# Help remembering 1970s P51 kit, retractable gear, drops bombs.



## CessnaDriver (Apr 27, 2005)

I had this plastic kit as a kid, pretty sure it was one of the major manufacturers of the time, had a mechanism and small turning control on the bottom to raise and lower the gear, and I also recall a bomb release as well. Anyone recall the manufacturer and specific kit?


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Yeah its the old Monogram 1/32 F-51D Mustang (postwar name for the P-51). The kit has not been reissued since Monogram's mid 1980s Heritage series run. But, it is essentially the same kit as the just reissued Phantom Mustang.

The Phantom Mustang kit, which pre-dated the silver solid molded model, came in clear, with a good bit of internal structure represented in black, silver and green plastic. The model mounted on a big pylon base that held batteries. You pressed buttons on the base and the propeller spun and wheels raised and lowered. Toggles worked the bombs.

Later on, Monogram reissued the kit without the interior doo dads and big display stand, as a regular kit. Where the old drive shaft entered the fuselage, Monogram added a knob to turn to work the landing gear. The bombs were relased with little toggle levers.

The kit is somewhat rare today. You can get them off eBay for $30-$50. It wasn't a bad kit but for some odd reason, Monogram made the nose, forward of the wing, much too short. It looks really odd. Other than that, (and the very heavy raised rivets) its a rather nice kit for the late 1950s


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## CessnaDriver (Apr 27, 2005)

Thanks! That explains my trouble, I was searching P and not F.
For a kid it was a fun kit to have things work. I never even would have thought the phantom kit as the same.


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

Apparently it has been re-issued by Revell, I saw it about 3 weeks ago in Hobby Lobby.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

The Phantom Mustang is available at Squadron:
http://www.squadron.com/Revell-USA-1-32-Phantom-P-51D-Mustang-p/rm0067.htm


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

The Phantom Mustang, as I mentioned, has been reissued. The solid version with the knob on the bottom has not been issued since around 1984.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Now if only they'd rerelease the Phantom Huey!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

For sure. Apparently Monogram/Revell does not have all of the tooling for that kit. The chopper and SOME of the interior survive (the non Phantom kit is available now from Germany) but the base, motorization parts, etc are missing. If you ever built the static kit you might wonder why you get a full engine yet can not see it because the fuselage access doors are molded closed... that is because the original kit was in clear plastic.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

I blew that Huey up once with a cherry bomb. Filled it with talcum powder and filmed it in slow motion super-8. Very dramatic. :lol:


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## grampi (Nov 23, 2006)

BWolfe said:


> Apparently it has been re-issued by Revell, I saw it about 3 weeks ago in Hobby Lobby.


That's weird. I just bought 2 of the Phantom Mustang kits yesterday and they are both clearly marked "Monogram"...


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## scooke123 (Apr 11, 2008)

grampi said:


> That's weird. I just bought 2 of the Phantom Mustang kits yesterday and they are both clearly marked "Monogram"...


They still use the Monogram logo on some kits.


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## grampi (Nov 23, 2006)

Does Monogram still even exist as an individual company? I know Revelle bought them out several years ago, but I still see kits with the "Monogram" moniker on the boxes...


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

I think it's officially "Revell/Monogram". They probably didn't want to lose the brand recognition.


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## scooke123 (Apr 11, 2008)

Yea I think they use the Monogram logo on some of the classic releases. They also have Renwal and have used that logo as well. I think originally Monogram bought out revel and moved everything from Their Cal. plant to Monogram's in IL. Eventually they were both bought by another company and have been bought and sold a couple times.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Some years ago Monogram absorbed Revell. Revell had gone through a couple of owners like, I think, Hallmark, Binney and Smith, and Ceji. It was decided that the Revell name was better known internationally, as Revell had long standing partners in Japan, England, Germany, Brazil, and Mexico. So, the newly named Revell-Monogram, Inc. used the Revell name on what used to be Monogram tooling, along with the Revell stuff. They did, however, use the Monogram name and logo on some kits and they still do today. In recent years, Revell (as the company is known today) has revived more Monogram kits in Monogram packing, and also started back up the old Renwal kit series, which Revell had bought in the 70s. The current incarnation of Revell is owned by Hobbico Inc, which also now owns Revell Germany and is the parent company for Tower Hobbies.


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