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 A-20G, delivered from February 1943, would be the most produced A-20 variant, with 2,850 built. The glazed nose was replaced by a solid nose containing four 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano cannon and two .50 in M2 Browning machine guns. After the first batch of 250, the less-accurate cannon were replaced by more machine guns. After 750 aircraft had been built, a power-driven gun turret fitted with two .50 in machine guns was fitted, with the fuselage 6 inches (15 cm) wider as a result, and the ventral tunnel gun changed from a .30 in to another .50 in Browning. The powerplants were two 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) R-2600-23. Many A-20Gs were delivered to the Soviet Union. Notably, U.S. A-20Gs were used on low-level sorties in the New Guinea campaign. The A-20J was the same as the late G, but with a standard glass nose. 418 built.

THE KIT

Just to recap a bit, Matchbox went into receivership and was sold to Tyco toys in 1991. Tyco did not want the plastic models and that part was purchased by what was then Revell of Germany. Revell has since then re-issued many of those kits in Revell and in Matchbox  boxes. This is one of those kits that was released in Matchbox livery. While a number of Matchbox boxings were done in China, this one was done in Poland.

Revell did not bother to use the multi-color plastic so the three main sprues are in grey. These kits are not well known for high levels of detail and while they have engraved panel lines, they are large and soft. The cockpit is a floor and seat and control column. Bombardier is a seat. Two generic crew members are supplied to fill these seats. There is plenty of room under the cockpit for weight as you will need some. When closing the fuselage halves, a plastic turntable is placed where the rear gun turret will go.

You have the option of a glass or gun nose. The various transparencies have large framework so masking will be quite easy, even if using liquid mask. One builds up the main gear and wheels prior to attaching it into the nacelles. There is no gear well detail. Wings are upper and lower halves onto which one attaches the nacelles.

The engines are simply a front face that fits into the cowling. This then fits onto the nacelle. If building the gun nose option, the barrels are then installed. Then the nose gear and doors are installed into the shallow nose gear well. On both nose options, there is a blanking plate that fits where there were cheek guns on the earlier variants.

Instructions are typical Revell with Revell paint references. Steps are well drawn. Two markings options are both in OD with medium green edge mottling over neutral grey. The box art place is with the 410 BW and includes the invasion stripes. The other option is with 18 Squadron, also in OD over neutral grey without the medium green. The fairly large decal sheet is nicely printed and 'might' still be viable, but no guarantee.

CONCLUSIONS

A number of kit companies have done 1/72 A-20s, but none have done a proper state of the art kit. The newest is Special Hobby, but those are fairly difficult builds. While this one is not state of the art, it probably is a fairly good build and might be a good option for those who don't want to fuss with a short run kit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-20_Havoc#Variants

June 2025

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