Tamiya 300061112 – 1: 48 Scale Avro Lancester B Mk I/III Model Aeroplane

Product Information

The kit has the same beautifully-petite surface detail one expects in an H-K Models kit. The three gun turrets are models in their own right. Full Merlin XX engines are provided, which will provide a good basis for any modeler wishing to construct a diorama of a Lancaster undergoing maintenance. However, instead of taking pride of place in a museum due to her record, EE136 was deemed surplus to requirements by the RAF. Following the war, she was used as a training tool at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire but she fell out of favor and in 1954 was set on fire during a routine RAF fire fighting drill at Sutton on Hull station in Yorkshire which closed in 1961. As with the B-17s and B-25s, the wings do not have to be glued in position. They can be slid into position and remain solid, or be removed later if you are storing the model. This is also the case with the horizontal stabilizers, and is a nice touch. While the Lancaster was truly amazing in its ability to carry ever-heavier weapons, it is unfortunate that the result of the expenditure of all this vast collection of men and material did not measure up to what was sacrificed. The men of Bomber Command were truly "the flower of the British Empire," and they fought a harder, more difficult, and more dangerous war than was the experience of their American allies, who lost more men in the strategic bombing campaign than the Marines lost in all Pacific battles from Guadalcanal to Okinawa. The crews were fully the equal of their mount and the two together might have been a decisive force in the outcome of the war beyond mere destruction, had Churchill been willing to take the political heat of firing "Bomber" Harris, OC of Bomber Command in January 1944, for gross insubordination and disobedience - a charge that was made against him by his American allies for his refusal to meaningfully participate in Operation Pointblank, the bomber offensive against the Luftwaffe and the German aircraft industry that had been determined at the Casablanca Conference in February 1943. Tamiya released limited edition versions of the Lancaster in 2009 that included electric motors to spin the propellers, and also canopy and turret parts with pre-painted frames. For these releases, the electric motors are gone but Tamiya has supplied both the painted and unpainted versions of the clear parts in each kit – a nice touch.

Kit has 4 kinds of markings including the one with pinup girl nose art. It sets off the large fuselage of the Lancaster. This time around, the kits include both paddle and needle blade propeller assemblies, and the two styles of clear nose dome.Hih quality moulding; lots of useful options; good level of detail; includes several newly tooled sprues; five crew figures included.

I returned to modelling around 1987 or 1988, a few years after I was married. The closest model shop at the time was actually inside a department store – Grace Bros at Roselands for any Sydney locals who might recall the place. This was a cosy plastic haven with rare imported kits and books, aftermarket decals and resin accessories - very unusual in an otherwise typically homogenised chain retail emporium. I finally turned to the fuselage. There is a full interior provided, which I assembled, only to find when the fuselage was closed up that one can really only see the pilot's position and the edge of the navigator's table behind him. If I was to do this again, I would save time and not deal with all the never-to-be-seen-again detail. The kit provides a full bomb load of six 1,000-lb bombs and a 4,000-lb “cookie” in a nicely-detailed bomb bay, but I opted to close the bomb bay doors and preserve the aircraft's lines. A number of other sprues moulded in 2009 provide new nacelle fronts with recessed panel detail and unshrouded exhausts, bulged and flattened main wheels with smooth tyres, and parts for the late rear turret with two .50 cal machine guns.

Read n' Reviewed: Panzer Tracts No.4-3 Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H & J from Panzerwrecks Publishing

Definitely the best 1/48 Lancaster on the market, this beats the old Tamiya kit 50 ways from Sunday - and unlike the B-17 kit, it is competitive with the older kit cost-wise nowadays. The kit is complex but not complicated and presents no difficulty that an experienced modeler will have any problem with. The end result is very impressive. Highly recommended for all Lancaster fans.

Surface detail comprises fine raised panel lines and rivets representing the overlapping panels of the full-sized beast. Of the 7,000 Lancasters built, there were only 36 that survived more than 100 operations. The average life of a Lancaster was 25 missions. Interestingly, not one of the "ton up" Lancasters ever carried H2S - coincidence? For anyone wanting to learn more of the operational history of the Lancaster and its crews in the war they fought, I cannot recommend too highly Max Hastings' "Bomber Command," one of the best-written and most informative history books it has ever been my pleasure to read and re-read. It is now out of print, but available on-line. The Manchester was robbed of any chance of successfully achieving the design specification when it was saddled with the 24-cylinder X-type Rolls-Royce Vulture as its powerplant. The first prototype, L7246, flew on July 25, 1939. The first Manchester was delivered to 207 Squadron in December, 1940, and made its operational debut with a raid on Brest the night of February 24-25, 1941. The failure of the Manchester was due to the inability of Rolls-Royce to cure the teething problems of the Vulture engine, which proved completely unreliable in service.Masking the canopy and gun turrets took several hours. I suggest when Eduard releases a mask for this that you splurge and buy it. H-K Models first released a Lancaster kit in 1/32 in 2018. This 1/48 kit was released this year, 2021. It is a “scaledown” of the larger kit, in the same way the 1/48 B-17G is a scaledown of their 1/32 B-17G. The kit is not as complex as the larger kit, but it is the most detailed 1/48 Lancaster, with the best production quality. In October 1944, with 93 ops to her credit, EE136 was transferred from 9 Squadron to newly-formed 189 Squadron, where between November 1, 1944, and February 3, 1945, nine out of 34 Lancaster bombers were lost. EE136 flew another 21 missions before being retired as wear-weary; the last raid she carried out before being pensioned off was Karlsruhe, Germany, on February 2, 1945, the worst night of the war for 189 Squadron which lost four Lancasters and crews that night. This is a big impressive model of an iconic aircraft that, with the inclusion of new sprues, stands up very well against the new releases of today. The inclusion of the 2009 sprues and the painted canopy parts is a nice bonus in these Lancaster re-releases. The original parts stand up very well more than three decades after their original release too. In fact, the raised surface textures are arguably more accurate for a 1:48 scale bomber than the petite recessed panel lines that are more common in the 21st Century.