1:48 Mk.83 bombs with BSU-85 (4 pcs)

The Mk.83 in its retarded version with the BSU-85 unit

The set captures a medium-caliber bomb fitted with a retarding tail unit that deploys after release and quickly slows the fall. The entry (4 pcs) is taken from the name of the item. A deployed retarder has an entirely different silhouette on a model from a smooth cone, so stores like these are noticed even from a distance.

Why ordnance is retarded

In an attack from low altitude the machine flies so close above the ground that the blast of its own charge would endanger it. The retarding unit therefore delays the impact and gives the crew time to get away. On carrier-based attack aircraft such as the Skyhawk or the Corsair II this method of delivery was in common use and is typical of training and live sorties over a range alike.

How to work the stores

First decide whether you will build the weapon in its carriage or its deployed form, because each looks different and mixing them on one machine makes no sense. The thin surfaces of the retarder need firm gluing and a flat support, ideally glass with paper underneath. Apply the colored bands only once the whole is assembled and unify the dried surface with a thin overspray so that the joints disappear.

Who it suits

• builders of carrier-based attack aircraft of American make
• scenes of low-level attacks and training drops over a range
• modelers looking for a striking silhouette in the stores
• builds where the armament is to be the main theme of the whole display case

The goods complete the stores of a model. Neither the machine itself nor the means to build it belong with them.