Academy 12487 Consolidated PBY-5A 'Black Cat' 1/72 Scale Plastic Model Kit

The Academy Plastic Model Company has been producing kits since 1969. The company is famous for its endless research and development and the excellent model kits that result from the effort. Academy has been awarded Model of the Year at the Nuremberg International Toy Show nine times and the quality of their model kits meets or exceeds that of any other current manufacturer. The earlier PBY-2 and PBY-5 Catalina flying boats were faster and more attractive to look at, but it was the Black Cat Squadrons that wrote some of the most interesting chapters in the history of the War in the Pacific. Their search and attack capability was the perfect answer to the Japanese tactics of moving men and supplies at night by ship or barge to resupply their out-of the-way garrisons in the western Pacific. The early RADAR installed on the PBY-5A Catalinas was crude and very limited, but it worked well enough that the Black Cats were able to sink over 10,000 tons and seriously damage another 24,000 tons of Japanese merchant shipping in their night attacks. Because of its amphibian landing gear, the PBY-5A had the advantage of operating from island landing strips or seaplane tenders, but this came at a price. Because of the added weight of retractable landing gear, the PBY-5A was slower and couldn't fly as high as the earlier pure seaplane versions. This model kit features: fully engraved panel lines & rivet detail; highly detailed cockpit interior & waist gunner's compartment; optional position landing gear & wing-tip floats; and realistic P. V. C. tires included. This finely detailed plastic model kit requires assembly and painting.