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SOVA-M is to release a 1/144th Martin B-57E Canberra & CIM-10A BOMARC kit - ref. SVM-14013 Source: https://www.aviationmegastore.com/en/modelling/martin-b57e-canberra--cim-10a-bomarc-sova-models-svm-14013-200537.html V.P.

A dear family friend was the Maintenance Officer for the 4677th Defense Systems Evaluation Squadron in the early 1970's and I knew I had to build a B-57 Canberra for him. The 4677th traveled around the US flying their EB-57's modified with Electronic Warfare gear against interceptor units to evaluate continental air defenses. He has shared many fascinating stories with me about his time with the Canberra. It's the 1/72 Airfix kit with the nose of the Italeri grafted on the front of the fuselage. The rather drawn out WIP can be found here: My friend impressed me with tales of the explosive engine starter cartridges and so I had to include the soot stains on the left side of the fuselage. Apparently, the B-57 was a known tail sitter, and despite copious amounts of nose weight this one is too. Apparently an extendable stand was attached to the rear fuselage if the aircraft was going to be on the ground any length of time in order to prevent mishaps. I have to thank @canberra kid, @Gene K and @Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy for sharing their Canberra knowledge.

EDIT - This build re-starts on Page 4 of this thread with an Airfix/Italeri 'combo' instead of just moving the wing on the Italeri kit in order to find a better B-57 shape. A dear family friend served as the Maintenance Supervisor with the 4677th Defense Systems Evaluation Squadron, which flew the B-57 Canberra, and I've decided that it was high time I built him one. The 4677th's Canberras acted as targets to train and evaluate USAF air defense squadrons, and were full of electronic gear designed to make them more difficult to intercept. It's with a bit of trepidation that I begin a Canberra build now, just as @Navy Bird has completed his beautiful PR.9, and the @canberra kid having just started an RB-57. But "strike while the iron is hot", as the saying goes. I'll be using the 1/72 Italeri kit in my attempt at an EB-57B as the "evaluator": And I think I'll build the 1/72 Hasegawa F-106 alongside as the "evaluated": The Canberra Kid has shown that the Italeri kit has some inaccuracies, the main ones being: the wing is a bit too far back on the fuselage, and the rear fuselage is too deep. I'm planning on addressing the wing placement, but I think I'll have to let the rear fuselage problem go, it would require splicing in the rear fuselage of the Airfix kit in order to fix - which is exactly what the Canberra Kid is doing on his RB-57 build linked above. I recommend that you check it out - fascinating stuff. Comparing the dimensions found in this drawing on the Canberra SIG to the Italeri fuselage, it looks like the wing leading edge needs to be moved up about 1/8" in 1/72 in order to match up (I measured from the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer, since the drawing is of an 'A' model, and I don't think the nose is the same length as the 'B'). The (out of focus) Italeri fuselage: The section containing the wing root removed: [photo lost in Photobucket transfer] The offending portion removed: Plasticard backing added to the inside of the fuselage: The section reattached the requisite 1/8" further forward: Comparison with the unmodified side: I think it was worth it, but your mileage may vary! Thanks for stopping by.

Well I've been racking my tiny little brain for quite some time as to which kit to build for this GB as there were quite a few that came to mind that I used to build a lot of such as the Airfix Dornier Do-217 or Heinkel He-111, or pretty much the entire Matchbox catalogue. But then I had a thought (yes I know that's a rare occurrence before any of you comment) the age limit on this goes up to 18 and the kit needs to be a memorable one, now like a lot of you I left school at 16 (I know it would have been earlier for some of you old buggers) and started work and with my first weeks wage packet I indulged my hobby. At the time I was fascinated by the Vietnam War and the aircraft that took part in it and had worked my way through the kits available from Airfix such as the Phantom, Skyhawk, AC-47 and E.E. Canberra and wanted some of the other types not covered by their range. It was at that point that the local CO-OP started to stock Italeri kits which had some of the aircraft in their range that I had been reading about. Now my Dad had decided that I was too old for models after the age of 13 so my kits had had to come as presents from relatives or bought with cash for birthdays or Christmas but when I got my first wages I could buy what I wanted, so I did! I came away from the CO-OP with three Italeri Vietnam era classics; the AC-119, B-66 and the B-57, and no my Dad was NOT happy, never mind eh! I have all of these in the stash today (not the same ones I bought in 1987) and have decided to build the B-57 as it was the first of the kits I built from my new stash. Obviously back then I built it in the Vietnam camouflaged markings that came with the kit but this time around I am going to do it as something different, as either a B-57B or B-57E used for testing at Edwards AFB, the decision is yet to be made. Here are the usual box top and contents shots and also a couple of additions that I might use during the build; The new boxings excellent decal sheet; And the extras that I might use; Thats the introduction over so as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received. Craig.

