29/07/2016 North American P-51D Mustang US Army Air Force, Academy

The Head of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Göring, was once quoted: „As soon as I saw the first Mustangs over Berlin, I knew it was over“. Indeed, there is no doubt that this fighter aircraft changed the course of WWII in Europe. The enormous range and superior performance made it a perfect escort for the Allied Bomber squads. Now they could fly all the way of their mission with fighter cover, something that was not possible with other fighters of the time. And when the American escort fighters changed their tactics from passive-defensive to preemptive attack, it broke the Luftwaffe backbone.

But the story of the Mustang started relatively unspectacular. In 1940 the Royal Air Force needed a replacement of the P-40 and North American Aviation had spare capacity to build an all-new fighter aircraft. It had very refined aerodynamics but was limited by its Allison Engine, the same engine used in the P-40 (single-stage turbocharger and poor performance at high altitude). The early Mustang perfomance was decent but not outstanding. This all changed however when the P-51B type was introduced, with an American license-build Rolls Royce Merlin engine, the Packard V-1650. With a powerful engine and efficent aerodynamics, the Mustang was a big success. With the P-51D type introduced in early 1944, the appareance of the aircraft changed dramatically. The “Razorback” rear fuselage was removed and replaced by a bubble canopy that allowed maximum visibility and reduced aerodynamic drag.

Performance-wise, the Mustang was at least equal or superior to the latest versions of the Bf 109 or Fw 190. It could even hold its own against the Me 262 jet fighter as it was more agile. The last version, the lighter P-51H arrived shortly after the end of WWII but the career of the Mustang was far from over, the last ones were operated by the National Air Guard and retired in 1957 – it still remained in service with some Middle-American countries and was the last prop figher aircraft ever in service, only retired by the Dominican Republic in the early 1980s ! Quite a lot P-51s are still airworthy and can be seen in air shows all over the world.

When it comes to the Mustang, there is plenty on the market in 1/72 scale. I think only the Spitfire has more kits in this scale ! This kit is from Academy, a relatively new one and quite good detailed. Decaling options are endless and I choose aftermarket decals from Peddinghaus. I decided to build P-51D B6Y “Glamorous Glen III”, flown by Cpt. Charles “Chuck” Yeager of the 363rd Fighter Sqd. in late 1944.

Chuck Yeager named this aircraft after his girlfriend and later wife, Glennis. Yeager scored 11 ½ victories during the war, including one Me 262 jet fighter. Yeager, born 1923, stayed in the Air Force after WWII and made it to the rank of Brigadier General until his retirement in 1975. Maybe one of the most-known pilots of all time, he made history in 1947 when he was the first human to break the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 rocket aircraft. He remained in the public eye since then and worked also as a consultant, speaker and lent his name for several Flight Simulator computer games.

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07/05/2016 Reggiane Re 2000 Falco Regia Aeronautica, Italeri

Of the 186 Reggiane Re 2000 Falco build, only a handful served in it´s Homeland Air Force, the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Air Force). The type proved to be more popular as an export model. When it had it first flight in 1939, it was the most advanced Italian fighter aircraft at the time, outperforming the rival designs from Fiat (G.50) and Macchi (MC.200) and it could hold its own against the Bf 109 and Hurricane. However, the Regia Aeonautica rejected the design at first – having concerns about the integral fuel tanks in the wings (not self-sealing) and the unreliable Piaggo radial engine.

But the new fighter received interest from other countries, and fix orders were received from Sweden und Hungary, the later one having the largest contingent of Re 2000 fighters during WWII. Later a licensed modified version was built in Hungary, called the Héja. Even the Royal Air Force showed interest in the model for operations in North Africa, but the order fell through when Italy allied with Nazi Germany. The design problems of the Re 2000 –the wing fuel tanks and the engine- still remained and caused trouble.

