Info EDUARD
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{"cz":"Info EDUARD"}
{"cz":"Měsíčník o historii a plastikovém modelářství.","en":"Monthly magazine about history and scale plastic modeling."}
05/2023
Good Day, Dear Friends We are at the beginning of May, and so the competition season is revving up nicely. We have just had the traditional Moson event and the Kit Show takes place in Kopřivnice on Saturday, so it´s a good time to talk about this year´s E-day. E-day 2023 takes place on Saturday, September 23 at the Tankodrom in Milovice and we will be following the same scheme as last year, meaning that exhibiting modelers begin on Friday afternoon and will include the early evening program.
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INFO Eduard# 159e-magazine FREE Vol 22 May 2023Page 2
INFO Eduard# 159e-magazine FREE Vol 22 May 2023© Eduard - Model Accessories, 2023FREE FOR DOWNLOAD, FREE FOR DISTRIBUTION!This material may only be used for personal use. No part of the textor graphic presentations can be used in another publication in any other mediaform or otherwise distributed without the prior writtenpermission of Eduard - Model Accessories and authors involved.Editorial and Graphics - Marketing department, Eduard - Model Accessories, Ltd.Page 3
eduardeduardMAY 2023CONTENTSEDITORIALKITSBRASSINPHOTO-ETCHED SETSBIG EDBUILTON APPROACH–June 2023TAIL END CHARLIEHISTORYBOXART STORYF6F-5 Hellcat late ProfiPACK 1/48SPITFIRE STORY: MALTA DUAL COMBO Limited 1/48MiG-21MF Interceptor Weekend 1/72Bf 109F-4 Weekend 1/48Fokker Dr.I ProfiPACK 1/48 reediceFw 190F-8 ProfiPACK 1/72 reediceF4F-4 Wildcat early 1/48Z-526AFS Akrobat 1/48The Red Combat FlyerSpitfires for MaltaIn a year and one weekOne shade of GrayThe Star of AfricaThe last victim4632285674829298118Published by Eduard-Model Accessories, spol. s.r.o.Mírová 170, Obrnice 435 21support@eduard.com www.eduard.comPage 4
Good Day, Dear FriendsWe are at the beginning of May, and so thecompetition season is revving up nicely. We havejust had the traditional Moson event and the KitShow takes place in Kopřivnice on Saturday,so it´s a good time to talk about this year´sE-day. E-day 2023 takes place on Saturday,September 23 at the Tankodrom in Milovice andwe will be following the same scheme as lastyear, meaning that exhibiting modelers beginon Friday afternoon and will include the earlyevening program. We haven't exactly definedwhat that will be yet, but we have interestingpossibilities and I have no doubt that Friday'sprogram will be at least as good as last year's.It will be the same on Saturday, and we will besticking to our long-standing tradition of holdingour “The Pot” Q and A session, a “one on one”with a special guest, and a flight demonstrationwhich is bound to be very popular as it alwaysis. This is also being discussed right now andthe options are attractive. These are the partsthat were successful last year and we will notmake any fundamental changes to them. Thenthere are the points that were not quite assuccessful. This was the shuttle service fromthe railway station in Lysá nad Labem, and thisyear we will improve it and pay more attentionto its organization. Another point to improve onis the management of the upper parking lot forexhibiting modelers, where the surface qualityshould be better this year. This year we willtake more control over who parks where, andafter last year's experience we will limit thefreedom of choice of a parking spot to a certainextent. It may sound dramatic, but it will be ofgeneral benefit. And thirdly, we will push for theimprovement of the catering, which is not underour control, but we will still push for an increasein its quality, as well as the speed of service.And that is about it for E-day for now, so on toMay news.KITSWe don´t have any super-hot off the pressespremieres for May, but you will still find somenoteworthy pieces in the collection of four newreleases and two reissues. In the ProfiPACK1:48th range, we have prepared a new edition ofthe Hellcat, a late version of the F6F-5. There isa new collection of color markings, five of thesix are Hellcats from various US Navy aircraftcarriers, deployed in the last year of the war inthe Pacific, the sixth machine is a 1951 