the p-51 Mustang came to be one of the most iconic fighter aircraft of the Second World War famous for its role in escorting Allied bombers over Germany whilst also earning a reputation for being an excellent dog fighter and ground attack aircraft join me in this video as I build and review the p-51d mustang from Airfix hello and welcome to model minutes in this video I build under view the p-51d mustang plastic model kit in 170 second scale from Airfix before we start the kit as always remember that adult supervision may be required due to the use of sharp tools and toxic paints and chemicals Airfix recommends this kit for those aged 8 years old and over an attractive image of the aircraft is featured on the front of the box whilst the color painting and decal placement instructions are on the rear inside the box there are the sprues instructions and decals the decals are well printed and there is a large number of them some care will have to be taken when applying them the instructions come as a black-and-white a4 booklet featuring step-by-step images and some information about the real p-51 and also some safety warnings the instructions are easy to follow and all paint numbers are clearly annotated throughout the kit parts come in a plastic bag and they are held on two grey plastic sprues and one clear sprue which features the cockpit canopy you might be able to notice that the rudder had come loose in the bag but fortunately it was undamaged the parts are virtually flush free and the moulded details are very fine and well represented the parts are identical to those from the raf mustang for starter set that i built previously on my channel so for a comparison why not check that video out – the first step in construction was to wash the component parts in warm soapy water this helps to remove any oil or grease that may be present from the moulding process give a better surface for the cement and paints to stick to the parts were then left to air dry as wiping with cloths can leave fibers on the surface of the model which can get stuck in any paint that's applied I then painted the internal parts of the cockpit using humbrol 78 cockpit green matte paint and I was quite content to use it straight out of the tin any other areas that required this color such as the wheel wells and other internal areas were also painted the propeller and nose cone parts were then cut from the sprue using a sharp knife and any rough areas smoothed over now far they were then assembled using Tamiya extra thin cement I then painted the blades of the propeller using humbrol matte black acrylic number 33 the upper and lower half of the wings were cut from the sprues and the burs cleaned up with a nail file it's worth noting that if you wish to install the drop tanks then the corresponding small holes in the bottom of the wings will need to be opened up I used my knife for this but a small drill bit would do the job – I did notice other holes in the wings that could also be opened up and they look like they would be for rocket rails so it makes me wonder that there is also a version that Airfix produces with that particular armament unfortunately this version has no rockets so I did not open those holes the upper and lower parts of the wings were then cemented together and held until set clove specs could be used here to free up your hands using Humber 33 matte black I then went over some of the details on the cockpit parts and painted the control panel the pilot seat was painted in Humber all 29 earth brown the decal for the control panel was then cut from the sheet soaked in warm water and when ready slid onto the correct part the parts had already been given a coat of humbrol decal fix to help soften the decal into the surface and ensure a good fix more decal fix was applied over the surface to help soften it further the cockpit parts would then cut from the sprues and assembled small amounts of paint had to be scraped from the bonding surface in order to make sure the plastic cemented together correctly this can be a fiddly step so some tweezers and patience will be needed here the fuselage halves were then cut from the sprues cleaned up and the cockpit assembly cemented inside one of the halves the propeller assembly then received the retaining part and was inserted into its notch in the nose of the fuselage the other half of the fuselage was then sandwiched on top and held in place until the cementec cured the wings can then be slid into the correct location and cemented in place I decided to add the flaps in the down position but parts are included for the race position – these were then followed by the elevators and rudder components I then added the air intake and exhaust vents I used tweezers at this stage as it was quite fiddly it was at this stage of all the major parts added that I started painting the model the instructions called for humbrol 11 silver but I instead decided to use humbrol metal coat polished aluminium i thinned this paint with a little white spirit and gave the model a few coats plenty of time between coats has to be left in order to allow this type of paint to cure properly when it's dry it can be lightly buffed to give a natural metallic shine you'll note that the landing gear has not yet been added from my memory of the Mustang for I previously built the landing gear is quite brittle and as a result I decided to leave it off to prevent damaging it at this stage home roam at 153 insignia red enamel was then applied to the nose cone and landing gear panels a few coats was needed with this paint the wheels were then cut from the sprue and the tires painted humbrol matte black number 33 doing my best to avoid the hubs of the wheels as these had already been painted with the metal coat the drop tanks come in two halves and these were removed from the sprues and cemented together the hard points with the drop tanks were then glued into the holes in the wings that I had made previously the cockpit canopy has a part that needs attaching before it can be applied to the aircraft so I used a general purpose glue tube on the clear part with the base and then added the landing gear legs to the wheels taking care not to spoil the paint finish with the poly cement this can be quite a fiddly step masking tape was added to the sides of the nose where the humbrol 155 olive-drab was to be painted the masking tape would help maintain a nice neat straight edge between the different colors I repeated this process for the red tail area too carefully applying the tape to try and ensure a neat edge and then painting the humbrol matte 153 insignia red enamel over the required areas when the paint was completely dry the tape was removed in any areas that required touching up due to paint bleed were given some attention with the relevant color but this was minimal now it was time to add the drop tanks and landing gear to the model time has to be taken at this point as the parts are quite fragile