12 of the later Re.2000 GA models (with longer range) were accepted finally by the Italian Air Force and organised into an experimental squadron, the 377a Squadriglia Autonoma based in Sicily, where they were used for bomber escort missions in the Mediterranean Sea. Missions included bomber escorts against Malta or targets in North Africa, where the long range of the Re.2000 GA was an advantage. The service record was rather unspectacular though; no kills were recorded and the planes were phased out soon.

To rectify the Re.2000 engine problems, Reggiane engineers installed the German DB 601 in-line engine into a prototype and a new version, the Re.2001 was born; it was much more succesful and went into full production soon, with the DB 601 engine built in license by Alfa Romeo.

This models represents the “red 4” of the 377a Squadriglia Autonoma, based in Sicily in early 1941. The kit is from Italeri and build out of the box. A nice kit for a rather obscure aircraft.

20/04/2016 Kyushu J7W1 Shinden Imperial Japanese Navy, Hasegawa

Towards the end of WWII, not only the Luftwaffe was developing so-called “wonder weapons” or “special attack weapons”, but the Japanese as well. Some of these kits are on my pile and will show up here sometime. Dealing with high-altitude bombers was a challenge for the Japan Air Forces as well, and unless in Europe, the B-29 bomber was deployed on a regular basis in the Pacific War. To counter it, the small Kyushu aircraft works developed an highly unusual and radical interceptor aircraft, the Kyushu J7W1 “Shinden” (“magnificient lightning”).

The brainchild of Lt.Cmdr. Masayoshi Tsuruno, a technical staff officer of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Shinden was a canard-design aircraft with a propeller in the back, used in a pusher configuration. This concept promised a clean, aerodynamic fuselage with 4 autocannons in the nose, providing powerful concentrated firepower, and high agility and speed – the perfect combination for a bomber interceptor. Top speed was calculated at ca. 470 mph.

The first short test flight took place on August 3rd, 1945, followed by two other test flights. While the flights were successful, there were a lot of serious design shortcomings that had to be fixed. The aircraft was difficult to fly, with longitudinal instability and strong vibrations in the driveshaft due to the powerful engine. It has a tendency to pull to starboard due to engine torque, and one big problem was cooling the radial air-cooled engine on the ground as it was installed in the rear. The whole canard concept was new and untested and the Japanese really had to do pioneering engineering work here. Could they have solved all problems ? We will never find out, as they war ended only a few weeks later and the Shinden never flew again. Two aircraft were build, one was scrapped and the other taken to the United States. It is now stored, in unrestaurated condition, at the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

In the end, three test flights were performed with a complete flying time of about 45 min. The aircraft was never tested at high altitude or at high speeds. A real performance evaluation was not possible. This Shinden configuration was an intermediate solution anyway; later types were supposed to have a turbojet engine installed. This version, of course, never left the drawing board.

“Exotic” aircraft models are usually reserved for the short run kit makers, so it´s nice to see that a major manufacturer, Hasegawa of Japan, released this kit a few years ago. Nice kit. Not much to do in terms of paint variation or weathering as there were only two prototypes. I still cannot believe this aircraft is over 70 years old – it still looks futuristic today, don´t you think ???

28/03/2016 Focke Wulf Ta 152 H-1 Luftwaffe, Aoshima

Introduced only a few weeks before the end of WWII in Europe, the Focke Wulf Ta 152 was the most advanced prop fighter aircraft of the Luftwaffe; in fact it was one of the most sophisticated fighter aircraft overall designed during the war. Based on the succesful Focke Wulf Fw 190 design, the Ta 152 (named after it´s designer, Prof. Kurt Tank) was supposed to be a new family of multi-role fighter aircraft, but only one version, the Ta 152 H (high altitude interceptor) ever went into limited production.

