Academy 1/72 P-51B Mustang

ACADEMY 1:72 P-51B MUSTANG

Reviewer: Derrick Winters (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: December 1999

Well I have finally got my hands on this recent release and decided to see what the hype was all about. Does this model kit finally deliver what the P-51B has always lacked in 1/72 scale (other than the elderly Monogram kit) - the correct wing? And the verdict is - Well, yes, it's quite acceptable indeed!! I am very happy with it, but die-hard supporters will still grumble that it is not 'perfect'. There will be a lot of conjecture about the absolute accuracy, but Academy have captured the gull-like effect at the wing leading edge/fuselage rather well, in addition to correctly capturing the chord centre-section of the earlier Mustangs, something which many other kits (including Hasegawa and Revell) fail to achieve. Only the most cynical of scrutinisers are going to complain about it.

So what does one get in the kit? Light grey parts that are crisply molded with finely engraved detail that is very good to excellent. There are also a couple of canopy options, including the Malcolm-hood design, something I have been wanting to reproduce for some time.

It should be pointed out that there is a Hawkeye Design aftermarket set for the P-51B for things like exhausts and wheel well detail but I chose to build this kit OOB.

Construction commences in the office (cockpit) and you are provided with a fairly detailed interior. The cockpit consists of floor, sidewall detail, control stick, instrument panel with console detail, seat and rear bulkhead. The cockpit floor extends back and covers where the radiator duct is located in the aircraft's belly. The rear section of the fuselage also comes in separate pieces and is affixed behind the radiator section.

The fuselage halves then go together seamlessly with the propellor and spinner being encased in the nose section. The main wings include the single port light and the four machine guns, although these don't seem to line up parallel with the ground as they should. The wings and tailplane are attached to the aircraft with excellent fit. There was very little trouble with the process of construction as everything went together where it should and the need for filler, even on the main wing joins, was not required. This kit is typical of the current engineering standards of Academy model kits and was a delight to build.

The detail on the model kit is generally excellent, even tread is included on the wheels! Plumbing detail is provided for the wheel bays but these are clearly too shallow. The exhausts do look a little strange, especially if you select the wrong type for the version you are trying to build, but this could be because of the detail that has been put into them.

There are also a few options provided in the kit, depending on the version you wish to ultimately try and replicate. As stated above, there are alternative canopies which consist of the cage/razorback or Malcolm-Hood designs that also includes a rear view mirror. The only real drawback is that there is no provision for the latter to be displayed open (the earlier cage design can be displayed open). Different options for underwing stores are also provided in the way of 500-lb bombs, rocket launchers and two styles of fuel tanks. Other options on the kit include alternative exhausts and radiator flap fitting.

One can chose from three different examples to replicate, two Malcolm-Hood designs: RAF Mustang III of 315 Sqn in Ocean Grey and Dark Green camouflage, sporting a polish emblem and kill markings, flown by Sqn Ldr Horbaczewski. The other is a USAF 357th Fighter Group example "Old Crow" in overall olive drab and wearing invasion stripes on the fuselage and wings. The third example in the kit is fitted with the earlier style canopy and belongs the 4th Fighter Group USAF, "Rebel Queen" in the renowned Olive Drab and Neutral Grey finish.

I chose to reproduce the "Old Crow" example and painted it accordingly in the olive drab finish and natural metal highlights, most notably on the canopy frames. The Malcolm Hood canopy proved to be a little tricky to position correctly, if it was allowed to be slightly offline it would be easily noticed, but looked great once it was affixed properly. The decal sheet includes insignia and stencilling that has excellent register although the RAF red did seem a tad too bright for my liking. These decals were easy to apply, although some had to be placed over others (and therefore the decalling had to be done in stages) and conformed to the kit's surface very well using Decalfix. The only drawback was that the black from the invasion stripes could be seen through the USAF insignia's white area on the fuselage. Save trimming or matching the white on the decal with paint, this is something that has to be tolerated.

Accuracy-wise, aside from what has been commented on above, the kit gets just about everything right. It captures the unique P-51B shape superbly (especially in the case of the Malcolm-Hood canopy version I chose) and dihederal is spot on. The span measurements of the kit are near perfect, but the length of the kit falls down by a couple of millimetres - putting it down immediately in the "acceptable" category. This area could almost be corrected by the modeller by simply inserting a plug between the separate rear fuselage section, then reshaping to conform with the fuselage shape. But I chose to live with the slight letdown in length.

Overall this kit gets just about everything right in trying to replicate this unique Mustang version. The engineering of this kit is excellent and it was clearly a delight to build. It is probably the best combined kit of accuracy and quality of the P-51B in this scale. For that it is very highly recommended and should suit all modelling skills.

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