Here's the build info for mine. Tamiya P-51B, DK Decals, Eduard PE, and Eduard mask. Should be able to start tomorrow. Looking forward to the group build. Cheers.

3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

What a great scheme, George @gblair
Looking forward to it, even more so I can make use of your approach on this kit.

As a definite non-expert on Mustangs, can someone help with this question: The AM kits all, Allison- & Merlin-engined alike, have noticeably taller fins and rudders than the Tamiya Merlin-engined kits. Was there a difference or not, and if so, which is "correct"? All I can tell from photos is that camera angles look to me to make either different or the same possible. Published plans seem to favor different.

I may have to throw my hat into this rodeo, as I've got an AM P-51A to do, if I can salvage the nose..

@brummbaer, I'm unaware of any major shape issues of the AM rudders. The AM Allison Mustangs all represent Mustangs with no rudder fillet, which can visually make the rudder look taller than a Merlin Mustang with the fillet. The fillet itself wasn't installed at the factories until after block D-5's (or the second block of bubble top Merlins), and B and C models may have then gotten fillets installed in the feild, as AM's C model can be depicted.

Out of curiosity, I took the AM P-51A tail and placed it behind Tamiya's D tail, which can be seen below. Fillet aside, the A tail is only about 1mm taller up top, max. AM's C compares the same, and also of note, Tamiyas tail matches well to Eduards. It may be hard to see the A tail peeking out, because it really isn't too dissimilar.

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Thanks @fiveten! I could build Mustangs all day, so the pleasure is also mine! Also it just so happens that I have an aircraft ready for paint on my bench that carries a P-51 "heritage" scheme, so this works well. 🙂

Finally got some stuff done on mine. I wanted to get the painting and weathering done before I assembled the cockpit and fuselage. I wanted to get some weathering out of my system, so I used some chipping fluid on the cockpit floor and seat. I hadn't planned on using the sidewall detail in the Eduard PE, but decided after I had painted and weathered the fuselage sides that I wanted the extra detail. The pre-colored sidewall detail was significantly lighter than the green primer on the interior, so I have been trying to blend them in.

Also found a photo of the actual plane I am doing which was named "Meg X". Apparently the plane escorted the B-17s to Tri Duby airfield, but crashed at the airfield.

I hope to assemble everything tomorrow. I have been spending a lot of time with my new resin printer, which has a rather steep learning curve.

Cheers everyone.

7 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Sorry to have to come back to this after a pause, dear modelers. After making the mistake of entertaining friends without masking, and recovering from what that led to - thank goodness for vaccines, boosters, and anti-virals - I got out one each of the AM P-51A and C, Tamiya B and D, Hasgawa D, Revell B/C, and Meng, Airfix, and Eduard P-51Ds. The tails of all these save the AMs are within a hair of being the same height held side by side where possible (the Meng is most strangely pieced) or measured along the rudder hinge line.

The AM kits are the same height as each other and both are a good 1 mm taller than all the others, and as the fin and rudder angles narrow with the height, the AM rudders look a bit more pointed. To my eyes, poor as they have become with age, perhaps because of my training in plastic injection quality control or acquaintance with a modeler once famous (notorious) for nit-picking shape differences, this is a noticeable difference when the kits are placed side by side.

So my question remains, is there a good reason for this 1+ mm, such as the Allison Mustangs requiring a bit more yaw stability, did AM make a mistake, did the rudder height change during production, or did all the others copy a different mistake?

If it is an error on AM's part, it can be partially fixed by trimming the 1 mm off and restoring the curves of the front and rear edges. This leaves the rudder mass balance sitting a bit high, but that to me is a less obvious problem, or the mass balance can be filled and rescribed.

Very nice work indeed, George!