Special Hobby 1/72 A-20G Havoc ‘Low Altitude Raiders’Reviewed by Brad Cancian
Item: SH72478
scale: 1/72
Price: 28.20 Euros, direct from Special HobbyReview kit kindly provided by Special Hobby at
https://www.specialhobby.eu/a-20g-havoc-low-altitude-raidersThe HavocThe Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) was an American medium bomber, attack aircraft, night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for a bomber, it was ordered by France for their air force before the USAAC decided it would also meet their requirements. French DB-7s were the first to see combat; after the fall of France, the bomber served with the Royal Air Force under the service name Boston. From 1941, night fighter and intruder versions were given the service name Havoc. In 1942 USAAF A-20s saw combat in North Africa. The Havoc served with several Allied air forces, principally the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), the Soviet Air Forces (VVS), Soviet Naval Aviation (AVMF), and the Royal Air Force (RAF) of the United Kingdom. A total of 7,478 aircraft were built, of which more than a third served with Soviet units. It was also used by the air forces of Australia, South Africa, France, and the Netherlands during the war, and by Brazil afterwards.
In most British Commonwealth air forces, the bomber variants were known as Boston, while the night fighter and intruder variants were named Havoc. The exception was the Royal Australian Air Force, which used the name Boston for all variants.
The KitThe Special Hobby Havoc traces its lineage back to the MPM Productions kit, first released in 2007. Special Hobby first released their first rebox (a Boston MkIIIa) back in 2014, and included some new parts for that variant. Special Hobby have since done a number of other releases of this basic kit, with additional parts to cater for the specific variants, numbering five in total. This release, from 2023, is the sixth.
This boxing consists of four sprues of medium grey plastic, a clear sprue, and decals. No resin or etch is provided.
The first sprue consists of the fuselage halves, horizontal stabilisers, and various internal parts. The nose section is separate to account for the different versions over different kits.
Moulding is crisp and smooth, and the panel lines refined and consistent.
The bulk of the cockpit parts are on this sprue, consisting of a floor, seats, instrument panel bulkheads, control yoke, sidewalls, and the gunners turret ring. Detail is adequate for this scale, albeit a bit basic. There is minimal internal detail moulded onto the fuselage halves. Noting most of it will be viewable to some extent under the cockpit glazing, there is plenty of scope here for the modeller to add more detail (Special Hobby even include details within the instruction booklet regarding the CMK cockpit and gun turret sets that are available for this kit).
The control surfaces are all nicely represented with subtle detail. Elevators and rudder are moulded in place.
The second sprue contains the large wing sections. These are done in four pieces (two upper and two lower halves. Again moulding is crisp and clean, with excellent panel line and hatch detail. Control surfaces are all moulded in place.
The next sprue contains various engine parts, including the engines themselves, propellers, cowls, and fairings.
The twin row radials and propellers are particularly nicely represented.
The last plastic sprue contains the remainder of the detail parts.
Here we have the nose section for the A-20G version, including the end piece for the four cannon. We also get landing gear components, including struts, wheels, and doors. These are all nicely moulded, the wheels looking especially nice.
Lastly, the clear sprue, containing the various glazing pieces. These are clear and crisp, with well defined frames (especially useful for the slightly complex masking required of these pieces. The parts are such that the clear parts can be posed open to view the internal details.
InstructionsSpecial Hobby’s Instructions are provided in their modern, high-quality booklet. Presented in 11 glossy pages, construction occurs over 14 steps. The instructions are comprehensive, with a parts layout, clear indication of the parts not used, instruction and paint call outs (in Gunze Mr Colour paints), and full colour four angle painting profiles.
Two interesting colour schemes are catered for, these being:
• A-20G-25 Havoc 43-9105 “J”, named “Sweet Li’l Kitten”, 312th BG, 388th BS, USAAF, Gusap, New Guinea, Summer 1944. This machine is depicted on the box with some very nice nose art. Notably, this aircraft completed 85 combat missions.
• A-20G-45-DO Boston, 43-22148, A28-78 “DU-R”, 22SQN RAAF, Morotai, Autumn 1944. This was amongs the last Havoc’s on loan from the USAAF to the RAAF, and contains an interesting mix of RAAF and USAAF markings.
DecalsThe decals, like all recent Special Hobby releases, are crisply printed with solid colour and excellent register. I envision no problems with these decals whatsoever. Some stencils are provided. Unfortunately, there are no seat belts on the decal sheet.
Buildability:The breakdown of the kit will require some care in construction; that being said, there is nothing complex in the way the kit goes together. The breakdown of the fuselage into separate nose pieces is a necessary evil in order to maximise the options available from the moulds. I would recommend gluing the nose pieces to the fuselage halves first, before bringing the fuselage halves together. The nacelles are several pieces which will require some careful construction, however there are plenty of bulkheads to keep things nice and straight. The insert pieces for the upper wing (C10 and C13) may also require some careful fitting. The smaller parts (including undercarriage) are appropriately delecate, but will need care in removal and cleanup as a result. Thankfully, sprue connectors are small. Lastly, One also needs to be aware of the various angles of the wings and stabilisers; both had dihedral. No guides are provided here regarding the necessary angles, so check your references.
In terms of overall detail levels – things are more than adequate for this scale, and nice details like the wheels and engines will look great under paint and a wash. The only small downside to the kit is the cockpit details; these are a bit light on, and would benefit from the addition of some seat belts and other interior details, especially if you intend on posing the canopy parts open.
ConclusionsThe Havoc was a workhorse throughout the war, and its rugged lines will always make it a popular subject. Special Hobby have done well to capitalise on the excellent moulds and have produced another crisply done and interesting variant of the basic airframe. The construction is about as straight forward as one could expect for a dual engine aircraft such as this, and it will be a standout in the cabinet or competition table.
Highly recommended!
Our very sincere thanks to Special Hobby for the review sample!