FrenchIndochina Hellcat.In the Limited Edition 1:48th range, we haveprobably the last of this type dedicated to theSpitfire Mk.V. Maybe not the very last, as thereis still another Spitfire Mk.V themed LE kit inthe game, dedicated to Czechoslovak pilotsin the RAF, but it certainly won´t be this year.Likewise, there is also a similar Limited Editionitem dedicated to Poles, but the same applieshere, too. So “Malta”, as this item is called, isdefinitely the last Spitfire Limit Edition releasethis year. The story of the defense of Malta isa magnificent one of monumental proportions,interspersed here with other types of aircraft,such as the Bf 109. And also, next month,when we release our long-awaited Bf 109 F in1:72nd, in the Limited Edition WunderschöneNeue Maschinen boxing, something else Maltarelated will appear as well. Maltese Spitfiresare colorful not only in the stories of the planesand their pilots, but also in their camouflageschemes and markings, as you can judge on thepages dedicated to this item in today´s editionof the newsletter. If Maltese Spitfires interestyou, you can expand your knowledge about themthanks to one of today´s historical articles. Itsauthor, Michal Krechowski, was, among otherthings, the product manager responsible forthe development of this kit. He did this jobenthusiastically and very well, because Spitfiresin general, including Spitfires in Malta, are hislifelong passion.We also have two Weekend releases. In 72ndscale, returning to the MiG-21MF Interceptorversion, lovingly dubbed “the Greyishs” herein the Czech Republic. The nickname naturallycomes from the grey coloring of these MiGs asdelivered, which were the most powerful fightersof the Czechoslovak Air Force at the time. Theywere also the longest-serving of all the MiGshere, and the best maintained airframes wereupgraded to MiG-21MFN standard in the 1990sand served until the arrival of the Gripen.The second May Weekend release is the 48thscale Bf 109 F-4. The striking boxart imageEDITORIALINFO Eduard4May 2023Page 5
shows one of the four marking options, anairplane flown by Hans-Joachim Marseille, theStar of Africa, and another star is included aswell, that of Hermann Graf. There are a furthertwo equally colorful machines. Now, you canargue that there are already God knows howmany 109s out there, but the simple fact that youcan’t ignore is that there is a market for all ofthem, and they just don’t get old. After all, themain reason for releasing this Weekend kit isthe fact that at the moment all our Bf 109 F kitsin 48th are sold out, and the same is true of theBf 109 G-2 and G-4. So in the coming monthsyou can expect these types as well among newitems. I just hope it won´t cause confusion withthe pending wave of 72nd scale Fredericks andGustavs. And they´re even nicer than the currentquarter scale kits, believe me. I´m building oneof the first ones here right now.As a reissue, we have the Fw 190 F-8 in 1:72nd,which is a straight reissue in the current typeof packaging, and we did not make any majorchanges to it compared to the original release.The 1:48th scale Fokker Dr.I didn´t see anyradical changes either, but it does feature newbox art, depicting the last aerial victory of theRed Baron, Manfred von Richthofen.ACCESSORIESIn the Brassin range, this month we have, for thefirst time in our history, all new products madeexclusively by 3D printing. They range from smallitems such as magazines for Vickers 97 machineguns in 1:48th, exhausts for the Spitfire Mk.IX in1:24th, and German rudder pedals in 32nd, tolarge kits such as the engine for the F4F-3AWildcat, and a cockpit, flaps and engine for theRufe. Prints everywhere you look. For me, thisis a nice result of our campaign for innovation.In addition to the mentioned sets, in today´scollection you will find an exhaust nozzle anda seat for the F-35A in 1:48th from Tamiya,a radar for the 48th scale F-16 from Kinetic anda gun bay for our Wildcat covering the F4F-4variant. There are also two small 1:35th scaleAFV sets and some new LööK items as well.In the Space range, we have eight newsets, mainly for 48th scale models. Amongphotoetched and masks, there are collectionsthat are geared to the F-86D and PV-1 kits fromAcademy, the Mi-17 from AMK and flaps for