Kit Ref: 04900
Price around £59.99 GBP (June 2015)
Review by Geoff Coughlin
Our thanks to Revell for supplying our review sample. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model stores. For details visit www.revell.de/en
A little bit of background
The Rockwell (now part of Boeing) B-1 Lancer is a four-engine supersonic variable-sweep wing, jet-powered heavy strategic bomber used by the United States Air Force (USAF). It was first envisioned in the 1960s as a supersonic bomber with Mach 2 speed, and sufficient range and payload to replace the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. It was developed into the B-1B, primarily a low-level penetrator with long range and Mach 1.25 speed capability at high altitude.
Designed by Rockwell International, development was delayed multiple times over its history due to changes in the perceived need for manned bombers. The initial B-1A version was developed in the early 1970s, but its production was cancelled, and only four prototypes were built. The need for a new platform once again surfaced in the early 1980s, and the aircraft resurfaced as the B-1B version with the focus on low-level penetration bombing. However, by this point, development of stealth technology was promising an aircraft of dramatically improved capability. Production went ahead as the B version would be operational before the “Advanced Technology Bomber” (which became the B-2 Spirit), during a period when the B-52 would be increasingly vulnerable. The B-1B entered service in 1986 with the USAF Strategic Air Command (SAC) as a nuclear bomber.
In the early 1990s, following the Gulf War and concurrent with the disestablishment of SAC and its reassignment to the newly formed Air Combat Command (ACC), the B-1B was converted to conventional bombing use. It first served in combat during Operation Desert Fox in 1998 and again during the NATO action in Kosovo the following year. The B-1B has supported U.S. and NATO military forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Lancer is the supersonic component of the USAF’s long-range bomber force, along with the subsonic B-52 and B-2. The bomber is commonly called the “Bone” (originally from “B-One”). With the retirement of the General Dynamics/Grumman EF-111A Raven in 1998 and the Grumman F-14 Tomcat in 2006, the B-1B is the U.S. military’s only active variable-sweep wing aircraft. The B-1B is expected to continue to serve into the 2030s, with the Long Range Strike Bomber to start supplementing the B-1B in 2030.
You can see from the manufacturer’s model build that this kit makes up into a very good representation of the Rockwell B-1B Lancer – a huge model of the subject – all 92.1cm of it! You have to admit, it will certainly look incredible and imposing, especially if time and effort is put into creating an effective grey paint finish.
The Revell Kit
This is a good kit that features fine levels of detail across the board – especially very refined panel lines. The kit isn’t new being released previously on several occasions and dating back to 1983. This should not make you nervous as the model looks to have stood the test of time very well an, it has those recessed panel lines. There are new decals this time that look to be very good quality.
Box and contents
The Revell box artwork is usually impressive enough and that’s the case here – an image of a Rockwell B-1B Lancer in its element of low-level ops.