In Box Review of Revell 1/32nd Scale
North American P-51B Mustang
Kit no. H0295
By Ray Mehlberger
OUT OF PRODUCTION
$44.95 one place on eBay. My kit has a copyright date of 1969. I paid a whopping $1.96 at the K-mart store at the mall that went out of business.
By Ray Mehlberger
OUT OF PRODUCTION
$44.95 one place on eBay. My kit has a copyright date of 1969. I paid a whopping $1.96 at the K-mart store at the mall that went out of business.
HISTORY:
One of the finest of all aircraft to emerge from WWII was the North Ameican's great P-51 Mustang, designed originally for England's R.A.F. From the drawing board to the runway in less than four months, the Mustang was a record breaker from the very beginning.
When the first model was delivered to the British, they could not believe the performance figures and insisted on re-running their tests. But the figure were correct, and a thoroughbred was born. Although Mustang production increased and the new fighter chalked up victories for the R.A.F., the U.S. Military appeared skeptical as to the Mustang's possibilities.
However, other American observers in England could not help but notice the successes of the trim fighter. Their strong recommendations to the U.S.Army that the Mustang air frame be combined with the superb British Rolls Royce Merlin engine were accepted and led to the P-51B. It was a large American order.
With this Merlin engine, the Mustang was a new breed of airplane. Faster, and with greater range with external tanks, P-51B's flew their first long-range escort mission on December 13, 1943, for a record distance of 490 miles. At last, Allied bombers had fighter protection to and from targets. In March, 1944, the German Luftwaffe was startled to see P-51B's with the B-17's and B-24's over the very heart of Berlin.
Above 20,000 feet, the Mustang was far better in performance than any German propeller-driven aircraft. To make or break-off combat was the Mustang pilot's choice. With the P-51B, the tide of war had turned and the sky over Germany became the arena.
Among the most famous fighters of WWII was the P-51B Mustang piloted by Captain Don Gentile. Gentile was a member of the 336th Fighter Squadron of the 4th Fighter Group. It was this group that first engaged the Luftwaffe over Berlin that day in March, 1944. The 4th Fighter Group is credited with a combined total of 1,016 kills, an all-time record for American fighter units. Gentile himself is credited with more than 20 of these victories.
Gentile and his wingman, John Godfrey, were considered by General H.H. "Hap" Arnold as the greatest combat team of WWII. When General Eisenhower presented Gentile with one of the many medals he had earned, the general praised him as a "one-man air force".
This Revell model of the North American P-51B Mustang is a replica of Capt. Gentile's famous plane "Shangri La". Revell is grateful to the Tallmantz Movieland of the Air for their assistance in developing this model.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Wingspan: 37 ft.
Length: 32 ft. 3 in.
Power plant: one Packard built Rolls Royce Merlin V-1650, twelve-cylinder, 1,380 hp liquid-cooled engine.
Armament: four .50 cal. Browning machine guns & two 1,000 lb. bombs on under wing racks.
Max speed: 440 mph
Service ceiling: 41,800 ft.
One of the finest of all aircraft to emerge from WWII was the North Ameican's great P-51 Mustang, designed originally for England's R.A.F. From the drawing board to the runway in less than four months, the Mustang was a record breaker from the very beginning.
When the first model was delivered to the British, they could not believe the performance figures and insisted on re-running their tests. But the figure were correct, and a thoroughbred was born. Although Mustang production increased and the new fighter chalked up victories for the R.A.F., the U.S. Military appeared skeptical as to the Mustang's possibilities.
However, other American observers in England could not help but notice the successes of the trim fighter. Their strong recommendations to the U.S.Army that the Mustang air frame be combined with the superb British Rolls Royce Merlin engine were accepted and led to the P-51B. It was a large American order.
With this Merlin engine, the Mustang was a new breed of airplane. Faster, and with greater range with external tanks, P-51B's flew their first long-range escort mission on December 13, 1943, for a record distance of 490 miles. At last, Allied bombers had fighter protection to and from targets. In March, 1944, the German Luftwaffe was startled to see P-51B's with the B-17's and B-24's over the very heart of Berlin.
Above 20,000 feet, the Mustang was far better in performance than any German propeller-driven aircraft. To make or break-off combat was the Mustang pilot's choice. With the P-51B, the tide of war had turned and the sky over Germany became the arena.
Among the most famous fighters of WWII was the P-51B Mustang piloted by Captain Don Gentile. Gentile was a member of the 336th Fighter Squadron of the 4th Fighter Group. It was this group that first engaged the Luftwaffe over Berlin that day in March, 1944. The 4th Fighter Group is credited with a combined total of 1,016 kills, an all-time record for American fighter units. Gentile himself is credited with more than 20 of these victories.
Gentile and his wingman, John Godfrey, were considered by General H.H. "Hap" Arnold as the greatest combat team of WWII. When General Eisenhower presented Gentile with one of the many medals he had earned, the general praised him as a "one-man air force".
This Revell model of the North American P-51B Mustang is a replica of Capt. Gentile's famous plane "Shangri La". Revell is grateful to the Tallmantz Movieland of the Air for their assistance in developing this model.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Wingspan: 37 ft.
