This was the first release of Eduard’s much anticipated 1/48 P-51D Mustang. Its official release date was August 7th at the 2019 IPMS Nationals in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Not wanting to wait until Eduard released the rumored separate Pacific Theater VLR boxing, I ordered mine as soon as preorders were being accepted at Sprue Brothers. That proved to be a good move as this limited edition kit sold out completely in less than a month.

As indicated in an earlier post, all of the necessary parts to make an accurate Iwo Jima VLR Mustang are in this kit except for the drop tanks and sway braces. And, as was announced by Eduard recently in their September edition of their INFO Eduard on-line magazine, the additional sprues with the drop tanks will be in be their Royal Class boxing that will be released prior to Christmas. I am being told that at least two, and maybe three, decal options for Iwo Jima VLR Mustangs will be in the Royal Class boxing. That is great news!

Kit Preview; Sprue D (Fuselage Parts) – Eduard certainly did its homework, and the level of detail for a 1/48 scale model is amazing. So let’s take a look at the various sprues. First up is the fuselage sprue (Sprue D).

What caught my eye initially is the intricate rivet detail over the entire fuselage and the druz fasteners on the engine cowling panels. Very nice and not overdone. Best not to be too heavy handed with primer and color coats to avoid losing all of that rivet detail. Included in the detail is the small air scoop that was added to the left side of the cowling when the battery was moved to the engine compartment. The other thing I pay pretty close attention to is the contours of the nose, especially at the front of the engine cowling. There are some very subtle contour changes that most model manufacturers have failed to capture correctly. I believe that Tamiya did a very nice job in this area with their 1/32 scale Mustang kit, and it appears that Eduard has done a very nice job as well.

Sprue B (Wings & Horizontal Stabilizers) – The wings and horizontal stabilizers are nicely done with separate control surfaces (flaps, ailerons, and elevators).

I am impressed by the fact that the rivet detail on the wings is accurate. The Mustang has a laminar flow wing which increases the efficiency of air flowing over the wing. To further increase the laminar flow effect over the wing, North American puttied over panel joints and rivet depressions, sanded everything smooth, and then painted the majority of the wings with a silver lacquer paint. The general consensus is that only the gun bays, landing gear access panels, and other access panels were not puttied. Below is a diagram of the wings by Jennings Heilig of fundekals 🙂 that shows which panel lines were puttied.

The faint lines on the above diagram show the panel joints that were puttied. Like all kit manufacturers who have produced 1/48 Mustangs (Airfix, Hasegawa, Meng, and Tamiya), Eduard has represented the panel joints on the wings by recessed panel lines. But some kit manufacturers (Dragon 1/32, Tamiya 1/32, Meng 1/48, and Airfix 1/48) filled their wings with rivet detail, so if you are building these kits and want to portray an accurate puttied wing, you not only have to fill and sand the correct panel lines, but also all of the rivet detail. While this is not overly difficult, eliminating the rivet detail is a tedious and very time consuming task. With the Eduard kit, all you have to do is fill and sand the the correct panel lines. Kudos to Eduard.

Sprue H (Interior Parts) – This sprue has all of the cockpit parts plus two different spinners and the three different propellers (Hamilton Standard cuffed, Hamilton Standard uncuffed, and Aeroproducts).

It appears to have all the cockpit parts for a D-5 through a D-25 (early and late instrument panels, the two different styles of instrument panel comings, Warren MacArthur and Schick Johnson seats, the different control panels for the right side of the cockpit, etc . . .). However, what I am most interested in is the parts to make an accurate Iwo Jima VLR Mustang. SCR-695 IFF transmitter is part H22, and the level of detail is fantastic for 1/48 scale.

Also included are the SA-3/A Inertia Switch (IFF Detonator Switch) and the BC-727 Indicator Lights (part H50).

So there you have it, all of the necessary cockpit parts are present in this kit to make an accurate Iwo Jima VLR Mustang; first time in a 1/48 kit.

Sprue G (Exterior Parts, Wheel Wells & Landing Gear) – One of the main complaints with early Mustang models is inaccurate wheel wells. Tamiya solved that problem with their 1/32 P-51D Mustang kit, and the other kit manufacturers (Revell 1/32, Zoukei-Mura 1/32, Airfix 1/48, and Meng 1/48) including Eduard, have now followed suit and for the most part imitated the Tamiya design for the wheel wells.

Again, the level of detail is amazing. Below is a picture of the main landing gear wheel well doors in this kit, and a picture of one of Sierra Sue II’s landing gear wheel well doors that was taken shortly after its complete restoration. As you can see, the Eduard parts accurately depict the rivet detail.

The twin Uncle Dog antennae are located on Sprue G as parts G1 and G2. Their attachment pins are set at an angle and there are no locating holes on the inside of the fuselage parts to indicate their position on the fuselage spine. Because this limited edition kit does not use those parts, the kit instructions do not provide any guidance. So we will have to wait on the instructions in the Royal Class boxing as far as the exact location.

Sprue F (Drop Tanks & Underwing Ordinance) – This sprue contains the drop tanks used in the European Theater of operations, and the various underwing ordinance (bombs, HVAR rockets, and rocket launching tubes).

Eduard designed the HVAR rockets and their wing attachment points as one piece. While this will add an extra step in painting the rockets, it will make rocket alignment a non-issue. Locating holes are on the bottom half the wings.

The sprue consisting of the clear parts have all three canopy types and are crystal clear.

Initial Impressions – This is an extremely nice looking kit with a lot of intricate detail and some delicate parts. The fuselage contours look really good. Kudos to Eduard for spending the necessary time to get things right. When I have the Royal Class boxing in my possession, I will review the sprue with the 110 and 165 gallon drops tanks, and the decals for the Iwo Jima VLR Mustangs. Hopefully, Eduard will include the sway braces for the drop tanks. I am really looking forward to building Major James B. Tapp’s 101 “Margaret IV” (78th FS, 15th FG) with 165 gallon drop tanks and HVAR rockets using this kit.

Eduard just released the D-5 ProfiPACK edition, and I am being told that they are still planning to release a limited edition Pacific Theater VLR Mustang ProfiPACK edition in 2020. Again, this is great news!