Hasegawa released the first modern engraved detail kit of the Lancaster in 2005. This is a nice kit, and is typical of the brand with clean crisp moulding, and fine surface detail. However, it suffers from indifferent engine radiators and incorrect escape hatch and oversized tail wheel, and fit of the engine nacelles is not as good as it might be. Interior detail is basic, and the number of panel lines excessive, as every rivet line is represented by an engraved line, as opposed to sheet of metal forming a panel. This makes the wing surfaces look like a patchwork quilt. True to form, Hasegawa has released numerous boxings, including Tallboy and Grand Slam boxings, a life-boat carrier, and a dambuster variant. The IWM photo of 2 of them together with a standard B1 in standard bomber command colours clearly shows the upper surface colours to be the same, and not the Light Earth/Light Green combination observed by C Rupert Moore. The main wheel wells are very nicely detailed, and come close to rivalling a CMK resin set I used to dress up some Hasegawa Lancaster wings on my CMR York conversion. The open wing rib truss arrangement either side deep in the well will benefit from being blanked off with reddish-brown card to represent the fuel tanks, rather than being able to look through framework to see wing skins. The undercarriage is captured well, and the main wheels have the widely-used in wartime smooth tread tyres. I may as well mention the tail-wheel here. It is a two-piece wheel and tyre to enable the anti-shimmy dual ridge to be moulded, and this fits to a separate and nicely done tail leg and fork.

The operational schemes of the Grand Slam carriers has been discussed from time to time, sometimes heatedly. All too often latter day experts of the self-designated kind are most vociferous in their attempts to impose their alternate facts. Rupert Moore was an experienced and careful observer who took notes. I know whose opinions I trust. The Airfix brand offers a wide selection of models in diverse themes. The collection contains simple models and kits rich in qualified details. The range is aimed at both modeling enthusiasts and professional modellers. Here are some of them: There is the Frog kit, now something of a rarity. The turrets are quite bad, but it does include a Talboy bomb, the only Lancaster kit to do so except for a limited edition of the Hasegawa kit (I think it’s called “Titpitz Raid” or something similar).Nothing serious - No parts map and minor errors and omissions in instructions; fuselage side windows too small and no chamfer on elevator outer edge (both easily fixed); exaggerated fabric effect on ailerons and decaled rather than 3-D instrument panels. If you choose Hasegawa you have a lot more to spend, especially if you dress up the interior detail or replace the radiators. The finesse of the undercarriage legs is extraordinary – probably amongst the best I have seen in this small scale. No flash, just fine, accurate crisp moulding – impressive. Also a nice set of slightly bulged tyres is supplied and when painted and weathered these will add to the final authentic look of your model. Fuselage

Airfix beats Revell on accuracy and shape quite significantly in some areas (engines, wing dihedral, mid-upper turret fairing, and main-wheels), equals it on internal detail, and falls behind on panel line finesse. There is variation in the shape of engine nacelles, with Airfix and Hasegawa being closer to each other and Revell with their own interpretation. In fact I wonder if Revell was just practicing for the horrible Merlin engines on their Halifax kit when tooling their Lancaster, as their Lancaster too has over-sized and misshapen radiator mouths (but nowhere near as gross as the Halifax’s!). Pleasingly, the wing panel lines are based on panel skins and not rivet lines, so the wings do not share the patchwork quilt appearance of its Japanese and German competitors. This advantage balances out some of the downside to having deeper and wider surface detail compared to the Hasegawa and Revel kits. I did notice that the panel lines on the wings look wider at first glance than they actually are. This is because the plastic surface has a minutely pebbled finish*, other than a very narrow smooth surface finish either side of the recessed panel lines. These smooth strips either side of the panel line stand out against the pebbled surface making the unpainted line appear wider. Option A: Avro Lancaster B.I(F.E), Tiger Force, No.35 Squadron, Royal Air Force Graveley, Cambridgeshire, England, 1945 Venue of England, Airfix specializes in the manufacture of plastic models available in several themes. All you can know about the manufacturer Airfix Who is the manufacturer Airfix?You do get a pilot if you want to add him – but he looks a bit retro to me and out of keeping with the rest of the kit. Undercarriage

From @EwenS post above it would appear that the undersurface coulour should be Sky, and from the photo's it would appear likely that the PB series specials were delivered in standard bomber command scheme, and the PD series were delivered in the day camouflage scheme. In six or so decades of plastic modelling the Lancaster has not been as well catered for as it historic importance would suggest it should have been, even in the One True Scale of 1/72nd. Airfix’s first effort dates from 1958, followed by Revell in 1964. Both have serious accuracy and outline issues, and they are a best considered as collectables now. Revell was unusual in that it offered a Dambuster boxing as well. Frog was next in 1976 with a Tallboy carrying variant with bulged bomb-bay doors. It was generally fairly accurate, but failed to capture the engine cowling outlines correctly. It did however have perhaps the finest and most restrained surface detail of the 20th century Lancaster kits. Matchbox issued their kit in 1977, and despite being optimised for the younger modeller was generally well thought of, and was more accurate than the Frog kit. All of these pre-1980 releases were typical products of their time with the usual characteristics of their brands. Revell were not far behind Hasegawa with a well priced modern kit featuring quite a bit more detail. Unfortunately, as with their later Halifax kit, Revell was asleep at the wheel during some stages of the kit’s development. Most notably they forgot to crank in enough wing dihedral, and churned out some very bland and oversized main wheels. Fortunately both problems are easy enough to fix. Like Hasegawa, Revell got carried away with fine engraved panel lines, again especially on the wings. Revell too have offered a dambuster version of the kit. Fortunately, Revell’s price is such that these wing and wheel issues can be fixed whilst still have some change left over compared to the Hasegawa alternative.

Once again the panel line detail is not bad. Airfix are certainly listening to modellers and showing great willingness to raise their standards to that of the best and they are certainly getting closer with this kit. The rudders and flaps are positionable to help you create more interesting options if you wish. The internal detail in the flaps is worthy of note and will look great if weathered. On the market for 80 years now, the Airfix brand has been one of the leaders in modeling in Great Britain. It is none other than the oldest manufacturer of plastic model kits. The British company was founded in 1939 by Nicholas Kove,a Hungarian businessman. In the early days, Airfix only manufactured inflatable rubber toys. In considering how best to approach this review I realised that there are probably three main areas of interest for Hyperscalers where this kit is concerned. Primarily, how does it measure up as a Lancaster per se, rather than specifically as a dambuster, and therefore how does it compare with its competitors. Then what other versions do the kit contents suggest will follow (although some have been announced already), and perhaps finally, how well does it cater for the dambuster version. What was the underside colour? Sky as in the book or medium sea grey as on the artwork or something else as noted in the other thread