Book Review: The North American P-51 "Early Mustang"

Published on
Review Author(s)
Book Author(s)
Richard A. Franks
ISBN
978-1-912932-41-2
MSRP
$36.00
Provided by: Valiant Wings Publishing - Website: Visit Site

I’ve always been a fan of the early Allison powered Mustangs so it’s nice to see publishers filling the gap for historians and modelers alike. This publication goes even farther by including the merlin powered B and C models. This is a second edition of a book first printed in 2013. It is broken down into three sections, Airframe, Miniatures and Appendices.

Under the airframe banner there is a history of the prototypes, test, and service aircraft including the British versions as is only fitting for a book published there. All the Allison powered versions are covered including a list of the units that flew the aircraft. Especially helpful are side profiles though-out the chapters that outline the differences in specific airframes. Color profiles and photos support the accompanying text. Camouflage and markings are also covered in the airframe section. Here the modeler will find a lot of valuable information on camouflage patterns and colors of specific units for both the USAAF and RAF Mustangs. As a bonus, there are also profiles for the air forces of France, Russia, Switzerland, Dominican Republic, China, and even captured Mustangs used by Germany and Japan.

The Miniature chapter is a comprehensive, up-to-date, listing of the kits available as of this printing. This is followed by a selection of build reviews in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale. I didn’t realize there were so many Allison Mustang kits in 1/72. For the B and C Mustang fans the Arma 1/72 and the 1/48 Eduard kits are reviewed. Hopefully, we get some companies interested in updating the 1/48 Accurate Miniatures kits of the Allision powered versions. They’ve done a commendable job of collecting all this information. I found Chapter 7 “Building a Collection” especially interesting. In it, there are ¾ views or each version of the test and operational Mustangs showing the specific details that identify that version. Chapter 9 is the “In Detail” section and includes numerous “walk around”, style photos as well as technical drawings. If you familiarize yourself with the entirety of this volume, you’ll have what you need to replicate any early Mustang you can think of. The book closes out with two sections covering aftermarket items including decals, resin and photoetch parts. A bibliography provides a current list of Mustang publications. Oh, and just when you think you’re done, there is a fold-out of 1/48 plans for the Mk1, Mk1a, A-36 and P-51B/C.

It’s very difficult to publish a definitive reference on a subject, but this book comes close to it. The text is concise, and the color illustrations and drawings are very high quality. Modelers will love the kit listings and reviews. If you’re a fan of this magnificent aircraft in its early versions; you need this volume on your shelf. However, if you’re like me, it will spend most of its time on your bench.

Thank you very much to Valiant Wings Publishers for this volume and to IPMS/USA for allowing me to give you a peak at it.

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