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Best Fitting 1/48 Scale Spit, P51-D, FW-190


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Hi All,

 

I know there have been various threads through the years talking about 'the best' model kits of various subjects, but I would like opinions, as of right now, fall 2018, of the best fitting (i.e. those kits that kit without need for filling seams with putty, etc., with accuracy being a close second, for any 1/48 scale versions of the Spitfire, P51-D and the Focke Wulf 190.  I have on order what I understand may be 'the best' BF-109, the Tamiya BF-109G with the magnetic engine panels, etc.  But I am struggling with the best fitting of the remaining 3 of what I consider to be the 'Big 4' of WWII fighters.  I know there may be many opinions, but best fit is paramount to me, but even the best fitting, if the accuracy is terrible, wouldn't be a good compromise.  So, I"m interested in the opinions of you really knowledgable folks.   Many thanks in advance. 

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The best 1/48 Spitfire: Eduard. Accurate, near perfect in every sense.

The best 1/48 BF-109G, IMHO,  is Eduard. Tamiya is great, make no mistake, but I think the Eduard is more accurate. The initial release of the BF-10G-6  has some dimension issues that where later corrected. 

FW-190? The Eduard ones are way more accurate than Tamiya but very hard to build, specially the FW-190D & A/8F-8 series. The newer ones ( A-2, 3,4) where revised and are much simpler to build.

For the P-51D, I still prefer the Tamiya for its simplicity, I was somewhat disappointed with the Airfix although its a good kit, its implementation was crude, but that  is just me. I have read good things about the Meng one but I am in no position to comment on it because I still don't have it in my stash.

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Regarding the P-51D Mustang, the last one I built was the Meng version.  Gotta say I was VERY impressed with it.  No problems to report.  Buy with confidence.  I really liked how they had the parts breakdown when it came to the area under the radiator scoop.  While I do like the Tamiya kit, I've always hated how the seam along the center of the belly cut right through all the fine details; details which got sanded away while fixing that bad seam.  With Meng's kit, the seams fall right along the panel lines and there's no need to fill or sand.

 

Everyone also mentions the fit of the leading edge gun barrel inserts.  I found that if you simply thin/scrape away some of the plastic on the inside of the inserts, it'll fit perfectly on the wing.  Five minutes of work is all it takes.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Eric

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Sorry I haven't said thanks to nachjager before now...I'm very grateful for your response to my admittedly repetitious and boring question.  I appreciate the new post also, from echolmberg.  I've been pretty pleased with the Meng models I've built so far, and happy to hear that their airplane models are as good as the tank models I've built.  I look forward to my own stable of a 109, 190, Spitfire and P51!  I'm not sure that my airbrush skills are anywhere close to good enough to work on 1/48 WWII airplanes (small models, compared to what I'm mostly used to, 1/35 tanks), but nothing like giving it my best shot to see if I can do it!

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On 11/9/2018 at 1:32 PM, echolmberg said:

Regarding the P-51D Mustang, the last one I built was the Meng version.  Gotta say I was VERY impressed with it.  No problems to report.  Buy with confidence.  I really liked how they had the parts breakdown when it came to the area under the radiator scoop.  While I do like the Tamiya kit, I've always hated how the seam along the center of the belly cut right through all the fine details; details which got sanded away while fixing that bad seam.  With Meng's kit, the seams fall right along the panel lines and there's no need to fill or sand.

 

Everyone also mentions the fit of the leading edge gun barrel inserts.  I found that if you simply thin/scrape away some of the plastic on the inside of the inserts, it'll fit perfectly on the wing.  Five minutes of work is all it takes.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Eric

I have never seen the Meng P51d kit in the flesh, but know about a half dozen guys that have built it. They all say it's the best! I liked the Tamiya kit till I bought the Airfix. Didn't like their decal quality, but the rest of the kit is very good ( planned on using AM decals anyway). Still very fond of the early Allison. Engined kits Accurate Minnitures sold, and I think Academy sells them now.

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On 11/5/2018 at 7:02 AM, nachjager said:

The best 1/48 Spitfire: Eduard. Accurate, near perfect in every sense.

The best 1/48 BF-109G, IMHO,  is Eduard. Tamiya is great, make no mistake, but I think the Eduard is more accurate. The initial release of the BF-10G-6  has some dimension issues that where later corrected. 

FW-190? The Eduard ones are way more accurate than Tamiya but very hard to build, specially the FW-190D & A/8F-8 series. The newer ones ( A-2, 3,4) where revised and are much simpler to build.

