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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 5:16:13 GMT -5
Whilst the Spitfire and Hurricane are rightly very well known as the RAFs premier fighters during the early part of WW2, there were other fighters on strength that are not as well known, the turret equipped Defiant and perhaps the least well known, the twin engined Westland Whirlwind. The Whirlwind first flew in 1938, designed to fulfil an Air Ministry requirement for a single seat, twin engined, cannon armed fighter and that's exactly what Westland delivered, with the Whirlwind being at the time one of the fastest and most heavily armed fighter in the world with beautiful flying characteristics, tremendous rate of climb, huge firepower, immense strength and with the bubble canopy, superb pilot vision. It had an Achilles heal though in it's engines, the Rolls Royce Peregrine which proved to be simply put unreliable and suffered from protracted development which meant that whilst Westland had the airframes ready, the engines were only delivered in a trickle and consequently although production commenced in January 1939 the first engines did not arrive from Rolls Royce until January 1940 and by the time production was cancelled two years later only 112 aircraft had been finished. The first deliveries took place in May 1940 and by July 1940, 263 Squadron had 5, none of which worked and it took until December that year before a full squadron was ready for service and ready for combat. In service the Whirlwind proved to be when working superb, able to match anything the Luftwaffe had, particularly at low level and because of this they were very useful for ground attack sorties across the channel and against shipping, proving to be devastating against locomotives and E-boats. Unfortunately the Whirlwind had been designed around it's engines and whilst a pair of Merlins would have made this plane it was decided at the time than rather than re-design it, it would be replaced by a combination of cannon armed Spitfires and where a twin was required Beaufighters and so it soldered on virtually unchanged until November 1943 when it was retired from service. All were scrapped Trumpeter 1/48 - Westland Whirlwind - 263 Squadron - RAF Exeter 1940/41
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 5:17:48 GMT -5
The Ilyushin IL-2 Shturmovik is one the most produced aircraft ever with some 36,000 being built after production commenced in early 1941 through to 1945. Designed as an armoured ground attack aircraft featuring an armoured cell containing the engine, the fuel tank, radiators and the pilot which was load bearing, the IL-2 was nicknamed the the flying tank by the Germans. Early versions were single seater but proved to extremely vulnerable to fighters so a gun and gunner were added behind the armoured section which proved a deterrent against fighters but the rear gunner mortality rate was very high indeed until much later in the war the armour was extended backwards. Due to it's weight however it couldn't carry a large weapon load and it's primary armament was it's two cannon in the wings supplemented by two machine guns plus either 6 100kg bombs or 2 bombs and 4 rockets. The other issue was the average accuracy and despite the vast claims of the aircrew for tanks destroyed, Germans records show that only 2-5% of their losses were from air attack but the Russians had numbers on their side. However it was a very difficult aircraft to bring down and consequently it had a strong psychological effect on German troops who unless they were supported by dedicated anti aircraft guns could do little about them and consequently it along with the T34 was considered a key weapon of Russina victory in WW2. 20 survive today of which two are airworthy Ilyushin IL-2 Shturmovik - 6th GV OSHap - 1942/4
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 5:18:28 GMT -5
Completely overshadowed by the Mustang which was based on it's frame and offered the same options for not a lot more cash, the 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint only sold in small numbers and would only last for 2 years. The Sprint package offered a V8 in the form of the 4.3 litre Windsor V8 coupled with stiffer suspension and louder exhaust in the 2nd generation Falcon body and could be coupled to 4 speed manual. A further option of the 4.7 litre Windsor did nothing to improve sales and the Sprint package was dropped in 1965. Trumpeter 1/25 - 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint Hardtop
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 5:18:50 GMT -5
