1/72 Mustang - Airfix V Tamiya - Side by Side build

[Builder]

Hi All,

I am currently building both the Airfix and Tamiya 1/72 Mustangs side by side amd thought I might share the builds! I might even do up my own personal conclusions of each kit afterwards.

Build Plan
Build the kits OOB, except for PE seatbelts for the Airfix kit. I have not yet decided on the paint schemes yet as I have 4 options and two kits.

Box Contents

1. Airfix Kit









2. Tamiya Kit

 

[Builder]

The Build Begins!

Here a look at the side walls the grey plastic being the Tamiya one.









So after an entire Day of modelling I have done up both cockpits and here they are - The lever for the Airfix kit broke off and I scrachbuilt the bottom half of it. The lever for the Tamiya kit got lost and I scratch built it all.



Tamiyas Cockpit first
It has nice details on the panel, but no decal provided for the panels so I painted it all in my own custom style



Here is Airfixs cockpit it has a decal but the control panel is flat so you cant actually cut out the circles and put them into a panel



Tamiya again - with decals as seatbelts (I like this option)



Airfix now - with PE seatbelts



Tamiya side walls




Airfix side walls



Tamiyas cockpit all done up









Airfixs cockpit all done up








Bodies assembled and gaps being filled for now. The Airfix kit has the option to have flaps lowered and I am goinf with it!
Here they are for now



Hope you all liked the post. All comments welcome.

 

[Crumplezone]

Great pictures, very professional looking build MAN. I be starting again soon.

 

[colin m]

Nice idea building the two together. I've built the Airfix version and found it great, no problems at all. I can see both have their differences, but both look equally as good.

 

[dubster72]

Both look great so far Bob

 

[Airfix Modeller Freak]

excellent work mate. If you like the Tamiya 1/72 version, check out their 1/48 and 1/32 versions! They only get better with size!
Cheers, John

 

[Builder]

Great pictures, very professional looking build MAN. I be starting again soon.

Both look great so far Bob

excellent work mate. If you like the Tamiya 1/72 version, check out their 1/48 and 1/32 versions! They only get better with size!
Cheers, John

Nice idea building the two together. I've built the Airfix version and found it great, no problems at all. I can see both have their differences, but both look equally as good.

Thanks for the comments.

Well I forgot to take a few photos in between but it seems that the Airfix kit took the lead and so I finished it off first.
Here is the update

So both kits built up and then painted using Tamiya XF-16 Enamel. It is here I realised that the line on top of the cowling was not supposed to be filled in, but It was already too late. I was not going to re-scribe it either.

So here is the Airfix Kit all done up. I have even shaded a few of the panels on the wings very slightly.

Now I donot know if I should seal the decals in with a Gloss coat or not (I use Pledge Floor Care for gloss coating and it has worked fine every time). But I have never gloss coated a metal finish.
If I donot gloss coat it I will not be able to do a panel wash without damaging the paint. The toss up here is that the kit looks great as is.. soooo a bit perplexed at the moment as to what to do with this one .. leave it or coat it.

This is where the Tamiya kit is at currently

All pieces stored here

Now like I said I am undecisive yet as to whether to gloss coat the Airfix kit or not, apart from that I will continue on with the Tamiya kit and probably have to make the same decision with it when its done up as well.

I hope you all liked the post. All comments welcome.

 

[Builder]

Both kits are finally done, here is the last build update.

So I painted the Tamiya kit, and went for the camo scheme with invasion stripes.




I then added decals and gloss coated it with Pledge FLoor Care. This took me a few days to get done.





I then gave it a wash with Tamiya Panel Line Accent and finished it off with a Matte coat - a commercial one






Here are some individual photos of each completed aircraft.

The Airfix Mustang









The Tamiya Mustang

 

[Builder]

Here is how both of them look together













All in all I chose to gloss coat the Tamiya kit and weather it slighltly and chose not to seal the decals and not weather the Airfix kit.

I will also do up a completed post in the Completed Aeroplanes section for each Aircraft with a final reveal video on a rotating display sometime in the coming weeks.

 

[flyjoe180]

Great work Bob. I think the aerial on the Airfix one may be around the wrong way, but it doesn't detract from a good looking build.

 

[Builder]

Great work Bob. I think the aerial on the Airfix one may be around the wrong way, but it doesn't detract from a good looking build.

Thanks Joe both Arials actually broke off so were scratch built which explains their odd shapes

 

[Peej]

Both builds look awesome to me. Great job!

 

[james pithouse]

I'm jealous great work on both planes, can not tell which is which once painted but before, you built them you could but now you can not again great work

 

[colin m]

both Arials actually broke off

Easily done. I wonder how many I've lost over the years ? Anyway, the Airfix seems to have finer panel lines than the Tamiya, which I can't believe, or is it down to the panel lines of the Tamiya having been highlighted and the Airfix not ?

 

[Builder]

Great work Bob. I think the aerial on the Airfix one may be around the wrong way, but it doesn't detract from a good looking build.

Both builds look awesome to me. Great job!

I'm jealous great work on both planes, can not tell which is which once painted but before, you built them you could but now you can not again great work

Easily done. I wonder how many I've lost over the years ? Anyway, the Airfix seems to have finer panel lines than the Tamiya, which I can't believe, or is it down to the panel lines of the Tamiya having been highlighted and the Airfix not ?

Thanks all here is the final reveal for the Airfix Mustang

http://www.scale-models.co.uk/threads/airfix-1-72-p-51-d-mustang.27755/

 

[monica]

great wok of both builds,Bob,like your attention to detail,very nice with the pin lining,
top paint work on both,real well done,:D