During late 1944, the Luftwaffe expected that the US Army Air Force would deploy the B-29 high altitude bomber to Europe (it did not happen after all), and there was no adequate Luftwaffe aircraft to engage it – all German fighters at the time experienced a dramatic decrease in performance at very high altitudes. The Focke Wulf Fw 190-D9 was an interim solution, but Prof. Kurt Tank felt there should be a more radical approach to the problem. Therefore the Fw 190 fuselage and wingspan were stretched considerably and a more powerful engine developed, a pressurized cockpit was installed and three autocannons should take care of any enemy bomber. This was the basic design outline for the Ta 152 H.

Pilots testing the prototype aircraft were impressed by the superior performance. It was able to reach a topspeed of 472 mph at an altitude of 41.000 ft; even at sea level it could outperform any other fighter at the time. But Germany´s manufacturing capabilities and resources were in chaos in early 1945; it is estimated that overall 49 Ta 152 were build and only 16 aircraft were ever delivered to JG 301, a Reich defense unit and the only squadron operating the Ta 152 H. Ironically they were never used in high altitude operations during the few weeks they were in the field.

This Ta 152 H-1 (the only production version), “green 9”, was flown by Oberfeldwebel Willi Reschke of Stab/JG 301. Reschke claimed 27 victories during the war, and his last three were with this aircraft in April 1945. Reschke, now 94 years old, wrote a book about the history of JG 301 and his experiences as a fighter pilot, I´m currently reading it – quite an interesting book.

The kit is from Japanese manufacturer Aoshima, a rather nice one but a little hard to get – once again I bought one from Japan on Ebay. A few decals are used from the kit and a few from the aftermarket. The German mottle camouflage is always a hard one for me to paint or airbrush but it should look Ok enough in this scale although this could be done much better (by a more skilled modeler…)

13/03/2016 Grumman F6F Hellcat US Navy, Academy

With the arrival of the Grumman F6F Hellcat, the tides finally turned for the Allies in the Pacific War. Now they had an fighter aircraft that was equal, and in most cases superior, to the Mitsubishi Zero. While the Zero still had an advantage in lowspeed dogfighting and range, the Hellcat was better in performance, speed, firepower and ruggedness. Its basic design was so good that only very few modifications and variants were introduced in the production; this was rather rare for a combat aircraft at the time. The basic version F6F-3 was followed by the F6F-5, it had a more powerful engine, a few cowling design changes and a modified cockpit glazing. There was also a nighter fighter version, and that was it basically.

But the time as a frontline fighter was rather short for the Hellcat. Introduced in 1943, it was replaced by the Bearcat in late 1945 (shortly after WWII ended) and it was relegated to secondary and Reserve duties. 12.275 aircraft were build between 1943 and 1945.

For this model I used an aftermarket decal set from LF Models. It shows F6F-5 Hellcat #76 from VBF-87, delivered to the USS Ticonderoga in May 1945. It was the 10.000th Hellcat build and had a special sticker on the cowling. It was flown by the CO of VBF-87, Commander Porter Maxwell. The kit is from Korean maker Academy and a really good one. I used Tamiya glossy dark blue paint and I think it turned out rather well. The Navy dark sea blue can be hard to match at times.

24/02/2016 Yakoklev Yak-1b Red Army Air Force, ZTS Plastyk

The Yakoklev Yak-1 was the first modern fighter aircraft by the Soviet Union at the beginning of WWII. A composite wood/metal design with wooden wings, it was fast and well-armed and a good match for the early Messerschmitt Bf 109 versions it encountered during the German invasion. The Yak-1 was the first aircraft in a series of Yak fighters; it was followed by the similar-looking Yak-3, Yak-7 and Yak-9 versions. All in all over 37000 aircrafts of this family were manufactured, making it the most produced Soviet fighter design in WWII.

The original Yak-1 was later succeeded by the Yak-1b version with lowered rear fuselage and a bubble canopy as seen on this model. This Yak-1b from 73th GIAP, “White 23” was flown by Lydia Litvyak, the top women fighter ace of all time, in Summer 1943.

