Matchbox PK-601 Supermarine Stranraer Flying Boat — 1/72 Scale Plastic model kit decals damaged

Manufacturer: Matchbox / Lesney

Kit number: PK-601

Barcode: 035995460126

Subject: Supermarine Stranraer

Scale: 1/72

Original kit release: 1979

Parts: 121

Plastic: Three colours

Type: Twin-engine biplane flying boat

Status: Out of production

Original box: Large Matchbox "brown series" packaging

This is one of the larger and more ambitious Matchbox aircraft kits. Its 121 parts make it considerably more substantial than many of the company's smaller 1/72 aircraft. The specialist Matchbox archive also records an interesting production error: the instruction sheet was originally printed with the PK-551 number and a correction notice was supplied with the kit.
Manufacturer and kit history

Matchbox was the model-kit division of British toy manufacturer Lesney Products, best known for its Matchbox die-cast vehicles. During the 1970s the company developed an increasingly broad range of plastic aircraft kits, often choosing unusual British and Commonwealth subjects that were poorly represented by other manufacturers.

The PK-601 Stranraer was introduced in 1979 and belongs to the larger "brown series" Matchbox aircraft kits. Its 121 parts, multiple-colour moulding and unusually large box reflect the size of the finished aircraft.

The kit is particularly interesting to collectors because the Stranraer is an unusual subject even today. It is a large interwar biplane flying boat with extensive external struts, twin engines and a boat-like hull, giving the finished 1/72 model a considerable physical presence.

A surviving build examination of the kit describes two grey sprues, a green sprue containing the fuselage, tails, floats and engine nacelles, and a brown sprue containing additional tailplane, flight-deck, bulkhead, propeller and wing-bracing components, plus a clear sprue.
Kit contents

The original kit contains approximately 121 parts, moulded in three colours.

The principal components include:

large flying-boat hull/fuselage;

upper and lower wings;

extensive wing struts;

twin engine nacelles;

two Bristol Pegasus engine representations;

propellers;

tailplane;

vertical tail surfaces;

wingtip floats;

cockpit/flight deck;

internal bulkheads;

pilot/crew details;

clear cockpit and cabin glazing;

underwing and hull details;

propeller assemblies;

external bracing;

decals;

assembly instructions.

A modern inspection of an original kit confirms the presence of the large hull, wing assemblies, engine nacelles, floats, tail components, flight-deck parts and clear glazing.

One of the kit's more interesting historical quirks is the instruction-sheet numbering error. Matchbox accidentally printed PK-551 on the construction sheet, and a correction notice was included to identify the kit properly as PK-601.

That correction sheet is therefore something a collector should retain with a complete example.
The real aircraft — Supermarine Stranraer

The Supermarine Stranraer was a British twin-engine patrol flying boat developed during the early 1930s.

It was the final Supermarine flying boat design to reach production in the lineage that included the Southampton and Scapa.

The aircraft was designed by the Supermarine team headed by R. J. Mitchell, the same designer who would later become famous for the Spitfire.

The Stranraer was developed in response to Air Ministry Specification R.24/31, which called for a general-purpose coastal reconnaissance flying boat. The requirement included the ability to maintain level flight after losing one engine.

The aircraft retained the characteristic biplane flying-boat configuration of the period, but incorporated an all-metal hull and modernised construction.
Development

Supermarine initially proposed an enlarged derivative of the Scapa.

The Air Ministry initially preferred a competing Saunders-Roe design, but Supermarine continued development privately. The project was initially associated with the designation Southampton V before becoming the Stranraer.

In 1933, an order was placed for a prototype.

The prototype, K3973, was powered by two 820-hp Bristol Pegasus IIIM engines and made its first flight on 24 July 1934, with Supermarine test pilot Joseph Summers at the controls.

The prototype subsequently underwent official trials at the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe.
Production aircraft

The Air Ministry ordered the first batch of 17 production Stranraers in August 1935.

The first production-standard aircraft flew in December 1936.

The Stranraer entered RAF service on 16 April 1937, initially with No. 228 Squadron at Pembroke Dock.

The final British-built aircraft was delivered on 3 April 1939.

The RAF Museum confirms that the original production contract was for 17 aircraft and that the first aircraft entered service with No. 228 Squadron in early 1937.
Canadian production

The Stranraer had a particularly important Canadian connection.

Canadian Vickers Limited produced the aircraft under licence for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

A total of 40 Canadian-built aircraft were produced.

