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I have wanted a 1/72 PBR "forever." So, I was surprised and excited to discover a plastic kit of one was made by Mach 2 several years back. Then, I read the reviews. "Not glowing." The company makes mostly aircraft kits, and their quality is considered low. The PBR was given the same treatment. I had just recently acquired the excellent Revell 1/72 Swift Boat. Mach 2 PBR kits for sale online were more expensive, for a smaller vessel, of apparently poorer quality. I passed.

Then, some months back, I blundered into the announcement by Cyber Hobby of their upcoming 1/72 PBR release. I also noted the pre-order price, and this was just as the stuff hit the fan on shipping costs from China. The same search that had discovered the Cyber Hobby kit also revealed a US ebayer who had a stock of the Mach 2 kits, and now, compared to the Cyber Hobby item, the price looked more competitive...IF I got a kit which had the fewest of numerous possible listed flaws: short shotted parts, hole in one reviewer's hull, tons of flash, rough surface, and the one I feared the most...a sagging transom leaving a significant gap when trying to put the gunwale on.

If I got something I considered buildable with my skill level, the price was fair. If I got "junk," it was not. I finally convinced myself I had to take the gamble. It was the only way to find out. I am pleased to write that my gamble paid off. While it has some minor flaws, it looks buildable to me, and the dreaded sagging transom (in two different reviewer's kits) is not an issue in mine. All three legs of the stern .50 caliber tripod stand are short shotted, and there is flash, but I can deal with that. I am missing a small piece. I don't yet know exactly what it is, but there's an empty space on the sprue, confirmed by looking at online sprue images. It is not loose in the plastic bag the sprue is in. I am not sure I will even miss the piece, and it looks easy to scratch if I find I do. Many reviewers complained about the quality of the guns provided, and advised upgrading with aftermarket, but I am happy enough with the kit supplied items. They work for me. Overall, after about an hour of study, as I noted, I feel it is buildable with my primitive abilities, to my level of satisfaction. Considering I knew from reviews what I might be getting, I lucked out. Not perfect, but I suspect they never made one of those. It seems from reading that their quality control was poor, and each kit was thus "a crap shoot."

Mach 2 are a company in France, and their PBR kit is out of production. So, finding them for sale is an adventure itself. The instruction sheet is pretty busy, however there are no part numbers (!), not all the parts are well drawn, and a number of them are illustrated already in place, so you think they're molded on, then discover it is not, then find the part shaped "like that" on the sprue and realize you need to assemble it.

This will be an interesting challenge to this slap together kit assembler, but I also feel confident as I look it over that I will be able to handle it.

It's nice when a gamble pays off, and the purchase was satisfying.