Hobby Master Archive

Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series HA3207 Douglas A-26B Invader flown by Captain Tony Curto 13th Bomber Sqn., 3rd Bomber Wing, Iwakuni AB, South Korea, March 1951

True 1/72 scale. Professionally painted. Great attention to detail. All markings are Tampoed (pad applied). Option to display the model on a stand that is provided. Model can be shown with the landing gear in the down or up positions. Loads of optional armament provided. Canopy can be removed to place figures inside. 3 figures included. Dorsal turret can turn. Bomb bay can be opened with 6 bombs included. Extremely heavy metal with a minimum of plastic. Highly collectable.

In 1941 Douglas Aircraft Company began work on their twin-engine medium-bomber A-26 Invader. By the end of production there were 2,452 aircraft produced for all variants. The A-26/B- 26 was the only U.S. bomber to take part in three wars, WWII, Korea and Vietnam. The confusion with the use of the designation B-26 began when the Martin B-26 Marauder was retired and in 1948 the USAF dropped the “A” (Attack) designator so the Douglas A-26 Invader became the B- 26 Invader. The A-26 made its first European appearance in late 1944.

The 3rd Bomber Wing was stationed in Iwakuni Japan as part of the occupation force when they began operations in support of the Korean War. They transferred to Kunsan AB South Korea in August 1951. A-26 #44-34287 was referred to by her crews as “Old Able” or occasionally as “Patches” because of all the patches that were applied to fix combat damage. At some point someone painted a voluptuous woman on the left side of the nose and named her “Versatile Lady”. In 1951 Captain Tony Curto awarded the aircraft a DFC and served cake in honor of the aircraft having flown 203 missions in the first year of the war. #44-34287 was one of the 12 planes that took part in the first bombing mission in Korea. The aircraft can be seen at the museum at Lackland AFB, Texas.

Specifications Douglas A-26B Invader First flight - July 10, 1942 Crew - 3 Dimensions Length - 50 ft 9 in Wingspan - 70 ft 0 in Height - 18 ft 6 in Weight Empty - 22,370 lbs Maximum take-off - 35,000 lbs Performance Engines - 2 x Pratt & Whitney R-2800-79 radial piston each producing 2,000 hp Maximum speed @ 15,000 ft - 355 mph Ceiling - 22,100 ft Range - 1,400 miles Armament 6 x 12.7 mm (0.5 in) machine guns in nose 2 x 12.7 mm (0.5 in) machine guns in ventral turret 2 x 12.7 mm (0.5 in) machine guns in dorsal turret 6,000 lbs of bombs 8 x 127 mm (5-inch) rockets