1/48th Monogram B-26 Marauder

it's a typical monogram kit of its era,which is a good  and bad thing. good: was far ahead of its time. reasonable detail in the box. good shapes and dimensions. only 1/48 kit of this subject,i think. i've got the revell version and it has a very good decal sheet,although i'm doing mine in r.a.f. colours. it's cheap-mine was £10 new,so probably less in the u.s.a.? bad: raised panel lines (although very fine and mostly well done). some areas of poor,but not shocking, fit-engine nacelles will need some filler as will the tail. the bomb bay doors are a poor fit in the closed position,but you may want to add detail to the open bomb bay. milliput will be your best choice to minimise sanding and general clear-up. i haven't used any but i would imagine that there are aftermarket bits to spruce this up- the bomb bay is the main culprit. don't let this put you off- i've seen several of these built really nicely and its a modest challenge,not a horror. hope this helps.

Zar

Saw this new looking kit at the local Hobby Town this afternoon.  Does anyone have any experience with it? Good or POS?  Thanks.

If you're a "Shake & Bake" modeler, you'll probably want to pass... It WILL require some sanding and filling...

That said, For it's era, it's an outstanding kit... There are some fit issues with the cowls, none of which are a major problem if you're an intermediate-level modeler, and the real Marauder's cowls were clunky anyway...  You'll likely want to pose the "folding" bomb-bay doors open, which is fine since the crew access was through there (as well as the nose). Closed, they'll need to be filled and the lines rescribed... 

The bomb-bay does need some scratch-built details, mainly ribbing, on the roof of the bay, but the lack of ribbing isn't all that noticeable once the racks and bombs are installed. If you aren't comfortable with a razor-saw, you'll want to keep the tail turret that's molded on rather than converting it to the other tail...  I'm currently building two of them...  If you want to, keep an eye on the "Flying Prostitute" thread...

Overall, built SOB, it's a 7 out of 10....

Thanks to both of you for the info. I am a shake and baker, not into sanding and filling and I believe model makers should make their kits to fit properly. Maybe that is why Tamiya is my favorite model maker, and Pegasus snappers too! LOL!!! 

Well then you are passing alot of good kits that you can build your skills with. Not to mention fill gaps in your collection, and not kill your bank account at the same time. Dont be so quick to snub them. If you can do a Pegasus Snap kit to nice standards, you can do this Marauder.

I think it's a pretty good kit considering its age.  It is also the only 48 scale B-26 available.  I'd recommend getting the kit.

You might want to order a copy of the Janauary 2010 copy of Model Airplane International.  It has an excellent article about this kit entitled "Superdetailing the Monogram 1:48 B-26.  It even includes the figures.

Zar

Thanks to both of you for the info. I am a shake and baker, not into sanding and filling and I believe model makers should make their kits to fit properly. Maybe that is why Tamiya is my favorite model maker, and Pegasus snappers too! LOL!!! 

I've never had a kit that didn't require at least SOME sanding & filling; i.e. seam lines on elevator leading & trailing edges, prop seam lines, guns, sprue gates (attatchment points)... Tamiya, Dragon, Hasegawa, ICM, you name it... Recently, I built two P-39s, one a 40-year old Monogram, the other a fairly recent Eduard release... The modern, high-dollar Eduard kit required filling a 1/16th inch gap in the wing root, while the "inferior" Monogram kit fit tighter'n a tick throughout that area...

Like Stik pointed out, you're really limiting yourself in both kit and subject selection and skill progression if you only do Shake & Bakes...  Plus, you'll never be able to expand your horizons into other areas, like scratch-bilding, figure modifications, kit-bashing (Kit-bashing means combining two or more kits or parts from two or more kits to make one unique version of a particular subject, not BMWing about the kit's shortcomings, BTW), and the like...  Ain't gonna tell ya what to do, but I will say that you're missing out on a lot personal satisfaction opourtunities and chances to build your personal modeling skill-sets to a level that exceeds "Beginner"...

It also means that one day, maybe soon, you'll read or hear about a kit that's a "Shake & Bake", pay 100.00 for it, but you'll get a "Monday Kit" that has a "short shot" sprue and/or some flash in a bad area and be really disappointed in it because you won't be able to "throw the glue tube into the box and have a model pop out"...

Anyway, you'll decide on what you want to do, or not do, but to call the Marauder a "POS", even given its shortcomings would be a diservice to the kit... It will build out to an acceptable B-26 without sanding & filling, but it'll be a "Four Footer"... Meaning that it'll look OK from four feet away...

OH, BTW...

Here's what Shep Paine did with the "POS" B-26 when it first was released...

Fixed that "Cowl problem" without a single drop of putty...

Zar, get the kit, when you get some builds under your belt tackle the tougher ones in the stash. I am going to get the entire Revellogram 1/48 bomber series for the stash and build the "easy" kits from Tamiya etc to learn more skills to apply to the "tough " ones.

Ben

I'm with the other proponents of this kit.  I'm biased, as a nostalgia builder and a Monogram fan (there is no "Revell version", as far as I know; this is from the original molds as they were tooled in Morton Grove, back in the day).  As has been pointed out, it's the only game in town in 1/48.  You've got nice detail, and parts to make a couple of variations, except for the early B-26 with the shorter wingspan and shorter vertical stabilizer.  And you get the excellent figures that Monogram included.

As to getting perfect kits out of the box, even the best tooling and injection mold machine can generate a kit with subtle imperfections.  Plastic can warp if it cools too rapidly coming out of the mold, for example.  Monogram had excellent quality control, but even that couldn't eliminate every imperfection.  Build what you like, the way you like, of course, but I agree with the comment that you're limiting your selection, and your potential enjoyment.

Regards,

Brad