Martin B-57B Canberra by Testors/Italeri
1/72 scale
Kit No. 698
Retail: $24.00 and up (aftermarket, out-of-production)
Decals: Two versions, both U.S. Air Force
Comments: Raised panel lines; detailed cockpit; optional position canopy, dive brakes, and bomb bay doors; multiple bombs for bomb bay; under wing stores include 1000 lb. bombs on pylons and wing tip tanks
History
The Martin B-57 is derived from the British Canberra, the first jet bomber to enter service with the Royal Air Force. With the lift provided by its broad, large wings, it could fly at a higher altitude than any other bomber throughout the 1950’s and by 1958 it had set nineteen point-to-point speed records and three altitude records, including one of 70,310 ft (21,430 m) in 1957. Its origins go back to 1944, when the British Air Ministry issued a requirement for a successor to the De Havilland Mosquito that, like its predecessor was to have “no defensive armament and a high-altitude capability to evade interceptors.”
The submission of the Lancashire-based English Electric Company was an early favorite. At the time, the company had little experience in the design of military aircraft, having spent most of its formative years during WW II building aircraft for the likes of Handley Page and De Havilland. This changed when W.E.W. “Teddy” Petter arrived from Westland Aircraft and set up his own Design Team.
The initial prototype first flew on May 13, 1949 by which time the Air Ministry had pre-ordered 132 production aircraft in various configurations. The aircraft was formally named Canberra on January 19,1951. Australia was the first export customer for the new jet.
The addition of a glazed nose (for a bombardier), twin Rolls-Royce Avon R.A. 3 engines and teardrop wing tip fuel tanks resulted in the Canberra B.2, which took to the air at Warton on 21st April 21, 1950 in the hands of English Electric Chief Test Pilot Roland (Bea) Beamont. The success and adaptability of the design was such that it was built in over 40 versions and equipped 65 RAF squadrons. It was exported to 15 countries including Australia, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Ethiopia, France, India, New Zealand, Peru, Rhodesia / Zimbabwe, South Africa, Sweden, the United States, Venezuela and West Germany. A total of 925 English Electric Canberra aircraft were built in the UK.
From the American point of view, the Canberra began to look interesting with the onset of the Korean War in the summer of 1950. At that time, the U.S. Air Force began to look for a jet-powered medium bomber and night intruder to quickly replace the aging, propeller-driven WWII era Douglas B-26 Invader. Choosing an “off-the-shelf” aircraft that could be readily adapted for night intruder operations would minimize the time required to get the plane into service.
The contenders were North American’s AJ-1 Savage and B-45 Tornado, the Canadian Avro CF-100, the Martin XB-51 and the English Electric Canberra. The Savage and the Tornado were eliminated because of obsolescence and oversize respectively, and the CF-100, while it had the required performance, lacked the necessary bomb and fuel capacity. While the XB-51 was still technically a contender, the fighter-like handling qualities of the Canberra gave it the edge.
In March 1951 the USAF contracted with Martin to build the British Canberra jet bomber under license in the United States. In U.S. service the Martin-built aircraft was designated B-57 and retained its tear drop wing tip fuel tanks. The Americanized Canberra made its first flight in July 1953, the very month that hostilities came to a close in Korea with the cease-fire. The first batch were photo-reconnaissance aircraft. The night intruder version did not enter service until 1955.
The Americanized Canberra closely resembled its British cousin, with the key changes being the redesigned cockpit and new air brakes. When production ended in 1959, a total of 403 Canberras had been built for the USAF. The B-57 otherwise retained the fine handling qualities of the original and it was well-liked by pilots, eventually seeing action in Southeast Asia when in 1965 the USAF sent two B-57B squadrons to South Vietnam. Until the last B-57B was withdrawn from the theatre in November 1969, the 8th and 13th Bomb Squadrons flew many different types of missions, including close air support and night interdiction, in all combat areas in Southeast Asia.
