for sure would by a Tamya P-51D if I could get one for £8. In Sweden the price for an Airfix, Italeri or Academy is about £10 to £12. You could get an Hasegava for £16 but the price for an Tamiya P-51D in 1/72 is £30. Thats a lot more than your £8.. My Academy kit stands together with the other kits. The one wich stands out is the skinny and old Airfix (I have the older Matchbox and Heller kits as well). I painted my Academy kit i OD and I think that camouflage forgive the shape differences. I think if it was built in NMF the diffrences had ben seen clearer. I like he Academy kit mostly because it is an nice modell to build. The Italeri is not. And shape issues is mostly about the angles of wiewing... http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234908185-academy-172-p-51d/ Airfix for sure looked a lot on the Tamiya kit but if they had looked a little more on the cockpit and nose of the Academy I think that the Airfix Mustang had made competition with the Hasegava kit. I like he way Tamiya and Airfix made the canopy and framing in two parts. And one thing I for sure would have appreciated is if they had made the prop in the same way that Italeri made the props on their Dornier kits as it easily could been glued to the aircraft after painting and decaling. But that goes for almost every propdriven plane I've built... Cheers / Andre Edited August 13, 2019 by Andre B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfqweofekwpeweiop4 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Have you tried buying from UK traders? Even Hannants sell the Tamiya Mustang for less than half the price you quoted! They are charging £12.50 for either boxing new and they have a F-51 2nd hand for £8.33. Not sure what their post is to Sweden but it should only be about £5 or £6 for a small kit like that. Over here the Tamiya kit is usually cheaper than the Hasegawa one! There is a UK trader called Kingkit, try them, I'm sure they post overseas and I got a Tamiya Mustang from them for £8 the other week. Buying them 2nd hand is the key to getting them cheap! thanks Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 One of the older kit that could turn out not so bad is the Heller one. With some sanding and new rescribed panellines and a new cockpit this could be a surprice that is hard to guess it's origin. Matchbox Mustang is always fun to build. The old Airfix is ok to get if you want the Swedish decals. Concerning the old Revell - don't get there (but it has nice decals)! I'm building a Heller P-51D right now and to it looks awful ! The fuselage is way too narrow and this can be easily seen even without measuring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre B Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 (edited) I'm building a Heller P-51D right now and to it looks awful ! The fuselage is way too narrow and this can be easily seen even without measuring. Well, what did you expect? I wrote "not so bad". The Heller one It's an old kit. Compare it with the not that much older and skinnyer Airfix kit and the much older and ugly Revell it looks rather nice. But today it's age is around 40. It was the last one of the old "age" Mustang kits. And the Academy was on of the first of the new age kits... Wy are you building the Heller kit (or any kit)? Is it for accurasy or is it for the fun of the hobby? You have to ask yourself what you want to get out of it... / Andre Edited March 10, 2014 by Andre B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Test Graham Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Did Heller re-release the Airfix P-51D as they did other Airfix kits? This may seem strange, but Heller had sold a lot of their tooling and this may have included their P-51D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre B Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 (edited) Did Heller re-release the Airfix P-51D as they did other Airfix kits? This may seem strange, but Heller had sold a lot of their tooling and this may have included their P-51D. I can't say that I knew of any Heller re-released P-51D Airfix kits. They did that with the Skyraider for example. But I think the P-51D and the Hawker Hurricane as well is/was that good that it wasn´t any idea to re-release the Airfix kit... http://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=146811 Concerning shape issues... ...I tried thecanopy from the new Airfix Mustang kit and it fell spot on the Heller kit. It's almost 40 years between those two kits... / Andre Edited March 10, 2014 by Andre B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hhhalifaxxx Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Hello. One of the most glaringly obvious shortcomings of the Academy 1/72 P-51D -- and rarely mentioned in reviews -- is the shape of the vertical fin, conspicuously too narrow as compared to photos. Ironically, that fault can become an advantage if you're trying to convert it to an early Cavalier Mustang: just extend it up with a bit of plastic card cut along its leading and trailing edge outlines, and you'll have a good match for those civil-mod Mustangs used by El Salvador against Honduras in the 100-Hour War (aka 'Soccer War') in 1969. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Test Graham Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 if the new (3rd) Airfix canopy fits the Heller P-51D then "skinny" is not appropriate. It is for the 2nd Airfix release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre B Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 (edited) if the new (3rd) Airfix canopy fits the Heller P-51D then "skinny" is not appropriate. It is for the 2nd Airfix release. You must have read wrong somewhere. No one has mentioned the Heller kit as "skinny". Not many knew about the first Airfix P-51D. The skinny P-51D for me would always be the second Airfix release (the Swedish J 26 kit). The Heller kit is more like the latest Airfix kit albeit the nose of the Heller kit differs. Its the new 3rd Airfix canopy that fits well to the older Heller kit... Edited March 10, 2014 by Andre B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Test Graham Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 (edited) Giorgio N did - post 17. My comment stands. I had eight of the original Airfix P-51D Mustangs. I made one - after padding the fuselage - of the second ones and have an untouched third generation. I have made three (four?) of the original Hasegawa P-51Ds and have an unmade 2nd generation one. I presume that is the one you refer too. I had both Academy ones but passed them on. I have yet to get a Tamiya but am informed it is the best by an individual modeller whose judgement I rate highly. I wouldn't put a number on how many knew about the original Airfix P-51D but it certainly includes me. Edited March 10, 2014 by Graham Boak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Collins Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 By the way, you might want to look at the dihedral of the Academy kit (or apparent lack thereof). It looks decidedly odd sitting next to my other Mustangs. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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