Boeing B-29 Superfortress (NewRay 1/132 Scale) October 26 2014

The model from NewRay does not specify the scale of it, so I had to do some quick calculations and came up that the scale is about 1/132 (the real thing being 99 ft long which translates to 1,188 inches and the model measuring 9 inches long). So in terms of model size, it is a pretty good size model (quite noticeable). However, the B-29 although being a bomber turns out to be a very slim aircraft. It is one with very long and thin wings with a narrow fuselage.

Just for comparison, the B-29 at 99 ft measures just about what a modern 737-200 measures (100 ft), yet it has a longer wingspan (141 ft vs. 93 ft).

This model from NewRay is supposed to be really easy to assembly. The fuselage already comes assembled and one just needs to put the wings, elevators, engines/propeller caps and the main landing gears. It should have been put together in less than 5 minutes, but it took me about 15 minutes since for the life of me, I could not figure out how to insert the landing gear. One is supposed to position them in place by putting an end inside a slot and then twisting it in place, but for me that was not working. I kept twisting the landing gear but it would not snap into place as it was supposed to. After taking a closer look at the parts, it turned out that there was some extra piece of plastic (some run off from manufacturing) that was not allowing the parts to fit perfectly, so I had to take away some material to make parts fit. Nothing too serious or complicated, but these line of models is supposed to be and marketed as, EASY ASSEMBLY. This issue does not take away from the enjoyment I got from the model but I worry that a beginner model builder and/or a 8+ year old child (as the box recommends) would not have the patience and/or insight to make parts fit. So, if you get this model, please be sure to know how the parts fit and be patient, otherwise you might end up with a broken landing gear.

A broken landing gear would not be a show stopper. One could easily glue it in place or simply not insert/include it. But I got to say that one of the more interesting things about this model is indeed the landing gear. The landing gear is actually accurate. The location, the shape and even the proportions look accurate. I was very surprised and delighted for that (since usually that is not the case with this type of model from NewRay. The beauty of all of these is that the landing gear is retractable. In the retracted position part of the rear landing gears are visible, they don't go all the way into the engine housing, however they are not too distracting.

Other details include gun turrets that can turn and the separate “blisters” where the gunners would be located. A very small disappointment was the lack of rear guns even when the read gunner position was present.

There were some minor fitting issues, some joints looked a bit too wide for my taste, but nothing that can't be touched up. I read in other reviews that some kids enjoy assembling and dissembling the model more than anything else. I can see what the fun would be. But for me, since I know I will be displaying it and maybe even play with it (while making engine or machine gun noises) I think I will use a few drops of glue on the wings and elevators.

All in all a nice model for WWII history buffs. As with other plastic models, one could easily finish/weather it and make it look better and more realistic (which seems to be the best part, really).