ourRufe, all in 1:48th scale, as well as the CH-54 in1:35 from ICM and the P-40B in 1:32nd by GWH.There is one set is for the USS Missouri in 1:350,and there is also one single set in 72nd, a ZOOMfor the MiG-21MF, which is, of course, intended tocomplement the Weekend kit mentioned abovein the new kit release paragraph. Additionally,there are four new BigEds, two BigSins andthree LöökPlus sets to consider. As usual, youcan find a thorough description of all sets on thepages dedicated to May releases.ARTICLESThe article section of our newsletter, dedicatedto history and technology, is probably its mostpopular feature today. This month, we have anarticle by Miro Barič about the fate of the USSHornet and other aircraft carriers during thebattles for the Solomon Islands. Next, we havean article “The Red Baron” by Jörn Leckscheid,bringing several new insights relating to thepersonality of the most successful fighter pilotof the Great War, Manfred von Richthofen. I havealready mentioned the Malta Spitfire project byMichal Krechowski, in addition there are threeBoxart stories: One shade of Gray about the MiG-21MF, The Last Victim about the scene depictedon the Profipack Fokker Dr.I box (both by RichardPlos) and Star of Africa about Hans-JoachimMarseille by Jan Bobek.And that will be it for me for this month.I wish you a pleasant evening and hope that ournewsletter will be a good reading companion toyou.Happy modeling!Vladimír ŠulcF-35A exhaust nozzle PRINTINFO Eduard5May 2023Page 6
HISTORYThe full name and title of the person behindthis moniker was Manfred Albrecht Freiherrvon Richthofen, who was born on May 2, 1892,in Breslau as the second child and first son ofKunigunde and Albrecht von Richthofen. Theterm “Red Baron” was bestowed upon as theAnglo-American translation of his Prussianrank of nobility: The male members of the vonRichthofen family were actually “Freiherren”.The translated term gained popularity in post-war times, especially when cartoonist CharlesM. Schulz had his cartoon character “Snoopy”fighting imaginary dogfights against the “RedBaron” in his equally imaginary Sopwith Camel inthe 1960s and 70s.Manfred and his sister Elisabeth (born 1890),more commonly called “Ilse”, were to be joinedby two more brothers: Lothar was born two yearsafter Manfred, and Karl Bolko Alexander, usuallycalled by his second name, completed the quartetin 1903. By then, the von Richthofen family hadmoved from Breslau to Schweidnitz.In August of the same year, at the age of 11,Manfred was obliged to join the Cadet Academy atWhen asking a regular person on the streetto name a famous soldier from the FirstWorld War, the answer is most likely goingto be “The Red Baron”.Text: Jörn LeckscheidThe Red Combat FlyerThe Red Combat FlyerManfred von RichthofenManfred von RichthofenManfred von Richthofen (left) chats with Jasta 10 commander and fellow Pour le Mérite ace Lt. Hans Klein during the First Fighter Competition in Berlin-Adlershofin January 1918. Von Richthofen held Klein in high regard and valued his leadership qualities.Photo: author's collectionINFO Eduard6May 2023Page 7
Wahlstatt, about 50 kilometers west of Breslau,at the explicit wish of his father. While viewedfrom todays´ perspective, this decision mayseem harsh. However, for the firstborn son ofa Prussian nobleman, this was a pretty commonstart into a military career in Imperial Germany.Young Manfred was, by his own accounts, notoverly keen on the strict discipline that wasdemanded there from the young cadets. Moreover,the Cadet Academy was located in a formermonastery, which must have been somewhatintimidating on an 11-year old boy. Besides, beinga very small town with the total populationnumbering just a few hundred, Wahlstatt wasnot the most inviting of places. Manfred wasblessed with a very sturdy physical constitutionand generally good health Bolko recalled afterthe war. Much to his dismay, this meant that henever missed one day of school due to illness.So, after having completed his six years there,he was relieved to advance to the Prussian MainSenior Cadet Academy at Gross-Lichterfelde,just south-west of Berlin, in 1909. There he feltmuch more like a human being, as he describedit himself. For example, the Royal BotanicalGarden was