TMN: Review: Eduard's 1/32nd-scale P-51B Mustang Royal Hybrid

The second part of Gary's insightful review of Eduard's P-51B in 32nd scale. See the resin & plastic parts and how they go together in a hands-on build sequence. Check it out in Pt. II of his review...

Review: Eduard's new P-51B Mustang Royal Hybrid in 1/32nd scale - Pt. 1

P-51B Mustang Royal Hybrid

From Eduard

1/32nd scale

Kit #93201

Reviewed: Aug 2026

New-tooled kit

Eight marking choices

Photo-etch included

Maks included

3D-printed parts are also included.

Canopy masks included

Price: $165 US

Product Link on the Eduard Website

Pt. I of this review is right here :-)

Review: Eduard's 1/32nd-scale P-51B Mustang Royal Hybrid - Pt. 2 - "Hand's-on" build.

The first thing to say about Eduard's new Hybrid kits is that modellers will need to get comfortable working with 3D-printed resin parts. In practical terms, that means using the right tools and glues (CA) for the job. While you don't technically need a specialist tool like an ultrasonic knife to separate the delicate printing supports, trust me when I say investing in one will make your life — and your sanity — considerably better. When it comes to painting, nothing changes: your preferred model paints will work just fine. I'm personally inclined to go over most resin parts (printed or cast) with a good quality primer first, as I've had experience of paint not adhering well otherwise.

Having set the stage, I can confirm that Eduard's 3D-printed parts in this kit are well supported, with no obvious printing defects, and the UV resin used has a small amount of flex to it (not too brittle) — meaning parts can bend slightly before breaking, which is a real help when it comes to cutting away the multitude of supports cleanly.

Main wheel wells with 3D printing supports

The way the parts are arranged on the raft - the printed base they're grown from — is also designed with the modeller in mind, making it easier to carefully remove each part from its support structure without too much interference from its neighbour.

Cockpit floor tub with 3D printing supports

Included exclusively in the Royal Class boxing is a 3D-printed pilot figure, moulded fully seated in a relaxed pose with legs stretched out — clearly intended to sit in the cockpit as though the pilot is between missions, waiting on standby. The level of sculpted detail is excellent, capturing the flying helmet with goggles pushed up, an oxygen mask hanging loose at the chin, a Mae West life vest and harness over a leather flight jacket, and the characteristic bunching and creases of the flight suit fabric. As with the other 3D-printed parts in the kit, it's grown on a raft with a dense forest of support struts that will need careful removal before the figure can be cleaned up and painted — a nice bonus for anyone who likes adding a human touch to their finished model, though those building with the canopy closed may find it largely wasted effort.

The bonus seated pilot, top view

From the left-hand side...

Standing apart from the rest of the kit's 3D-printed resin components, the wheel set is traditionally cast resin, from Eduard's well-established Brassin range. It comprises two main wheels and a smaller tailwheel. Detail is excellent throughout, with sharp, finely moulded diamond tread patterns on the main wheels — complete with legible "Goodyear" sidewall branding — and delicately spoked hubs that show genuine depth and undercut detail difficult to achieve with 3D printing at this scale. Missing from most of the initial batch of the Royal Hybrid boxing (including mine) are the wheel hubs, which Eduard will replace if you contact them via the website.

The 3D-printed cast resin wheel set

P-51B 42-106950, coded WR-P, of the 354th Fighter Squadron, 355th Fighter Group, banking over the English countryside

To accommodate the two very different canopy mechanisms on offer — birdcage and Malcolm hood — Eduard has modularised the design of the cockpit sidewall sills, with parts provided to cover every configuration, including open and closed options, across all eight marking schemes. The 3D-printed parts representing the various canopy rail and framing pieces are all on the same raft (base), with each one numbered directly on the base itself in very fine print — so look closely before cutting anything free.

The cockpit side wall sill assembly instructions for birdcage and malcolm hood options

The cockpit sill parts with options for open/closed birdcage and malcolm hood canopies

Two different cockpit coamings are provided to account for changes in gunsight fit and general layout. Curiously, Eduard has also included these coamings in plastic (parts E16 and E18), and I'm not entirely sure why. The only other parts duplicated in both resin and plastic are the main landing gear struts, which I'd assume comes down to concerns over the long-term strength of resin-only parts under load.