The Soviet Air Force was the only air power at the time allowing women to become fighter pilots; Lydia Litvyak was one of only two women to gain ace status with 14 victories. A rather famous person in the Soviet public at the time, she was shot down by a German aircraft and killed August 1, 1943, aged 21, during the Battle of Kursk. But her fate was unclear for quite some time. The crash site was only found in 1979 and it was concluded she was not captured after the crash; therefore she was eligible for the highest Soviet decoration, the Hero of the Soviet Union. She received the award posthumously in 1990.

Yak-1 kits are rare in 1/72 and this one is from Polish company ZTS Plastyk. It ist really old and dates back to the Eastern bloc era, maybe that is the reason why the moulding is so bad, probably the worst I have ever seen until now. Almost no details, brittle plastic and misaligned parts all over the place. The canopy broke and I replaced it with a vacuform one for a Yak-3 (they look the same). Decals are aftermarket from Balkan Decals.

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01/01/2016 Curtiss P-40 Warhawk US Army Air Corps, Airfix

Happy new year ! It starts off with another new build.

The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (and the subsequent versions) was the standard fighter aircraft of the USAAC at their entry into WWII in 1941. The lack of a powerful supercharger made it unsuitable for high-altitude operations; therefore the P-40 was rarely seen in the European theater but it was widely used by US and Commonwealth Air Forces in North Africa, Asia and the Pacific, where it was the first American fighter to encounter the Japanese Zeros – at the raid of Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Although the Warhawk was outclassed by the nimble Zero in low-speed dogfights, it was faster and superior in highspeed aerobatics. A very tough design that could withstand a lot of damage (unlike the fragile Zero) it proved itself in combat, although it never received the fame of the Mustang or Thunderbolt.

This kit is a new mould from Airfix (a very good one) with decals from AML. It depicts the P-40B 155-15, 15th Pursuit Sqd, based in Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. It was flown by Kenneth M. Taylor, (1919 – 2006) one of the few American pilots to get airborne during the attack. He scored two confirmed and two unconfirmed kills.

Taylor and his friend and fellow pilot George Welch (both had a long partying night before !) were able to take off under fire and engage the Japanese attackers. They had to land again soon to get new ammunition; the were able to take off again although the Japanese were already strafing the airfield. Taylor was wounded in the arm but continued fighting. In the end, he scored two confirmed kills and Welch four. Considered as some of the earliest WWII heros for the Americans, they received high military honors – but not the Medal of Honor, the highest of all, because they took off without orders.

There is a sequence in the movie “Pearl Harbor” were Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett engage the Japanese attackers after racing to their airplanes. This event is loosely based on Taylor´s and Welch´s story. Taylor himself was not a fan of the movie though, he called it “a piece of trash”.

The dive bomber Douglas SBD Dauntless is mostly known for it´s crucial role in the Battle of Midway in 1942; this large naval battle was the turning point in the Pacific War. While the torpedo bombers failed in their task, the daring Dauntless pilots delivered the deadly blows that sunk most of the Japanese carriers in this battle; a loss the Japanese Navy never recovered from. In fact, the Dauntless was responsible for sinking more Japanese ships than any other Allied aircraft in the war.

The crews liked the Dauntless; it was sturdy, nimble and easy to fly. For a dive bomber, it carried a respectable offensive & defensive arnament that even could engage enemy fighters, if necessary.

It stayed in active service longer as anticipated – the successor, the more powerful Curtiss SBC Helldiver, experienced serious teething problems and entered service with much delay. Even then many crews preferred the Dauntless over the troubled Helldiver. A land-based version for the US Army Air Force, the A-24 Banshee, was introduced later and also delivered to the Free French Air Force in Europe.

