Nearly every aircraft modeler has at least one iconic WWII P-51 Mustang in their collection. Based on the quick sell-out of Eduard’s recent 1/48 new tooling at the 2019 ‘Nooga Nats, its popularity is long from over. The subject of this review however is a diminutive 1/144 scale version of the Mustang produced by Japanese model-maker Platz.

According to their website, “Platz was founded in April, 2000, and is based in Shizuoka, Japan. PLATZ comes from the term "place" - or to be more precise, a "gathering place" for modelers from various categories to develop and produce something new, something really wanted by the public and moreover, something "we" would also want.

Based on the knowledge acquired with a 20-year experience in the modelling business, we would like to challenge the market with a combination of renovated ideas, technologies and materials.

One of my planned retirement builds is a Resolution Island, Labrador winter diorama scene. My father, a retired career pilot and Colonel in the USAF, passes along a magazine he receives each month as a member of the Air Force Association. Several years ago, an article in one issue titled “Life on the Pine Tree Line” captivated me. The article details daily activities at a remote DEW-line radar site on Resolution Island in far North Newfoundland back in the 50s and 60s. In particular, photos of an H-21 Shawnee or “Flying Banana” as it is more commonly referred to in Artic Red conspicuity markings, caught my eye. Other aircraft and vehicles documented in the photos included a C-123, a TWA “Connie”, various cargo trucks and vehicles, and a small WWII utility vehicle known as a “Weasel”. Visions of a winter diorama scene began to take shape.

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