The cockpit coaming assembly instructions

The exhaust stubs - showing both open and shrouded options

The instrument panel coaming/shroud parts

The P-51B/C used seats from different subcontractors during its production run — most airframes here got the Warren McArthur SK-2016, while the aircraft used for marking option F (Jack Bradley's "Margie Maru") carried the Schick-Johnson S-9153074 instead. Both served the same function, but subtle differences in shape and construction meant kit manufacturers like Eduard need to model them separately for accuracy on specific aircraft. In keeping with Eduard's focus on shifting as much of its new kit development to 3D printing, they've included a full set of seat belts printed in resin. These are easily the most delicate parts in the kit to remove from their supports, and extra care is needed to keep them in one piece.

Seat assembly instructions

Seat optional parts

Seat harness parts

Once assembled with the 3D-printed belts, the seat looks extremely convincing, and at this 1/32 scale it's completely usable straight out of the box — right down to the diamond-quilted cushion detail and the fine buckle hardware on the harness. If you were really fussy, you could swap out the 3D-printed harness for an HGW cloth/PE set, but looking at the level of moulded detail here, I'm not convinced it would buy you much for the extra time and expense involved.

The assembled Warren McArthur SK-2016 seat with 3D-printed harness

P-51B Warren McArthur SK-2016 seat with cushions

To accommodate the variety of shrouded and open exhaust configurations depicted across the marking options, Eduard has provided both parts in the kit. Be sure to visually check your chosen scheme (on page 16) to confirm which exhaust style is needed. FYI:- P-51 Mustang exhaust shrouds were metal stampings fitted around the base of the ejector exhaust stacks to smooth airflow and reduce drag, standard on most WWII-era Mustangs though far from universal. Prone to cracking under heat and vibration, damaged shrouds were often removed rather than replaced, a pattern that grew more common on aircraft with long service lives, including postwar operators.

P-51 mustang shrouded and open exhaust stacks

The kit's shrouded and un-shrouded exhausts

After spending a few hours cleaning up all the 3D-printed parts, it was time to do some dry fitting. Historically, the fusion of plastic and resin parts hasn't always been as smooth or easy as we modellers might like — inevitably, some thinning and adjusting of the plastic (and resin) parts is needed to get things to fit and align acceptably. So I was a little uncertain how this new approach from Eduard would work, if at all. I needn't have worried, though, because Eduard was way ahead of me and has made the integration between the different materials almost enjoyable. The alignment and locking pins on the resin cockpit floor and the plastic fuselage fuel cell are a click fit — no trimming or fiddling needed.

Eduard's resin cockpit tub and plastic fuel cell mated up...

When viewed from below, you can clearly see how the two parts interlock — the resin cockpit floor's locating tabs and pins engage neatly into the corresponding sockets moulded into the plastic fuel cell, leaving no visible gaps or awkward overlaps. Small details like the alignment holes and mating lugs are all precisely positioned, and this level of engineered fit helps make the build feel far more familiar and comfortable than earlier attempts at combining resin and plastic, where trial-and-error trimming was often the norm.

Eduard's resin cockpit tub and plastic fuel cell mated, underside

More complex parts, like the cockpit sidewalls, are also designed to interlock with the plastic fuselage. The plastic features raised guide rails that fit neatly into matching recesses moulded into the printed resin part, with Eduard's design ensuring alignment both vertically and horizontally. I only needed a small amount of cleanup on the resin to achieve a flush fit.

The cockpit sidewalls with alignment rails and pins

The kit's cockpit sidewall is attached to the plastic fuselage interior

In what felt like almost no time at all, I had a 95% finished cockpit interior. Parts count is dramatically reduced, since Eduard's 3D designers have effectively done most of the assembly work for us — the sidewall, seat frame, radio and electrical boxes, throttle quadrant, and even the wiring and plumbing are all captured as part of a handful of integrated resin pieces rather than dozens of fiddly components. The one thing that does occur to me with this new style of kit is that I'll need to sharpen up my hand-painting skills, because you can't simply paint the individual parts and then assemble as before — with so much detail moulded as single units, you're forced to paint largely in-situ, which is a new challenge for many of us used to the old sub-assembly approach.

