BLUF -Bottom Line Up Front

As Modelsvit states on their website, they specialize in short run (limited production) kits. The kit builds up into a reasonable scale model of the P-51H. Modeling experience with limited run kits and patience will result in a reasonable representation of one. This kit is not for beginners! It is really for experienced modelers.

The Modelsvit P-51H was first released in 2019. The version of the kit in this review was re-released in 2023 with a new set of markings. There have been a few P-51H’s released earlier by Hawk, Historic Plastic Models, and Classic Airframes in this scale. I have no idea how those build up, so there is no comparison to those kits.

Per the internet (Wikipedia), the P-51H was the last version of the P-51 built in any numbers. It was slightly longer, had a higher tail, and a more powerful engine with related changes for improved power, and a wider propeller to accommodate the increased horse power. Too late for WWII, it was fielded post war, and eventually retired in the early 50’s. It was never used in Korea.

As Modelsvit states, this is indeed a limited run kit. It is evident once you get a look at the sprues. The attachment points are okay for the most part, but there are some small pieces that are attached to the sprue with fairly robust attachment points. Care must be taken with these smaller pieces so damage does not occur when you separate them from the sprue. Using a small saw seems to do the trick, but you still need to trim them to remove attach point remnants. In addition, there is some flash, mostly on the smaller parts, that also need clean up. Photoetch is also included in the kit. Fortunately, those small photoetch parts do not require any clean up, except for some small nibs on some parts. The photo etch does add a challenge to assembly, especially with the tail wheel gear doors.

The instructions are fairly straightforward and proved easy to follow. The cockpit builds up quite nicely and has sufficient detail for the scale. I used the decal option for the instrument panel, and the panel turned out well. The tail gear assembly was a bit more difficult. The rear wheel bay also builds up well. However, the tail wheel itself is another story. I damaged one side of the rear wheel strut as I separated it from the sprue, it was damaged enough that it does not look quite right. In addition, attaching the rear wheel assembly itself proved to be a challenge, because I could not get it to attach properly as shown in the instructions. There was no clear attachment point to the bay, so I just attached it where I thought it should go. The fuselage itself builds up easily enough, except I should have thinned out the plastic in the fin fillet area to get a better fit. The main gear bay also builds up nicely with no issues. I had to sand down the top of the main gear assembly a bit to get the upper wing to close up nicely along the leading edge. Dry fitting is a must on this kit.

Four areas of the kit required some extra effort. The first are the flaps, which can be built up or down. I chose flaps down. There are no clear attachment points for the flaps other than to glue them to the inside of the upper wing. It is difficult to get the bottom of the flap to align to the bottom part of the wing. I knocked off one of the flaps multiple times. It is best to install the flaps as late as possible in the build. The second issue with this kit is there are no well-defined attachment points for the landing gear. There are knobs on the main gear that match up with knobs inside the gear well. This took a lot of effort to align, as there are no inserts to secure the gear. It took some time to get the alignment down. And as with the flaps, one gear was knocked off more than once. I recommend keeping the airplane weight off wheels and double checking while the glue is setting to keep proper alignment. The third area is the external stores (missiles and external fuel tanks). Although I eventually got the wing rocket supports aligned, there were no clear-cut attachment points for the missiles. So, instead of fiddling with the missiles to get them aligned properly, I opted to punt on all external stores, due to wanting to get this reviewed submitted in a timely manner. The last issue was the clear parts. Neither canopy option truly fit. In order to remedy this, I opted to sand down the windscreen just enough to get it to fit properly. Another option would be to trim the plastic railing back a bit to get the same fit. The nav lights were also bigger than they should have been. Once attached, I sanded those down as well, losing some detail in the process.

The decals settle down nicely for the most part. The national markings required a bit more effort to get them to settle into the panel lines. I find that using a hair dryer (set at a low heat) works well.

My thanks to Modelsvit and IPMS/USA for the chance to build this bird!