The North American P-51 Mustang was originally developed after the British Purchasing Commission asked North American in 1940 if they could could license build Curtiss P40's for the RAF. North American said we can do better than that, and we can build you a new fighter and they did rolling out a prototype 102 days after the initial contract was signed which went on to fly 6 weeks later. The RAF ordered 320 of them powered by an Allison V12 and they proved to be superb at low level, faster than anything else out there but above 15,000 feet where most of the combat took place they were simply not fast enough. In traditional make do and mend fashion in Britain, Rolls Royce decided to try a Merlin in the Mustang and it transformed the aircraft and consequently North American started to produce a new variant powered by the Packard built Merlin produced under license and the resulting plane was found to have enough range to escort the bombers to Berlin, outfly and outshoot the Luftwaffe defence and then fly home. Game over Germany. Mid 1944 saw the development of the P51D which went on to be most numerous with some 8200 built and it became the definitive version of the fighter during WW2. Featuring a teardrop canopy and increased armament it also had the wing moved slightly forward on the fuselage to move the centre of gravity to accommodate more fuel plus an uprated Merlin delivering 1700hp which gave it a top speed of 437 mph. The model is from Airfix and i have chosen the personal mount of Major George Preddy Jr who was the highest scoring Mustang ace of WW2 and the 8th highest US Airforce ace with 26 kills. Airfix 1/48 - North American P-51D Mustang - 328th Fighter Squadron, 352nd Fighter Group - Major G.E.Preddy Jr - RAF Bodney - August 1944
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 5:19:10 GMT -5
Development of the replacement for the Luftwaffe's twin engined heavy fighter, the Me110, had begun in 1939 and whilst a prototype Me210 flew late that year it was found to have terrible handling and flying characteristics and over 100 were built to try and iron out the problems. Eventually in 1942 a version with a longer fuselage, larger re-designed wings with automatic leading edge slats and much more powerful engines was developed which overcame the flaws and was sufficiently different to be designated as a new model, the Me410. Deliveries to service began in early 1943 and it would be use as a high speed night bomber but it's primary job was as a heavy fighter bomber destroyer and there were a number of versions, the most heavily armed being the U4 variant with a 50mm BK5 cannon in the nose. The B series was introduced in 1944 and would feature upgraded armament amongst other refinements and again would be used as a bomber destroyer however the introduction of the Mustang as bomber escort meant they needed to have their own fighter escort and losses were such that the type was withdrawn in favour of single engine fighters. Nearly 1200 were built overall in all variants when production ended in September 1944 of which 2 survive to this day, one in storage in the US and one at the RAF museum on display which was returned to working condition after restoration though it has not been flown. Meng Model 1/48 - Messerschmitt Me-410B-2/U4 - Jagdgeschwader 6 - Germany 1944
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 5:19:28 GMT -5
The Einheitsdiesel (Standard Diesel) came out of a rationalisation plan by the German Army in the mid 30s to reduce the number of types in service and it would enter production in 1937 and was a collaborative project between most of Germany's car, truck and parts manufacturers. It was classed a medium off road truck with 6*6 drive and for the time it was extremely sophisticated but difficult to build and maintain and consequently very expensive to produce. Production ceased in 1940 in favour of less complex and easier to produce trucks after some 12,000 had been built. The least common version was the Kfz.61 Fernsprechbetriebskraftwagen (Heavy telephone exchange truck) which was a Magirus built version which acted as mobile communication hub for the German army and would see use throughout the war. I have modelled a version from the invasion of France in 1940. IBG Models 1/35 - Einheitsdiesel Kfz.61 Fernsprechbetriebskraftwagen - 12th Signals Battalion, 12th Infantry Division - France 1940
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 5:23:07 GMT -5
Austin Rover developed in conjunction with Williams a Group B contender very loosely based on it's small car the Metro. The competition car would feature a seam welded tubular semi monocoque chassis with a mid mounted bespoke 3 litre V6 and 4wd plus GRP bodywork and an aluminium roof, however it would utilise some of the original cars panels, such as the doors. 220 were made, 200 Clubman editions with 250hp, and 20 International cars with 410hp, and on its debut at the 1985 RAC Rally one would finish 3rd. 1986 would not see this repeated with the car failing to finish the first 4 rallies of the season it which it was entered. Mid 1986 saw the banning of Group B for the following year and consequently the programme was wound down except for the 1986 RAC Rally where Austin rover turned up in force with 7 works cars and 6 privateers of which 5 of the works cars finished, 4 being in the top ten. One of those finishing works cars was driven by Jimmy McRae & Ian Grindrod who would bring their car home 8th overall Belkits 1/24 - MG Metro 6R4 - 1986 Lombard RAC Rally - J.McRae & I.Grindrod - 8th
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 5:23:28 GMT -5
