Tamiya 1/32 mustang over at Hyperscale

[hacker]

http://www.hyperscale.com/2011/reviews/kit...2reviewbg_1.htm

Have now seen the whole parts trees more or less l see it will end up being the ultimate P-51D kit but what peaked my interest is the layout of the parts. If you look at it the right way you can see a "B" version in the near future. They molded the wing fillet separate and the middle fuselage also. This l think leaves them the option of doing a the B with replacement parts

[andy hood]

Looks to be a very good kit indeedy!!

[Work In Progress]

http://www.hyperscale.com/2011/reviews/kit...2reviewbg_1.htm

Have now seen the whole parts trees more or less l see it will end up being the ultimate P-51D kit but what peaked my interest is the layout of the parts. If you look at it the right way you can see a "B" version in the near future. They molded the wing fillet separate and the middle fuselage also. This l think leaves them the option of doing a the B with replacement parts

I haven't looked at all the detail pics yet, but have they done what it would take to produce a version with the B's four-gun armament?

Edited June 27, 2011 by Work In Progress

[Deanflyer]

I've got to say that this looks pretty good to me... they've got the wheel well shape right, the gear doors and undercarriage can be swapped over for in-flight poses after completion of the model, and they've even provided clear goggles for the pilot! I'm not too worried about nit-picking details on my models, or how many variants can be built from it, more interested in the thought that has gone into the kit and this one shows a lot of that.

I'll reserve judgement until someone puts one together, but I can see myself replacing the old Hase kits in my stash with one of these...

Thanks for the heads up,

Dean

[Admiral Puff]

http://www.hyperscale.com/2011/reviews/kit...2reviewbg_1.htm

Have now seen the whole parts trees more or less l see it will end up being the ultimate P-51D kit but what peaked my interest is the layout of the parts. If you look at it the right way you can see a "B" version in the near future. They molded the wing fillet separate and the middle fuselage also. This l think leaves them the option of doing a the B with replacement parts

One big disappointment for me is that without getting another canopy transparency I won't be able to do many RAAF ones. From the sprue shots it looks as though the kit canopies have the aerial fairlead moulded in. It will be very hard to eliminate it effectively, but only the very early RAAF deliveries (in the A68-500 series) had it. The RAAF's radio suite was such that the overhead aerial was not needed, and so the fairlead was left off the canopy in later deliveries. Maybe the Dragon kit will have use after all!

[Jennings Heilig]

I first thought the wing fillet was separate too, but that's only on the lower surface. The upper surface has the entire wing surface except for the flap and aileron molded together.

I'm not convinced that they haven't designed the kit with mold inserts and modularity to allow them to do a B/C, but without examining the kit myself, I don't know. There are often very subtle tell-tale signs of mold inserts visible on the insides of parts, and none of the pics I've seen to date show that kind of close-up detail.

It would be a major engineering coup if they pull it off, but we shall see. It would take an entirely new fuselage and other major mods to the wings (ammo bays, etc). There were apparently also differences in the landing gear geometry on the B/C.

J

One big disappointment for me is that without getting another canopy transparency I won't be able to do many RAAF ones. From the sprue shots it looks as though the kit canopies have the aerial fairlead moulded in. It will be very hard to eliminate it effectively

There are three different main canopies in the kit. I haven't seen a photo that shows all three, but it wouldn't be very difficult to remove that little molded nub. A few swipes with some Micro Mesh and a coat of Future and Bob would be your uncle...

[stalal]

Can we get Acrobat format instruction manual for this kit like we did for Spitfire before it was released? I think for Spitfire it was a link on Tamiya's Japanese website.

[Jennings Heilig]

I'm sure it will be out eventually, but I haven't seen any images of the instruction booklet as yet.