A dry-fit of main cockpit parts

North American P-51B Mustang “Shoo Shoo Baby” assigned to the 357th Fighter Group.

This Royal Class kit comes with both the birdcage and Malcolm hood clear parts. For my first build, I've chosen a birdcage aircraft, so I cleaned up the relevant open canopy parts and did a dry test fit. As you can see, everything fits snugly, with the windscreen, hinged canopy, and rear-section glazing all taped in place here to check alignment. I particularly like the way Eduard has engineered the windscreen, with its mating joints falling along natural panel lines — a leaf taken straight out of Tamiya's playbook and a detail that should make cleanup easier without the fear of damaging the adjacent clear panels.

The assembled fuselage with clear parts dry-fitted with tape, front.

Assembled fuselage with clear parts dry fitted with tape, rear.

To better highlight the subtle recessed rivet and panel line detail on the fuselage surface, I've applied a light wash of Tamiya Black Panel Liner. As you can see, the rivets are very fine and should read as genuinely realistic once the model is finished. Eduard are, in my opinion, the masters of 1/48 recessed surface detail, and it's great to see that expertise has carried over faithfully to their efforts in 1/32 scale.

The rear fuselage, with highlighted rivet detail

The same for the front fuselage, highlighted rivet detail

Another reason I've made a habit of applying a dark wash to bare plastic is that it clearly identifies areas of the surface where the recessed detail is shallow or vague. As can be seen from this photo of the port engine cowling, the rivet and DZUS fastener detail becomes very poorly formed as it approaches the edge — a common injection-moulding limitation, since plastic doesn't flow as evenly into fine recessed details on sharply curved, compound-curve surfaces as it does on flatter areas. It's an all-too-familiar issue with injection-moulded parts, and manufacturers vary in how well they compensate for it at the CAD design stage — but it seems not even Eduard has found a complete solution, with the effect still visible here despite their otherwise excellent surface detail. The most effective way I have found to address this issue — unless it doesn't bother you — is to carefully deepen each of the shallow rivets using a sharp-tipped tool, such as a pin-vice fitted with a sewing needle. It's time-consuming, but if, like me, you enjoy applying washes at the end to bring out all that lovely detail, it's well worth the effort.

The port engine cowling, showing poorly formed rivet detail

To best show how well the 3D-printed resin parts fit to the plastic, this photo of the cockpit floor viewed from below is useful. At this point I had already glued the sidewalls in place, and the main cockpit tub was held in position using nothing more than the small locating pins and friction — no glue needed yet to keep everything sitting square and true. You can see the resin floor pan seated neatly within the plastic fuselage halves, with the locating holes and mating edges lining up cleanly along the join, leaving no obvious gaps or steps between the two materials despite the different manufacturing processes involved.

The cockpit underside view showing the fit of resin parts

The kit tail is an all-plastic sub-assembly, with all the control surfaces — elevators and rudder - provided as separate parts. Unfortunately, the built-in locating tabs on the controls only allow them to be posed straight and neutral. Luckily, it's an easy enough job to remove these internal locking tabs to allow the elevators to droop naturally. The tail-wheel strut and canvas cover are moulded as a single part, and happily Eduard has designed this to allow installation after final painting. The tail-wheel bay doors, however, are moulded in place, so they'll need to be painted in situ and the model handled carefully to avoid damaging them.

The tail wheel strut and gear doors.

The assembled empennage

On the real Mustang, the engine cowling consists of two halves — left and right — held in place with quick-release DZUS fasteners, and the join between them is very tight. From my dry-fit testing of the Eduard parts, though, there's a noticeable gap between the two cowling halves, which also happens to coincide with the model's main fuselage join. The gap is quite consistent and doesn't appear anywhere else along the fuselage seam, so I have to assume it's intentional on Eduard's part. To my eye, though, the gap is too pronounced, and I'll need to look into the best way to reduce it to better match the real aircraft.

The forward fuselage joint across engine cowlings

The real P-51D's engine cowling.