This kit is from Airfix. The mould is from the 1960s and has been re-issued many times. It´s pretty basic for today´s standards so I decided to “pimp” it up a bit. One of the prominent features of the SBD are the large dive brakes; I spend a few hours drilling out the holes (what fun !) and cut the brakes out to display them in raised position. I applied rather heavy weathering and paint chipping to get a battle-worn look. I discarded the decals from Airfix and used different ones from Printscale. The model represents an SBD-3 that was stationed on the USS Lexington, a carrier that was sunk in the Coral Sea Battle im May 1942. Apparently the pilot recorded seven kills. The kit itself is OK and it looks like a Dauntless; of course there are more detailled kits out there but the Airfix costs around 8-10 Euro. Cannot do wrong with this one.

18/11/2015 Mitsubishi A5M Claude Imperial Japanese Navy, Fujimi

Before the „Zero“, there was the „Claude“. Introduced in 1935, the Mitsubishi A5M was the first aircraft carrier-based monoplane figher aircraft in the world and the predecessor of the famous Mitsubishi A6M Zero.

Like the Zero, the Mitsubishi A5M “Claude” (“Claude” was the allied reporting name) was designed by Jiro Hirokoshi. It was similar to other first-generation fighter monoplanes of the time; a fixed gear was used to save weight and the cockpit was still open – a version was build with closed cockpit but this was hated by the pilots and abandoned soon. The all-metal fighter was one of the first aicraft to be equipped with an external drop tank, a new innovation at the time.

The Imperial Japanese Navy used the A5M with considerable success in the Sino-Japanese War. The nimble Claude was superior to most of the Russian designed- aircraft it encountered during the conflict; only the Polikarpov I-16 was somewhat equal. By the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor the Claude was already outdated and largely withdrawn from frontline service and replaced by the Zero. The Allied only had brief encounters with the A5M; by 1941 it was used primarly as a trainer aircraft. No surviving aircraft is known to be in existence today.

The model depicts the rather colorful A5M4 W-102 flown by Petty Officer Matsuo Hagiri of the Soryu carrier group in summer 1939. Hagiri ended the war as an ace with 14 victories.

The kit is from Fujimi and a really good one. Too bad Fujimi kits are somewhat hard to get outside Japan as they have no worldwide distribution. Ebay of course is always a good source.

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20/09/2015 Hawker Hurricane Mk I Royal Air Force, Airfix

Always in the shadow of the famous Spitfire, the role of the Hawker Hurricane for the Royal Air Force was nevertheless a very important one; especially in the early part of the conflict and the Battle of Britain.

Designed in 1935, it was one of the first modern fighter monoplanes in the world with advanced features like rectractable gear and a closed cockpit. Although the internal structure of the aircraft was still very much like the older Hawker biplanes; with tubular metal/wood bracing covered by a fabric skin – the earliest Hurricane variants even had fabric-covered wings. So it was quite heavy and the thick wings limited top speed. The Hurricane was rugged, reliable and easy to fly; and usually novice pilots prefered the Hurricane over the Spitfire as it was easier to handle and a better weapons platform.

During the Battle of Britain the Hurricane was slightly outclassed by the German Messerschmitt Bf 109; although in the end the pilots made the difference as the performance gap was really not that big. The Hurricane was responsible for 55% of the German losses during the Battle of Britain. Later in the war, the design limits of the Hurricane became more apparent and later variants were used as fighter-bombers or night fighters.

This particular Hurricane Mk I belonged to 242 Squadron based at RAF Base Duxford, Cambridgeshire and was flown by Douglas Bader (1910-1982), one of the most popular WWII aces. His career is quite remarkable as he was a double-amputee – he lost his lower legs in a flying accident in 1931. Nevertheless he returned to RAF service with new prosthetic legs and was a very prominent leader during the Battle of Britain and scored many of his 20 victories with the Hurricane. In 1941 he was forced to bail out over Germany and spend the rest of the war as a POW. As he lost an artifical leg during his escape from the stricken aircraft, German Luftwaffe officials arranged delivery of a new leg that was parachuted by a British bomber a few days later !

