Hasegawa

1/72 Avro Lancaster ASR.III

Kit Number: 945

Reviewed by  Paul Bradley, IPMS# 35554

MSRP: $105 Website: www.dragonmodelsusa.com While the Avro Lancaster needs no introduction, this particular variant probably does. Following the end of the Second World War and the expiration of Lend-Lease, Britain was obliged to return, buy or destroy the war materials given to her by the US. Amongst other things, this meant that the long-range Catalinas and Liberators that had been used by the RAF's Coastal Command for maritime patrol were given up. The only replacement available in large enough numbers were surplus Lancaster bombers, sitting idle on remote airfields awaiting their date with the scrapman. Some 50 of these were converted to the air-sea rescue/maritime patrol role, and initially, many of these were fitted with a lifeboat slung under the bomb bay doors. These served from around 1945 to 1952. This kit is a limited edition re-issue of the standard Hasegawa Lancaster I/III kit reviewed by Bob LaBouy. In addition to the standard parts, there are a set of new tail fins - these incorporate larger rudders, as used on one of the kit options. The raison d'etre of the kit is a lifeboat, moulded in resin, and this has nice exterior detail. The new decal sheet has complete stencilling and markings options for three RAF aircraft: SW377/CJ-B, 203 Sqn, late '40s/early '50s. RF310/RL-A, 279 Sqn, 1945. SW324/C-B, 203 Sqn, 1952. Options 1 and 3 offer the standard Medium Sea Grey over White scheme for the period, while option 2 has the earlier wartime Dark Sea Grey/Dark Slate Grey over Sky scheme. This option also has a Sky-painted lifeboat, while the other two options have Bright Yellow boats. All three options feature the large under-wing serial presentations introduced after the war. Rather than a blow-by-blow account of assembly, which has already been covered in other Hasegawa Lancaster reviews on this website, I shall highlight the special considerations needed to complete this boxing. The first step in building this kit was to eliminate the cabin windows over and aft of the wings; these were not a feature of later Lancasters. Rather than use the fiddly little clear parts provided, then painting them, I elected to back the holes in the fuselage halves with thin plastic card, and then fill the holes with filler, which was sanded smooth once set. The panel lines were restored and a coat of primer added to highlight imperfections, which were then dealt with. Once I had deleted windows that shouldn't be there, it was time to add windows that should be there. In the rear fuselage, there are some extra observation windows on each side. That to starboard is in the crew entry door, the two on the port side are a little further aft that that on to starboard, but longer. I believe that there were bench seats inside for the extra crew members, but haven't been able to confirm that. The location of each window is actually marked inside the fuselage halves - a good idea from Hasegawa that saves guesstimating. It's a simple matter to drill a hole in each corner, then chain-drill between until the excess can be removed. Using flat files, I smoothed and leveled the openings. Hasegawa provide the glazing, and trial fitting should be done to ensure that the openings are the right size. Having bathed the glazing parts in Future, they were allowed to dry overnight before being superglued into the openings. I cleaned up any anomalies with filler then used sanding sticks to create a smooth, even surface. While I was working on the fuselage halves, I noticed that Hasegawa has missed the starboard side intake for the air conditioning unit - they provide the part (G17), but have missed that it was a feature of the ASR.III. This should be glued just above the starboard wing trailing edge - see the accompanying photo. Another feature of the ASR.III missed by Hasegawa is a row of three aerials under the rear fuselage, just behind the radar bulge. I added these with fine wire once assembly was completed. In assembling the fuselage, a blanking plate is provided for the deleted dorsal turret, as well as a set of closed bomb bay doors that should not be cut apart - the lifeboat was attached to the outside of the closed doors with two hooks suspended from strong points within the bomb bay; small clearance holes were cut into the doors. None of this is visible with the boat in place. The wings need little modification, but remember to remove the "boxes" on the leading edges - these were balloon cable cutters and were removed from post-war Lancasters. When fitting the outboard engine pods, be aware that, as molded, these are incorrectly oriented - they should be mounted perpendicular to the ground, rather than to the wing. You'll need to remove a sliver of plastic from the inboard gluing surface then use a little filler to blend the pods into the wings. It should be noted that, especially into the 1950's, many of these aircraft flew without guns in their turrets. The gun slots in the kit's front turret were blanked using white glue which was then painted white with the rest of the turret. For the rear turret, I removed the barrels from the gun mounts and glued that into place. Under the rear turret, some of these aircraft had a box-like camera mount - check your references for your desired airframe. Little difficulty was encountered during construction and with the basic airframe completed the model was given a coat of primer, then some black pre-shading before two good coats of white. A coat of Medium Sea Grey was then sprayed on the appropriate areas, completing the basic camouflage scheme. Hasegawa's decals are renowned for their lack of thinness; however, I was truly surprised by this sheet - the decals are very thin, to the point where they need to be handled with great care as they will curl upon themselves at the slightest provocation. Additionally, the traditional "Hasegawa White" (akin to the "white" you paint your bathroom walls with….) has been replaced by a true white; I about fell out of my chair. All were applied with no silvering using Future. Now to the point of the kit - the lifeboat. This is moulded in cream resin without flaws or pinholes. Also supplied is a pair of odd serrated "keels", presumably to aid the boat's entry to the water from drop height. What little detail that is needed is good, and the fit of the part to the bomb bay is perfect. I would recommend a trial fit and that you use a pencil to mark the front and rear of the boat, before gluing into place, as there are no positive location marks otherwise. Decals are supplied as appropriate, including very small roundels. So is this kit worth the extra money beyond that of the standard kit? I'd have to say yes - this is a unique subject and very specialist, and as far as I am aware, no resin lifeboat of this type has been offered before. If one were, I can't see it retailing for less than the extra $30 that this kit cost. Added to that is the surprisingly good decal sheet, and I think the extras are good value. If you want a Lancaster ASR.III, then I can highly recommend this kit. My sincere thanks to Dragon USA for the review sample.