Review

Resurgent Airfix has come out of bankruptcy with re-releases of much of its classic line, as well as some new kits. The Canberra - announced before the doors closed in 2006 - is now available.

Molded in light gray plastic, the parts feature engraved panel lines which are heavier than necessary, but are cleanly cut. The major components, including the fuselage and large wings, are very thick so they hold shape; there was no evidence of warping in my kit. Clear parts for the nose and offset canopy are clear and I like that Airfix used engraved lines rather than raise to mark the edges of the windows in the nose; it made it very easy to apply tape and trim around it for masking.

The front features a comprehensive cockpit and crew compartment, and the gear and bomb bays have molded frameworks. Posable options include bomb bay doors, crew door, and all flight control surfaces, even the flaps. A slew of weapons can be fitted, including numerous bombs, rocket pods, missiles and a belly gun pod.

Decals are provided for camouflaged British and New Zealand aircraft, and a South African plane in high-speed silver.

The cockpit goes together well and forms an insert for the fuselage. This model needs a lot of weight to keep the nosewheel on the ground. The kit calls for 100 grams (3.6 oz.). I packed two tire-balance weights in the area between the cockpit and the bomb bay, then filled every remaining crevice up front with pea-sized fishing sinkers soaked in super glue. When it was obvious that wasn't enough, I added more sinkers at the front of the bomb bay. I planned on modeling it closed with the gun pod fitted anyway.

I needed putty to blend the cockpit insert into the fuselage and a little sanding to fair the nose, but it looked good after cleanup. The other parts fit with minimal sanding to remove seams, and I didn't need filler at the wing roots.

After masking, I painted the model Tamiya gloss aluminum from a spray can. The decals are thick and have a dot pattern visible up-close, but the most went on well with help from Micro Sol. The only problem was the black wing-walk lines that tore several times during application.

Fans of '50s and '60s British aircraft will be drawn to the first mainstream injection- molded plastic kit of this iconic aircraft. It's not without challenges, but those are easily overcome with basic modeling skill, rewarding the builder with a large model. Superdetailers will be able to take it to another level.

Airfix has announced two more versions - the B.2 with the fish-bowl canopy and the American B- 57. Given the large number of users as well as color schemes, they should be popular.