For the P-51D, I still prefer the Tamiya for its simplicity, I was somewhat disappointed with the Airfix although its a gmyyood kit, its implementation was crude, but that  is just me. I have read good things about the Meng one but I am in no position to comment on it because I still don't have it in my stash.

Not saying Tamiya is better, but there is an issue with exhaust location on the Eduard kit. The most accurate 109 period is the Zvezda kit, and it's not perfect. Now I liked what I saw in the Tamiya box, yet something just looked out of perspective to my old eyeballs. 

       For the FW190, the Hasegawa, Tamiya, and Eduard all all pretty good, but the Eduard is better. Have not built their newer tooled kits yet, but will. The FW190d9 kits leave us with one good one, and the rest wanting. That of course is Eduard! Yet that may change when the ZM kits hit the market. There's also a ZM TA152h in 1/48th. 

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I built the Airfix P-51 recently. I prefer it over the Tamiya one.

 

It's  great kit. I have to disagree with Gary, the decals are excellent quality as well (Cartogragh) . I used them for the national markings and aftermarket for the nose art on my build. The only part I didn't likew were the wheels, so I replaced those with AM ones.

 

here's image of it

AF-P-51D-01-51.jpg[

 

 

The Meng P-51 does long excellent though

Edited by a4s4eva
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Thanks, guys, for responding more to my questions!

 

@ChesshireCat, I have the Zvezda 109 model which I have not started, have the new Tamiya 109 on order, and am building an older Hasegawa 109 G-6 that a friend gave to me.  He said that the Hasegawa kit goes together really well, and having started it, I have to agree with him.  Looks like there will be very little need for gap filling on that one, but I have no idea how accurate it is.  

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On 11/12/2018 at 8:58 PM, a4s4eva said:

I built the Airfix P-51 recently. I prefer it over the Tamiya one.

 

It's  great kit. I have to disagree with Gary, the decals are excellent quality as well (Cartogragh) . I used them for the national markings and aftermarket for the nose art on my build. The only part I didn't likew were the wheels, so I replaced those with AM ones.

 

here's image of it

AF-P-51D-01-51.jpg[

 

 

The Meng P-51 does long excellent though

You know I have never seen a Cartograph sheet without their logo on it. Quality wise, as I've said before look crude! As in dot matrix printer.

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8 hours ago, ChesshireCat said:

You know I have never seen a Cartograph sheet without their logo on it. Quality wise, as I've said before look crude! As in dot matrix printer.

Sounds like someone has changed your sheet out then.

 

Despite not having Cartograph on the sheet they are printed by them. And as you can see in the image above the national markings clearly don't look like they are printed with a dot matrix printer.

Could you post these decals up for us to look at?

Edited by a4s4eva
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Nice Mustang a4s4eva :thumbsup:! I have the Airfix kit in the stash and just looked at the decals...no issues that I detect. Decals look typical Cartograph to me and look like they will be a pleasure to work with.

 

Again, nice P-51!

 

Regards,

Don

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On 11/15/2018 at 12:08 AM, a4s4eva said:

Sounds like someone has changed your sheet out then.

 

Despite not having Cartograph on the sheet they are printed by them. And as you can see in the image above the national markings clearly don't look like they are printed with a dot matrix printer.

Could you post these decals up for us to look at?

Get a good magnifying glass

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11 hours ago, a4s4eva said:

As I suspected you're making stuff up.. 

I used to work in a print shop before Uncle Sam put me in indentured servitude. Plus I own about fifty sheets from Cartograph.. I know BS when I see BS! Every sheet I own, but one has the logo printed on it. Perhaps they are such low quality that they are ashamed to put their logo on it? 

 

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Gary, this is vey strange indeed. I guess you're the unlucky person who keeps getting the one and only bad Airfix decal sheets...

Can you post a picture of your faulty decal sheets so we can see what you are talking about? A picture says a 1000 words as the saying goes. Its just odd that nobody else (that I can see...) online has had issues with their newer Airfix decal sheets nor have they questioned them not being produced by Cartograph (their logo is clearly printed on the Airfix boxes along with the logo of whichever aircraft manufacturer built the real aircraft...why would it be on the box otherwise?).  Its just genuinely got me curious and I'd like to see what the issues are that you are having.

 

Regards,

Don

 

EDIT: Spelling.

Edited by Don
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3 hours ago, ChesshireCat said:

I used to work in a print shop before Uncle Sam put me in indentured servitude. Plus I own about fifty sheets from Cartograph.. I know BS when I see BS! Every sheet I own, but one has the logo printed on it. Perhaps they are such low quality that they are ashamed to put their logo on it? 

 

Uh huh 

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