The introduction of the Focke-Wulf Fw190 in late 1941 proved somewhat of a shock to the British proving superior to the Spitfire Mk.V in all areas except turn radius and would maintain this superiority for over a year until the introduction of the Mk.IX Spitfire. It was even more successful on the Eastern Front where it was overwhelmingly superior to anything the Russians had. It did however have a weakness which was that it's performance would fall away with increasing altitude and a number of subsequent versions with turbochargers were tried without success until the installation of the Junkers Jumo 213 engine rated at 1800hp, combined with a longer nose and stretched fuselage proved to be a success and this variant the D-9 would enter production in August 1944. Capable of 440 mph in level flight with 2 cannons and 2 machine guns, it proved to more than a match for the Mustang and would enter service in late 1944 with 1800 being built until May 1945 and it met with considerable success in combat however the continued allied bombing campaign against aircraft factories and fuel installations would mean by the end of the war squadrons could only keep 4 in the air at any one time. The model represents a second batch built plane from December 1944 that was captured in May 1945 and was in service with Jagdgeschwader 301 in the defence of Germany. Eduard 1/48 - Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-9 - 5/JG301 - May 1945 - Bad Langensalza - Germany
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 5:23:49 GMT -5
Mercedes-Benz originally turned to Cosworth for engine development in the hopes that the new W201 190E could be taken rallying but the launch of the 4wd Audi Quattro scuppered that idea so they turned to DTM. Cosworth produced a new 16v head for the 2.3 litre engine which produced considerable power increases and to comply with DTM rules Mercedes put the 190E 2.3 16v into production in 1983 with the engine detuned to only 183hp. Further development to remain competitive in DTM would see the engine size increased to 2.5 litres in 1988 increasing the power to 201hp and the optional AMG power pack which would give 224hp. 1989 saw the introduction of the Evo 1 with revised aerodynamic aids with a short stroke version of the 2.5 litre engine which although only produced 1hp extra over the regular engine gave the engine far more flexibility and tuneability and with the AMG power pack fitted it was good for 232hp. This engine was carried over into the final version the Evo II which was released in 1990 with 502 being produced, 500 in black and two silver cars all of which had fully adjustable suspension via a switch inside and a new body kit including the massive pram handle and rear window spoiler with larger 17" wheels. The kit is by Fujimi and is a strange blend of road and competition car as in this kit you get the road car interior for the front and the competition car interior for the rear including a half cage. Fujimi 1/24 - Merceds-Benz 190E 2.5-16V Evo II
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 5:24:10 GMT -5
The Arado AR234 was the world's first operational jet bomber (plus the world's 1st 4 jet engined aircraft and the 1st jet engined aircraft to perform a reconnaissance mission) and the which entered service in the autumn of 1944 after a long and protracted development. Originally designed as a reconnaissance aircraft to a brief issued in 1940 with the airframes being ready in 1941, it didn't fly until July 1943 when the engines were finally ready. Further development was required in areas such as landing gear (the prototypes didn't have any using a trolley and skid system) armament in terms of both defensive and offensive, the cockpit design and also number of engines with the Type B having 2 and the Type C having 4. 214 were produced overall with 14 of them being the 4 engined Type C as i've modelled and they would be used most notably for bombing the bridge at Remagan almost continually from 7th to 17th March 1945 when it collapsed (missed this in the film ) plus mounting raids and reconnaissance over Britain and the Western front from October 1944 to April 1945 and it would be the last Luftwaffe aircraft to fly over Britain in WWII. Capable of around 460mph at a cruise at 30,000 feet most of them went undetected and although some were lost in air combat most were either destroyed on the ground whilst waiting for fuel that never came. A number were captured at war's end (9 by the British and 2 by the French) of which 6 were used for evaluation post war and of those one remains, a Type B in the care of the Smithsonian. Hasegawa 1/48 - Arado Ar234C-3 - Kampfgeschwader 76 - Achmer - Germany 1945
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 5:24:33 GMT -5
The German army recognised prior to WW2 that they would require something to cross gaps and deal with fixed fortifications and consequently began experimenting with bridge laying vehicles based on tank chassis. By early 1940 they had settled on the Panzer IV as the base and between February and May of that year twenty were converted by Magirus & Krupp with the first reaching the Panzer battalions in March and they would be issued to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 10th Panzer Divisions. They would see service in the Low Countries and France during 1940 but performance was found to be wanting and more problematically they were too heavy for their suspension so once France had been conquered they were all withdrawn and converted back to tanks. Trumpeter 1/43 - Bruckenleger IVb - 3rd Panzer Division - France 1940
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 5:25:23 GMT -5
