1:48 Marauder Mk.III - WWII RAF/SAAF Bomber

The Marauder in British and South African colors

The American Martin B-26 medium bomber earned a reputation as a machine that does not forgive mistakes: a short wing with high wing loading meant a high landing speed and, in the first months, heavy losses in training as well. Once the crews took to the type, however, it became on the contrary the bomber with the lowest proportion of losses per combat sortie in the whole European theater.

The designation Mk.III was carried by machines delivered to the British and the South Africans from the late production batches, that is from the form with increased wing incidence. South African squadrons attacked targets in Italy and in the Balkans with them and supported partisans. It is exactly this Mediterranean chapter that makes these machines a rewarding modeling subject.

Contents and building

The modern mold offers a detailed crew compartment and bomb bay, separate flaps and finely suggested panel lines. The cockpit with its large area of glazing deserves masks, because there are a great many frames and edging them by hand with a brush tends to be a long job.

The British and South African machines are typically in desert camouflage with sand and brown blotches on the upper surfaces and azure undersides, completed with bold bands on the fuselage. The model has a large area to shade, so it pays to apply the paint in thin coats and to deal with the differences between panels only with final glazes.

Before spraying it pays to consider how much of the interior equipment will finally be visible; a large part of the work in the bomb bay disappears as soon as the doors are closed, which is why it makes sense to leave them open.