North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 scale model from ICM, 48151 - Inbox review

 North American P-51 D-15 Mustang

North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 scale model from ICM - Inbox review

ICM, 1/48 plastic scale model  - Inbox review

P-51 D Mustang - History

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission for license-built Curtiss P-40 fighters. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed and first flew on 26 October.
 Following combat experience the P-51D series introduced a "teardrop", or "bubble", canopy to rectify problems with poor visibility to the rear of the aircraft.
 The new model Mustang also had a redesigned wing; alterations to the undercarriage up-locks and inner-door retracting mechanisms meant that there was an additional fillet added forward of each of the wheel bays, increasing the wing area and creating a distinctive "kink" at the wing root's leading edges. Most significant was a deepening of the wing to the allow the guns to be mounted upright, resulting in a slightly reduced maximum speed compared to P-51B/C variants.
 The engine was the Packard V-1650-7, a licence-built version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin 60 series, fitted with a two-stage, two-speed supercharger.
 The armament was increased with the addition of two more .50 in (12.7mm) AN/M2 "light-barrel" M2 Browning machine guns, the standard heavy-calibre machine gun used throughout the American air services of World War II, bringing the total to six. 
source: wikipedia


Inside the box - ICM 1/48 P-51 D-15 Mustang

North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 scale model from ICM - Inbox review

 This is the smallest box of a 1/48 scale kit I have ever seen... but it seems to be sufficient to accommodate the sprues. 
 On sprue A there are the two fuselage halves, on sprue B - the wings and the flaps. Sprue C holds the fuel tanks, two sets of propellers, the parts for the spinner, the wheels, the intake, two bombs, the radiator, a pilot figure, part of the gear bay doors and two sets of exhaust stacks. Sprue D is mostly unused for this modification of the P-51 and only gear legs and some small details will be used. Sprue E holds the majority of the cockpit, the lower canopy frame, the upper nose section, the central gear bay part and the horizontal stabilizers. On the transparent sprue there are two canopies, one windshield, the instrument panel, the gun sight and a landing light.

The instructions - ICM 1/48 P-51 D-15 Mustang

  The instructions are a bit vaegue at some places, not showing the exact location of some details. On top of that the lower part of the first page of my instructions was not printed hiding some assembly... come on ICM, where is your quality control?
  There is one additional sheet with painting and decaling guide. This is for one version only, for the other one you will have to look at the box.

The decals - ICM 1/48 P-51 D-15 Mustang

 There is one small decal sheet containing decals for two marking options. The decals are with matte finish. The carrier film is looking very, very thin but spreads far away from the graphics and have some yellowish tint. The graphics seem to be in register and the small lettering is readable. I have some concerns that the decals might be a bit transparent, we shall see. 

North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review

The two marking options are for the following aircraft:

 - North American P-51D, Maj. R. Moore, 462 FS, 506 FG, Iwo Jima, July 1945. "The Shawnee Princess"
-  SE2, 413926. The aircraft from the box art. No additional information is provided by ICM.

Closer inspection - ICM 1/48 P-51 D-15 Mustang

 This kit is basically a copy of Tamiya's 1/48 P-51 mustang kit which is nicely engineered and all in all shake and bake type of kit. Is this derivative the same as the original?
 Well yes and no. The overall shape and placement of panel lines seems to be correct (at least to the blueprints I have). The surface detail is very good. The panel lines are crisp and nicely sized, there are several scoops around the fuselage. There are fasteners where appropriate. The positionable flaps are also a nice touch.

North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review

The interior is also very well represented. The side walls of the cockpit are molded on the fuselage halves and have nice detail. The floor, rear deck and the radiator outlet top come in one piece to which you should add the radiator, the seat, the instrument panel and the stick, again details are OK. The instrument panel is molded in clear plastic but there are no decals for the instrument faces. The gun-sight is also molded in clear plastic and it is a joke! There is very nice pilot figure included in the kit.
 The gear bay is partially molded on the underside of the upper wing parts and the central piece comes as a separate detail, here the details provided are acceptable but with some accuracy issues. The gear legs are looking good and there is a set of weighted tires. The gearbay doors are also in good shape with the exception of some very nasty ejection pins. There are two sets of wheels, one with weight effect and one without. This is very good but there is nasty parting line in the middle of each tire. On top of that the thread pattern on each side of the wheel is different.
 The "Hamilton Standard" propellers look like what they are representing. The propeller hub is designed in such fashion that there should not be any difficulties with alignment.
 The exhaust stacks that should be used with this type of P-51 are well represented but will need drilling. This, however, should not be difficult due to their circular section.
 The top of the engine cowling is made in such a way that it will hold the two fuselage halves together.
 There is flash everywhere, ejector pins are also present on some unpleasant locations and the parting lines are very prominent.

North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox reviewNorth American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review


The clear parts are looking good. They have nice transparency and acceptable distortion but have some scratches which will benefit from some polishing.

North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review  North American P-51 D-15 Mustang, 1/48 aircraft plastic scale model from ICM - Inbox review

Conclusion - ICM 1/48 P-51 D-15 Mustang

 Unlike the Tamiya kit this do not have good fit. You cannot put it together with some tape, it just falls apart. Main reason is the massive amount of flash and mold imperfections. If you are after a 1/48 scale P-51D kit and you don't want to pay the premium or the Tamiya kit is not available then this might be an option. Just prepare for a lot of parts cleaning. If you are not targeting the Mustang specifically but just want a inexpensive kit, look somewhere else (Eduard's weekend editions are quite well priced). 

The GOOD:
- good shape of the wings and the fuselage
- very good surface, gearbay and interior detail 
- low price
- the clear parts are on the good side
- positionable flaps

The BAD:
- goofy gunsight
- tyre's tread pattern is a mess
- lots of flash and mold imperfections
- bad fit (mostly due to the previous)
- iffy decals

Best regards and happy modeling
M. Metodiev

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