Well from one extreme to the other. Back in the day some 40 ish years ago right at the budget end of the kit spectrum was Matchbox and i made a lot of them as they were cheap, readily available, came in multi colour plastic (my i was easily pleased) and tended to model a selection of more obscure subjects (I thought at the time anyway) then their rival Airfix. Back then Tamiya was royalty in terms of price and engineering and out of my reach. One product line was a range of military vehicles in 1/76 and each one came with a diorama so when i came across this recently for a few quid, all complete but with a battered box i went on a nostalgia trip. So the subject is the SD.Kfz.124 Wespe which is a self propelled gun that was created by taking obsolete Panzer IIs and converting them with a 10.5cm howitzer that came into service in 1943 and proved to be very successful with production continuing until the factory was overrun by the Soviets in 1944 by which time some 650+ had been built. In typical Matchbox fashion the liveries are fantasy as both options are set before the type was in use however to make use of the desert diorama the model is finished in the scheme of the 11th Panzer Division, Afrika Corps (incidentally the 11th never fought in North Africa either) I made and painted the model, but i sub-contracted the base decoration to my youngest daughter has a bit of an eye for making them look pretty real. Pity i can't persuade her to paint my models as i'm sure she would make a better job of it! Matchbox 1/76 - Sd.Kfz.124 Wespe - 11th Panzer Division, Afrika Corps, Tripoli
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 5:25:44 GMT -5
The Gloster Javelin was a twin engined all weather interceptor that was developed to an air ministry specification issued in 1946 though it would take until 1949 for a decision to be made and instructions were issued for prototypes. The prototype first flew in 1951 and a production order was issued in 1953 with the first production aircraft being ready in 1954 prior to the completion of the prototype order so the plane was still being tested and developed as they rolled off the line. Due to this and because of further development the first aircraft entered service in 1956 as Mk.7s (which showed how many variants it went through before entering full service) and shortly thereafter they were upgraded to Mk9s which became the definitive version. 435 were built and by 1959 they had replaced al of the 1st generation jet fighter in the RAF and would remain in service until 1968 being deployed in the defence of the UK plus overseas deployment to Singapore and Hong Kong. The aircraft only saw air combat once in 1964 against the Indonesian air force but the C-130 Hercules they were deployed against crashed without a shot being fired. Airfix 1/48 - Gloster Javelin FAW.9R - No.64 Squadron, RAF Tengah, Singapore - 1965/7
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 5:33:28 GMT -5
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was developed as a replacement for existing US fighters and but the initial prototypes were found unsuitable and a complete re-design which was larger was built. Powered by the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp which developed 2000hp, the P-47 weighed in at 4.5 tonnes and was armed with 8 0.50 caliber Brownings and the prototype which flew in 1941 was found to be capable of 412mph. A production order followed and the 1st planes were delivered in December 1941, and these were readied for combat operations by the end of 1942 being delivered to fighter groups in England at that time with the first operation of the type occurring in March 1943. 1943 saw the type deployed in Italy and the Pacific theatre. Whilst it was replaced in the long distance escort role by the P-51, the P-47 became the USAAF mainstay fighter bomber, further development which lead to the D variant meant it could escort the bombers to Germany and back and carry out ground attack sorties on the return making a it a versatile type however it's shortcomings in manoeuvrability meant many fighter groups would transfer over to the P-51 as the war progressed. I've modelled a aircraft from the 84th Fighter Squadron of the 78th Fighter Group which equipped with Thunderbolts when assigned to England in 1943 from the North African campaign replacing its P38s in the process and would continue with the type until December 1944 when it re-equipped with P51s Tamiya 1/48 - Republic P-47D Thunderbolt - Lt.Col. Benjamin Mayo - 84th Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group - Duxford 1944
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 5:33:56 GMT -5
The Alfa Romeo Giulietta (Type 750) was originally introduced in 1954 and went through 3 iterations before production ceased in 1965 which covered a number of body styles including a saloon, coupe, estate and a spider all powered by the same twin cam 1300cc in various states of tune from 52 to 99hp. The Pininfarina styled spider was introduced in 1955 and was powered by a 74hp variant of the twin cam which was good for nigh on 100mph and 14,300 of them were produced over the model's 10 year lifespan. The model is by Italeri which is based on the Protar molding from 1995 and considering it's age it goes together remarkably well. Italeri 1/24 - Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spyder 1961
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