Description

The first A6M5 ...Zero.. was build by the Mitsubishi Jukogyo in 1943. It was developed to combat heavier built & armed Allied fighters that were knocking the earlier ...Zero.. out of the sky during 1943. The Nakajima NK1F Sakae 21 engine gave the plane slightly better performance, and the armament was changed to 2- 20mm and 2- 13.2mm guns. These changes did not make up for the lack of armor, or the lack of self-sealing fuel tanks. However,despite these shortcomings, over 10,450 were built, being used during the entire war because other models of Japanese aircraft continued to have ...teething.. problems.

HobbyBoss manufactures static plastic model kits and the company has became an established and very well-regarded brand after many years of hard work.

HobbyBoss strives to continually improve and to make the best possible products.

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts.

The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission.

The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF).

Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter.

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.

The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which, in its earlier variants, had limited high-altitude performance.

It was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I).

The replacement of the Allison with a Rolls-Royce Merlin resulted in the P-51B/C (Mustang Mk III) model and transformed the Mustang's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, allowing the aircraft to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters.

The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin 66 two-stage two-speed supercharged engine and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2/AN Browning machine guns.

From late 1943, P-51Bs and Cs (supplemented by P-51Ds from mid-1944) were used by the USAAF's Eighth Air Force to escort bombers in raids over Germany, while the RAF's Second Tactical Air Force and the USAAF's Ninth Air Force used the Merlin-powered Mustangs as fighter-bombers, roles in which the Mustang helped ensure Allied air superiority in 1944.

The P-51 was also used by Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean, Italian and Pacific theaters.

During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed to have destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft.

Kit features a metal propeller shaft and markings for two different aircraft: 1) P-51B, flown by 1st Lieutenant Henry Brown, and 2) P-51B flown by Capt.D.Gentile, 336th FS/4th FG.

This finely detailed plastic model kit requires assembly and painting.

Key Specifications

• Scale: 1:72

Full Specifications