It’s no longer a secret… Introducing the 1:48 scale Avro Anson Mk.I with three distinctively different schemes!
Featuring three sensationally diverse schemes, the Avro Anson Mk.I is in for its second ever release since it was first tooled in 2022. Containing a total of 199 parts, once built, the kit measures an overall length of 269mm and a wingspan of 359mm. The 3 vastly diverse schemes showcase aircraft from both the Portuguese and Greek air force, along with a Royal Navy variant as depicted by scheme C.
When it entered service with No.48 Squadron at RAF Manston in March 1936, the Avro Anson became the first monoplane type to achieve squadron service status and was also the first RAF aircraft to feature a retractable undercarriage. The RAF Anson Mk.I was equipped with a fixed forward firing .303 machine gun operated by the pilot and a single Lewis gun mounted in the manually traversed dorsal turret. It could also be equipped with a modest bomb load, something which was required by submarine hunting aircraft operated by Coastal Command.
Despite the fact that the RAF entered the Second World War with 26 squadrons equipped with Avro Ansons, they were basically obsolete as a fighting machine and were quickly withdrawn to secondary training roles, a task for which the ‘Faithfull Annie’ was particularly well suited. As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, many thousands of aircrew destined for service with Bomber Command were trained both in the UK and overseas.