This is a new mould from Airfix and it is really great; one of the best kits I have build in recent times. Really recommended. Decals are from Techmod.

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09/08/2015 Aichi D3A Val Imperial Japanese Navy, Fujimi

The Aichi D3A „Val“ dive bomber was responsible for sinking more allied warships in the Pacifc conflict than any other Japanese aircraft type. Developed in the 1930s, the Val had some resemblance to its German counterpart, the Ju-87 “Stuka”. Although already outdated by the time the war started, it was one of the main aircraft types used in the attack of Pearl Harbor and the following raids. It was later relegated to secondary duties but as the successor aircraft, the Yokosuka D4Y, was delayed, it remained in service until the end of the war. The Val was then used as a land-based unit, for training duties, and sometimes even as a fighter aircraft as it was quite maneuverable without the bomb payload.

This D3A Val type 11 was stationed on the flagship aircraft carrier Akagi and participated in the second attack wave on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Flown by officer Takashi Ono, it was painted in the standard IJN grey scheme.

This kit from Japanese company Fujimi is build out of the box. It is not the newest mould but I like it much better than the ancient kit from Airfix.

30/07/2015 Grumman TBF Avenger US Navy, Academy

The Grumman TBF Avenger (or TBM Avenger when build by General Motors) was one of the largest and the heaviest single-engine aircraft in service during WWII. Developed as an carrier-based Torpedo bomber, it saw extensive action for the US Navy in the Pacific Theatre. It had a three-man crew, with a pilot, a rear gunner and a bomb operator/ventral gunner in the lower fuselage.

The design was succesful and and it remained in service until the 1960s and was also used by other Naval Forces in the World. In commercial service, modified Avengers were still used in Canada as firefighter/water bombers until this decade. Many still can be seen flying at air shows.

Some prominent names served their duty on the Avenger; actor Paul Newman was a rear gunner during WWII but for sure the most notable Avenger pilot was George H.W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States. He entered service 1943 aged 19, and he was the youngest navial aviator at this date. He was transferred to the light aircraft carrier USS Jacinto were he was promoted to Lt. (Junior Grade) on August 1, 1944. Photos of his aircraft are very hard to find but he must at least flown two different Avengers, “White 2” and “White 3”. Both aircraft were named “Barbara” for his future wife, Barbara Pierce. “White 2” was probably the aircraft lost during the attack on the Japanese island of Chichjima in September 1944. Bush survived but the other crewmembers perished.

The Kit is a rather old one from Academy with mediocre detail, although I think it looks reasonably good. Decals are from Print Scale.

03/05/2017 Boulton Paul Defiant Royal Air Force, Airfix

Although it was often dismissed as a failure, the Boulton Paul Defiant is still a very interesting subject to model. Designed for the Royal Air Force in the late 1930s as a bomber interceptor, the Defiant was a so-called turret fighter, with no fixed forward firing arnament, and solely armed with a hydraulically powered rotating turret featuring 4 machine guns. The idea was that this configuration should cause havoc among enemy bomber streams, and also enabling the Defiant to defend itself against fighter aircraft. A concept that proved to be ultimately flawed.

During the first weeks of the Battle of Britain the Defiant was quite succesful, as many Luftwaffe fighter pilots initially believed they were encountering the Hawker Hurricane (which looked similar) only to be surprised by heavy machine gun fire when sneaking up from behind. But soon the Germans changed their tactics, and the lack of forward firing equipment proved to be fatal when attacked from the front. Also the Defiant was overweight and not as fast and agile compared to the Bf 109. By the summer of 1940 losses were becoming unacceptable for the RAF, and the Defiant was removed from daylight operations. The air gunners were especially endangered as they could often not leave a stricken aircraft due to the cramped turret.
As as night fighter the Defiant fared much better until it was eventually replaced by more advanced designs like the Beaufighter or Mosquito. All in all it had a rather short service life. Only one complete aircraft survives, and is displayed in night fighter livery at the RAF Museum London.

