1/24 Airfix P51D Mustang 

by Tim Groombridge

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This kit kinda has some personal history as it was bought for me as a Christmas present by my folks - I think I was thirteen when it was given to me. I started the kit but only managed to complete the Engine block and mounts before absorbing myself in other pastimes and leaving the kit unfinished, before it was committed to the loft and left to fester under sixteen years of dust.

After having re-established modelling as a hobby - aged 29, I ventured into the loft of my parents house whilst visiting during a summer BBQ. Finding the old kit brought back so many memories - it really was like some kind of time capsule, opening the dusty box released a smell like that from a much loved old book. I took the kit home and set about putting it together as best I could - built around the Merlin engine I modelled at age thirteen. In the early stages of construction, my Father-in-law (also an aviation fan) expressed his appreciation of Mustangs - and so it became a gift project. It now resides at my Father-in-laws house on a secure corner unit in a study.

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Whenever I visit my Father-in-laws place, it's like visiting an old friend that I've known since I was a kid. Nice to think that after all those years untouched, seasons coming and going, my own life taking it's own course all the while - it was eventually completed.

Tim 

Photos and text © by Tim Groombridge