Hasegawa 1/72
Lancaster B.I/B.III

Background

The Avro Lancaster is possibly one of the most famous bombers of WWII. Designed by Ray Chadwick, it first flew in January 1941. More than seven thousand were produced during the war.

The Lancaster flew 156,000 missions during the war dropping over 608,000 tons of bombs. The Lancaster had a 33 foot long bomb bay and could carry 22,000 lb (9,980 kg) of bombs at a maximum speed of 287 mph (462 km) and a range of 1,660 miles (2,670 km).

Today, there are two Lancasters in flying condition. One is the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight flying in England , and the other one is the Mynarski Lancaster and belongs to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Ontario.

The Kit

The Lancaster was one of the big surprises of the 2005 Atlanta IPMS/USA Nationals. It was first released in the US at the Dragon Expo show.

The kit consists of over parts molded in light gray and clear styrene.

The parts are finely engraved but there is no raised rivet detail to be seen anywhere.

Looking at the sprue layout and the Hasegawa instructions one can see that more variants are planned for release.

The instructions start with the assembly of a reasonably complete cockpit and the nicely detailed turrets.

There is a nice bomb bay which can be displayed in the open position and it contains a load of 18 2,000 lb bombs and a 4,000 lb H.C. Mk.II bomb.

The landing gear is detailed nicely with a proper depth on the main wheel wells and slightly bulged tires.

There are a lot of clear parts in this kit and the modeler can choose to cut plastic and install all the navigation lights that add so much to the appearance of a model.

The kit includes one decal sheet that covers three Lancasters :

• RAF No. 467 Squadron, Summer of 1944
• RAF No. 467 Squadron, May of 1944
• RAF No. 467 Squadron, Summer of 1943

The kit was built and was on display at the Hasegawa booth and the pictures provided here give an idea of how nice the finished product will look in the end.