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Revell P-51D - Great, or merely Good, or ??


CANicoll

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So for those with the actual kit in hand, and especially those who have built the kit, what is your take on Revell's job on their early Mustang?

 

Some reviews say its terrific and the build threads here show some amazing detail especially in the cockpit. 

 

One of the new vendors here has posted his resin parts with descriptions of how bad various kit parts are, especially the flaps (which may or may not be a problem with individual kits so perhaps a production quality consistency issue?) and now the engine cowling as well as the machine gun fairings.

 

I have the kit, have not opened it up yet, but am interested in hearing what those of you WITH the kit think?

 

How are your flaps and cowling,etc?

 

Thanks (and lets keep it civil, ok?)

 

Chris

 

 

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Flaps not done yet. Cowl is done, I haven't compared it to a drawing

 

What I would say is the flash is minimal and the way the build is designed is excellent. I have also found the gap between the upper tail halves when joining the fuselage which has already been highlighted here. I minimised it by sanding the joint and fitting the cockpit after joining the tail end of the fuselage

 

There are gaps between the cooler pack and the fuselage, not hard to fill though

 

I cut the nose disk for the front of the fuselage to make the air intake separate. That way I can fit the air intake, spray the fuselage and fit the exhausts and disk afterwards - easier than masking

 

Most importantly, I'm having great fun!

 

Richard

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Terrible pictures...

 

Assembling the fuselage with the cooler pack but without the cockpit:

 

Assembly.JPG

 

Tail gap:

 

Gap.JPG

 

The gap towards the cockpit isn't there - it's green paint from inside

 

Cooler pack fit:

 

Gap-2.JPG

 

Gap-3.JPG

 

That look worse because of the clamp. Likewise the gap aft of the tailwheel is because I haven't glued it yet

 

Finally, the chopped disk:

 

Disk.JPG

 

Anyway, back to the build, I have things to do!

 

Richard

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My comment is that it's a great value for the price, and it's a very good kit.

 

Flaps: yes, my flaps have some sink marks, however I think they will be easily filled. I'm a big boy and have been modeling long enough that I can deal with it.

 

Cowling: have no idea what the problem supposedly is with this. It's molded as part of the fuselage halves, so there is no fit problem.

 

Guns: they made a separate leading edge insert with the gun barrels so there is no seam to deal with as there would be if the barrels and blast tubes were split between the upper and lower wings. The insert fits along panel lines, so the issue is making sure it lines up with just enough gap to mimic all the other panel lines, or just putty the wing smooth and it won't be an issue. It's not a detail or inaccuracy issue.

 

Personally, I have no real need to buy any of the replacement parts as I'm fine with the kit parts. I did buy the Eduard PE interior and seat belts to add to the details (especially the IP), not because the kit parts were wrong or bad. Also got the Eduard exhausts, as I was too lazy to drill out the kit ones, and also the wheels so I wouldn't have to mess with the seam in the tread. Again, just more detail, no knock on the kit parts.

 

I would offer that if you have the kit, just open it up and look at it and decide if you want to replace anything or not. Everyone has their own opinion on what details they want to enhance, if anything. Also, not to put too fine a point on it, but what are the options? Realistically only the Tamiya kit costing 3-4 times as much. The Dragon, old Hasegawa, and really old Monogram kits don't come close to the new Revell kit.

Edited by Dave Williams
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I'm right in the middle of a build, here are my thoughts...

 

Cons:

 

1. It's a Revell kit, it needs a little cleanup on mating surfaces, it has burring, and some flash. A few panel lines don't meet exactly across the fuselage halves, some panel lines are wonky, and some disappear.

 

2. Edges and openings are not exact and need a little cleanup, sanding, and shaping.

 

3. Sink marks galore. There are some rather deep sink marks near mating fingers (no pins). The flaps are going to require filler along the full length.

 

4. Wing engineering with the multiple parts is fussy, but makes painting wheelwells easy. Unfortunately, fitting after paint is tougher, some paint removal may be necessary.

 

5. The worst part...the tail. Looks nice, but doesn't fit well. The fuselage ends are too thick and will not allow a level transition, the edges have a small mound that will require sanding, also the tab from the tail that glues to the fuselage will require thinning to mate level with the forward half. It took me two hours of sanding and fitting before gluing last night. Once level, you will need to sand more from the spine to eliminate the gap, but you will still require filler. I spent another hour this morning finish sanding and rescribing lines. And I don't even have the halves joined yet.

 

The tail is a fail. It would not have been any harder joining the resin tail to the fuselage, but I wanted to build the first kit stock. No aftermarket, I'm even using the kit IP decals.

