1/5 scale balsa kit

Magyverx

New member
Hello all. Built kits half my life. Been out of it for 10 years. I can't seem to find a company that has good balsa kits now. I'm specifically looking for a 1/5 scale P51D Mustang kit. Anyone know of some companies that still make good kits? Thank you in advance my friends.
 

SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
Hello all. Built kits half my life. Been out of it for 10 years. I can't seem to find a company that has good balsa kits now. I'm specifically looking for a 1/5 scale P51D Mustang kit. Anyone know of some companies that still make good kits? Thank you in advance my friends.

I had thought one of the serious balsa guys would chime in. Balsa USA, Mountain Models, and Laine's Planes I know are well regarded.

The Top Flite 1/5 scale P-51 is one I dream about for the future. I'm not exactly sure how "good" it is but it seems fine.
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
At 1/5 scale you are going a bit outside of the typical size for builds here. These are considered "giant scale warbirds" and take an extensive amount of time and money to create. Also note, you posted on Thanksgiving day... most of us here are spending lots of time with family.

Off the top of my head... Jerry Bates has 1/5 plans for the A, B, and C variants. Ziroli also has one as a D model. You can purchase laser cut kits for these at precisioncutkits.com but the sticker shot for just a kit usually scares folks off. For example, the Ziroli kit is $405 + shipping + plans + engine + retracts + servos + on and on and on. This is easily a $1-1.5K project.

Manzano laser has good kits. They feature designs from many folks as well but usually at a smaller scale. Pretty much anything in the .60-.90 size is now usually an ARF or an ebay/swap meet buy.
 

Magyverx

New member
I had thought one of the serious balsa guys would chime in. Balsa USA, Mountain Models, and Laine's Planes I know are well regarded.

The Top Flite 1/5 scale P-51 is one I dream about for the future. I'm not exactly sure how "good" it is but it seems fine.
Thanks for the reply. Balsa USA has the only giant scale P51 Mustang that i have found. The couple complaints on this kit are die cut parts and a few warped pieces..particularly the leading edges . I have been contemplating this purchase for almost a year. All the other companies that made kits like this say it's no longer available... Curse the ARF age. My favorite part is building... Soon i will just have to look for plans and grow my own wood..lol
 

Magyverx

New member
At 1/5 scale you are going a bit outside of the typical size for builds here. These are considered "giant scale warbirds" and take an extensive amount of time and money to create. Also note, you posted on Thanksgiving day... most of us here are spending lots of time with family.

Off the top of my head... Jerry Bates has 1/5 plans for the A, B, and C variants. Ziroli also has one as a D model. You can purchase laser cut kits for these at precisioncutkits.com but the sticker shot for just a kit usually scares folks off. For example, the Ziroli kit is $405 + shipping + plans + engine + retracts + servos + on and on and on. This is easily a $1-1.5K project.

Manzano laser has good kits. They feature designs from many folks as well but usually at a smaller scale. Pretty much anything in the .60-.90 size is now usually an ARF or an ebay/swap meet buy.
Thanks for the reply.. Just searching for another giant scale P51. Yeah i know it costs. My last one almost 10 years ago ran me almost $3000. These days I'm making great money and want to get back into the big planes. Happy holidays my friend.
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
More power to you! I love seeing more elaborate builds on these forums so I look forward to a build log!