and some of them such as the bay doors and drop tanks will need holding in place whilst they set in order to prevent them from hanging at the wrong angle whilst you watch the completion of this step I'll tell you a little about the real p-51d mustang built to a British requirement for a fighter aircraft to supplement and reinforce the Royal Air Force in 1940 the p51 was designed as a replacement to the p40 initial delivery to RAF squadrons found the aircraft to be somewhat underpowered at higher altitudes but it was quite successful in the ground attack and low altitude interceptor roles following the replacement of the original Allison engine were rolls-royce Merlin the altitude problem was overcome and it became one of the most potent aircraft of the Second World War the p-51d mustang featured an armament of 650 cow machineguns and had a top speed of over 400 miles per hour with a range of 1,650 miles thanks to the aid of the external drop tanks the aircraft that Airfix have chosen to depict in this kit is that of a red tail of the 100th Fighter Squadron flown by first lieutenant Spurgeon Ellington based in Italy in 1944 this model kit was newly tooled and originally released in 2012 which coincided with the debut of the film Red Tails a world war 2 movie about the Tuskegee Airmen the African American pilots and service personnel who had to not only overcome the rigors of war and aerial combat but also discrimination and racism from their own side one of the notable successes of these Airmen however was that whilst escorting bombers over Germany they had a significantly lower loss rate of bombers compared to other units in the United States Army Air Force with the landing gear completed I then painted humbrol satin varnish number 135 over the entire model this acrylic paint was thinned with water in order to avoid leaving brushstrokes and to help give a good surface for the decals to stick to and to prevent any silvering that could occur the decal sheet was then cut into more manageable pieces and the decal soaked in warm water to help release them from the paper the areas on the model that were to take the decals were painted with humbrol decal fix which would help soften the decals into the details and make them appear painted on the decals were then slid into position and a further coat of decal fix applied on top to help soften them further the kit is described by Airfix as a skill level 1 meaning that it's one of the easiest kits to build in the airfix range but due to the need to paint the long straight edges earlier and the sheer number of decals I feel that this should have been at least a skill level to the decal application was one of the single longest parts of this kit and some of them are a little fiddly to get in the correct position particularly the red around the nose and the yellow stripes on the wings having persevered however I then moved on to painting the front of the cockpit windscreen with the humbrol 155 olive-drab this was done by hand following the molded lines on the part a couple of layers were needed to get a good coating with the decals now fully cured a further coat of satin 135 varnish was added to the model but this time it was the enamel version which was thinned with white spirit the reason this version of the paint was used was in order to protect the paint from the next step Citadel known oil was applied to the kit in order to highlight and emphasize the recess details and panel lines some acrylic thinners were then wiped across the model in the direction of airflow on a cotton bird in order to remove the excess wash when that had dried humbrol matte varnish number 49 enamel was painted over the areas of the model that required it these being the red areas the olive green nose and the propeller blades when the paint had dried I added the engine exhaust to the model these have been left off until now in order to make the previous painting stages easier and to prevent any stray blobs of paint from spoiling their finish the cockpit canopy was then glued to the model in the open position using a general purpose glue I use this as it doesn't react with the plastic and fog it up the final step was to add some very subtle weathering using a black pastel stick the pastel was added to the areas around the guns and engine exhausts and then the dust was brushed in the direction of airflow in order to leave a realistic stain and that's as far as I went with the construction of my model I'm pretty pleased with the results as I feel I've done quite a good job of achieving a nice neat finish particularly the straight edges between the different colors I decided to leave the pilot out of the kit so that the internal areas of the cockpit could be viewed but could always add him at a later time if I so choose as you could see from the price tag on the model at the beginning of this video I bought this kit for six pounds sixty in the UK which i think is a reasonable price I'm also aware that it was stocked as part of a gift set including paint cement and brushes for five pounds during the Christmas period 2018 in a well-known discount supermarket here in the UK so perhaps some stocks might be available somewhere at the time of this video the kit was no longer listed as in production on the airfix website however but this model is still available albeit with different decals representing another p-51d mustang and i'll add the link underneath the video I feel that this is a great kit to build and results in an awesome looking little model my only concerns are that the landing gear radio antenna and a few other parts are incredibly fragile which i think is a trade off by Airfix to try and make them look more realistic I also think it's harder than the skill level that it's being given due to the number of decals and the slightly tricky paint scheme that could be off-putting to newer or less experienced modelers so in conclusion I think this is a great model to build and I think it looks even better than the RAF Mustang 4 version I built previously due to its more exciting and colorful paintwork the detail and build quality is great along with the clear and detailed instructions and well printed decals it does have its let downs but I think that they are outweighed by the results you can achieve if you're a fan of the p51 then I certainly recommend you take a look at this kit as always let me know what you think of my build techniques and finish model in the comments below I'm also keen to hear your suggestions as to other kits that you'd like to see me build on my channel so feel free to post that too all that's left to say is thanks for watching this video and don't forget to leave a like if you enjoyed it subscribe and click that notification button in order to see more content and help support the channel and feel free to share this video of your family and friends don't forget that you can connect with me 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