P-51B Mustang

Westland Cobra AH.1

Revell AG, 1/72

654 Sqn, Army Air Corps
Southern Iraq, February 1991

The P-51 Mustang is an aircraft that needs no introduction, so I won’t give it one. Revells P-51B in 1/72nd scale has been out for several years now. I bought this kit to build with my nephew one weekend when we were visiting relatives – but he never showed, which was to my benefit as I started the kit anyway!

Moulded in dark green plastic this kit is, quite simply, a joy. Cockpit detail is adequate for this scale, especially so when so much of it is hidden behind the framed canopy – though for those who desire it I’m sure there are a plethora of resin and brass goodies to waste your money on. An example of the quality of the kit is in the fact that 2 types of exhaust manifolds and 2 types of aerial are provided – 1 for the US version, 1 for the RAF version. Construction is simple and straightforward and before you know it you’ll have completed the main assembly. The detail is excellent throughout with nice (not overdone) engraved panel lines and wheel well detail. I used no filler anywhere on the aircraft as the fit was excellent. If I was a perfectionist then I would probably have given the wing roots a bit more of a sanding but other than that it goes together wonderfully. The only nit-pick I will make is regarding the propeller. For some reason Revell have moulded the 4 blades individually and it was a bit of a pain getting them all glued in place at the same angle etc. Why it wasn’t moulded as one piece baffles me. And that’s my only real criticism as my blades appear to have a slight forward tilt on them.

As far as accuracy goes, I’m no rivet counter, but having read several other reviews of this kit I haven’t found a single criticism with it! Incredible in this age of rivet counting joyless modeling nazis ™. It certainly has no glaring inaccuracies like its main rival, the Hasegawa P-51B which comes with the wing of a P-51D.

The kit comes with a choice of stores – triple bazookas or 75 gallon drop tanks, neither of which made their way onto my kit and now reside in my spares box. 2 decal options are provided:

26th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, USAAF, Kunming, China, 1945. This is Olive Drab over Neutral grey with a red spinner, sharmouth and twin yellow stripes on the tailplanes and fin.
GA-Q, 112 squadron, RAF, Tantarella, Italy, 1945. This is Dark Green/Ocean Grey over Medium Sea Grey with a red spinner and sharkmouth.
Two good colourful choices by Revell! You never know what you’re going to get with Revell decals, sometimes they’re awful, sometimes brilliant. These ones are brilliant – thin, glossy and they settled down lovely with Klear. The only problem was fitting the one piece sharkmouth round the nose – there is a bit of a crinkle there!

I primed the kit with Halfords grey primer (great stuff!) and brush painted it using my limited supply of Aeromaster acrylics. Why they stopped producing them is beyond me as they are, without question, hands down, the best paints I have ever used on a model. Quick drying, water soluble, they brush on beeee-yooo-tifully, without a hint of a brushmark. Klear was used as a gloss coat and after the decals applied a coat of Tamiya flat varnish 1:3 with Klear.

In case you haven’t realised, I love this model! What a kit! Accurate, detailed, good decals, good fit, easy to assemble. I made it so quickly and easily I thought to myself "Why don’t I make 1/72 single engine fighters more often?". Oh and CHEAP!!! I bought it for 3 pounds, but it recently went up to 3 pounds 50, which is still mega cheap. Its main rival from Hasegawa retails for nearly 3 times the price and isn’t nearly as good. This kit is ideal if you’re suffering from a bad case of AMS - you could throw it together in less than a fortnight. Or you could buy 4 of these and an Eagle Strike decal sheet for less than 20 quid! Revell have also recently brought out another version of this kit with the Malcolm hood.

Highly, HIGHLY recommended. Its one of the few kits in my collection that I am happy with (all my models have imperfections of my own making, but this has fewer than most due to the quality of the kit and the quality of the paint).

And its an ideal kit for a what-if being so cheap and easy to assemble. Come on over to the forum and post your P-51B what-if ideas. I’ve got a few already, I’d love to hear yours……….

Page created January 27, 2003