Arma Hobby 70067 1/72 P-51 B/C Mustang Arma Hobby

During the air offensive over the Third Reich, the US Army Air Force (USAAF) needed a good and cheap long-range fighter to accompany the bombers at high altitude on their way to the target. The first versions of the P-51/P-51A Mustang with the Allison engine proved to be a fighter and reconnaissance machine operating at low altitude, but the lack of a second gear of the engine compressor did not allow for obtaining satisfactory performance at altitudes above 4,500 m. The P-47 fighters could not fly that far, and the P-38s were not available in sufficient numbers. The solution to this problem was to install in the P-51A airframe the British Rolls-Royce Merlin 66 engine (used in the Spitfire IX/XVI) with a two-stage compressor, already produced in the USA under license at the Packard plants under the designation V-1650. The resulting version, the P-51B Mustang, was capable of flying from England to Berlin and solved the problem of escorting daytime bombing raids over Germany. Mass production of the new version of the Mustang was carried out at North American plants in California under the designation P-51B-NA and in Texas under the designation P-51C-NT. The production aircraft differed in minor details introduced with the development of the design, such as an additional fuel tank behind the pilot’s cockpit or a stabilizing fin in front of the vertical stabilizer. Over two hundred units were rebuilt into the photoreconnaissance version of the F-6C by installing cameras in the fuselage behind the pilot’s cockpit. A total of 3,738 aircraft of versions B and C were produced. As many as 900 of them, under the designation Mustang Mk III, were transferred to the RAF and to the Polish Air Force, RAAF, RCAF and Free French. British modifications included an improved cockpit fairing, the so-called Malcolm Hood (also introduced in the American P-51A and B/C), anti-glare shields behind the exhaust pipes and slats on the dust filter openings. The P-51B/C fighters were armed with 4.5-millimeter (.50 in) machine guns in the wings. They carried 250- and 500-pound bombs on underwing mounts and 75-gallon aluminum and 108-gallon paper fuel tanks. The P-51B/C Mustangs entered service in the European theater of operations in late 1943. They played a key role in breaking the resistance of the German Luftwaffe fighter force in 1944. They also served in the Mediterranean and in the Burma-China theater of operations. In addition to escort duties, the Mustangs performed ground support and V-1 missile countermeasures. From mid-1944 they were gradually replaced by aircraft of the new P-51D/K version.

Produced under license from Boeing. Boeing, P-51 Mustang and the distinctive Boeing logos, product markings and trade dress are trademarks of The Boeing Company.

Includes

• Plastic parts by Arma Hobby
• Canopy and wheels painting mask
• Decals with four colour options

Markings options

• P-51B-5-NA Mustang, 43-6315/AJ-A, „Ding Hao”, pilot: Maj. James H. Howard MH, 356th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, Boxted, UK. April 1944 r.           
• Mustang III, KH516/WC-F, pilot: Kpt. Jerzy Mencel DFC, 309 Squadron Polish Air Forces, shot down Me-262 jet fighter, 9th April 1945.
• P-51C-10-NT Mustang, 43-25045/C3-W, „Snookie”, pilot: Lt. Edward T. Pawlak, 382nd Fighter Squadron, 363rd Fighter Group, France, July1944 r.