Price around £120.00 GBP
Review by Les Venus (Mar 2013)
Materials: Injection Moulded Plastic and etched brass
Background
You will recall how much I enjoyed building the HKM B-25 Mitchell, definitely one of my most ambitious projects and certainly one of my best in many ways. Imagine then my surprise when pretty much out of the blue HobbyBoss release a 1:32nd Scale P-61 Black Widow. Now SMN has featured a couple of simply fantastic 1:48th P-61 builds (Gary W’s and Dave Cs), both of which have been inspirational. Looking in some ways like a P-38 Lightning on steroids, the Black Widow is a fantastic looking aircraft and more often than not adorned with some great nose art and at its best in that legendary Night Black scheme. Who couldn’t resist one, well I sure couldn’t and as I was browsing the web fell over Creative Models website and with the P-61 up for £119 and being such a lot of aeroplane for the money thought it looked like great value. Now I am cash strapped just now for so many reasons but I had some money stashed from my mum from last Christmas so like the proverbial kid in a sweet shop ordered the beast….thanks Mum!
A quick word about Creative Models, I ordered the Black Widow on the Sunday and it arrived by courier at crack of sparrows on Tuesday morning postage free. A truly fantastic service and I for one will definitely use them again.
So was it worth the cash and how soon will I build it, if at all? These are questions I shall answer but not, as some might think, how you expect….so read on and see where this goes!
A little bit of background on the type
Something to get you in the mood!
The Northrop P-61 Black Widow, named for the American spider, was the first operational U.S. military aircraft designed specifically for night interception of aircraft, and was the first aircraft specifically designed to use radar. It was an all-metal, twin-engine, twin-boom design developed during World War II. The first test flight was made on 26 May 1942, with the first production aircraft rolling off the assembly line in October 1944. The last aircraft was retired from government service in 1954.
Although not produced in the large numbers of its contemporaries, the Black Widow was effectively operated as a night-fighter by United States Army Air Forces squadrons in the European Theater, the Pacific Theater, the China Burma India Theater and the Mediterranean Theater during World War II. It replaced earlier British-designed night-fighter aircraft that had been updated to incorporate radar when it became available. After the war, the P-61 served in the United States Air Force as a long-range, all weather, day/night interceptor for Air Defense Command until 1948, and Fifth Air Force until 1950.
On the night of 14 August 1945, a P-61B of the 548th Night Fight Squadron named “Lady in the Dark” was unofficially credited with the last Allied air victory before VJ Day. The P-61 was also modified to create the F-15 Reporter photo-reconnaissance aircraft for the United States Air Force.
First Impressions
I have never really been a fan of HobbyBoss or Trumpeter (sister company) box art looking so often questionable when put up against their Japanese counterparts at Tamiya and Hasegawa. This time the truly enormous box is adorned with an evocative moonlight Pacific Theatre night with the prowling Black Widow about to pounce on a hapless Mitsubishi Betty just below to port! Good stuff this and will create I am sure some impulse buying stacked up at the shows to come on the trade stands!
The sturdy lid and tray box assures safe transit from anywhere you should order it and inside all the sprues are packed in their own poly bags. There is also a small inner box with glazing and rubber parts as well as the small etched fret that I will write about later. The glazing is also packed in foam and is beautifully protected against the elements. Also notable were the two large shaped weights that no doubt are to be used to keep this notorious tail sitter on all three legs…..please note this HKM as your B-25 really needed this!
