ACADEMY/MINICRAFT 1:72 LOCKHEED VENTURA II

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

A direct development of the L-14/Hudson series was the Lockheed L-18 Lodestar with a similar wing and tail surfaces but a lengthened fuselage (5 ft 7 in longer / 1.71 m). This design was adopted for military use as a general purpose transport by the USAAF, USN and RAF. The Ventura was a further development of the L-18 and included a new lower profile Martin or Emerson dorsal turret mounting twin 0.5 inch MG’s. R.A.F. examples also had twin 0.5 in guns in nose and lower fuselage ‘belly’ positions. The original contract was for 675 aircraft, but deliveries commenced nearly 18 months late and eventually only 394 were delivered to the Royal Air Force.

The first Ventura reached RAF Bomber Command in April 1942, and by September , No.21, 464 and 487 Squadrons were working up on the aircraft. On daylight missions over France and the low countries, the Ventura fared badly ( badly enough to earn the unflattering nickname "The Pig" !) and losses to flak and enemy fighters were consistently high .On one mission in December 1942, in company with Mosquitoes and Bostons , they raided the Phillips radio factory in Eindhoven. Apart from one Ventura which turned back before reaching the target, all ten Venturas were shot down by enemy fighters. During 1943 the type was withdrawn from Bomber Command and many entered service with Coastal Command; most being used for weather reconnaissance missions. However the Ventura was used with some success by the RNZAF and US Navy (PV-1 version) in the Pacific War. The final version of this family was the PV-2 Harpoon maritime patrol bomber.

The kit contains over 60 pieces, and is moulded in a light grey colour with lightly engraved detail. Transparencies are clear with well defined framing and are quite acceptable. They are on several separate sprues and contain nose glazing for this version, several windows, and two turrets- only one of which is applicable to this RAF version. It is obvious from the number of unused parts and separate nose assembly, that another variant is produced by Academy – that being the US Navy PV-1 Maritime Patrol variant.

The cockpit area contains two seats, two control columns, an instrument panel (and decal), floor and rear bulkhead. No crew is provided. Fuselage halves fit together nicely with my only complaint being the lack of detail in the belly gun area and bomb bay – if you choose to open bomb bay, covers must be cut in half and detail added as none exists inside this area of the fuselage. The majority of parts fit well with only a little trimming being necessary to fit the radial engines inside their cowlings. The engine nacelle area also needed some putty and rubbing down as a small gap was evident on both sides. The undercarriage is represented well, but some detail could be added to the wheel well bays if you have suitable references.

The aircraft is finished in the standard day bomber scheme of dark green and dark earth with sky undersurfaces. Black de-icing boots are on the outboard leading edges of both mainplanes (wings) and vertical tail surfaces. I was satisfied with the instructions provided and the painting guide on the last page is good although a minor criticism is that colours are listed only by name and F.S. number. This is fine if you have an FS 595a or b fan deck or chips, or a Humbrol (or other paint company) comparison chart but what if you are not familiar with RAF colour schemes? Fortunately I am, so this was no problem – what I did have a problem with was the listing of Light Grey (!?) undersides. Yes, it does state "Sky" in brackets in front of the FS reference, but this could confuse many younger or inexperienced modellers. Another minor gripe concerns the fact that no aircraft history is provided anywhere on the box or instructions, and the aircraft depicted is not identified. It is in fact, YH-V of No.21 Squadron RAF which operated under No2 Group Bomber Command from Methwold airfield in Norfolk in 1942/43.

I would have liked to have seen another decal option and/or colour scheme provided as some aircraft initially had night (black) undersurfaces in keeping with their expected deployment as night intruders. The small decal sheet looks quite good initially with it’s two type B overwing roundels, red squadron codes and fuselage roundels, two black serials for rear fuselage, and two fin flashes. Beware… the carrier film is thin, although not as thin as some Propagteam decals, and the fuselage roundels and fin flashes are not in register and should be replaced. I think Academy has also made another slip-up in only providing two fin flashes, as the box artwork shows four! It would appear that the inboard vertical fins should also have flashes, so you will have to find 4 from your spare parts or decals box.

The finished model looks impressive sitting alongside my RAF Mosquitoes, Boston, Marauder and B-25 Mitchell, and the few criticisms levelled at this kit should not overly detract from the pleasure of building and finishing this model. I also have the Airfix Hudson and although these aircraft share the same ‘family tree’ and configuration, it surprised me how different these aircraft really were. I would wholeheartedly recommend this kit to all modellers including novices as construction is so straightforward.

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