 

Now the pros:

 

1. Beautifully detailed cockpit with all the right parts, this would make a fine donor for any other kit maker. Nice assembly logic, nothing strange or fiddly. But, damn...when will they even throw in a cheap set of PE seatbelts? I like the kit decals for the cockpit, would like to have seen silver instead of white for the placards.

 

2. Best wheelwell on any P-51 other than Tamiya, easy to paint aluminum skin and zinc stringers. The cooling pipes running through the wheelwels as separate parts are a nice touch! Wheels and tires are good, but I may just add a set of resin so I don't have to worry about sanding tread blocks.

 

3. No rivets, I may try riveting the fuselage for the first time! Nice for clean puttied wings! Decals are very nice, hate the subject matter, but quality is high.

 

4. Color instructions are top notch.

 

5. See cons...shut up and take my $26! This is not Hasegawa quality, not even close to Tamiya, but, the detail for what you pay is terrific.

 

Interim assessment, worth every penny, not beginner kit, but average skills will yield a stunner (I hope). You will have to use filler, primer, sanding stick, maybe open up a few holes and sand a few mating surfaces. Obviously, the second kit will turn out better once you know what to look out for.

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In anticipation of the release of the kit bought resin wheels (avoid seams), bronze landing gear struts (hedge against a weak assembly with too many parts), IP (more detail), seat belts and placards. Now that I have the kit and pawed it over I will use all the AM parts except the bronze gear struts. I think the kit is very nice. Issues uncovered so far by builders on the web are no big deal to me. I will buy another if more kits ever get out of the Revell barn so I can get my hands on it.

 

Rick

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I'm currently working on mine but haven't gotten far enough along to warrant photos. One thing that I really like is the wings are smooth with no rivets. Just panel lines. The Tamiya kits all have the rivets which are a bear to cover, etc. 

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To a modeller from the last century (20th), the Revell Mustang would be a dream come true. Throroughly researched down to the tiniest detail, cleverly designed, adequately moulded, with clear and precise instructions and well-printed decals.

 

I don't need the new resin add-ons supposedly destined to ease up one's life. Lest we forget, filling the tiny gaps, cleaning up joins and other small chores are just the usual fare of the average modeller.

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Excellent comments gents, thanks and keep them coming.  

 

Richard - can you repost with your pictures?  Looking forward to seeing them.

 

Glad there is the realization that this is a $26 kit, not a $99 kit but that expectations are still pretty high.  Having built the Tamiya and lined up to do another one here shortly - as well as committing to a Revell I wanted to see what you all were thinking.

 

Regarding AM:

Resin tires - CHECK!!

AM Seatbelts - CHECK!!

 

The rest - play it by ear.  

 

Thanks!
Chris

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John,

 

Actually, that is a big draw for me too, the smooth wings.  Going to have to fill the Tamiya wings and not looking forward to it.

 

Excellent comments guys - Looking forward to the WIP progress pics!!

 

Please feel free to post the links to your WIP here so we can all easily jump over.

Cheers,

Chris

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I had the kit for about 4 days before selling it to a local modeler who apparently wanted it more than I needed it. However, I did take an opportunity to look over it and really liked what I saw.

 

Keep in mind that I am both a "rivet counter" and a "It looks like a" type of modeler. As the P-51 is not a modern Marine Corps aircraft, it falls into my "it looks like a" category. Overall, I was very impressed with the kit relative to its price tag. For $30 (+/- depending on the source), this kit can't be beat. While soft in a few areas, some areas were very crisp and the detail was excellent. The instruction guide was one of the best I've seen and the decals were great with no registration issues.

 

For those among us that are passionate about the Mustang, they may very well find issues in the kit with regards to details and accuracy. For the casual modelers of subjects we're not passionate about, this is the bestest and gooderest Mustang ever, in the history of ever........for $30 bucks!

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Excellent comments gents, thanks and keep them coming.  

 

Richard - can you repost with your pictures?  Looking forward to seeing them.

 

Chris

 

Yes - what I will do is close up the fuselage and (probably) fit the wing. Then I'll repost better pictures before I set to with filler

 

I think that will give a fair representation of the kits 'warts and all'. I'm still really enjoying it - with the proviso that I spent 72p on an ancient Haynes book plus finding half a dozen pictures on the internet. That plus this forum is all the research I have done. If it dimensionally inaccurate, has all the wrong features and the wings are upside down - don't blame me!

 

Richard

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One thing I have noticed is the canopy and windscreen are a bit "wavy" as opposed to the chrystal clear Tamiya items. I will probably substitute a Tamiya canopy on my build. No option for the windscreen however. I will also substitute a Tamiya seat due to it's crisp detail.

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