Never one to be mistaken for a sleek fighter, the ungainly Fairey Barracuda was a successful and competent Royal Navy bomber/torpedo plane. Much liked by its crews for ease of handling and smooth flight, the Barracuda came into fleet use in 1944, providing much of its war service in the Pacific theater, where it was used to drive the Japanese out of southeast Asia and up the coast to the Japanese home islands.

Special Hobby's kit is basically a pretty good short run kit, and even though it does provide some resin parts, this set greatly enhances what is already provided. Upon opening the box, you are greeted with two bags of resin parts, and four frets of etched brass.

At first it seems rather overwhelming as there is a lot of stuff in there. So let's take a look at what is provided. First off, the resin stuff. Here you get a full set of detailed wheel wells and landing gear doors. A new rear gunner's compartment is provided as are a pair of Vickers machine guns and extra rounds. A new lower cowling insert and the body of a 1600 lb bomb are also given along with some smaller exterior bits.

The 4 brass sheets include bomb racks (which are made by sandwiching pieces together, a rather novel approach), a new fuselage section aft of the gunner's position, landing lights, inner gear doors and well detail parts, as well as fins for the bomb and number of other smaller bits.

All in all, a very comprehensive set and one that will really enhance your next Barracuda model.

March 2005

Thanks to Griffon Model Accessories for the review set. Please visit them to see about more fine detail and upgrade materials.

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