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

Product Information

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. 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.

I used the kit decals for the national markings and stencils, and the Xtradecal Sheet X48074 “Ton Up Lancs” to do EE136 as she looked at the end of her career with 9 Squadron in November 1944. Masking the canopy and gun turrets took several hours. I suggest when Eduard releases a mask for this that you splurge and buy it. 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.

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. I decided to go with gluing the horizontal stabilizers in position for strength, while attaching the wings without gluing them. 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. 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.

In-Boxed: 35th scale Jagdpanzer 38(t) Early Production w/Interior from Takom

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. 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.

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. 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." 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.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. Surface detail comprises fine raised panel lines and rivets representing the overlapping panels of the full-sized beast.