| Diecast Airplanes |
| 1/72 Warplanes |
| GeminiAces United States |
         Photograph Copyright © Collin Riley 2006 |
| P-51B Mustang, Bald Eagle, Lt. Robert Eckfeldt, Bottisham, England, Autumn 1944 | |||||||
| It is most refreshing
to have a diecast manufacturer produce a B model of the Mustang in
this scale. The birdcage P-51 is probably the most lethal looking
of the breed, and the quarter-on view with that leering windscreen
is nothing short of deadly. GeminiAces did a very good job engineering the model. Especially notable is the landing gear, which in the extended position is rock solid. Switching the gear from folded to extended is very easy (requiring only a narrow blade to remove the wheel-well covers from the wing); the designers made sure that the tail wheel is both strong and easy to install and remove. The prop and spinner are metal, and fit superbly, with no play or wobble. The only drawback to this kind of quality is that the prop won't turn in anything less than a full-force gale. I usually use a hairdryer to spin the prop, but with this model the dryer just couldn't generate enough turning power. This required spinning the prop by hand, and setting the time-delay on the camera so I had time to get my finger out of the way before the shutter clicked. Sometimes I got caught in the act. The finish is very good, and there are no scuff marks on the areas covered with flat paint. Problems, problems, here and there. What's with that antenna? It's sort of a Whoville version of the real thing, smaller at the bottom, larger at the top. And the paint is chipped in some areas, such as the leading edges of the wings, the edges of the wheel wells, and the wheel-well covers (both folded and extended). Also, the canopy is blurry (I'm fairly sure there's a pilot in there), and the paint on the canopy ribbing is fuzzy. Generally, however, a nice piece of work, and a valuable addition to any collection. But, please, fix that crazy antenna... |
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| Copyright © Collin Riley 2005-2006 |  |