Revell 04300 Lancaster Mk.I/III 1:72 Scale Unbuilt/Unpainted Plastic Model Kit

It was with a bit of trepidation that I ordered this model. Revell and Airfix have a bit of a hit and miss system with models where sometimes you get a really decent model and once in a while utter rubbish. This thankfully is one of the better models. Revell have done a nice job here, the Lancaster is moulded in decent plastic and has a fair amount of surface detail which comes out nicely when painted. Allowing for the scale of this model, you can't expect huge amounts of minute detail but they have done extremely well I think and this is no insult to the crews that flew this incredible aircraft. As a representation of the Dam Busters bomber I feel that Revell have managed to capture the spirit of the aircraft and provide enough detail that it's a satisfying build and looks nice when finished. There are quite a few small parts for this, and a some care will need to be taken painting this model. You will get a better finish on the camouflage with an airbrush if you have one, but careful brush painting will not disappoint. The turrets rotate, the guns elevate - the bomb does not spin though. If you decide to have this with gear down, you might want to consider filing the wheels flat in one area to indicate weight from the plane, but that's your choice. The hardest part to paint is going to be the main cockpit area as that has a fairly complex gridwork of metal to pick out, so if you don't have a steady hand; either gradually paint it using thin masking tape or employ one of the many other masking products that are available to make your life easier. The internal detail is minimal, but that's no surprising on a model of this scale, but there is some effort made with the seats and control panel. You will need to look at a larger scale or one of the vastly more expensive Japanese models if you want higher detail levels. At the end of the day, this is a good model for the price, it looks extremely nice if you take care assembling and painting it and it's worth the effort to make. It is quite a large aircraft, even at this scale, so you will need space to display it, or, have it wheels up and hang from the ceiling as a flight model. Either way it's going to look good.

Cheap is a word I love to hear, but it is sadly becoming the fashion not to attach it to new model kits, that is why I am really quite chuffed with this Revell 1:72 Lancaster. I have the older BIII Airfix and the new Airfix BII so here is my verdict on this one. This is way better than the old work horse Airfix BIII but I think the new Airfix BII beats it in quality. This Revell kit is nearly £4 - £8 cheaper than the new Airfix BII and I have seen the older BIII sell second hand for between £9 - £13 so a little more gets you a great kit and a little less gets you a kit nearly as good, so this Revell offering is great middle of the road buy. Just received it today and couldn't wait to get it out of the box and have a look. Disappointed I was not as the surface detail is excellent and the parts all look to be well turned out. You get some interior detail on the cockpit and rear of the cockpit but not anything massively special like you would find inside a Trumpeter, Tamiya or Eduard kit so the Photo etched colour interior set mentioned already will be a must for this one, and I have just found and bought one as I type this. I have the idea of leaving the canopy unglued so as to reveal the inner detail. If there are any after market white metal landing gear sets out there, or any made for other Lancaster's, they would not go amiss as from seeing the mouldings they look very flimsy and I can believe they would bend under the weight of the kit. The decals sheet provides two sets of markings and all the other sub markings for her, and I love the two huge roundels. The instructions do look odd, in that there are multiple ways of doing constructing parts called out, but no reference as to which marque the choices reflect? There is one place I saw a marque difference called out and that was in the choices for the canopies sliding window sections. There is a lovely bomb bay set up and ordnance is provided in the form of whole cast bombs, no "moulded in two halves and glue together to leave a seam line" routine that seems to be so time consuming with filing and sanding that I usually avoid dealing with them, cast in one piece is so much better. The clear parts are nicely done if the frame work of the canopy seems a little thin so that will be a challenge to get right. A small amount of flash was present also on a few of the clear parts but this will be cleaned up in due course and is not a huge problem. The box is the usual side opener that is still not as good as the flip front or the top opener, and is a little flimsy so no stacking this one. Overall, I'm happy with this grand old lady of the skies, good detail, good looking aircraft. I will build the old Airfix 1:72 BIII firs I think for practice, then move onto this one.

beautifully crafted model of a lancaster bomber. this is a level 5 large model so attention detail is very high and not for the beginner model maker. the kit contains decals which is a nice touch, but does not come with any paints or glue. not an issue for me as already have an acrylic paint set but these can be purchased separately quite cheaply. fantastic value for money.

Bought as a gift. They loved it.

Grandson loved it

This is a really good kit, particularly given the relatively low price. The level of detailing is superb, particularly the interior. As you can see, I made this as a cutaway model in order to display the detail in full. Excuse the rough edges, it was my first attempt at a cutaway! The decals included are fantastic, with stenciling and walkways as well as roundels, squadron markings etc. If I have one criticism it is the guns - they are lacking in detail and are very flimsy and easy to break off. Overall though, I am very pleased with this model, especially as it's the first time in about 25 years that I have built something of this complexity.

Great quality item. Well moulded parts that go together quite well worth the money.

Revell kits are usually excellent, however, this fell well short of the mark. On the wing tips, one side was bent up, the other side was missing, i found it in the bag and glued it back on. One reviewer mentioned that the pieces do not fit together correctly, he is right. There are large 'blobs' of surplus plastic on most sprues, annoyingly on the two seats that have pins on them to locate into a board. !5 minutes with a scalpel is not my idea of fun scraping away. I am sure it will look lovely when I have corrected all there mistakes, and they say a 12 year old could build this, really?

It is an old kit low on detail but ok on fit, but was actually missing a sprue with the bouncing bomb, which meant I couldn’t complete it. Spend the extra and buy the Airfix kit, far superior in all aspects.

Boyfriend loved it, great model with lots of detail but I do recommend the purchase of paint beforehand as nothing is included. Overall it was a fun project for him, will buy more from this brand at this skill level. (5)

Tidsfördriv hobby

Ottimo per gli appassionati di modellismo

Es una maqueta facil de armar, sin complicaciones si se es paciente. Si se es detallista se puede conseguir un muy buen resultado por un precio razonable. Ademas tiene un buen tamaño, con detalles a eleccion en el armado de ciertas partes del avion. Recomendable.