1/32 P-51D Hasegawa

[stsok9]

Hello,

I am interested in building a P-51D Mustang in 1/32 scale. What is the general opinion of the Hasegawa kit. Are all of the releases the same minus decals? Does it build into an accurate representation of the Mustang? What is the ease of build? Thank you for any opinions or helpful hints you can give,

Jason Brown

[Grissom]

Hi Jason,

I'm currently building this kit. I think it's fair to say that Hasegawa's P-51D is generally accepted to be the best 1/32 scale kit of this aircraft. The shape and 'fit' of the kit are, in my opinion, quite good. What's more, it's a fairly simple kit to build OOB. I don't know enough about the various releases to comment on the different issues/versions of this kit. If you want to detail the model, there are plenty of aftermarket accessories for it. Verlinden and Wingz are two manufacturers who make cockpit detail sets for this kit. True Details make resin wheel assemblies, Paragon once made a set of flaps and Squadron make vac-formed canopies. Needless to say, there are many aftermarket decal sets on the market. See if you can pick up one of these kits at a bargain price (swap & sell etc..) and keep the project fairly simple. I'm sure you'll enjoy the experience and the final product. Oh, by the way... I also suggest you look at the different examples which have featured on the 'Large Scale Planes' website.

[Collin]

I built the kit about 3 months ago... checkerboard tail markings. Kit is decent for an older mold, and goes together nicely. The rivet detail and panel lines were too pronounced... so I sanded them down a little to even out the skin of the aircraft....that helped give it a less model-like apperance. But she builds up nicely OOB and sure looks pretty when done. If you have any other questions..... shoot an email offboard.

Cheers

[wdolson]

The different releases of the kit are identical except for the decals and instructions. I've seen several releases and they've been the same.

I built one years ago and it was an easy build. It is a 70s kit, so it has raised panel lines, but other than that, it's very nice. I have toyed with the idea of putting the Hasegawa guts into a Tomy P-51. The exterior of that kit is nicer than the Hasegawa kit, but since it was designed to have a motor, the interior is horrible. All the Tomy/Swallow/Dyushua (Swallow and Dyushua re-released the Tomy kit) kits have terrible looking cockpits with mutant pilot figures. The exteriors of these kits were very nice though.

Bill

[Slartibartfast]

There's a Tomy P-51 in 1:32???

[wdolson]

There's a Tomy P-51 in 1:32???

Yes. I've got one.

Tomy released 4 1/32 kits: A6M2, George, Ki-84 Frank, and a P-51D.

Then there were the KSN 1/28 scale planes...

Bill

[Slartibartfast]

Cool! Can you help with the Ultimate 1:32 kit database and foward the kit number and release date? Decal markings would be excellent info, too.

Thanks.

Edited February 10, 2006 by Slartibartfast

[wdolson]

Cool! Can you help with the Ultimate 1:32 kit database and foward the kit number and release date? Decal markings would be excellent info, too.

Thanks.

You really need to get a copy of John Burns' book. The kit numbers for the Tomy kits were

HP-1 Frank

HP-2 George

HP-3 P-51D

HP-4 A6M2

The closest date I can come up with is 1970s sometime.

I notice you listed the Scratchbuilders Staggerwing as a re-release of the ITC kit. All Scratchbuilder's kits were resin and metal and all were original molds. They didn't re-release anybody else's kits.

The first release of the Revell AH-1 Cobra was in 1969 and the kit number was H-287.

I'm sure you also know that Special Hobby had test shots of their 1/32 P-39 and Brewter Buffalo at the Nurenberg Toy Fair.

Revell also released a FAA Corsair back in the 70s. I don't know the year or the kit number.

Revell's most famous P-40 release was H-283 dated 1969 with Chinese Air Force markings. You list the Smithsonian series with that number. All the Smithsonian kits came out after Revell had dropped the H- coding system.

All the Matchbox 1/32 kits were released by AMT too.

Revell US released the Hasegawa Fw-190F-8. It was around 1998 or 1999.

Williams Brothers have released two different versions of the Gee Bee. The R-1 is 32-711.

The Revell F3F was originally released by Monogram in the 1960s. It was also released as a Gulfhawk. The Monogram kit was released at least twice before Revell and Monogram merged in 1985.

That's just what I noticed through the Gs on your list.

John Burns' "Plastic Aircraft Kits of the 20th Century and Beyond" would drastically advance your project. The book is over 400 pages long. I don't have the time to sit here and list all the 1/32 aircraft in there. There are hundreds of them.

Bill

[Slartibartfast]

"...The kit numbers for the Tomy kits were"

HP-1 Frank

HP-2 George

HP-3 P-51D

HP-4 A6M2"

Thanks.

"I notice you listed the Scratchbuilders Staggerwing as a re-release of the ITC kit. All Scratchbuilder's kits were resin and metal and all were original molds. They didn't re-release anybody else's kits."

I got my info from Modelling Madness. They said the kit was BASED upon the ITC molds. I had already changed the text in my database.

"The first release of the Revell AH-1 Cobra was in 1969 and the kit number was H-287."

Thanks. Already found and added to my dB.

"I'm sure you also know that Special Hobby had test shots of their 1/32 P-39 and Brewter Buffalo at the Nurenberg Toy Fair."

Yep. I'll wait for them to hit the shelves with kit numbers so I don't make the same mistake I did with Craftworks stuff, like the "soon to be released" Typhoon/Tempest (still waiting after two years).

"Revell also released a FAA Corsair back in the 70s. I don't know the year or the kit number."

Already added to my database, need to send an update to LSP.

"Revell's most famous P-40 release was H-283 dated 1969 with Chinese Air Force markings. You list the Smithsonian series with that number. All the Smithsonian kits came out after Revell had dropped the H- coding system."

Hopefully the kit numbering change is documented in Burns' book. That's one of the great modelling mysteries. I must rely on what I find when browsing the Web. Most of this info comes from eBay listings. Hasegawa is another quagmire when dealing with kit numbers.

"All the Matchbox 1/32 kits were released by AMT too."

I'll watch for them. I already found the Me-109E.

"Revell US released the Hasegawa Fw-190F-8. It was around 1998 or 1999."

Kit #(85-)5517.

"Williams Brothers have released two different versions of the Gee Bee. The R-1 is 32-711."

Yes, found this, too.

"The Revell F3F was originally released by Monogram in the 1960s. It was also released as a Gulfhawk. The Monogram kit was released at least twice before Revell and Monogram merged in 1985."

I was given the Gulfhawk in the mid-60s. The working landing gear was a bear for this nine-year old.

"That's just what I noticed through the Gs on your list."

I thank you for taking the time to oversee my work. I will now establish a quest to find Burns' book.

Edited February 10, 2006 by Slartibartfast

[wdolson]

I thank you for taking the time to oversee my work. I will now establish a quest to find Burns' book.

You could write him his e-mail is: cheersjwb&cox.net (replace the & with @), this will confuse the spam bots.