Airfix 1/72 P-51D Mustang

Early 8th Air Force bombing raids over mainland Europe were escorted by Spitfires, however, as designed they were short range defensive fighters and so they could only escort bombers to the enemy coast and little further. The introduction of the P-47 Thunderbolt meant that escorts could continue to the German border. The P-38 Lightning was able to escort bombers further, even to Berlin but, at this extreme range, left no loiter time. The really big game changer was the P-51 Mustang, not only could they escort bombers to Berlin and beyond but they could also stay around and fight.

The P-51 was designed by North American Aviation in response to a request by the British Purchasing Commission for them to manufacture P-40’s. North American stated they could design an aircraft more suited to British needs using the same engine and armament. The prototype was designed and built in 10 months, powered by an Alison V1710 it was close to what was needed but performance above 15000 ft was poor due to only having a single stage supercharger, the US government being reluctant to let the 2 stage supercharger overseas. Whilst flight testing a Mustang in Britain the pilot, Ronald Harker, suggested fitting a Rolls Royce Merlin. This proved to be a masterstroke and the Merlin powered Mustang, which had a 2 stage supercharger, was improved in all aspects. The biggest problem was engine supply, the Merlin was used for the Spitfire, Lancaster, Mosquito and other frontline aircraft, Rolls Royce were stretched to the limit producing them. The answer lay with luxury car producer Packard who, once engineering differences had been sorted out, began producing the Merlin for North American. The rest is history.

This is, I believe, the first P-51D Mustang Airfix have made in 1/72. It comes in the familiar end opening box, the sprues packed in a plastic bag with the transparencies in their own, folded instructions and decals for a P-51D flown by Lt Col Joseph L Thury of the 505th FS, 339th FG, RAF Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire. The kit is moulded in Medium Grey plastic which is slightly harder than previously used and contains 53 parts. Instructions are in pictorial form with 22 steps and insets referencing adding previous assemblies or giving options. Colours are shown for internal areas at each stage, only Humbrol paint numbers being used but this should not be too much of a problem to convert to your favourite brand. There is no parts map, however, the only options are tailwheel doors, open or closed, dropped or raised flaps and drop tanks carried or not. There are also two sliding canopies, there is no mention of the unused one but, to Mustang aficionados, its origin would be fairly obvious. Decals are printed by Cartograf, each one is numbered and the correspond with the 4 view placement guide included in the instruction sheet. A colour painting guide is on the back of the box, Airfix recognising that the Mustang is not just Silver but varying shades of metal.

External detail is good, well defined panel lines with gun nozzles moulded complete on the top wing thus avoiding an obvious joint line. The 3 lights under the port wing are shown but moulded just as circles so will need to be either drilled out or painted very carefully, no mention of their colour is made in the painting guide even though they are coloured here. Inside the one piece bottom wing are flashed over holes for versions with underwing stores, be careful, as 3 of these have come through on my kit so will need filling. Only 1 drop tank choice is included, the metal 75 gallon teardrop ones, if you want the 108 gallon paper version you must look elsewhere. The propeller is of the cuffed variety. A pilot figure is included who looks the part but as with most Airfix fliers, has his hands on his legs not holding the stick.

A few features impress me, the flaps can be posed up or drooped and, as with their 1/48 P-51. have tabs to give the correct angle of droop. The bottom metal portion of the canopy is moulded in one piece and the clear portion a second. The tyres have block tread moulded on with a flattened area, you can’t get its position wrong as the legs use a tab not pin for positioning. Unlike other kits the gunsight is moulded in clear, careful painting will bring results. All the interior fits onto a single piece from the cockpit back to the tailwheel, much simpler than individual parts to position. The bottom rear radiator flap can be left open or closed and the radiator insert has detail which will look good with dry brushing.

There are a few minus points, all minor. Cockpit detail is a little flat for my liking but should look better with painting. There are no seatbelts, Airfix presuming one will use the pilot. The instrument panel is blank but a decal supplied to cover this, it doesn’t look quite right to me so I shall be using a Yahu one instead. Even though this is a newish kit there is flash present, the pilot and aerial being most obvious victims, there are a few other spots but clean-up should be quick. A really picky point, there are no retraction jacks on the main undercarriage doors.

All in all I think this is a relatively simple but well engineered kit with clean, sharp detail. I look forward to finding the time to build it but, of course, not in the supplied scheme. Happy modelling