Easily the most detail-rich components in this kit are the 3D-printed main wheel wells. These are a hyper-accurate representation of the real part, with crisscrossed piping and cabling along with structural elements. When fitting the resin parts into the plastic wing interiors, pay close attention to page 10 of Eduard's instructions and remove the sections of the internal plastic guide rails marked in red. Skip this step, and the resin will sit too far forward, preventing the wing leading edge from closing properly and leaving a gap at the rear of the wheel well as well.

Eduard P-51B Mustang main wheel wells and landing gear struts

The main landing gear struts are printed in a noticeably lighter-coloured resin than the rest of the parts, and if I had to guess, I'd say Eduard has used a stronger resin specifically for these load-bearing components. To that end, they've also included optional landing gear struts in plastic, which modellers can use instead if they're concerned about the long-term durability of the resin parts.

A closeup of the main gear strut with piping...

In keeping with the decision they made back with their new-tooled 1/48 P-51D in 2019, Eduard have stuck to accurately detailing the wings with no rivet detail. This isn't an omission but rather an acknowledgement of the laminar-flow aerofoil design used on the Mustang's wings. To achieve laminar flow, North American needed the wing surface to be as smooth and free of disruption as possible, so although the wings were conventionally riveted and flush-fastened during construction like the rest of the airframe, the surface was then puttied and sanded smooth, effectively hiding the fastener and rivet detail from view. Most kit manufacturers — including Tamiya — have gone the other way, opting to include full rivet detail on the wings, which, while it may look more visually interesting on the finished model, is actually inaccurate.

The upper wing surface, showing panel lines and lack of rivets.

With the major sub-assemblies now mated together and taped in place for a final check, the model is really starting to look the part. The overall shape and proportions look spot-on to my eye, with the distinctive Mustang lines — the long, tapering nose, the low-profile birdcage canopy, and that wonderfully clean, laminar-flow wing — all coming together nicely. The panel line and rivet detail continue to hold up well across the fuselage even at this angle, and the fit between the major components is tight and consistent, with no obvious steps or misalignment visible along any of the joins. It's a good point in the build to stand back and appreciate just how much Eduard has managed to pack into this kit without it ever feeling overly complex to assemble.

The fully assembled unpainted model...

CONCLUSION - Eduard 1:32 P-51B Mustang Royal Hybrid (932011)

Eduard's P-51B Royal Class release is an ambitious, genuinely exciting step forward for the brand and one that largely delivers on its promise. The Hybrid approach — traditional injection-moulded plastic for the big structural parts, 3D printing for the fine, detail-heavy assemblies — works far better in practice than I expected going in, with genuinely impressive engineering behind the fit between the two materials. The cockpit, seat, and wheel wells in particular are a real showcase of what 3D printing can bring to a kit at this scale, and the sheer amount packed into the box — eight well-researched marking options, three decal sheets, resin and plastic optional parts, a photo-etch fret, Omask masks, a bonus pilot figure, and a genuinely excellent 112-page reference book — makes the Royal Class asking price feel justified rather than indulgent. Eduard's continued commitment to accuracy, right down to the correct rivet-free laminar-flow wings and the historically researched detail differences between marking options, shows a level of research few other manufacturers bother with.

It's not entirely without its rough edges, though. The gap along the engine cowling join is more pronounced than I'd like and will need more investigation before I'm satisfied, the shallow rivet detail on tightly curved surfaces like the cowling is an old injection-moulding problem Eduard haven't fully solved, and modellers coming to resin and 3D-printed parts for the first time will need to invest in the right tools and techniques — and be prepared to rethink habits like sub-assembly painting that don't translate cleanly to this new hybrid style of kit.

None of that seriously dents what is, overall, a landmark release.

This is clearly the shape of things to come for Eduard's higher-tier kits, and if this P-51B is anything to go by, that's a very promising direction. For anyone with an interest in the early razorback Mustang, a fondness for the Merlin-engined "B" model's clean lines, or simply an appetite for one of the most detailed 1/32 scale Mustang currently on the market, this kit comes highly recommended — just budget some extra time for 3D cleanup and hand painting :-)

Gary Wickham

The 1/32nd-scale P-51B Mustang is available from Eduard's webstore.

You can see more of Gary's amazing model-making on his website Scalespot.com