Martin Mars JRM-3 Flying Tankers
Two complete kits

Czech Master Resin, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Mick Evans

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The Martin Mars is one big flying boat having a wing span slightly larger than a Boeing 747 so for space sake I was sort of glad CMR chose to mould this in 1/144 scale.  This scale has not been my favourite scale in the past as it is difficult to capture detail but this is not the case with this kit.  Any reservations that I had about the scale disappeared when I opened the box, not only was it a beautifully cast and detailed kit with some very attractive colour schemes.  The Mars is not an overly pretty aircraft due to its sheer size and bulk but in its role would be very practical.  This new release of the Martin Mars is the first kit that I have seen or reviewed from CMR.  Until I read the fact sheet I did not realise that there were still two Mars aircraft flying over 40 years after they were built. 

The review box contained two complete kits for Hawaii Mars and Philippine Mars.  Each kit contains approx 50 nicely cast resin parts, 6 plastic parts, and 1 clear part.

The surface detail is beautifully engraved with all the major panel lines and control surfaces evident.  Due to the limited run moulding nature of the kit some of the detail parts will require some flash cleanup.  This is mostly evident on the injection moulded plastic propellers and some of the smaller resin parts.
Care will be required to be exercised when removing smaller parts from the resin casting blocks.

Assembly starts with the building of the cockpit areas.  There is a reasonable level of detail provided for the cockpit area and very little will be seen through the cockpit windows.  There is absolutely no cabin detail provided as none would be seen anyway.

The transparency is supplied as a one piece clear part that requires some fine and accurate masking due to the intricacy and size of the framing.

The build instructions are a one page exploded simplistic view of the major parts and subassemblies, but as assembly is fairly straight forward this should suffice most modellers.  Also included is a full data reference sheet outlining the history of the aircraft and a photo reference sheet containing 17 black and white photographs.

I do not have accurate scale plans of the Mars so I cannot make too many comments on the accuracy of the dimensions of the kit.

Decals are provided for the two aircraft in four schemes as follows:

Martin Mars JRM-3 Flying Tanker S/N76823 Hawaii Mars C-FLYL flown by FIFT (Forests Industries Flying Tankers Limited) latterly FT Inc, (Flying Tankers Inc) based at Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island in British Columbia in 2003.  Colour scheme is Sunfire Red lower surfaces and Sunfire White upper surfaces.  The under surfaces of the wings behind the engines is black.  Hawaii Mars has a Red vertical tail.

Martin Mars JRM-3 Flying Tanker S/N76823 Hawaii Mars C-FLYL flown by Coulson Flying Tankers based in British Columbia in 2007.  Colour scheme is Sunfire Red lower surfaces and Sunfire White upper surfaces.  The under surfaces of the wings behind the engines is black. Hawaii Mars has a Red vertical tail.

Martin Mars JRM-3 Flying Tanker S/N 76820 Philippine Mars C-FLYK flown by FIFT (Forests Industries Flying Tankers Limited) latterly FT Inc, (Flying Tankers Inc) based at Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island in British Columbia in 2003.  Colour scheme is Sunfire Red lower surfaces and Sunfire White upper surfaces.  The under surfaces of the wings behind the engines is black.  Philippine Mars has a White vertical tail.

Martin Mars JRM-3 Flying Tanker S/N 76820 Philippine Mars C-FLYK flown by Coulson Flying Tankers based in British Columbia in 2007.  Colour scheme is Sunfire Red lower surfaces and Sunfire White upper surfaces.  The under surfaces of the wings behind the engines is black.   Philippine Mars has a White vertical tail.

The decals are crisp, accurate in colour and in register.  They look to be very thin and should conform well to the surface detail, but they will have to be handled carefully.

Recommended for experienced modellers due to the multi media nature of this kit.

Thanks to CMR for the review sample

CMR Models are available online from Hannants in the UK,
Red Roo Models in Australia and quality specialist model retailers worldwide.

Text Copyright © 2008 by Mick Evans
Images Copyright © 2008 by Brett Green
This Page Created on 20 May2008
Last updated 20 May, 2008

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