Hey there my "Wingie" friends, I need a bit of advice from you.

I'm looking for a couple of kits in particular. The first is a P-51, the second is a Stuka (that which has the cannons), and the third is the P-38 Lightning.

In your opinion, who makes the best kit, in preferably 1/48...but maybe in 1/32? And, within that opinion, what AM items might be needed to make it better? In this case, AM equaling resin, metal, and/or PE.

I've had a love for these three birds since I was a mere youngin'...not to mention the beloved B-17G!!

Anyhow, your input would be greatly appreciated.

Mike

Hi Mike

what scale do you prefer?

cheers

Steffen

It depends on what you consider best. Ease of build or accuracy of detail. The 1/48 Tamiya and Hasegawa kits are easy and reasonably accurate, but benefit from AM cockpits, and maybe engines or weapons sets. In 1/32nd there are Tamiya and Hasegawa as previously mentioned. And add to that, Dragon and Trumpeter. The Dragon P-51s have received some bad publicity regarding heavy rivet detail. But they really build up nicely. With any of these, there are really good AM kits available. Many of them require a lot of butcher skills to remove panels. If you want to spend a lot of time and effort, you can make these aircraft all opened up and with full detail. Or you can pick up these kits and build them OOB and have a really nice representation. HTH

Good luck.

Steffen, 1/48th or (maaaaybe) 1/32nd. I'm not a fan of 1/72nd because of "fat fingers."

Carl, more interested in a "closed up" build....and detail versus ease.

Basically, I desire a kit that will build into a good representation of the P-51, P-38, or Stuka...benefitting from AM if necessary.

Gratis guys.

Mike

Hi Mike

o.k. my scale ...

P-51: Tamiya for ease of construction .. you might get a Hasegawa much cheaper (it is not much worse either) for very early 'stangs Accurate Miniatures (P-51A, A-36)

P-38: Hasegawa or Academy both have their shortcommings ... you will need after market decals for the Academy

Ju 87 G : Hasegawa .. there is an old Monogram kit that I do not have in my stash ... the Hasegawa Kit is quite nice!

HTH

all the best

Steffen

Thanks Steffen....I do appreciate it.

So:

P-51 Tamiya
P-38 Hasegawa
Stuka Hasegawa

Mike

Hi Mike

yes.

i would start with the Mustang, then Stuka and finally the Lightning .... I have build the former but did not tackle the Lightning yet. I have heard it is a bit harder to build (the same word goes for the Academy .. so this does not influence the choice)

cheers

Steffen

Howdy. Started looking around and here are some of the kits I've been able to "locate," either on eBay or GM. Your thoughts??

For the P-51:

Tamiya's North American P-51D Mustang 8th AF


or two possibles from Hasegawa



For the Stuka

Hasegawa's JU-87G-2


And for the P-38

Academy's P-38F "Glacier Girl"


or

Academy's P-38 Lightning 4 in 1


Hasegawa's P-38's are on the pricy side....about twice the cost....

Mike

Mike

I have nothing to add. Get that Tamiya Mustang or the Hasegawa what you like best (avoid the upper of the two Hasegawas as it is 72 scale and very old ).

Junkers .. only one choice .. go get it.

P-38: I am not sure but IMO Academy is the only choice for the very early P-38s (E/F). P-38J .. have that box too .. somewhere in the stash. I like the markings but as mentioned earlier better get some AM decals so you can change in case of desaster with the kit supplied stuff.

cheers

Steffen

Steffen,

Thanks again. And, totally missed that one of the Hase's was 1/72nd. I'd have been pretty pissed to have bought it thinking it was 1/48th!

Lots of Stuka's out there, but few "tank killers." We'll see how this goes.

Oh, I did get an F-82 (P-82). It is a little teeny tiny 1/72nd bird....Monogram's Heritage kit.

Mike

Hi again

.. I almost feel a bit off the place - sure you want to get some others to respond .. just ask Jean-Luc or Rowan in case you are not sure about my judgement.

As for the tank hunter Stuka. There were at least two boxings one the regular JT series (as in your pic) and another with a Ju87 G-1 label. The G-1 has the early shorter wings while the G-2 has a bit longer wing tips. Else it is just a matter of getting the kit. The Standard G-2 box of course has Rudel markings included.

When I first saw the Tomy/Takara (.. .forget which company name that was) P-82 I thought it was 48 scale .. but it was 72 .. luckily I did not buy it ...

all the best

Steffen

Mike,

I have the Tamiya P-51D Mustang kit (the one that comes with a staff car), and it is great, except for the cockpit. It seems to me that it could benefit from some resin details, such as the True Details set.

Here is a pic:




Here is the thread I started that ended in me getting the kit. Best 1/48 P-51D Mustang kit?

HTH
Samuel

EDIT: Great Models has it on sale now for $38.90.

Samuel,

I appreciate the input and the link to your post. I almost bought the Tamiya (that I have the picture of showing), then realized that that particular one is the chrome-plated kit....which I certainly DON'T want.

The Stuka is up next on eBay....we'll see how that pans out.

If I get the Tamiya P-51D I need to figure out if I'm going to do an early D or later D....earlies didn't have the fillet at the rear (Ultracast makes a nice mod for this). I've been digging through my references looking for a D that was not BMF....seems 95% of them were.

Again, thanks!

Mike