The wonderful folks at Minicraft Models deserve tremendous thanks for providing this review kit. I appreciate their work to bring new and unusual subjects to the scale modeling community. The IPMS/USA Reviewer Corps also deserves thanks for giving me the kit to review. I am only one member of a large staff in the Reviewer Corps, and I appreciate all the tireless team and individual work that goes into getting the material out to be reviewed and the finished write-ups published.

The Martin PBM-5A Mariner was a gull wing, twin-engine flying boat operated primarily by the U. S. Navy during WWII. The Mariner operated alongside its better known sister flying boat, the PBY Catalina. The PBM-5A was a tricycle amphibian, with prominent nose, dorsal and tail gun turrets, fixed wing floats, and twin tails. The Mariner had bomb bays nestled in the engine nacelles on the high wing and a distinctive dorsal radome just aft of the cockpit.

The name Macchi is often associated with flying boats and one of the reasons for that is the subject of Windsock Datafile No.162. The Macchi M.7 was one of the most successful biplane flying boat designs to come out of WWI and it enjoyed a phenomenally lengthy and active career from its introduction in 1918 well into the mid-1930s. Serving with other nations in the post-WWI years, examples of this speedy flying boat were also entered into Schneider Trophy races. Noted Italian aero historian and researcher Gregory Alegi presents the full story of this classic Italian Flying boat in this final Datafile for 2013.

Again, thanks very much to Ross at SAC for doing the hard work for us on this gear. We at IPMS USA sincerely appreciate your contributions for review!

This is a simple drop fit for the Heller 707 or E-3 models. If you want to build the AMT/Heller/Italeri KC-135A/R with SAC gear, they provide that as item 72001. The packaging says 72072 can be used on a KC 135 as well. I did not hold them up to each other, but I’m certain they could be used for either kit. You’ll have to modify the nose gear for the KC-135, as that gear is different than the E-3 or 707; and the actuator arm for the KC-135 is longer on those kits.

Historical note once again: The KC-135 came first, not the 707. The KC is based on the “Dash 80” airframe, and is different than on the 707 or E-3, which is a larger, more robust airframe with a totally different wing and fuselage. An error made by many, including famous authors. Those of us who have worked on both know the difference.

The Aircraft

Perhaps the best four-engined bomber of WWII, the Avro Lancaster has earned its place in history as well as in the hearts of the English people. It was instantly recognized that this was no normal aircraft and the time between design, prototype and production was minimized. However, the Lancaster was competing with the Spitfire and Mosquito for the Rolls Royce Merlin engines it needed and it was feared that a shortage might develop. Instead of shifting Merlin production to the Lancaster, it was decided to develop another version of the aircraft, the Mark II of this kit, using Bristol Hercules radial engines instead. The adaptation was easily made, but performance slipped. The Mk II climbed faster and the radial Hercules engines could absorb more punishment and still run, but the over all ceiling of the aircraft was reduced and the Hercules consumed more fuel, so range and/or bomb load fell as well.

The AN-2 “"Annushka" (NATO designation “Colt”) bi-plane is brutish, rugged airplane – a throwback from a very earlier age. Central to this appearance is the large Shvetsov Ash-62 9 cylinder radial engine (a development from the Wright R-1820 Cyclone) at the end of a short nose.. Overall, Hobby Boss captures the lines of the “Colt”, except the Shvetsov ASh-62 engine, which as molded looks like an anemic Clerget from WWI. Even with the close cowl and the large four bladed prop the engine does not look right. Thankfully Quickboost now offers a replacement engine.