located there, and Berlin was justa stone throw away. Two years later he graduatedas an officers candidate, and at Easter 1911 hebecame a professional soldier, having joined theUlanen-Regiment Nr. 1 “Kaiser Alexander III. vonRussland”. There he was commissioned on 19November 1912, and he described this event asbeing the proudest moment of his life.Manfred had enjoyed horse riding since hischildhood and had plenty of opportunity topractice his skills during the holidays at hismuch-beloved Grandmother´s estate. During thesummer holidays, which he and brother Lotharusually spent there, they were greeted with thewords “here you are free to do whatever youwant”. Of course, this was a more than welcomechange from life at the Cadet Academy, and theboys made the very best of their freedom whilethey could. Besides riding, young Manfred alsodeveloped a strong inclination for hunting, andthe combination of these two traits would servehim well while later flying single-seater aircraft.HISTORYMajor Albrecht von Richthofen visited his sons at their unit on numerous occasions. Here he is enjoyinga cigar while speaking to Manfred.425/17, Rtm. Manfred A. Freiherr von Richthofen,CO of JG 1, Cappy, France, April 1918This is the appearance of Richthofen’s Dr.I 425/17, in whichthe Red Baron achieved his last two victories on April20, 1918. The aircraft by that time already had the insigniarepainted in accordance with the order issued by theLuftstreitkräfte on March 18, 1918. This called for a changefrom “Iron” crosses to the “Balkenkreutz”. The day after thefinal victory Germany’s most famous fighter was killed. Theaircraft depicted here did have the crosses repainted, butthe modification on bottom of the lowest wing was eithernot yet completed or was done carelessly. Since red paintmust have been used in the modification of the crosses,it is likely that the typically shaped scratches on theport side of the cockpit were also painted over when thecrosses were changed.Photo: author's collectionINFO Eduard7May 2023Page 8
HISTORYEarly military careerAs a young cavalry officer, he was posted to thefront with his regiment soon after the outbreakof hostilities. Serving initially on the EasternFront, he was quickly transferred to Belgium.But the initial war of movement turned intotrench warfare within months, and the cavalryofficer found this kind of warfare not to be to hisliking. He was actively looking for a change. And,like many other soldiers serving in his branchof the military, he keenly eyed the fast-movingnew weapons above their heads that were nowcarrying out the reconnaissance missions thatwere previously the task of the cavalry. He longedto joined one of the new flying units.His application for transfer to the “Fliegertruppe”was approved, and he found himself at FliegerErsatz Abteilung 6 on 10. June 1915 for observer´straining. This course was rather short, as hewas posted to Feldflieger-Abteilung 69 on theEastern front as an observer just eleven dayslater. His next posting as an observer took himto Brieftauben-Abteilung Ostende, back on theWestern front, following in the footsteps of someof his former comrades from FA 69.While he greatly enjoyed his time up in the air, hesoon decided that occupying the back seat of anaeroplane was not totally to his liking. He longedto be really in control of the “winged horses”, andthe only place where he could accomplish thiswas in the pilot´s seat. Pilot training was the nextlogical step for him, and before long he was givenunofficial flight training at his unit.During his time at the Brieftauben-Abteilung, hehad a chance to meet a certain Leutnant OswaldBoelcke on 1 October 1915. At the time, Boelckehad been credited with four aerial victories andwas already quite a bit of a celebrity, both atthe front as well as in the homeland. Meetingthis accomplished young flyer left a lastingimpression on Manfred, and the two would meetagain in the future.But before that meeting would come about, hewas obliged to undergo formal pilot trainingin order to fulfill his dream. On November 15,1915, he began pilot training at Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung 6 at Döberitz, and he passed his examson Christmas Day.His first posting as a pilot brought him