Tamiya 1/72 North American P-51D Mustang '8th Air Force Aces'

TAMIYA 1:72 N.A. P-51D MUSTANG "8TH AF ACES"
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Myself (rec.models.scale)

Kit Details: Tamiya Item 60773*1000 - 1/72 Scale War Bird Collection #73 - North American P-51D Mustang 8th A.F. Aces

Aircraft History: The Classic American fighter of WWII didn’t actually have too much to do with America. Well, OK, it was made there but then Harley Davidson Motorcycles were made in Japan prior to WWII and Honda cars are made in USA today! It was designed to British specifications by a Czech and only really became a success when the British Merlin engine replaced the American Allison. The “ D” model was the bubbletop version with six .50 cal machine guns and hardpoints for drop tanks or bombs. It later saw action in the Korean war and was supplied to many airforces in the post WWII era.

In 1943, the US 8th Air Force began launching bombing campaigns from England air bases onto Germany using renowned aircraft such as the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator. Luftwaffe aircraft mainly consisting of Bf-109's and Fw-190's made the bombing runs perilous resulting in the need for escort fighters to accompany B-17's and B-24's. The P-38 Lightning was first employed for this purpose followed by P-47D Thunderbolts using drop tanks but neither could stay with the bomber formation for the whole journey. The P-51B Mustang emerged to finally provide the full range escort fighter the bombers needed and the P-51D with improved performance and endurance followed suit. The P-51D soon claimed air superiority over Luftwaffe fighters and significantly reduced the losses of B-17's and B-24's to Bf-109's and Fw-190's on these bombing runs.

This enabled many pilots to achieve the status of "Ace" meaning they had shot down at least 5 enemy aircraft. Aces from the 8th AF included Col. John D Landers with 14 confirmed victories fighting in both the European and Pacific Theatres, Cap. Charles E Yeager who was more well known for his test pilot feats in the 50's with 11 victories from March 1944 including an "Ace" tally in one day; and Cap. Clarence Anderson with 16 victories many of which were taken on his first mission over Berlin. These three Aces are the subject of this kit.

Kit Parts: There are just under 40 crisp medium grey injection molded parts inside a plastic bag on one main and one smaller sprue. Surface and other detail is engraved and is superbly done which is no surprise for a Tamiya kit (be wary some Tamiya kits nowadays are reboxed versions of other manufacturers). Small rubber stoppers and the five nicely done clear parts are bagged separately, as is the large decal sheet. The box itself has plenty of information, including art on the side for the two other versions the kit produces to complement the main theme on the boxart, kit dimension information and a list of Tamiya paints including colours that are needed to do the kit. Unlike Airfix kits, you are told every colour, not just the main ones.

These parts of course are interchangeable in a number of other P-51D/F-51D kits made by Tamiya which are available so the contents of this kit can equally apply to them.

Instructions: A fold out booklet is provided for the instructions and caters for a number of different languages. It starts off with the obligatory overview of the aircraft which has been translated into English and ends with painting and decalling information including four-view diagrams of each of the three aircraft depicted in the kit which are labelled A, B & C. On the otherside are 10 assembly steps which are easy to follow and deal with major and minor sub assemblies and include smaller detail and paint diagrams for gear doors, propeller assembly, nav lights and so forth. The instructions point out where different option parts are used depending on the example you want to produce, and labels them A, B and/or C accordingly. Painting information is taken from Tamiya range with a list of colours provided, and a running commentary on sub assemblies also provided in the instructions.

Colour Options: As alluded to in the aircraft history this kit allows you to produce one of three aircraft aces aircraft and these are as follows:

"Big Beautiful Doll", Col. John D Landers, Commanding Officer of the 78th FG, European Theatre, Summer 1945. This aircraft is featured on the boxart and is natural metal with black rudder, checkered wing tips and forward fuselage nose area and white spinner.
"Glamorous Glen III", Capt. Charles E Yeager, 363rd FS, 357th FG, November 1944. This aircraft is finished in overall natural metal, red rudder, red spinner, red and yellow checkered nose, black stripe on inner wing area and invasion stripes on its belly.
"Old Crow", Capt. Clarence Anderson, 362nd FS, 357th FG, late 1944. This aircraft is finished in an upper Olive Drab scheme over netural grey undersides. It has a red spinner, red and yellow checkered nose, white stripe on inner wing area and invasion stripes on its belly.

Decals: The nice sized decal sheet is contained in its own bag and also has wax protection paper so it is well protected. Add to this the fact that it is printed by Cartograf and one gets the feeling that these decals will be excellent in quality. The register is spot on and they all look nice on the sheet. There is plenty of stencilling and also all the checkered stripes, invasion stripes and wing stripes are provided so the only thing you need to paint is the spinner and rudder. There won't be any spares for the USAAF roundels as they are common to all versions. Overall looks excellent.

Cockpit/Wheel Bay Detail: These areas are nicely done by Tamiya. The cockpit includes sidewall detail on the fuselage and a cockpit "tub" type of unit with its own side panel control and rear deck complete radio and other electronic boxes to put behind the pilot. There is a rear bulkhead, control column and seat provided also. And the instrument panel is nicely done with raised dials (although a decal is also supplied as an option) and molded rudder pedals. In this scale, you can't really ask for any more. The wheel bays have structural and plumbing detail provided and the inside of the gear doors also receive some detail and the landing gear is nicely detailed including tyre tread. Overall superb.

Optional components: As mentioned there is an instrument panel decal or you can use the dials on the plastic part themselves. Two types of canopies are provided being the standard and Dallas versions depending on the version you want to build, although the instructions do not allude to whether they can be displayed open, so I am presuming they can't at this stage. Two types of exhaust stacks are provided, again depending on the version you want to build. Not surprisingly the propeller assembly can be put together so the blades can move around. Finally you can also put on drop tanks if you wish.

On the Sprue Impressions: There really is not a lot to write about here that is not already covered above, the kit looks really nice and is superbly detailed, particularly the surface detail and panel lines which look very well done. There's no flash, the parts are high quality and engineered well and a quick play with a couple of parts (wings and fuselage) suggests the model will go together almost by itself. The cockpit is lovely for this scale and everything about the kit exhumes state of the art quality - not surprisingly so did the kit price!

Breakdown of the kit is standard, with fuselage halves already containing the main body of the aircraft including tail fin and belly radiator intake. The wings are upper halves over a one-piece lower section and an internal grill is provided to seal off the inside of the radiator intake. The canopy is split into windscreen and main hood.

Conclusion: There are two problems when you buy Tamiya kits that look like this one, firstly there is the concept that why would you purchase anything else when these kits are engineered beautifully with high quality parts and a great deal of accuracy - but secondly, on the otherhand, why would you pay a price for a kit where you can get some superb Revell offerings for well below half the cost of one Tamiya kit? Yes the kit is very highly recommended and would suit any buff of the P-51 or someone who would like to have a go at winning a model competition, it is a lovely kit. But if money is an issue then there are some equally great little cheaper offerings on the market nowadays. For the record, however, I purchased this brand new kit for less than half its original store price, so on that basis, I could not recommend this kit highly enough!! :-)

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