Modelers, I was digging thru some kits I’ve had for many years and ran across a 1/72 AMT KC-135. I opened it up for the first time in many years and found that it isn’t bad! Fine engraved panel lines and decent interior detail is what surprised me. How does this kit go together? Is there or was there any aftermarket stuff out there for it?
Thanks.
There’s a review of it in FSM’s May 1993 issue. Says the fit is great. No mention of any aftermarket parts, though. I think True Details made some resin items for it if memory serves me.
I’d like to do a KC-135 in Ohio ANG markings… Bones-coa please let me know how it goes when you build it!
Hey Bones!
In an older FSM there was an inflight dio of a KC-135 refueling a B-52 in 1/72.
Just a thought!
Randie
I’ve built several of these for obvious reasons. The kit goes together pretty good just watch out for the ribbing on the top of the aft fuselage and the placement of the apu exhaust ducts (R-model apu ehaust should be flush with the fuselage, the kit part has them attached to an retangular piece of plastic that needs to be sanded away or a hole cut into the fuselage for it) The installation of the exhaust for the engines on the R model are wrong on the instructions. The tail pipe should fit inside the two engine halfs. You might have to shave them a little but when they are installed correctly the look a whole lot better. The angle of the wings is too shalllow and I’m still trying to find a way to fix it. It takes a little work but you can get a good looking tanker from this kit.
Im by no means an expert model builder, not even a very good one, but I have built the 1/72 KC-135 from AMT and while the finished kit looked good for my skill level I did encounter some problem with the main body fit along the spine and the wing roots. A more experienced modeler could probably easily fix this with sanding and filling… The most disappointing problem for me came in the boom operators area. It was difficult for me to assemble and the clear window parts were too small, a problem I dont know how to fix 
the small boom operator windows can be replaced with Micro Kristal Klear, it a white glue like substance that dries clear and can fill all the smaller windows on the 135. Squardon sells it for $2.50 a bottle.
Yes, there are some aftermarket parts for the KC-135
-from True Detail (TD72002) set of weighted resin wheels
(TD72801) etched parts
(TD72451) galley set in resin
-from Airwaves (AEC72100) etched parts
-from Xtradecals decals set KC135A with fin bands + badges for 9 bomb wings + 1 SAC fuselage band
-from Expert Choise decals for KC-135A/E
You can find all these stuff on www.hannants.co.uk
Luc
Hey Bones, I’ve got one of those kits, and I was wondering how you made out, especially if you used aftermarket decals. My kit is in great condition, but there has been some damage to the original decal sheet and I’m not sure I can use them. They still stick (I’m going to build the hi-vis version, so I tested a couple of lo-vis decals) but some of them are stained.
Wow! I’d almost forgot I even posted this! Actually, I never got around to starting it. I may some day, but as of now, it’s not in line to built anytime soon.
having built the kit myself I’ll just echo a few other comments that seem to be common problems with this kit. Be carefull around the ribbing, and good luck with the windows around the boom operators area. As mentioned before my windows were too small.
One side note, if you plan on displaying this thing on the ground, DO NOT forget to weight the nose. Something that always gets past me. I forgot and had to get creative as Id modeled it with the cargo door open. Easily solved. I just created some pallet cargo and stuffed it inside the cargo door 
If you go to this web page you will find an article on fixing the wing droop on these models.
http://www.amtechmodels.com/product_view.cfm?Item=ec135
HTH
Phil Hastie
Canberra, Australia