toKampfstaffel 8 of Kagohl 2 on 16. March 1916. Theunit was then stationed at Mont, near Verdun,and he would initially fly various types of aircraftthere, initially mostly two-seaters. But soon afterhis arrival at the unit, a few Fokker Eindeckersingle-seaters were taken on charge. This wasthen a fairly new type of aircraft which was inshort supply, and von Richthofen was more thanhappy to fly one of these. Unfortunately, on anearly flight the Oberursel engine failed, and theprecious fighter was destroyed in the resultingcrash. Luckily, the pilot escaped without severeinjury.To make matters worse, his unit was transferred– so it was back to the Eastern Front for him on28 June, and there he would find himself pilotingtwo-seaters again. Instead of carrying out fightervs. fighter combat, his duty in the east consistedmostly of dropping bombs on Russian soldierswho were positioned roughly 30 Kilometers to theeast of his airfield at Kowel (now Kovel/Ukraine).By his own accounts, he greatly enjoyed observingthe effects caused by his bombs on the Russiansoldiers below, as well as peppering them withhis machine gun during the odd strafing run.While the transfer to the East may have seemedas a deal-breaker for his career as a fighter pilotAnthony Fokker greatly valued the input he received from frontline pilots during the war, and of course theleading German ace of one of these. Here he is pictured during his visit to the Fokker factory at Schwerin-Görriesin late May or early June 1917.Photo: author's collectionNeedless to say that the first available example of the Fokker Triplane was made available to Manfred von Richthofen. Here Fokker F.I 102/17 is seen soon after arrivalat Jasta 11 during the last days of August 1917, with Anthony Fokker himself in the cockpit. MvR is seen third from right.Photo: author's collectionINFO Eduard8May 2023Page 9
HISTORYOn 30 October 1917, he crashed one of the early production examples of the Dr.I that had reached Jasta 11 just recently. He walked away from this incident without injury.Lothar (left) and Manfred von Richthofen show off their “Pour le Mérite”in front of one of Jasta 11´s Fokker Dr.Is, likely in the spring of 1918.Photo: via Alex ImriePhoto: author's collection425/17 flown by Rtm. Manfred A. Freiherr von Richthofen, CO of JG 1, Lechelle,France, March 1918Von Richthofen had his aircraft painted red since January 1917, when he flew anAlbatros D.III, which he called “Le Petit Rouge”. He continued this practice afterswitching to Fokker Dr. I, which he used as commander of Jagdgeschwader1. The famous Dr.I 425/17 was probably painted red at the factory. The qualityof the paintwork is evident in the photographs and would be hardly achievedat the combat unit level. The area under the cockpit on the left side boresignificant scuffs.INFO Eduard9May 2023Page 10
at this point, a lucky coincidence caused it to haveexactly the opposite result.Finally becoming a fighter pilotA major reorganization was taking place in theFliegertruppe in the summer of 1916. The firstJagdstaffeln, units solely equipped with single-seater fighter aircraft, were to be formed. Theobvious choice of leadership for one of the firstof these new formations was Hauptmann OswaldBoelcke, by then the far highest scoring pilot inGermany.His status allowed him to hand-pick the pilotsthat would serve in his new Jagdstaffel, and oneof his trips to pick those pilots resulted in anothermeeting of the two men.Oswald Boelcke´s older brother Wilhelm wasthe commander of Kampfstaffel 10 of Kagohl 2,a neighboring unit of Richthofen´s outfit nearKowel. And on a particularly hot summer day inAugust 1916 Boelcke and von Richthofen met againthere. The great ace must have seen quite a bit ofpotential in the young Ulan pilot, as he was one oftwo Kagohl 2 pilots he selected as new membersfor his own Jagdstaffel, the other choice fell onLt. Erwin Böhme.Just three days later Manfred boarded the trainfor yet again trip towards the Western Front,and he arrived at the airfield of Boelcke´s newlyformed Jagdstaffel 2 at Vélu on 1. September 1916.On the very same day, the first three aircraftwere also taken on charge by the new Staffel:a Fokker D.III and a Fokker D.I were shipped overfrom the local