Tamiya P-51B Mustang Review - 1/48 - Best P-51 B Model Kit? 

Great kit and nice review. I wonder if those are Tamiya decals though? They look like aftermarket perhaps. Not the same as the ones included in my kit of this aircraft.

GOOD MORNING from OHIO winter is back 🥶 Here in Northwest Ohio….. OK, I really like this kit, one of my favorite Aircraft from WW2 The HOBBY TOWN has this kit in stock… BUT, many years ago, I bought at a TOY FAIR A old MONOGRAM 1/72 P-51B… original issue from 1967, original Box Art… It comes with OLD II decals Some details, but basic overall kit… Well I ordered Decals with ALL THE MARKINGS, the same that came with your KIT REVIEW… I’m building and making my 1/72 with GENTILES SHANGRI LA markings Putting it on a Stand in flight I have a great reference book MUSTANG ACES… I’m building the 1/72 MUSTANG just to keep practicing / working with my airbrush… SO THATS MY Mustang story I bought that 1/72 kit for $5.00 at the TOY FAIR, I couldn’t pass it up… NOT, taking away from your Review, ALWAYS A GREAT REVIEW, I just wanted to share… I think you should do a video of some of your kits you’ve built and reviewed… I’m happy you’re getting more views and responses to your KIT REVIEWS… I WOULD BUY AND BUILD THESE KITS ON YOUR REVIEW ALONE………… Have a Great Rest of the Day.. ( now where’s my coffee ☕️ ) CHRIS 🇺🇸

Hey John the P51 seems to present a good molding opportunity for many companies. I built one years ago, I believe it was the Old Crow in OD with checkerboard nose art. The balance of my "stash" are Otaki, ( very nice molding and part friendly), its a kit ya kind of come back to, work on in between builds. While 1/48 is typically my go to scale, I've been experimenting with wheels up format on 1/72 Spitfires and ME 109. So ya have to put the pilots in and those guys drive you crazy trying to paint. While not related to this build do you remember the clear plastic P51, I think it was a Monogram back in early 1960, mounted on a stand with controls that operated the prop, dropped bombs and operated landing gear? It was amazing and must have been about 1/24 scale again all clear parts. Everything could be seen 50 cals with shell tray as they say the whole 9 yards. It'd probably cost a fortune today., maybe some on eBay. Always great to see you share a build out. You'll have to do a pilot for . ICM has some great ground crew sets. Cheers till the next one. Bob

Hi Jon. This kit currently dwells in that place I put kits while I work out how to fix a disaster of my own making. It is a great little kit and I built it with an Eduard Zoom cockpit set, resin prop and spinner and resin paper drop tanks (and fuse wire fuel lines) and it was all reasonably priced. SMS and Alclad paints and looking OK. I didn't like the decals but found a 10AUD/7USD set of Super Scale International decals with and 20th F.G. aircraft "Shoot You're Faded" (Malcom hood) . They looked nice and are nice but my handling ended up a bit of ham fisted effort (damage ensued). I destroyed of the 2 main side decals. I photo copied the good unused decal to make a mask but accidently copied them too large an as I masked everything I didn't notice until it was too late. "sigh". And some damage due to my handling while trying to repair previous damage.🙄 So it sits there while I decide what to do. I could, with difficulty, mask and sand and respray and attempt to source or print the missing letters. Or change it's identity (all metal with green anti dazzle panel. How do you remove decals without damage? I've never tried. And they settled down really well too!). It looks great from the port side!😵‍💫 Anyway, it is a lovely kit and was a step up for Tamiya. I await the your finished build. Cheers Matt 🦘🦘🦘

Hello Jon, excellent video and review of the Tamiya kit, although it is somewhat incredible, I have not yet assembled any of these Tamiya P51s, be it B or D, for some reason I have not bought them, I will keep them in mind later. I must say that in my assembly experiences, the ICM kit is, B, C, D in 1:48, the mold looks very similar to Tamiya, not to mention that it is an unauthorized copy, the pilot figure is the same, However, in ICM you find a festival of situations in which you have to take care of the entire assembly step, however the details of both the interior and the surface are quite similar, with effort and patience something quite decent is achieved. Let's wait for that one assembled and painted, greetings and until the next video.

Hi Jon. Just in case you will choose the Capt. Don Gentile a/c, please take into account that the yellow circle behind the bird should have a soft edge, that the kit decal doesn't offer. I look forward to seeing your model built. 😊

Thanks Jon, I have this kit in my stash. After your review I think I'll pull it out and get started on it. Thanks again!

Hi Jon. I've built a couple of these kits and have a couple in the stash. For the seam in the outlet on the bottom of the fuse I find it easier to cut a small piece of thin styrene to shape to fill in that area. Also there is a notch on the top of the flaps which allows them to fit flush in the retracted position. If you are modeling the flaps down you may want to fill that with sheet styrene and add rivet detail. I am eagerly awaiting Eduards release of their P51 B/C. Those should be incredible!

I’ve not built this kit, but the build and fit looks like it comes together rather well typical for Tamiya. I’ve a Tamiya birdcage Corsair staring at me from my stash tempting me but the Dinah on the bench says otherwise! Great vid as always! looking forward to see how this one goes! Thanks!

Wait for the Eduard B, as the CADs from Eduard already show a much more accurate windscreen shape than the squat Tamiya canopy. Also, the nose top width is correctly wide and flattened on the Eduard, which would be tough to fix on the Tamiya. Finally, the Tamiya prop blades are just a flat out abomination.

Thank you for always providing such detailed yet concise reviews. I have a liking for “vintage “ kits and this could be one of them…..

It's amazing how Tamiya kits of this vintage still hold up.

Certainly easier to build with a lower parts count. I have not seen the new Eduard kit as of yet.

i have 2 variations of the D version, which is largely the same kit. between them i spent about €45 on them, and another €80 in aftermarket parts figuring that since i'm new to the hobby i would try all these things out to help me decide what to get for a kit in the future. however now i feel like i need to get a good results from it, and have been holding off on building either of them until i get better at it. :P