Eduard 1/48 P-51D Mustang by Brett Green

Eduard's 1/48 scale P-51D conversion
PR CA-18 Mk.23 Mustang

by Brett Green

PR CA-18 Mk.23 Mustang

Meng's 1/48 scale F-35A Lightning II is available online from Squadron for USD$59.99

Description

Here is my Eduard 1/48 scale P-51D Mustang built from a plain-box Overtrees set that included the fin fillet fuselage (different from the initial D-5 release), but not including instructions, photo-etched parts, masks or decals.

None of this was a real problem as I had the instructions from the Chattanooga Choo Choo boxing, and the plastic parts that substitute for the photo-etch look very good.

I built my Eduard P-51D Mustang as an Australian-built PR CA-18 Mk.23 Mustang using Red Roo Models’ conversion, Item No. RRR48139. This set provides two camera ports, an Australian pattern pilot's seat, four DeHavilland Australia Cuffless Paddle propeller blades, decals and instructions. The conversion parts are cast in salmon coloured resin and the instructions are exhaustive.

The set was originally designed for the Hasegawa or the Tamiya kits, but with a little extra effort it works with the new Eduard offering.

Most parts are direct replacements or stick-on to kit parts so the project is fairly straightforward. I found that the propeller blades fitted more easily to the old Tamiya spinner than the Eduard parts due to the parts breakdown. The Tamiya spinner baseplate is a perfect match for the Eduard nose, so I simply swapped the spinners and props between the kits.

I pinched the rocket launching stubs from the Tamiya kit too.

The Australian pattern composite seat and the vivid green interior colour give the cockpit a very different look.

Australian built Mustangs also featured different wheels with eight holes and a larger 10 inch brake pack instead of the standard NA-built Mustang’s 7 inch brake pack. Red Roo offer these as a separate set, Item No. RRR48143. I used these too.

I managed to step on the kit’s windscreen and completely destroy it. Fortunately, Eduard quickly sent a replacement.

My model represents a silver painted finish using Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Silver straight from the spray can and Future Floor Polish.

Eduard’s beautiful surface textures came up a treat under a wash / rub-down of thinned Raw Umber oil paint.

Eduard’s brand new 1/48 scale P-51D Mustang is another real winner. It is beautifully detailed, a delight to build and looks great when finished. Your biggest problem will be deciding what colours and markings you want to apply!

I'll be writing this one up in detail for Issue 105 of Military Illustrated Modeller magazine.

Thanks to Eduard for the sample.

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