The best 1:18 Mustang

[MightyMustang]

tpa05

Perhaps you should buy the BBI Mustang for your son. It will most likely be the slightly more durable of the 2 you could buy. And the gunlocker Mustang for yourself when it does come out next year. To me this seems to be a good scenario since the BBI one may not break as fast...and once you have the gunlocker Mustang your son may prefer his BBI version so he may not touch the gunlocker one.

*I am not implying that the XD Mustangs are fragile...BBI and XD are VERY durable toys...BBI is just slightly more durable*

My reasoning is that since in essence you will have bought 2 mustangs...your son may only feel the need to play with one. Maybe he would be bored with 2? So thats why you can keep the gunlocker one for yourself.

And man...your kid is lucky! I used to practice hard carrier landings all the time with my gijoe planes when I was a child. Fun! Till the neighbor broke them. grrr!! Toy planes RULE! Especially these realistic 1/18 ones....seriously a habit I would never break!

BTW boys, what exactly is this dihedral you guys keep talking about on the XD stang's? I keep hearing good reviews about the XD and one of the main reasons is the dihedral. Is it spoilers and slats? I'm confused!

And does the XD stang have any PVC soft parts to it? Just wondering. Also does the landing gear spring lock/load? I am asking since it came out after the F-104

Hey Shin,

First the new tool Mustang does not have any pvc parts that I know of. The only soft part on mine is the radio mast behind the cockpit hood.

Second, no the landing gear does not have the spring feature but it does lock into place.

[Flytiger]

RE: Dihedral & P-51's.

On the later-version 21C P-51's the dihedral is within ~2mm of actual scale.

One other notable difference between 21C and BBI is the landing gear doors on the later 21C models are much more realistic, including proper interior shaping and color.

[Yoxford]

Flytiger,

What is the actual dihedral angle of the P-51 wing?

[MightyMustang]

I wanna know that as well.

[Yoxford]

Side shot showing the new antenna mast and pitot tube assy , gun detail, antenna wire/spring, intake brace, rearview mirror, and re-positioned drop tanks.

[digger]

Excellent work. Almost a whole new model.

[Flytiger]

Working from Rickyu Watanabe's highly-detailed drawings in 1/40 scale, the front-on view distance from the bottom of the wheels (ground) to the centerline of the wing leading edge tip is 46mm.

Translating to full scale is 1.840m, which results in a 1/18 scale distance of 102.222mm.

Setting the "Ridge Runner" 21C model into straight-and-level by propping up the tail, and measuring from the wing centerline at the tip to the surface it's resting on, the port wing is at 103mm and the starboard wing is at 105mm.

Close examination of the wings on both the 21C and BBI recent models reveals considerable distortions and warping off the centerline, so there are probably significant variations even in the same production runs. If you take a straight edge against the surfaces, you'll see what I mean.

Given all of that, though, the dihedral on both versions is pretty close to the real thing.

FYI - a flying 1:12 scale P-51 is optimized at 10 degrees.

[MightyMustang]

Lets put it in simple terms guys and that is that we are lucky to have both companies turning out nice Mustangs. Me being a loyal Mustang fan I'll take what I can get BUT after seeing the new tool 21st Mustang up close and personal I just fell in love with it. But again we are lucky to have both companies producing the Mighty Mustang and you buy whatever version you like. Its your money.

[pokeyjtc]

Just thought I would chime in here. While I own both of the Mustangs in question, I am partial to the BBI 'Stang, my favorite being my Cripes A Mighty. Something about the bent prop on my Ridge Runner still just aggravates me. That and the fact that my landing gear doors won't stay closed.

[Yoxford]

One final shot, flying through the back yard

http://img207.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tmp1779rf1.jpg