This model depicts a Defiant Mk.I Nightfighter from No. 151 Sqd, RAF Wittering in February 1941. The Defiant has been in the Airfix catalogue since the 1960s, but earlier this year they released a completely new tooling that is up to todays standards. And it is really good ! Details are great, fitting is perfect, nothing to complain here. Highly recommended.

19/04/2015 Caproni-Campini N.1 Regia Aeronautica, Valom Models

When test pilot Mario de Bernardi took the skies with the experimental Caproni-Campini N.1 jet aircraft on August 27th 1940, this was considered the beginning of the jet age. Unknown at the time was the fact that exactly one year earlier, the Germans successfully tested the Heinkel He 178 jet aircraft. But the German project was kept secret – the Italian facist regime of the time, however, hailed the flight of the Caproni as a great propaganda victory and the aircraft was even presented to Mussolini himself. Goverments all over the world sent their congratulations to Italy.

But technically, the N.1 jet aircraft was not powered by a turbojet/turbofan engine as we use it today. The engine, designed by Ing. Secondo Campini, was called a “motorjet” or “thermojet” engine – it used a conventional V12 piston engine to drive a three-stage compressor in the front. The compressed air was forced into the rear over an aerodynamic exit cone where it was accelerated. Fuel could be transferred to a combustion chamber in front of the exit cone, where it ignited and delivered extra power, in a way this was the first type of afterburner used in a jet. The entire propulsion system was similar to a ducted fan design.

Two Caproni-Campini N.1 prototypes were built and used over a time period of two years to test the efficency of the thermojet engine, but performance was very poor. In fact, even with activated afterburner, the aircraft was much slower than the Fiat biplanes still used by the Italian Air Force at the time ! The thermojet proved to be a technical dead end and the project was quietly abandoned in 1942. One prototype survived and is now displayed at the Vigna di Valle Aeronautical Museum in Rome. Design curiosities of the N.1 included dual flight controls and a pressurized cabin.

Another Czech short-run kit and this had it all: Plastic parts, PE Parts, Resin Parts, Vacuform canopy, horrible instructions and fitting from the 1950s (although this kit is from 2013). A lot of small detail parts for the cockpit (which you cannot see at all with closed canopy !) and these parts seem to be molded in 1/48, not 1/72. Whatever. I think I´m finally done with this sort of kit, not my taste and a little bit out of my skill range. I´m not so happy with the final result, but see by yourself:

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08/02/2015 Petlyakov Pe-2 Red Army Air Force, Hobbyboss

The Petlyakov Pe-2 was a Soviet Dive Bomber and one of the must succesful Soviet designs during WWII. Over 11.000 were built and they were also used in other roles as Nightfighter oder Heavy Fighter. This one was operated by the Russian Gards, 40th BAP, Black Sea Fleet in Summer 1944. The crewmembers were E.Stupin (pilot), P.Glevatsky (radio/gunner) and A.Rodinov (navigator). The lettering means "For Boris Sofanov", a dedication to the famous russian ace that was shot down in 1942.

The Hobbyboss kit was a quick build, although it has some accuracy issues and only basic detailing. I added a pilot figure, antenna mast, and two guns.

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30/12/2014 Blohm & Voss Bv 40 Luftwaffe, Brengun

Another short run kit from Czech maker Brengun. These kits are quite a challenge (at least for me), tiny PE parts, bad fitting, inconclusive instructions, but they make quite interesting models not offered by mainstream manufacturers.

The Blohm & Voss Bv40 was an attack glider prototype by the Luftwaffe in early 1944. It was supposed to be towed in pairs above an allied bomber fleet and then released for an attack. The pilot, lying prone in the heavily armored cockpit, had two MK 108 cannons provided. The small dimensions of the glider would have to be a challenge for the bomber gunner crew. But it never saw combat, after testing six prototypes the project was cancelled. Would probably be a deathtrap like the Natter.