Aires

1/32 P-51D Mustang Detail Sets For the Trumpeter kit

Stock Number: 2091 (cockpit details) Stock Number: 2092 (wheel well set)

Reviewed By  Fred Amos, IPMS# 6672

MSRP: $31.90 (cockpit details); $15.70 (wheel wells) Website: www.aires.cz [Ed Note: Update - this review was initially posted as in In-Box review and has been updated now that the reviewer has obtained the correct kit to use these parts on.] When I volunteered for this review I thought these sets were for the old Hasegawa P-51D kit. I didn’t even know that Trumpeter made a 1/32 P-51D kit. So this will just be a "first-look" review and I will see what I can do with the sets on the Hasegawa kit later. The cockpit set consists of seven light-gray pieces, (sidewalls, cockpit floor with the fuel tank and radio, the pilot’s seat, instrument panel an instrument shroud) and one tan armored seatback. Also, one piece of acetate for the instrument panel and one photo-etch fret containing seatbelts, more instrument panel detail, mirrors and a few small details I haven’t yet identified. All of the resins pieces are free of warpage and pinholes caused by bubbles. Sidewalls and fuel tank with the radio are well detailed. I note that the floor doesn’t represent any woodgrain, so this may be for a later P-51D. If you have the talent, you can recreate the woodgrain with paint. The wheel well set consists of five light-gray pieces, the one-piece wheel well, and the inboard doors with their hydraulic control arms. There is a miniscule amount of flash in the lightening holes, no big deal.

Not having a Trumpeter 1/32 P-51 D when I first received these sets for review I gave them a quick look and wrote that the sets looked very fine to me. I have since bought a Trumpeter kit and I must say I have to revise my initial thoughts about the Aires sets some. There is a little flash but it is mostly in places that can't be seen or reached to clean out. There are a lot of beautiful details to be seen but there is also details missing that should have been included. The resin is brittle it is impossible to avoid breaking some of the smaller detail pieces. While trying to remove the resin pour from the bottom of the pilot's seat I broke one of the pieces representing the support pipes. I replaced it with Stainless Steel wire used for rigging bi-planes. While sanding the resin pour from under the cockpit floor I discovered that the floor was warped and some small details were broken off while handling it. I posted a question on Hyper Scale and found out the floor was plywood and always painted with black non-skid paint so that hopefully settles the question about the floor.

The wheel well set is a beautiful piece of work but the fit is not too good. The resin pour is on the back edge of the well so it was removed with my razor saw and X-acto blades. The kit wheel well walls were removed by grinding and cutting and then sanding the surfaces smooth. When resin wheel well was taped into place in the bottom of the wing I could see several problems. The area around the landing gear legs was not completely covered and I could see gaps. I had to place a shim of about one sixteenth of an inch between the resin and the wall that was molded in the kit part to close up an opening. The middle front of the resin didn't touch so I had to clamp it while the super glue cured. That flattened the wing so that there was no dihedral.

The cockpit set includes the instrument panel in resin, acetate film, and photo etch. The PE is well done but the resin lacks some detail. The instrument combing over the panel need to be cut from the kit and replaced with the resin piece. The resin piece does show better detail. When all of these pieces are assembled and glued to the floor it is very impressive. I had painted the control column as suggested and when I tried to remove it from the pour I broke the shaft and lost it in the carpet. I wound up using stretched sprue.

All in all I don't believe all of these problems are due to any lack of experience or technique. I have built four or five 1/32 P-51 D's in the last two years and have never had these kind of problems. In fact in my opinion there is no fault with the Trumpeter kit. So I am going to recommend that unless you have plenty of experience and patience with resin, you should use the kit pieces. Thanks again to Aires for providing the review kit.