B-57B Canberra | 1/72 | Airfix United States Air Force -- 71st Bomb Squadron, 38th Bomb Wing, Laon air base France, 1957 Finished this on July 19th, 2019. This build is something I've wanted to do since High School. I'm finally making the B-57 I wanted to make when I got the Testor's kit for Christmas in High School. You see, the Testors decals were transparent, and while bright red on the sheet, turned a hard-to-see dark red on the model. I was terribly disappointed since I'd been looking forward to making that model for a while and the manufacturer let me down. So I have finally done it! I looked for decals to match the ones in the Testors kit from the 80's and had no luck for a long time. Finally, I started seeing a few B-57 builds with bright red lettering, and they all had the same scheme, which meant they all used the same decals. But no one was kind enough to say what they were!! Well, one person did, which is how I got them. So if any one is in the same predicament I was: it is Xtradecal X72103. Finishing: Seams filled with CA (superglue), recreated panel lines using Mr. Surfacer 500 (Technique detailed in my WIP). Paints: Tamiya TS-14 Black spray decanted into an airbrush and thinned with Mr. Leveling thinner > Tamiya X-22 clear thinned with Mr. Leveling thinner as an sealer coat (reacted bad with the decals) Decals: Xtradecal X72103 Weathering/Wear: Oil wash in the wheel wells. The landing gear wells didn't have any detail, so I added some using some half-round styrene: The nose gear did come with detail, however! And to show you how bad the original Testors kit was, here they are side by side: Build notes: The Airfix kit seems to be an adaptation of the BAC Canberra kit, which means the bombs were the wrong shape, so I scavenged the ones from my high school kit. Also, the pylons were to too far inboard for a US Canberra Tamiya X-22 thinned with Mr. Leveling thinner reacted badly with the decals, especially the red parts. They wrinkled badly and, while most smoothed back out, a couple didn't and appear to be permanent. Luckily, you have to get pretty close to see it, but it is still aggravating. Thanks for looking! Comments, questions and constructive criticism always welcome!

Does anyone know that the interior color of the RB-57F wheel wells and/or landing gear was? I am working on the Mach 2 kit and it is silent on the subject, as it is about most details. It is either natural metal, white, interior green or zinc chromate. The pictures I could find are of such quality that I can't tell, although I am leaning towards white. Anyone know for sure? Thanks Howard

The old Airfix B-57 (with raised panel lines!). Made awhile ago but thought I'd share... First couple of photos are filtered to try and replicate a late 60s/early 70's photo. The ones below are unfiltered. Kit was made as a fast build, for grins, straight from the box. The main black scheme was applied with Chaos Black rattle can from Games Workshop, the rest is hand-brushed. In some of the photos is the Airfix Jeep. Unfiltered...

Combat Models has just released a 1/32nd Martin B-57 Canberra vacuform kit. Source: http://combatmodels.us/ V.P.

B-57 Seats. 1:72 Pavla Pavla have brought us two sets of seats for the B-57 in 1:72 scale. The first is the Mechanics Inc Seat. The second is the ESCAPAC seat. The "production" B.57G had the ESCAPAC rocket seat, as did the RB/WB.57F in both cases though the prototype aircraft had the Mechanics Inc. seats, as did the B.57A, RB.57A, EB.57A. B/RB.57B, B/RB.57C RB/EB.57D B/RB/EB.57E. Around 1972(ish) the USAF introduced a Mod for all B.57's to get the new rocket seat. But in effect this only applied to the EB.57E's (Thanks to John from the Canberra SIG for this info) Mechanics Inc Seat ESCAPAC Seat Conclusion Kit seats in 1.72 will never match resin seats for detail. These seats from Pavla will enhance your kit. Highly recommended. Review samples courtesy of

Airfix Canberra with some modifications..many thanks to John / Canberra Kid for all his help. Cheers from Prague. Andrew

EB-57 Pics by Darwin from the Combat Air Museum in Kansas