P-51C Mustang 1/72 Academy

Introducing you to the P-51 Mustang fighter would be like carrying coal to Newcastle, so I’ll leave it to the experts. The high-back B and C versions of the Mustang (which had previously been somewhat neglected by model makers) were produced in 1943, the C version specifically in Dallas, Texas. As I was once at home thinking about which model to start with – to finish it quickly and easily – a P-51C Mustang box from Academy caught my eye on the shelf. The kit was first launched in 2001 and is relatively simple, but it looked fun to build, so I asked myself, why not give it a chance?

The construction of the model is simple, we have to pay a little more attention to the joint of the rear part of the fuselage. Here it is better to glue each half of the tail separately to the corresponding half of the fuselage, thus avoiding a possible improper fit of the tail. In the fuselage, it is necessary to create the radiator grill and some plugs to the intakes, at least with a net or a black molten. The interior is sufficient in the kit, I only added the etched AML seatbelts. Glueing the fuselage and wings together does not cause any problems, but a problem arises with fitting the intake to the cooler on the nose of the plane, which has a different shape, this place needs some more putty and serious grind. Other places that trouble us are the exhausts. The ones in the kit aren’t pretty at all, so I went for a resin replacement and modified the 3D printed exhausts from U3D, which are made for the Arma model (they just need to increase their basis so that they are not drowned). The last, but probably the most problematic part of the construction is the middle part of the canopy. The kit includes a “bubble” and a “birdcage” canopy, my model has the birdcage. The front and the rear canopy glazing fits quite well, but the middle part of the cabin is much narrower, so it is unusable for a closed cabin. The problem can be avoided by opening the canopy, in my case by glueing two parts in the open position.

The painting of the model and the decals are such a separate chapter, I chose a heavily worn machine of the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) from 1945, from the conflict against Japan. The machines were flown by American volunteers within the American Volunteer Group (AVG), so-called Flying Tigers (their markings from P-40 aircraft are much better known). First I had to decide how to paint the model. The base is silver GSI C8, I applied Tamiya Chipping Liquid to it, and then the camouflage was sprayed with AK 3rd Generation acrylics. The day after spraying, I moistened the surface with water and then stripped the top olive drab paint with a coarser brush and some toothpicks. It was quite a hard job on areas, where the Chipping Liquid was applied in thinner layers, however at the end of the day the work was done. Then I applied GSI SCIII gloss varnish on the whole surface and started to deal with the decals. The kit contains everything you need, but I  didn’t like the shade of blue and distracted contours of the roundels, and the font of the serial number. I obtained new decals of roundels from my friends from two Airfix Curtiss Hawk H-81 kits (where the Flying Tigers markings were), the serial number was created and printed by myself. I used the white decal emblem on the tail from the kit, as well as several stencils. Completing the model was no longer tricky. Although the kit looks simple, it can make an otherwise comfortable building uncomfortable in a few places. And even if it has some minor incorrectnesses in shape and detail, it’s better than the D version Mustang from the same manufacturer, and it certainly isn’t a shame to have this P-51C in your display case. However, the next time I will be building another B and C version Mustangs, I will use the Arma Hobby kits, they are simply much better…