21st Century Toys 1/32 P-51B and Fw-190A at Tuesday Morning - Durham

Started by lgriffin, Mon 07/16/12 10:59 AM

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Ronnie Murray

Sure seemes like Tamiya would make the move and complete the family.  Their D version has been a huge success and is a great starting point for any common features between the B and the D versions. 

Lee_K

I have always been perplexed as to why Hasegawa didn't jump at the opportunity to make a definitive kit of the B in 1/32 scale.  It seems like such a no-brainier to me.  The Trumpeter kit is expensive and the windscreen in messed up (among other issues), so I think the opportunity still exists for Hasegawa.  Of course, if Tamiya makes one, it is game over.

Lee K

lgriffin

Yeah, good points, Lee K: The Revell B is really kind of hopeless from an accuracy standpoint, with the misshapen nose being just one of its many faults. It's such a shame because the kit is a sentimental favorite, though that's probably really a function of the indisputable awesomeness of the original Shangri-La Gentile box art, and my grand time building it as a kid.

In the final analysis, life is probably too short to spend a lot of time creating a FrankenStang out of the two kits. I have seen a kitbash in the past using the razorback portion of the Revell B scabbed onto a Hasegawa D fuselage with work on the wings. If Revell were to do a new P-51B in 1/32, well...

Ronnie, I wish you the best, and I look forward to seeing what you accomplish.

Cheers,

Lee G.

Lee_K

Having built the ancient 1/32 scale Revell kit for Hawk Hunter a couple of years ago, my experience is that it while may look like a P-51B from a couple of feet away, the overall shape is really, really off.  I'm not familiar with the 21st Century kit other than by reputation, but I can only imagine that it can't go anywhere but up from Revell's forty-five year old offering.  The Revell's nose is bad, the radiator outlet is ludicrously misshapen, and the clear parts have thick and non-protoypical hinges molded into them.  I think grafting the wings of the Revell kit onto the 21st Century fuselage could be a winning combination.  I look forward to Ronnie's experiment.

Lee K

Ronnie Murray

Hey Lee G, that was my original plan also but after closely examining the two kits side by side I changed my mind.  I may end up grafting the Revell wing onto the 21st CT kit because it has a much better fuselage, nose and recessed panel lines.  Who knows, you take the high road and I'll take the low road and we'll see which Frankenstang works the best.

Bill L.

I can't wait to see a "Frankenstang" in pictures!!

Bill L.

lgriffin

Ronnie, I hadn't even thought about sacrificing a 21st Century P-51B to correct the nose of a Revell kit: That's a pretty good idea. Maybe I'll end up getting one and grafting the nose onto my Revell B.

Cheers!

Lee G.

Ronnie Murray

I've compared the 1/32 21st Century toys P-51B with my 1/32 Revell P-51B.  If I had to choose one over the other I would choose the 21st Century Toys version.  The primary correction it needs is to replace the landing gear struts and wheels with plastic or resin parts or aftermarket goodies. A vac canopy would be an improvement but not completely necessary in my opinion.  The leading edge of the wing is a bit thick and blount in comparison to the Revell kit but I believe it's a design issue because of the thickness of the plastic they use.  The Revell kit has has tons of rivets and has always been accused of having a problem with the overall appearance of the nose.  I agree and after comparing them closely it looks like the Revell nose outline is correct but it is to round when looking at it from the front of the spinner.  The Hasegawa and 21st C T kits look more correct and they each have subtle curves in the right places.  Their nose parts have slightly flattened panels across the top and bottom of the engine cowling.  There are some other areas that could use some tweaks like knocking the "Gumby head" off the top of the rudder but as always your mileage and opinions may vary.

DaveS

Is the 21st Century kit "good", or would it require a lot of after market parts?

David S

Ronnie Murray

Scored on the 21st Century P-51B, thanks for the info Lee G.  I got it so I can bash my Revell P-51B and the 21st Century kit to come up with an improved B-stang.  This is my economic answer to the Tamiya ultimate B version that will cost $100+ whenever it's released.

Ronnie Murray

Thanks for the info Lee.  Like the others, I'd never heard of Tuesday Morning and thought it was solely a Durham oddity.  I have a list of the stores near Raleigh and will check them out.  If I can't find what I'm looking for I will remember your offer to assist in the hunt.   

lgriffin

Sorry guys, I'm not visiting the forums as often as I should:

Yes, the name of the store is Tuesday Morning. There are several in the area. I've seen the 21st Century P-51B and the Fw-190 in at least three of the stores.

If you haven't been to a Tuesday Morning, they have a lot of pretty cool stuff. Think of them as sort of an upscale Big Lots store without all of the food and cheap Chinese junk. They get overstocks, etc: Bedding, electronics, kitchen, luggage, books, toys, knick knacks. (We were on the look for a new set of sheets.)

In this area, stores locations are:

- Cary: South Hills Mall
- Cary: MacGregor Village (US 1 and US 64)
- Raleigh: Lake Boone shopping center
- Raleigh: Spring Forest and Atlantic Avenue (21st Century kits spotted at this store along with some Lindbergh kits)
- Raleigh: Wakefield Crossing shopping center (New Falls of Neuse Road) (21st Century kits spotted at this store along with some Lindbergh kits)
- Raleigh: Brennan Station (8111 Creedmoor Road)
- Knightdale: Rogers Lane
- Durham: Westgate Drive (21st Century kits spotted here)
- Chapel Hill: Rams Plaza

For complete Raleigh area store location details, see:

http://www.tuesdaymorning.com/company_info/store_locator.jsp;jsessionid=99F0A7F1C6FEC26699C7AFC7C6EC7226.node2

Ronnie, sorry: I was out this past weekend and I hadn't seen your post. If you can't make it to one of the stores, re-post here and let me know, and I will get you a Mustang on my next outing.

Regards to all,

Lee G.

Ronnie Murray

Okay, wierd name for a store but either way, if anybody on this thread gets up there and finds one of those P-51b's with those markings I'd like to have one and I'll pay you back....thanks.

DaveS

I think there is a Tuesday Morning?  At Cary's at South Hills mall, next to Northern Tool. 

David S

Lee_K