Armee-Flug-Park, while Vfw.Reimann was transferred over to Jasta 2 fromJasta 1 and brought with him an Albatros D.I.While it is possible that the unit also had a singleHalberstadt D-type on hand in early September,no photographic evidence of this has yet beenfound. And while further new pilots seemed toarrive on a nearly daily basis, the unit had tomake do with these three or four aircraft duringthe first half of September.Then, on 16. September, six additional Albatrosfighters were delivered to the unit, and the unitwas finally able to really commence operationsthen. Besides conducting frontline flights, flyingas a unit had to be practiced first, and Boelckewas instrumental in teaching his pilots all theyneeded to know.His tenure was to be tragically short, for he waskilled as the result of a crash-landing that wascaused by a mid-air collision with the above-mentioned Lt. Erwin Böhme on 28. October.Yet the roughly eight weeks under Boelcke´sleadership were enough to turn Manfred intoa highly competent fighter pilot. And from all weknow about von Richthofen, he not only passedon his knowledge to other pilots like his mentorBoelcke did, but he also adapted Boelcke´s styleof leadership.Taking command of Jagdstaffel 11The chance to do just that arose for him when hewas given command of Jagdstaffel 11 on January15, 1917, three days after having been awardedthe “Pour le Mérite”, with his score standing at16 confirmed victories. Already while he wasa member of Jasta 2, he had begun to use red ashis personal color on at least one of his fighters.He carried over this color to “his” Staffel, whichsoon adopted red noses as their unit markings.And soon his personal aircraft had larger andlarger sections painted red.The definitive history of this celebratedJagdstaffel will see the light of day sooner orlater and going into the many achievements ofManfred von Richthofen as the commander of thisunit, and later as the leader of Jagdgeschwader I,would go far beyond the scope of this article. Butit is safe to say that he transformed an entirelyunsuccessful formation of pilots into the mostélite and highest scoring German Jagdstaffelof the war.During the roughly 15 months that he lead Jasta11 and Jagdgeschwader I he added another64 victories to his tally, in spite of being awayfrom the front on several occasions for variousreasons, and sometimes for fairly prolongedperiods of times. The victories that he claimed,and that were confirmed to him, have come underan unparalleled level of scrutiny over the pastcentury. While in some cases it was only possibleto find “likely” matches to his claims, it has notbeen possible to categorically prove that one ormore them were illegitimate. One cannot help butwonder what would be left of the total number ofvictories credited to some Entente fighter pilotsif someone would take the trouble to put themunder the same microscope.In the post-war years, and even fairly recently,some authors have described Manfred vonRichthofen as ruthless, selfish, focused onHISTORYThe iconic Fokker Dr. I 425/17 in its initial stage of decoration, marked with IronCross national insignia. The smooth opaque application of the red paint indicatethat it was most likely spray-painted in this color at the Fokker factory.Following the issue of the order that instituted the change of the national markingto the straight-sided Balkenkreuz insignia, these markings were modifiedaccordingly.Photo: author's collectionSupposedly taken in the morning of 21. April 1918, this would be one of the last photos of Manfred von Richthofen(fourth from right) before his fatal flight. Note the alarm bell just visible in the background of the photo, beweenthe pilots and the tent on the right side.Photo: author's collectionINFO Eduard10May 2023Page 11
