WOW! INSIDE-OUT MEGA-BUILD P-51D MUSTANG FROM ZOUKEI-MURA

SMN REPORT:

More goodness from Zoukei-Mura is about to fly your way, with a “build from the inside out” Mustang, that’s just packed with interior detail.

BIG-SCALE MOTORIZED FOAM-BOARD CAR KITS

SMN update: GreenLight Toys has unveiled a series of foam-paper car kits for 2012, five American muscle cars and one muscle truck. The MotoBuildz aren't exactly models, they're more like those 500-piece landscape puzzles you find at educational toy stores, only with fewer pieces and less frustration.

HASEGAWA RAIDEN - A 1:32 SCALE THUNDERBOLT FROM JAPAN

SMN report:

According to Hasegawa, this is the first 1:32 scale kit of the Mitsubishi J2M3 Raiden (Thunderbolt) since the 1960s. Apparently, the original moulds were lost at sea, so this new kit provides a fine opportunity for the 21st century modelmaker to assemble a state of the art new-tool production. 

TAMIYA 1:32 P-51D MUSTANG - JUST SUPERB

SMN report:

The new Tamiya 1:32 scale P-51D is gathering plaudits all over, and we’re not surprised. It’s easily a match for the firm’s Spitfire models in this scale, and utilises the same super-small magnet technology to keep the ultra-thin engine cowlings in place.

Scene from the Red Tails movie, featuring P-40s and P-51Ds.

SPIT AND POLISH SHINES UP A MUCH-LOVED WARBIRD

SMN report
Seeing that Shigeo Koike P-51 Mustang painting coincided with the pic above arriving at SMN Towers. It came unannounced, so if you're the owner or the photographer, do let us know so we can give you a credit. The aircraft - a P-51D Mustang - just has to be the shiniest 'Stang we've ever seen. Click the pic to enlarge and you'll be blown away by the sheer lustrous beauty of shiny metal, which makes my Sunday afternoon cutlery-cleaning sessions with Silvo look somewhat pathetic. The gleaming Mustang is also a reminder that the type has to be just about the most-modelled aviation subject ever, even if the Supermarine Spitfire takes the podium in some markets.

Museum grade replica
The Mustang is not a just popular subject with serious IPMS types and more casual model makers - the folks at P51 Mustang Models will make you a museum-grade replica for a fee. On the kit front, which one is best? Well, that's an argument that could run and run, with pros and cons for every entrant in the market. Still, it's fair to say that there is not a real rip-yer-hair-out dud out there.

A big one from Airfix
Our own favourite is the old 1:24 scale Airfix model, not so much for its overall accurancy, but for the boldness of Airfix in bringing out a mammoth kit at a time when even 1:48 was considered on the big side. Ah, nostalgia!

Visit P51 Mustang Models here.