At the risk of sounding like a “one string banjo”, Darn! These Fisher kits are really the car’s meow. I’ve lost track of how many of these outstanding kits from Paul I’ve had the pleasure to review, but this one is, as are all the others, an outstanding example of the pinnacle of Resin casting technology. The build is as simple as pie with the one piece wing, and a hollow-cast, nearly one piece fuselage (the belly scoop being the minor second part). With a couple of passes with the sanding sticks the fit is pure “click, click”. A minimum of glazing putty was used during the construction and finishing process.

All parts were scrubbed with a toothbrush using Westleys “Bleche White” tire cleaner, followed by a wet sanding with 600 wetted down in soapy water, rinsed and allowed to dry overnight. Assembly was completed using the thin cyano acrylic cement using capillary action on the seams. The cockpit tub, which is a combination of cast resin and photo etched, just clicks into place. Model Master Dark Gull Gray was used for the interior color. Not much of the cockpit can be seen with the cut down canopy and additional built up sides, but what’s there looks very nice. After the minimal putty work and subsequent sanding was complete, the model and all the pieces parts were primed using Alclad II’s white primer with microfiller. A light sanding (dry) with 600 and it was ready for paint. I decided to use the Tamiya rattle can lacquers, decanted, and sprayed through a Paasche “H” Airbrush at 15 PSI. (I found adhesion to all primers and paints to be excellent.) Multiple coats of both Pure White and Bright Red were followed by wet sanding with 8000 and 12000 polishing pads readied the model for decaling.

The decal sheet, which is HUGE, was produced by Micro Scale and the quality was excellent. The Micro System was used during application and results were gratifying. After the decals had a chance to dry, the entire model was washed down with soapy water, rinsed, and allowed to dry overnight prior to applying multiple coats of clear lacquer, polishing between coats. I honestly lost track of how many coats were sprayed, but I can assure you that there were more than twenty. This all results in a super glossy, hand rubbed finish that befits most of the racing warbirds I’ve had the pleasure to observe first had.

The clear cast resin canopies, after the traditional bath in Future, came out crystal clear and accepted paint and decals well.

During final assembly, because of the weight of the model, I elected to attach all landing gear (mastered and supplied by Ernie Gee of “G Factor”…without doubt, one of the finest examples of cast replacement landing gear) using 5 minute epoxy for strength, as cyano acrylic will not withstand any “side loading”.

Other than items supplied in the kit, the only additions I made were brake lines, hydraulic placards on the main gear, and retraction arms for the inner gear doors. I’m truly pleased with the end result, and I hope you are as well. Please remember, as previously stated in Part 1 of this review, that this is a limited production kit. As of this submission, there are approximately 50 left, so if you have an interest I recommend you don’t dawdle.

This pretty much wraps it up for the “Red Baron” P-51, but just this morning I received from Paul the pictures of the almost complete kit of the F-7U Cutlass coming very soon in 1/32^nd scale from Fisher Models. Oh, my goodness, this thing is gorgeous and huge ! I can’t wait to see the genuine article.

In closing, I will take this opportunity to thank Paul Fisher for not only this review sample, but all the past (and future) interactions with IPMS/USA. It’s truly been a distinct pleasure working with and getting to know Paul.

Most highly recommended