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

Product Information

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. 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.

Hih quality moulding; lots of useful options; good level of detail; includes several newly tooled sprues; five crew figures included. 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. Apart from the decals, the main difference between the two kits is the bomb bay. While the B.Mk.I/III includes the standard bomb bay with conventional and Cookie bombs, the Dambusters boxing provides two sprues - one with the Grand Slam bomb and bay, and the second with the Dambuster parts.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.

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. 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. 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.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.

This time around, Tamiya has moulded the B. Mk.I/III and Grand Slam Lancaster kits in their customary medium grey coloured plastic. I am sure that the quality of the plastic is the same as it ever was, but the parts look even better in grey. 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. As with all modern CAD-kits, one must take care to clean off all the sprue nibs from every part because fit is very precise. If you fail to do this, problems will cascade throughout the project like a snowball rolling downhill. The flaps are fully detailed and can be assembled either up or down without problem - a nice touch since many kits with “positionable” flaps are really only “positionable” in the down position. I decided to do these down, just because I'd never had a Lancaster kit with that option. Interior detail is adequate, but little will be seen though the canopy and turrets in any case. Even so, the kit’s interior elements will form a nice basis for a super detailing project using either scratch built parts or aftermarket accessories, notably Eduard’s comprehensive suite of photo-etched frets.What a neat build and article. The Lancaster really was the brain child of people who could make lemon aide from a lemon. The Manchester had some good designs like the fuselage and the Brits realized that by adding those extra Merlin's and by manufacturing the fuselage in sections for ease of maintenance and rebuild they came up with a winner. The Manchester/Lancaster had a bigger bomb bay than the B-24 and B-17 and could carry more bombs. Had the Germans taken their Heinkel He 177 and add two more engines out board of the originals and dropped the complex transmissions used in the original design they too would have had their own Lancaster. But, that idea came too late in the war. This time around, the kits include both paddle and needle blade propeller assemblies, and the two styles of clear nose dome.

Masking the canopy and gun turrets took several hours. I suggest when Eduard releases a mask for this that you splurge and buy it.What a great kit TC, another spring board to fall down a rabbit hole of history and understanding of World War II and the "Greatest Generation."