collecting awards and even bloodthirsty. Thisauthor has been lucky to know some historianswho still had the chance to speak to many of theman who served with and under him during thewar. And none of these witnesses described himin any such way. On the contrary, the attributeseemingly most commonly attributed to himwas modesty. Very few photographs show himwearing more decorations than the Iron Cross,Pilots badge and the Pour le Mérite, even duringvisits of high-ranking officers at his unit. Had hebeen an avid collector of decorations he wouldhave certainly been keen to show them off. Andflying single-seat aircraft with the purpose ofshooting down enemy airplanes had to result inthe deaths of many of his opponents – especiallysince the Entente commanders had chosen todeny their pilots the luxury of parachutes. He wasquite simply a product of the era that he grew upin, and the same is true for the combatants on theother side. Judging these men by the standardsof our current society after the passage of morethan a century seems somewhat presumptuous.Much has been made of the fact that his final scoreof 80 confirmed victories made him the highestscoring pilot on either side, even though he diedalmost seven months before the Armistice. Whilethis is undeniably true, one has to keep in mindthat he was also an extremely talented instructorwho passed on his knowledge to those who servedunder him. Besides this, he was instrumental inconstantly pushing aircraft manufacturers andthe Inspectorate of the German Flying Forces todevelop more advanced single seaters.Ever since joining Jasta 2 he had mostly flownAlbatros fighters, upgrading with each newgenerations of these fighters from the D.I onwards.On 23. January 1917, just as he was scoring his18th victory, the spar in the lower wing of his newAlbatros D.III broke, and he was lucky to get to theground alive. This problem occurred on a numberof other aircraft of the same type, and similarproblems resurfaced on the later D.V soon afterit reached the front. He was thus forced to switchback to one of the older Halberstadt fighterswhich had previously served with Jasta 11 untila fix to the wing problem could be worked out.Besides the structural problems, the fact thatnew variants of the Albatros failed to bring aboutnoticeable performance improvements also leadhim to be increasingly disenchanted with the type.Influence on aircraft developmentPhotographs taken during 1917 document that hevisited the Fokker, Pfalz and Roland factories inorder to keep himself informed about the latestdevelopments of these companies. One cannothelp but wonder if he was actively looking fora potential successor to the Albatros D-types,which had essentially become the standardfighter of the Jagdstaffeln during 1917. While hescored many victories flying various Albatrosfighters, he always had reservations related tothe single-spar lower wing design of the D.III –D.Va.As early as July 1917 he wrote: “…Fokker… has twomachines which are superior to the Albatros, butthey are not in production.” Here he is relating tothe Fokker V.1 and V.2 prototypes, which he musthave seen or even test-flown during a visit to theFokker works in Schwerin during either May orJune. These aircraft never went into production,but the ground-breaking cantilever wing designwas the main feature of all Fokker fighters thatwould enter series production later.It was thanks to Manfred von Richthofen that thenewly developed types that were evaluated duringthe three fighter competitions in 1918 were to betest-flown by frontline pilots on those occasions.This turned out to be the preferable way to ensurethat the types that were chosen for productionwould actually meet pilots expectations. Thiswas especially true for the Fokker D.VII, a typethat was put into production at three factories(Fokker, Albatros and O.A.W.) as a result of hisapproval. Unfortunately, he never had a chance tofly this aircraft in combat, as the first productionexamples of the new Fokker biplane arrived at JGI just days after his fatal last mission.Abrupt ending to a stellar careerWhile the Triplane most commonly associatedwith MvR is his all-red Fokker Dr.I 425/17, heapparently only flew this particular aircraft fora very short period of time. His last two victorieswere scored at the controls of this plane on 20.April 1918, but from late 1917 to early 118 he flewa surprisingly large number of Triplanes. Besidesthis one, and the F.I prototype (102/17) that wasshipped to him directly from the Fokker factoryin late August 1917, he is documented to haveflown at least six further Dr. Is at various times:Dr. I 114/17, 119/17, 127/17, 152/17, 161/17 and 477/17.This listing does not claim to be conclusive, but