AMP 1/72 Canberra T.11/TP.52, previewed by Scott Van Aken

HISTORY

The Canberra T.11 was introduced in 1958 as a radar airborne intercept trainer for Gloster Javelin crews. Redundant B.2s were taken out of storage for this purpose and fitted with a sharply pointed conical nose housing the Ferranti AIRPASS AI/17 radar. In addition to service and a radar intercept trainer, the T.11 served in the role as a general crew trainer and it was not uncommon for it to carry four crew a pupil and instructor navigator seated in the real and a pilot and pupil pilot seated in the front. The latter sat on a fold down rumble seat adjacent to the pilot. By the mid 196s, this role was no longer needed and many T.11s had their radars removed and replaced by ballast, thus becoming T.19 general trainers. Nine B.2s were so converted as T.11s.

The Swedish Air Force purchased two aircraft from the RAF in 1960 and these were modified to T.11 configuration by Boulton Paul. The aircraft were secretly modified in Sweden as espionage aircraft for eavesdropping on Soviet, Polish and East German military radio transmissions, though this was not publicly admitted until ten years later. The Canberras were classified as Tp.52s in Swedish service and went on to perform general testing until replaced by Tp.85 Caravelles in 1971

THE KIT

Let me start this off by saying the tooling for this appears to be identical to the S&M kit of the Canberra B.2/T.4/B.6. Probably because AMP has done the actual tooling work for S&M. The latter kit seems to be generally unavailable for much less than about $120 plus shipping so I don't see myself hunting out one of those any time soon. Undoubtedly they will eventually be available at a more reasonable price, but until then......

The molding on this kit is first rate. There are no ejector pin marks on the inside of the fuselage, wings or tailplanes like most short run kits. True that the wheels, for instance, are in left and right halves and there is also photo etch to provide things like cockpit detail, but aside from that, it definitely does not have the feel of a short run kit.

The Canberra is not a small plane and this one pretty much fills the box. Quite a bit of the photo etch is for the cockpit including things like instrument panels and seat harness. You will be able to see some of this through the clear cockpit canopy. This canopy is molded along with the upper forward fuselage which I think is a great way of doing things. A set of masks for the canopy and wheel hubs is also provided, though no mention is made of these in the instructions. An acetate sheet with instrument dials is also provided.

You have two separate nose sections for this one. One is the pointy one for the T.11 and the other is more rounded for one of the Swedish options. Though the parts layout shows the standard Canberra nose, these parts have been clipped off the sprue so any hopes of doing a standard Canberra are dashed. No indication of nose weight is provided, but I can guarantee you'll need a considerable amount.

The nose gear well, such as it is, is molded on the bottom of the cockpit floor. Each main gear well is comprised of six pieces. Landing gear is nicely molded and while the outer main gear doors have huge sink areas on them, AMP has provided two p.e. covers to go over these doors. These are not mentioned in the instructions.

Bomb bays are molded closed and no ordnance is provided, but those are not required for these versions. Engines and exhaust are quite short and shown as being attached after the wings and tailplanes are in place. For the Tp.52 options, there are some small p.e. chutes for the aft fuselage. The markings diagram for these planes show additional antennas, and while they are provided, the instructions again do not show them.

The instructions are well printed as are the full color decal placement guides. As you have read, the instructions don't tell you everything so be advised. The large decal sheet is nicely printed and while I'm not a fan of white backing decals, it looks like these will work just fine. Markings are provided for the two Swedish Tp.52s and a T.11 from 85 squadron, though I'll bet that every Javelin unit had at least one.

CONCLUSIONS

I will confess that I bought this to do a standard Canberra so am a bit disappointed that the nose has been removed from the sprues. However, doing the options provided or even a T.19 will provide an interesting addition to anyones Cold War aircraft collection.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact the editor or see other details in the Note to Contributors.

KIT #:	72004
PRICE:	$45.00 or so delivered
DECALS:	Three options
REVIEWER:	Scott Van Aken
NOTES:	2018 tooling