The RAF Museum notes that the RCAF selected the type and that Canadian Vickers built forty examples.

Together with the British production aircraft and prototype, total production was approximately 58 aircraft.

That makes the Stranraer a relatively rare aircraft even by the standards of interwar flying boats.
Construction

The Stranraer was a substantial aircraft.

Its hull was constructed from metal, while the wings had fabric-covered surfaces.

The aircraft's two engines were mounted between the upper and lower wings in conventional flying-boat biplane fashion.

The enormous wing cellule required numerous struts and bracing wires.

These features are exactly what make the Matchbox kit visually distinctive: even though the tooling is now more than four decades old, the completed model has a very impressive outline.
Engines

Production aircraft were powered by two Bristol Pegasus X radial engines.

Each produced approximately 920 hp.

The radial engines were mounted in nacelles between the wings and drove four-bladed propellers.

The Pegasus was a mature and widely used British radial-engine family, giving the Stranraer a dependable powerplant for long-range coastal patrol operations.
Performance

Representative Stranraer Mk I specifications include:

Crew: approximately 6

Engines: 2 × Bristol Pegasus X

Power: approximately 920 hp each

Maximum speed: approximately 165 mph

Range: approximately 1,000 miles

Service ceiling: approximately 18,500 ft

Armament: up to three .303-inch machine guns

Bomb load: approximately 1,000 lb.

The aircraft was not designed to be fast. Its strengths were range, endurance, seaworthiness, payload and the ability to operate from water.
Armament

The Stranraer was intended primarily for coastal reconnaissance and anti-submarine work.

Its defensive armament consisted of three .303-inch machine guns, mounted in positions around the hull/fuselage.

It could also carry approximately 1,000 lb of bombs.

The aircraft therefore had sufficient offensive capability for anti-submarine patrols, although its relatively slow speed and open biplane configuration increasingly made it vulnerable as more modern aircraft entered service.
RAF service

When Britain entered the Second World War in September 1939, Stranraers were still in RAF service.

The RAF Museum records that two operational units were equipped with the aircraft during the early part of the war.

Stranraers performed:

coastal patrol;

reconnaissance;

anti-submarine patrol;

convoy protection;

training.

They operated from coastal bases and were particularly suited to the maritime environment for which they had been designed.

The type was withdrawn from front-line operational service in March 1941, after which surviving aircraft continued in training roles.

The last RAF Stranraer was retired from service in October 1942.
Royal Canadian Air Force service

The Stranraer had a much longer operational career in Canada.

Canadian aircraft were used for patrols over both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

At the outbreak of war, eight Canadian Stranraers were operational.

The type equipped several RCAF squadrons and undertook anti-submarine and coastal patrol duties.

Canadian Stranraers remained in service until 1944, when they were finally withdrawn from operational use.

This Canadian service is an important part of the aircraft's history because the type's production in Canada actually exceeded its British production.
Civilian career

The Stranraer's story did not end with military retirement.

Several aircraft were registered for civilian use after their military careers.

The most notable operator was Queen Charlotte Airlines, which operated Stranraers along the Pacific coast of British Columbia.

The aircraft continued to operate commercially into the 1950s, particularly in remote areas where its flying-boat characteristics remained useful.

This gives the Stranraer an unusually long overall operational life for a 1930s biplane.
Surviving aircraft

A complete Stranraer survives at the Royal Air Force Museum London.

The RAF Museum identifies its aircraft as Stranraer serial 920 and displays it in Hangars 3 and 4.

This aircraft is particularly important because the Stranraer is one of the world's last surviving examples of the large interwar biplane flying-boat concept.

For a modeller, the museum aircraft provides an excellent reference for:

hull shape;

cockpit arrangement;

engine nacelles;

wing bracing;

floats;

gun positions;

external fittings.

Full-size aircraft selling price

A particularly useful historical price reference comes from wartime-era discussions of Canadian-built Stranraers.

A New Zealand government/aviation-history source records that in 1940 a Canadian-built Stranraer was being considered for purchase and that the aircraft cost approximately C$200,000 each.

That is a useful contemporary figure, although it should be treated as a specific quotation rather than a universal production price because aircraft prices depended upon configuration, equipment and contract terms.

For catalogue purposes:

Documented approximate 1940 price: C$200,000 per aircraft

There is, of course, no meaningful ordinary current selling price for a complete original Stranraer. The surviving aircraft are museum pieces rather than aircraft normally traded on the open market.

Current full-size market value: effectively museum/heritage value; no reliable open-market transaction price.