Length: 32 ft. 3 in.
Power plant: one Packard built Rolls Royce Merlin V-1650, twelve-cylinder, 1,380 hp liquid-cooled engine.
Armament: four .50 cal. Browning machine guns & two 1,000 lb. bombs on under wing racks.
Max speed: 440 mph
Service ceiling: 41,800 ft.
THE KIT:
Revell is an old prolific model company based in Venice, Ca. They manufacture all manner of model subjects in the popular scales. In later years they have become associated with Monogram.
This kit came in a shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box.
The box art shows a mustang dog fighting with a Me-109. It is olive-drab over a light-gray under-carriage. It has a red spinner, a white band around the wings and rudder, red and white checkerboard on the sides of the nose, followed by a yellow circle with a parrot on it wearing boxing gloves over "Shangri La" and a small white cross. The fuselage code is VF roundel T. There is a white banner under the cockpit with 21 victory marks over the Luftwaffe on it.
The Me-109 is banking away and showing its rear with a green upper side, light-blue under-carriage and a white rudder.
One side panel has a small color repeat of the box art, followed by a one-paragraph history of the Mustang and color illustrations of the pilot in his flight suit, detailed Rolls Royce Merlin engine with removable cowl and the detailed instrument panel.
The kit is said to have movable wheels and propeller and official U.S. Army Air Corps markings. Copyright date is given as 1969. Revell is located in Venice, CA and the kit was made and printed in the USA.
The kit is an exact replica of the P-51B Mustang of the Talmantz Movieland of the Air Museum at Orange County, CA.
Revell is an old prolific model company based in Venice, Ca. They manufacture all manner of model subjects in the popular scales. In later years they have become associated with Monogram.
This kit came in a shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box.
The box art shows a mustang dog fighting with a Me-109. It is olive-drab over a light-gray under-carriage. It has a red spinner, a white band around the wings and rudder, red and white checkerboard on the sides of the nose, followed by a yellow circle with a parrot on it wearing boxing gloves over "Shangri La" and a small white cross. The fuselage code is VF roundel T. There is a white banner under the cockpit with 21 victory marks over the Luftwaffe on it.
The Me-109 is banking away and showing its rear with a green upper side, light-blue under-carriage and a white rudder.
One side panel has a small color repeat of the box art, followed by a one-paragraph history of the Mustang and color illustrations of the pilot in his flight suit, detailed Rolls Royce Merlin engine with removable cowl and the detailed instrument panel.
The kit is said to have movable wheels and propeller and official U.S. Army Air Corps markings. Copyright date is given as 1969. Revell is located in Venice, CA and the kit was made and printed in the USA.
The kit is an exact replica of the P-51B Mustang of the Talmantz Movieland of the Air Museum at Orange County, CA.
The other side panel shows 3 color box arts of other aircraft kits that Revell manufactured: a Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, a Republic P-47D Thunderbolt and a Junkers JU-87D Stuka. No kit numbers are shows and I assume they are all to 1/32nd scale.
This kit contains 4 dark-green trees, a clear tree, decal sheet, instructions and applications for Revell's Read Aloud Program, Master Modelers Club application form and a small color aircraft kit catalog.
Trees fit the box tight in all 4 directions. They are not cello bagged, alphabetized or illustrated in the instructions. They do, however, have part number tabs next to the parts on them.
The instructions consist of a single sheet that accordion-folds out into 6 pages in 8 1/2" x 11" page format.
Page 1 begins with a black and white repeat of the box art at the top, over the history of the P-51B Mustang.
Page 2 has BEFORE YOU BEGIN instructions at the top with illustrations of tool usage, over the first 2 assembly steps.
page 3 through 6 give a grand total of 9 assembly steps.
The 1st dark-green parts tree holds: the pilot, main wheels, elevator halves, air scoop, backrest, landing gear legs and pants, propeller and its hub, gear doors, a fuselage half and bottom section (21 parts)
The instructions consist of a single sheet that accordion-folds out into 6 pages in 8 1/2" x 11" page format.
Page 1 begins with a black and white repeat of the box art at the top, over the history of the P-51B Mustang.
Page 2 has BEFORE YOU BEGIN instructions at the top with illustrations of tool usage, over the first 2 assembly steps.
page 3 through 6 give a grand total of 9 assembly steps.
The 1st dark-green parts tree holds: the pilot, main wheels, elevator halves, air scoop, backrest, landing gear legs and pants, propeller and its hub, gear doors, a fuselage half and bottom section (21 parts)
The 2nd dark-green parts tree holds: the other fuselage half, engine parts, cockpit floor and side walls, other elevator halves, another air scoop, dashboard and backrest (15 parts)
The 3rd dark-green parts tree holds: the lower wings, propeller, tail wheel, joystick, oil tank, antenna etc. (16 parts)
The 4th dark-green tree holds the upper wings (2 parts)
The clear parts tree holds the cockpit windows (6 parts)
The decal sheet completes the kit's contents.
Nicely raised detail. Flaps are all molded solid.
Recommended.