Revell A-26B Invader - 1/72nd scale

[Eric B.]

Hi all

Just wondering : now I know about the italeri A-26C (I am using the A for Attack purposedly - boxes might be labelled B-26) that's the new Italeri moulding common with their B-26K (I know the kit)

Now, what about the Revell A-26B : anybody knows for sure wether it is based on the Italeri or old Airfix moulding? No shops around here and I depend on mail orders : no box content check!!

I depend on your information

Regards

Eric B.

[Bullet101]

It'll be the italeri molding, if you really need to know 100% i'll be getting one in a couple of days and i'll let you know then. But i think i can safely say without looking like an arse that i am 100% certain that its the italeri kit.

[David Walker]

Though I've seen nothing definitive, most of what I've read says it is the Italeri molds.

[Chuck1945]

From an earlier posting here regarding the Italeri A-26C we know that the markings options included with that kit are two USAF Korean War vintage and two French AF Indo-China era aircraft.

The box art on the Revell A-26B is also USAF Korean War, I know I am curious whether any WWII options are also included with the Revell kit.

Also when Hannant's showed the Revell A-26B as a new arrival last Friday, there was mention (I think) that it was the 'B' version of the Italeri kit.

[Eric B.]

Thanks guys,

I just received a positive confirmation on a French site by modellers that actually have the Revell A-26B boxing that this is the Italeri molds.

It means I'll have to order one.

Regards

Eric B.

[Robin]

<_< Just been into my LMS and saw that they had both the Italeri and Revell boxings of the A26. From previous posts, I understand that they are both from the same mould, however, has anyone compared the two kits, what decals do you get, both of the kits were showing the 'gun nose'. The only difference I could see was the price, the Italeri was £11.99 and the Revell was £13.99, what justifies the £2.00 difference?.

Robin.

[pingu1]

Hi, Robin,

with Revell AG re-boxings of Italeri kits, you usually get a better decal sheet. Also, it's quite difficult to make an accurate A-26K from the Italeri kit. The interior layout is wrong (though it's OK for their recently re-released A-26C), and the props have rounded tips, when they should be square. Generally, when Revell AG re-box an Italeri kit, they put the price up by about 15 - 20% (sometimes more). This is usually justified by the better decal sheet, as opposed to another mainstream kit manufacturer of fond memory, who used to re-box Italeri kits at a higher price with worse decals...

Cheers,

Chris.

Edited November 16, 2006 by pingu1

[Synthale]

IPMS Deutschland has a review:

http://www.ipmsdeutschland.de/FirstLook/Re...vi_A-B-26B.html

With pictures of all sprues and the decals...

Hope this helps.

Grtz,

Sven

[Robin]

:D Thank you Chris and Sven, unfortunately, I never did get round to learning German, however the sprues do look nice, although, it may be a trick of the light, but the engraved panel lines look as though they have been done by the old Matchbox 'trench digger'. <_< I may have to invest some of my Pension on this. :unsure:

Robin.

[pingu1]

, it may be a trick of the light, but the engraved panel lines look as though they have been done by the old Matchbox 'trench digger'. <_< :unsure:

Robin.

It is a trick of the light, Robin. I hae an Italeri 1/72 A-26C in front of me, and the panel lines are up to current Hasegawa standards. The Revell AG decals are only slightly better (mostly in terms of stencils) than the Italeri ones, ehich are printed by Cartograf.

Cheers,

Chris.

[Steve N]

Looks like the Revell AG kit doesn't give you a glass nose..does the Italeri kit include the gun nose?

SN

[don f]

I have the ROG 1/72 A-26B on my workbench. I can assure you that it is a revised Italeri A-26K Nimrod kit. You get a new Sprue D that has the engine nacelles with the carb inlets at the leading edge, underwing gun pods (4 pods total in the kit), narrow chord props, late style wheels and early style upper and lower gun turrets. Sprue A provides the later style upper turret, turreted and turretless panels for the upper and lower gun positions, details for the upper gun turret visible in the bomb bay and details of the rear gunner's position. Sprue C has the clear parts for the canopy (bubble type, not the early flat canopy), rear gunner's canopy, rear fuselage light and right rear fuselage window.

This post addresses many of the tweaks for the Italeri B-26K:

http://s102164210.onlinehome.us/forums/ind...06&hl=a-26k

Borrowing from this list, here's some of my observations of the A-26B kit:

1. The cockpit is okay for the A-26B. It can stand some improvement. There were three different cockpit layouts used in the A-26, described in the manual as early, intermediate and late aircraft.

