INTERMEDIATE BUILD
Mike Grant duels with the boutique French firm’s 1/72 replica of this important inter-war twin.
Considering its impact on aviation, the Martin B-10 has been surprisingly overlooked by kit manufacturers; this innovative aircraft was the US Army Air Corps' first all-metal monoplane bomber. Furthermore, the type featured fully cowled engines, retractable undercarriage, an enclosed gun turret and internal bomb bay, thus setting the standard for subsequent bomber design for years to come. Yet only one other injection-moulded 1/72 kit (from Williams Bros) has ever been produced prior to this release by French firm Azur-FRROM.
Not having personal experience of the earlier product, it’s hard to imagine the tooling would compare favourably with this newer production, which is derived from a collaboration between Azur-FRROM and the Special Hobby stable. In the box at least, the kit looks most impressive. Moulded in medium grey styrene, the panel lines are recessed while the surface corrugations are replicated finely and consistently. The B-10’s interior is especially well represented, including photo-etched (PE) metal seat harnesses, and the superb clear parts allow for optima…
