A couple of years ago I made the Eduard Profipack P51D Mustang in 1/48. At the time of building I thought it was the best 1/48 Mustang kit out there. This looks to be just as good.
Hi Gary, this looks like a build video to look forward to. The ‘Harlequin’ effect you highlight at around 8:15 is the shallow markings left by the toroidal cutters used in the mould manufacture on cnc machining centres. It seems that the marks are on unseen interior surfaces so probably unnecessary to polish them out. When the 3D Cad models are processed through the CadCam software it will generate the most efficient cutter paths to suit the metal, the cutter shape and strength, plus the surface finish requirement. In many cases it is more visually obvious and the groove depths will be in microns. You can take the man out of the machine shops but not the machine shops memories out of the old man, great camaraderie. Happy days.
I have built Salem Representative (Kidd Hofer's aircraft) in 1/72 and 1/32 scale. I might have to do this one in 1/48. Salem Representative is named for Salem Missouri. I grew up 20 miles from there.
As for the decals, Weekend Editions and Overtrees kits are your affordable friend, you just need to supply your own decals. Why Eduard does not go with Cartograph decals like Airfix is curious. Also I notice older kits have very smooth surfaces, and most all new kits have a grainy texture to the surface, a problem for bare metal finishes, and don't get me started on the current trend of sprue gates on mating surfaces!
Hi @Gary. I can see that you're going to have fun building these aircraft and oh my word, how many stencils?!!! Lol. Im a 1/72 kinda guy, so its a shame that Airfix have'nt got round to digging out their P-51B kit tooling from 1998, as its about time we had something other than the constant stream of P-51D's that they keep churning out all the time.
Hello mr. Gary.boy!i am usually buildinig tanks of western democracies after ww2.but thats looking like a lot of modeling fun.the boxart is a beauty.with sticky greetings from Brandenburg/germany.your modellmate.christian
Looks a beautiful kit. I've used the peel off decals on the Eduard Zero, it's a bit nerve racking at first but once you've cracked it it's fairly easy to do and does look realkt nice.
Reminder, The Mustang was designed 100% by British engineers and later versions were fitted with Rolls Royce Merlin engines, the same engine that powered spitfires. Essentially a British plane made in America with an American name (arguably given by the British). I have found several incidents of Americans attempting to either re-write history or manipulate the narrative to make it look like a 100% American plane, which it never was. 🇬🇧🙏♥️🌈
The invasion stripes were quite often painted on with a big brush with no tape to make clean lines. That is why the invasion stripes appear rough. This was also because the invasion stripes were applied with little notice to preserve operational security.
Bud Anderson (triple ace - 102 years) of the 357th squadron died recently. It's a pity that his plane isn't there, but there are kits with decals for his plane. With this kit you can make a set of different P-51s of the 357 squadron. What is interesting are the different D-Day stripes (painted over, "curved", ...)
Enjoyed the box opening Gary. The kit(s) look fantastic & i'm looking forward to seeing how they look after you have built them. Can't wait to see the cockpit (to name one item of interest!)
This is typical of Eduard's recent releases, particularly in the last few years; that is....simply excellent. How they have managed to achieve such finesse in surface details is quite astounding. Top marks, Eduard. I guess Tamiya's venerable offering is now consigned to the back shelves of many stashes. That's a shame, as I personally regard it as still a most presentable representation of a P-51B. Yes, the cockpit is incorrect as are certain aspects of the wheel bays but it's nothing any modeller with a little experience cannot rectify. More of a challenge is Monogram's trailblazer; and nothing wrong with that either especially when Monogram very cleverly eradicated the original raised lines and replaced them with engraved details. However, apologies, I digress, we're not here to discuss the above. I shall wait for the Weekend and ProfiPack issues myself as I consider them to be great value. As for the decal issues and any associated anxieties that might follow,..... just obtain an aftermarket sheet. Blimey, the Mustang must be one of the most popular subjects going. Simply not a problem at all.
Great video Gary :) A pity there are not two of each marking so you can't make two aircraft from the same squadron. Mind you there'd probably be two identical aircraft then.. oops. There's a lot of space on the frame with the fuselage but others look a little cramped. Pity they didn't spread the parts among the sprues better. The wing sprues do seem to attach on the leading/trailing edges which is a shame as Eduard have not done that on the fuselage. So the decals are like the fake/rub on tattoos I remember from when I was a kid. Interesting idea.. it'll be good to see if they settle into surface detail better than traditional decals. Maybe the colours will be brighter without the carrier film on top of them. If the carrier isn't staying in place, does it really matter how big it is on the sheet? Thinking about it, a larger carrier may make the decal easier to handle. For the painted out invasion stripes I'd /guess/ you could do similar to what you've done previously with panel lines. In this case paint the area of the stripes in white/light grey, mask off the stripes, spray them in dark grey, then using that layer as the base coat just spray as normal and the invasion stripes should sort of show underneath like panel lines do. Mind you that's easy for me to type.. I'm not the one who would have to try it! *lol*
The moulding and detail looks great. For me, this will all come down to the decals - there are so many horror stories about removing the carrier film. And then there's the whole debate about whether they are actually design for that to happen or whether it's a 'happy' coincidence with the new printing method. Eduard give no instructions for the removal process, which is strange if they were designed to do that. From what I've seen, if you don't remove the carrier film, you are left with overly thick and obvious edges. And having to do that with dozens of tiny stencil markings is another whole level of anxiety. There are many YT videos that suggest different methods of carrier film removal, with varying levels of success. It would be a shame (and costly) to have 10 sets of unusable decals and to have to buy aftermarket alternatives.
I was also very surprised that there are no instructions about removal of the carrier film. When you're doing something differently, maybe let people know the best way to deal with it? However, I have heard some very good things about the way the decals sit afterwards...
@@garys_stuff peter oxley here on youtube recently did a video on the eduard decals and just how bad they are....surley they (Eduard) must know....i can this situation seriously tarnishing their reputaion....i only have 1 of their kits (1/72 Mig-21,kit nmbr 7454) and will be using 3rd party decals as i want to do it in Egyptian markings but i will not be buying another 1 of their kits when there are better options out there with decals that actually work like they are supposed to......i think i still have the decal shhet from my old Matchbox Mig-21
@@garys_stuff This is just hearsay on my part, but apparently Eduard have stated that the carrier film removal was not part of the design of the new decals but a by-product. If that's the case, then have designed really horrible decals. There's something not quite right about all this. Of all the YT videos that I've watched on this subject 95%+, what ever technique has been used, have resulted in some damage to the decal. I'm not willing to take that risk, therefore I have to factor in the cost of aftermarket decals into any decision to buy a post new decal Eduard kit. It's a bit of bugger as I have joined their BFC.
I used to love Eduard kits. Beautiful detail , masks , photo etch and cartograph decals, and an amazing choice of colour schemes. Absolutely nothing to fault. But I now refuse to buy their kits because I refuse to build a kit, paint it up in the scheme of my choice and then see all my hard labour go to waste when I go to put the decals on see it ruined because frankly they are too stubborn a company to accept the fact they've made a massive mistake, not only with the way they make their decals but the fact they can't be arsed to even guide their customers to the correct way in how to apply them. Havimg said that I don't believe there is a way because no Matter how hard 90 percent of us try ( professionals aside ) it's only successful 50 percent of the time!!!!
Looks lovely, I've just dipped my toes in the world of Eduard by ordering their Overlord Spitfire. It's a 'Weekend' edition so hopefully a good introduction to the manufacturer, it will be interesting to compare with the Airfix and Tamiya 1/48 Spitfires. Best wishes, Nick
