History

The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is a military aerial refuelling aircraft. It and the Boeing 707airliner were developed from the Boeing 367-80prototype. The KC-135 was the US Air Force's first jet-powered refuelling tanker and replaced the KC-97 Stratotanker. The KC-135 was initially tasked to refuel strategic bombers, but was used extensively in the Vietnam War and later conflicts such as Operation Desert Storm to extend the range and endurance of US tactical fighters and bombers.

The KC-135 entered service with the United States Air Force(USAF) in 1957; it is one of six military fixed-wing aircraft with over 50 years of continuous service with its original operator. The KC-135 is supplemented by the larger KC-10. Despite increased maintenance costs, studies conclude many of the aircraft could be flown until 2040. The aircraft will eventually be replaced by the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus.

First Impressions

After opening the stable cardboard box, you find five sprues, four in light grey plastic and one with the clear parts. All are separately packed in plastic bags, so everything is well protected from scratches.

Fuselage

The fuselage halves have fine detail, cockpit interior is a no-show, but one wouldn’t see much anyway when the model is finished. The loading door area is very well detailed on the inside , just in case someone wants to cut it out to display it in the open position. The cockpit window section comes as a single clear part and there are decals for the windows, too, if you like.

Wings

The wings come in upper and lower half parts with some good detail in the main undercarriage bays.

Empennage

The horizontal stabilizers look well with nice detail.

engines

The engine nacelles are also very well defined, Minicraft give us Pratt & Whitney TF-33-PW-102. Maybe the outlets are a little thick. Maybe you want to drill them out a little.

Landing gear

The landing gear consists of 10 separate wheels and three legs. No flash here.

Accuracy

I didn’t measure the parts or the length and width of the model, because I never do. First test fitting with the fuselage parts and wings was excellent, probably no filling needed. When finished it will pretty much look like a Stratotanker as I saw it already built at a model exhibition this spring. There and then I decided that it was a Must-Have for me.

Decals and Markings

The decals are manufactured by Cartograf and look superb. You can choose between two Air Guard KC-135Es, Kansas or New Jersey ANG, the later one with an attractive Tiger Meet 2004 scheme. Both machines are painted in Air Mobility Command Gray FS36173.



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