So I’ve been down hard for two weeks with a kidney stone the size of the rock of Gibraltar and I’ve started to get some supplies to build a couple of models. Anyway I like the early P-51 ,P-40, hellcats, sbd dive bombers ect and picked up a RAF mustang MK1a (Recon bird) from Hobbycraft (I’m not really loving it, fit up is terrible and detail is not so great ) I tried to do a search on this site but got like 6 thousand hits on the P-51 and have read allot of your comments on different manufacturer’s. I also had picked up a P-40 b and a F4F-3 from Trumpeter, I have not started building them yet (but the instructions are way better and it looks like it has allot more detail then the hobbycraft model) can I always expect these details from trumpeter ? what are other good source for the early P-51in 1/32 scale I like this scale best (bigger parts) this is my first model plane build since the late 70’s any help would be appreciated I’m not as worried about cost as I am about quality …R/Mike
Well in 1/32 you could find for Revell/Monogram the P-51B and also the Trumpeter P-51A and the P-51B The A-36 is actually a modified P-51A. In 1/48 scale get the Accurate Miniatures P-51 series those are pretty decent.
Oh…Tamiya is about to release a D model in 1/32. I can’t remember seeing any early model 51’s in 1/32. Dragon also has a D, but my LHS guy steered me away from it. I know that doesn’t really help you any, but I did want to extend some well wishes for the stones. I have them often and I know what you’re going through. I’ve had endoscopic removal a half dozen times and it isn’t pleasant.
Trumpeter has a couple early 51’s in 1/32 that are probably way cheaper than the new 51 coming out by Tamiya and the Dragon 1/32 kits are all P-51D kits Early P-51D mid/late P-51D and the F-6D Photorecon aircraft.
Yeah…I know the price on the Tamiya 1/32 stuff is really a hindrance for some, me included. I must have just missed the Trumpeter one. Off to google!! I had edited my post before submitting it that’s why I failed to acknowledge that my info on the Dragon and Tamiya kits was of no help in this particular case.
If you’re building a P-51A from Hobbycraft, I assume you are building 1/32 scale.
Trumpeter doesn’t make a P-51A in 1/32 scale. The only Allison powered Mustang in 1/32 is the Hobbycraft kit, which is pretty much a scaled up copy of the Accurate Miniatures kit, which is decent for 1/48, but pretty sparsely detailed for a modern 1/32 scale kit.
The market for P-51Ds is completely glutted. There is a lot of buzz about the Tamiya kit of course, but there are also recent offerings from Trumpeter and while a lot of people have panned the Dragon kit, I have seen it and it doesn’t look that bad. They did get a bit carried away with the recessed rivet detail, but that can always be filled in.
The ancient Hasegawa 1/32 P-51D isn’t so bad either, though it does have raised panel lines.
For a P-51B/C, the only choices is the ancient Revell kit or the new Trumpeter kit. There has been a lot of criticism of the Revell kit. The lines are a bit off here and there and the raised rivets give the model the texture of sand paper. The new Trumpeter kit on the other hand is very nice looking. Of course the Trumpeter kit costs 5 times as much.
If you were actually asking about 1/48 scale, the only game in town is the Accurate Miniatures kits. I think they modeled every version of the Allison powered Mustang except the prototype. The AM kit is very good.
Bill
Thanks guys all the info is helpful I will eventually do the “D” model but the hobbycraft is the first kit so if I screw it up too bad Im not going to worry so much and thanks Jdice (it really is a pain but hopefully todays Xray will show it gone if not back to Lithotripsy) anyway thanks again guys 11
Actually he was talking about early P-51’s and A-36’s so the P-51B will count And Trumpeter does make a P-51B
http://www.greatmodels.com/~smartcart/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=TSM2274
You forgot about the Revell P-51B/C in 1/48 scale as well and RoG (Revell Germany) also has a decent looking P-51B in 1/72 scale.
Thorny? Thats a heck of a handle for a guy with your condition..lol. And,I know, theres no pain like trying to pee a nickle!
Good luck with everything!
Len
In 1/48 scale there are too many Merlin powered Mustangs to count. I don’t know what the fit is like for the ICM Mustang, but it looks like a copy of the Tamiya kit.
I’ve known some women who had gall stones, kidney stones, and given birth. They all ranked the kidney and gall stones #1 and #2 on the pain scale.
Bill
Oh Yeah! My Doc says it`s the male equivalency to child birth…[:'(]
thank you for your sympathy i can deal with the stones it the stent that drives me crazy !! I tried to mate the Hobby craft fuselage yesterday and I have to tell you the fit up is really bad I may put this one away and start the P-40 just to get a fresh perspective I just cannot believe how bad this kit is or is it me ?? I’ll try again today R/Mike
You’re correct, it is a copy of Tamiya’s -B. I’m currently building the ICM kit. Fit is not too bad, except for the radiator vent area. Well, actually, it might be an accuracy error, rather than a fit issue, and it originates with the Tamiya kit. The opening for the after vent is too large, in my opinion. With the vent in its “closed” position, there is still a big hole in the fuselage. I’m not sure if Tamiya meant for the end of the piece that makes up the flight deck (ie, the cockpit floor and radio deck piece) to be fastened in such a way as to represent the fuselage skin at that point, but you’d have to bend the piece to do so. And I crawled under a P-51 Friday at the MAAM’s WWII Weekend and took a look, and this area on the Tamiya/ICM kit definitely does not look like that area on the 1:1 version.
Only other fit issue was that the instrument panel and the flight deck were too wide to fit between the fuselage halves, but some sanding took care of that. The kit includes 2 IP’s and 2 different seats, too, plus different sets of exhaust stacks. Detail is pretty good. And I took advantage of a Squadron sale to get the boxing with an additional fret of figures, for $10. Bonus!
The old Monogram P-51B is a decent kit, too, still available on the second-hand market; the current Revell boxing is a re-tooling of the original Monogram molds. It’s not bad either, for its relatively cheap price. But it would take some work to make an A-36 out of it.
I agree, if you want an A-36 out of the box, in 1/48, buy the Accurate Miniatures kit.
Best regards,
Brad
Revell-Monogram retooled the old Monogram B kit when they did the Pro-Modeler release. I know they made the panel lines recessed, but I’m not sure what else they did.
The old Koster conversion kit for the Allison powered Mustangs comes up on eBay from time to time. It’s usually pretty cheap since most people would prefer to buy the AM kit than do surgery on the Monogram kit.
Bill
I bought myself the current Revell boxing a month or two ago, to compare it with the original kit, but in the stash it went and I haven’t opened it yet. Eventually, I’ll get around to it.
Monogram’s 1/48 P-51D was a nice kit, and they improved the level of detail, compared to their older -B kit. Revell’s own 1/48 P-51D was also a nice kit, of equal quality. It’s interesting to put the two kits side by side and compare how they dealt with representing the same aircraft (those are both in the stash, too).
Best regards,
Brad