History

The P-51 Mustang is probably the most well-known fighter aircraft ever built. Originally designed to fill an order from the British government, the P-51 was built by North American Aviation. The first examples did not show much promise until a switch was made to the Rolls-Royce engine. By 1944, the skies over Europe were dominated by the allies thanks to fighters like the P-51.

About the Company

DXM which stands for Double Excellent Models was started by a group of modelers in Taipei, Taiwan. The group started manufacturing decals in 2010 covering a broad range of aircraft including an extensive list of Japanese air command meets.

What’s on the Sheet?

This sheet covers fabled Grim Reapers squadron of VF-101 anniversary previously of VF-52. This is a surprising feat as the Navy usually does not rename squadrons after disestablished units. The Grim Reapers operated primarily the F-14 Tomcat and has recently converted to the F-35C at Eglin AFB Florida. The aircraft covered are as followed:

Roy Sutherland has been around for a bit, providing resin details we never knew could exist, but now do because of his commitment to improving basic products. This set is one of four that I used on the new (but old) Revell B-1B… they are in Roy’s “Barracudacast” resin accessories branch of his company. On to the review!

This set is comprised of eight Main wheel and tire assemblies, and two Nose wheel and tire assemblies for the B-1B. Sidewall letterngdetail is provided, and the tread is fantastic and deep like the actual high-speed radials used on the Bone. The original release of this kit back in 1983 contained styrene wheels with rubber tires. We know how well that works over time… so did Revell… so about 10 years or so ago, a couple of re-releases before this one, a set of styrene tire halves were provided to replace the rubber versions. Problem was, they weren’t accurate, being more balloon-like with almost no tread. Sometimes ya can’t win as a manufacturer.