The aircraft on display at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio as a test aircraft in the early 1960s. It was later returned to combat configuration to replace losses to enemy action in Southeast Asia. Assigned to the 8th Bomb Squadron at Phan Rang, South Vietnam, in 1967, it flew in combat there for 2 1/2 years. After returning to the United States, it was converted to an electronic countermeasures EB-57B. It was flown to the museum in August 1981, and restored back to its Vietnam War bomber configuration in 2010.
The Canberra was the first American aircraft to bomb the Viet Cong and strike the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The plane’s nearly 60-minute loiter time and gun armament made it a particularly popular option not only for the trail but also for larger targets in southern Laos. The Air Force lost 51 Canberras to combat in Vietnam—15 destroyed on the ground and 26 downed by groundfire, mostly over South Vietnam. By 1969, only nine B-57Bs were still operational. They were withdrawn that year, replaced by heavily modified and rebuilt B-57Gs, optimized for low-level, all-weather missions. The Air Force retired the last B-57 in 1983.
Specifications
Armament: Eight .50-cal. M3 machine guns or four 20mm M39 cannons and approx. 7,500 lbs. maximum of internal and external stores
Engines: Two Wright J65-W-5 turbojets of 7200 lbs. static thrust each
Maximum speed: 570 mph
Cruising speed: 450 mph
Range: 2,000 miles
Ceiling: 49,000 ft.
Span: 64 ft.
Length: 65 ft. 6 in.
Height: 15 ft. 6 in.
Weight: 58,800 lbs. maximum
The Kit
Testors Italeri’s Martin B-57B is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 109 parts, including 4 clear parts for the windshield, canopy and navigation lights. Initially released solely by Italeri in 1985, the kit was jointly re-issued later in the 1980’s by Testors Italeri in one of many releases highlighting a combination of their logos. The airframe bears raised panel lines and the cockpit is fairly detailed with separate armrests for the tandem seats, individual instrument panels with raised details, and a two-part control yoke for the pilot.
If you build the kit with the landing gear down, a nose weight of at least 3/4 ounce is strongly recommended. One of the big selling points of this kit is the number of options it provides: the canopy, dive brakes and bomb bay doors can be assembled opened or closed. If the bomb bay is depicted open, what appear to be nine 500 lb. bombs will be visible. Two parts forming inserts for the leading edge of the wings just outboard of the engine nacelles must have holes drilled in them prior to cementing — this is for the two internal 20mm cannon in each wing.
Holes must be drilled in the lower wing for the night intruder version, to accommodate the pylons holding four 1000 lb. bombs, and four unguided air-to-ground rockets, two of each beneath each wing. Separate parts are provided for the intake fans, engine cowlings and exhausts, and despite the relatively large size of the kit no effort is made to depict the engines. The landing gear are fairly detailed, with boxed-in wheel wells for the main gear integrally molded into the lower wing.
Markings
The kit decals are by Scalemaster and are high quality offerings, with excellent color, relatively thin with a semi-gloss finish. However, all but the two largest national insignia markings are not quite in register, with the red stripe not quite centered over the white band. This is noticeable enough that some modelers may prefer to purchase aftermarket decals. For those who do, Xtradecal makes a set for the B-57B, Sheet No. X72103.
The first version is for a B-57B of the 345th Bomb Group, 499th Bomb Squadron (Bats Outa’ Hell) based at Langley AFB, Virginia. This aircraft is painted in Semi-Gloss Black overall, with Flat Black leading edges on the wings and tail surfaces, on the lip of each jet intake and the leading tip of the wingtip tanks. There is a triangular yellow flash on the tail with the image of a Native American Chief superimposed over it. No date for this aircraft is provided.
The second version is for a B-57B identified only as the last jet bomber to leave Vietnam in 1969. It is painted in the standard Southeast Asian theater camouflage scheme of Dark Tan, Medium Green and Dark Green over Flat Black undersides and was apparently deployed as a night bomber.
Conclusion
This is an excellent, if aging kit of the night intruder version of a key strike and reconnaissance aircraft of the Cold War, notable for its combat experience in Vietnam. Highly recommended.
References
- https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/
- https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/english-electric-canberra
- historynet.com
- Testors Italeri instructions