2. Rear fuselage window was not present in almost all of the WWII and Korean War versions of the A-26. The rear gunner's compartment did have a solid camera door used for photography on both sides. Scribe these into the fuselage sides if you like.

3. If building with the bomb bay opened you might want to do something about the fit of the upper fuselage insert. It is clearly visible. And the short forward bomb rack is missing. Use aftermarket bombs.

4. Molding glitch in left hand cockpit side – looks like mold repair as the wall is about twice as thick as the other side with the join visible in the middle of the cockpit. Not really important unless you want to detail the cockpit.

5. Locating pin in bottom forward of nose will have to be removed to fit nose wheel well parts – also plastic removed from left nose wheel opening in fuselage.

6. Wheels are okay for later A-26's. WW2 and most Korean War vintage Invaders had B-25 wheels. True Details makes resin B-25 wheels.

7. Circular “stub†molded into both fuselage halves is slightly too far back (should be on the joint between nose and fuselage) and is far too prominent.

8. Recognition lights under the rear fuselage are from front to back: red, green and amber.

9. Missing representation of strakes, either folded or deployed, between nose wheel well and bomb bay. Note that early Invaders did not have this feature. The strakes deployed when the bomb bay doors opened and are very visible on the model.

10. Kit canopy/windscreen has no provision for opening up – nor does it represent the joints between the opening and static parts. Worse, it is narrower than the fuselage at the back by about a millimeter or more.

11. Left and right tail fairings are staggered – left side is further back than the right.

12. Missing Bomb Release Signal Lamp and Position Lamp in tail fairing. Top is red. Bottom is white.

13. Cut off wing guns if underwing pods are used.

14. Gear struts molded solid. Might be a good thing for strength but doesn’t look too hot.

15. Back of engine nacelles should have two small dump/vent tubes – represented in kit by single big hole.

16. No representation of exhausts.

17. Lacking details in the rear gunner's compartment.

18. If building with the bomb-bay closed – the doors don’t fit worth a darn.

19. Rear upper glazing does not fit, different cross section compared to fuselage at the back.

20. Engines are okay for the R-2800-27. The R-2800-71 or R-2800-79 more typical of the Invader can be found in the Pavla #72-72 Engine Set for B-26K (late). This set has the wrong engines for the A-26K Nimrod but okay for the A-26B/C Invader. Nice resin cowl flaps and individual groups of exhaust stacks. Looks very nice. The kit cowl flaps can probably be cut off and replaced with the Pavla flaps.

21. Replace the props with the Quickboost B-25 props.

22. Fuselage halves around the nose are not quite of the same cross section - left half needs a bit more depth.

23. Cowl flaps not in the correct position - probably not the right size either.

24. Landing lamps missing from underside of wings. Lenses are indicated, however.

25. The blue formation lamps are indicated by three small indentions just forward of the flaps and aileron. The three blue formation lamps are missing from the upper rear fuselage.

26. Consider replacing the wingtip formation lamps with clear parts.

27. No underwing (up to two bomb racks per wing) or HVAR (up to seven per wing) pylons.

28. Replace guns barrels with Quickboost barrels as appropriate. The kit barrels have no detail.

29. Eight gun universal nose. Can be converted to more common six gun nose if you’re making a WWII or Korean War version so equipped. And the Paragon six gun nose designed for the Airfix kit does not fit this kit.

30. Shape and panel line arguments left to the particular.

31. Add as much wheel well detail as you like. The kit has some detail.

Please add any other things to add or fix.

Don

Edited November 17, 2006 by don f

[pingu1]

Looks like the Revell AG kit doesn't give you a glass nose..does the Italeri kit include the gun nose?

SN

Yes. The new A-26C does.

http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=IT1259

Cheers,

Chris.

[Chuck1945]

Too bad the only choices for markings in both the A-26B and A-26C kits are French/Indochina or USAF/Korea, no WWII choices and little or no after market WWII options either. I think Microscale had markings for one WWII A-26 on a sheet released back when the Airfix kit was new, but afik nada since then.

[pingu1]

Aeromaster did a sheet of decals (72-043) for the B-26B/ A-26C in 1994, which featured one WW2 option. I used this on the Airfix A-26C about eight years ago. This was the only option on the decal sheet which could be used OOB, since all the others had the bulged canopy, while the Airfix kit only provides the flat one.

Cheers,

Chris.

[Serelle]

If you guys want something diferent to your Invaders, Brazilian company FCM Decals is going to release a new sheet with Brazilian and Colombian markings!

Don't know the release date but it's scheduled for this year yet!

:)

Serelle

[Synthale]

Serelle,

now THAT looks GOOD!

grtz,

Sven