AIRFIX 1:72 LOCKHEED HUDSON I

Reviewer: Jason Sou  (jsou@comnorth.com.au)

In April 1938, the British Purchasing Commission went to the U.S.A., armed with $25 million, in search of good quality American aircraft to bolster the strength of the Royal Air Force. An aircraft was sought to work alongside the Avro Anson in Coastal Command, and this development of the Lockheed Model L-14 airliner was designed in 10 days!!(A far cry from today’s high tech combat aircraft such as Eurofighter ‘Typhoon’ ,and F-22) Major alterations to the airliner airframe included the provision of a bomb bay, bomb-aimers equipment and front panel, nose glazing, and dorsal turret. The first Mk I’s were delivered to No. 224 Squadron in August 1939 and with the outbreak of war in September, saw much service against U-boats and Luftwaffe aircraft over the North Sea and Western Approaches. Hudson’s eventually served with the RAF in most theatres, the RAAF in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, the RNZAF in the Pacific, the Canadian Air Force (mainly used for training), and the US Navy and USAAF. Brazil received 28 A-28 variants which saw some action against U-boats, and 26 Hudsons went to China where most were written off in accidents. When production ceased in May 1943, a total of 2941 had rolled off the Burbank production line, the majority of which were sent to the Royal Air Force under lend-lease.

This kit had been unavailable for many years due to the Airfix/Humbrol policy of rotating their moulds, and secondhand examples had been selling for prices of up to $40. I know of one collector/modeller who had 4 unbuilt examples stashed away (alongside 5 Frog Beauforts), and the news that Airfix were to re-release this kit last year would have upset him no end.

The kit consists of 84 pieces and contains decals for two versions – a Mk I and a Mk III. The boxtop suggests that the kit is a Hudson Mk I, although the engines supplied only allow a Mk III to be built! This kit dates from 1963 and I assume the only changes made with this re-issue are the decal options, instrument panel decal, and revised instructions. The instructions also provide a touch of (unintentional ?) humour where it can be learnt that the Hudson Mk I first flew in December 1838, and we are also told that armament consisted of 4 0.383 inch (!?) MG’s.

Interior detail consists of 3 chunky crew figures ( 2 seated figures and a gunner), 2 basic seats, 2 bulkheads, bomb-aimers table, and 1 control column. The 22 transparent pieces supplied are quite thick and typical of early Airfix and Revell releases. I opted to use them all as is, but a better choice would be to replace most of them and use Aquadhere or Krystel Kleer for the small fuselage windows after painting. The Boulton-Paul turret supplied is not accurate and framing is very faint which contrasts with the work of the "phantom rivetter" on the rest of the kits major components.

The kit, surprisingly, assembles quite well with few fit problems. The main exception to this being the bulkhead behind the pilot where a large gap was evident. A little filler was required for the wing and tailplane joins and a light sanding of the overscale rivet detailing was required. Ailerons and elevators are supplied as separate pieces, a characteristic shared by many kits of the 60’s and early 70’s, and the inaccurate Wright-Cyclone engines are supplied as one piece mouldings. The cowlings are too shallow in section and should be replaced if one wishes a totally accurate representation. The aerial mast behind the canopy and the pitot on the nose underside are both overscale and I replaced mine. Wheel well detail is also non-existent so if a competition standard model is desired, check up those references. After completion I noticed that two unnumbered J-shaped pieces were still sitting on the sprue and after checking the instructions numerous times, could find no refernce to them. This was quite frustrating and I can only guess that they are interior or undercarriage bits!?

The colour schemes provided allow for one to model either a Mk I of 206 Squadron RAF or a Mk III of 269 squadron Coastal Command in 1941. As mentioned earlier this kit is of a Mk III, so really only the 269 sqn example can be built straight from the box. The camouflage is the standard dark green/dark earth with sky undersurfaces, which is represented well by Humbrol numbers 29,30, and 90. Incidentally, the Mk III is depicted in the A scheme, while the Mk I is shown in the mirror-image B scheme. De-icing boots are required to be masked and painted on the wing outboard leading edges and tail horezontal and vertical leading surfaces.

The decals supplied looked well printed and in register, and they were with the exception of the type B roundels and fin flashes. The Mk III which I built carried the legend "Spirit of Lockheed-Vega Employees" and was a presentation aircraft, and the legend is printed in a sky colour ( should this be the same colour as the Squadron code letters?) in two positions on each side of the fuselage.

In summary, while this kit is a typical 1960’s product with overscale rivet detail, many overscale pieces, thick transparencies and inaccurate engines, the completed model does look like a Hudson.

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A copy of the old boxart