asfar as current research shows, of these triplanesonly 425/17 may have been painted in an “overallred” scheme. And it was this particular plane inwhich the “Red Baron” was mortally wounded inon 21. April 1918, after being hit by a bullet whileflying at low altitude. By now, general consensusis that the fatal shot was fired at him by anAustralian machine gunner from the ground,a fate that befell several pilots on both sides ofthe front.HISTORYThe souvenir hunters had thoroughly taken apart Dr.I 425/17 when this picture was taken. The inner surface of the remaining fuselage fabric show no sign ofstreaking, supporting the theory that at least the upper and side surfaces of this plane were just painted red at the factory.INFO Eduard11May 2023Page 12
HISTORYInitially the air defense was provided bythe obsolete Gladiators and Hurricanes.The much-desired Spitfires could onlybe transferred to the island during thespring months of 1942. Newly deliveredSpitfires Mk.Vb/Vc ultimately earned theirgreatest glory defending this extremelystrategically important island.Battle of Malta took place from June 1940till November 1942 and went down inhistory as the battle for the “unsinkableaircraft carrier”. In the beginning of theWWII this overlooked Mediterraneanisland became one of the key spots ofthe battle for the Mediterranean and thebattle of Africa as well as its strategicimportance was paramount. The aircraft,submarines and ships operating out ofthere were able to interrupt the supplyroutes to the Rommel’s Afrika Korps andin this manner to defend Africa, SuezChannel, and valuable oil fields behindit. It is well known fact that the mistakenpolitical and strategic judgement of theair commanders lead to the situation thatin June 1940 there were almost no fighteraircraft based on Malta. Had not fourcrated Sea Gladiators been accidentallydiscovered the whole island’s air defensewould have been non existing. One ofthe aircraft was soon heavily damagedand the pilots bravely defended Maltawith those three remaining airplanesagainst the enemy attacks for eighteendays until four Hurricanes arrived asa reinforcement. Consequently, the British,now fully aware of Malta’s importanceand its strategic value, started graduallyto reinforce the island defense with moreHurricanes.For the whole year of 1941, Malta had tobe defended against the concentratedenemy attacks. The Axis powers bombedthe island’s infrastructure focusing on theport, airport and storage facilities. In themeantime, the convoys headed for Maltawere mercilessly pursued and destroyedwhich in fact put the island under the siege.On December 4, 1941, at night the GermanLuftwaffe launched the continuousbombing which lasted five long monthsand intended to break the resistanceof the Royal Navy and Air Force finally.At the end the plan to invade Malta, codenamed Hercules, was hastily prepared.The Field Marshall Albert Kesselring wasput in charge of the attacks on Malta. Hisforces were clearly numerically superiorover the defenders. The frequent bombingraids destroyed a major part of the BritishSPITFIRES FOR MALTAText: Michal Krechowski Photo: IWMDue to its strategic locationat the crossroads of theshipping lines betweenGibraltar and Alexandriaas well as Italy and NorthAfrica, Malta became a targetof the continuous enemy airattacks. During the WWII, inorder to defend the island,the British were forced toconstantly deploy more andmore fighters and pilots to its“unsinkable aircraft carrier”.Page 13
HISTORYaircraft on the ground and in the middleof February 1942 the defenders were leftwith only eleven airworthy Hurricanes. Atthe same time the pressure to re-equipthe fighter squadrons defending the islandwith Spitfire mounted.Spitfires over MaltaIn the middle of 1941 the Spitfire productionin its latest version Mk.V was not yetmeeting the Fighter Command squadronsre-equipment requirements therefore theBritish aviators in the Mediterranean and(later) in the Pacific had to make do withthe obsolete types. Only in September1941 the decision was made to dispatchthe first two Spitfire squadrons to NorthAfrica. The transfer started in Februaryof the following year. A portion of theseaircraft was re-directed to Malta. Aftera year and half of the fighting theprocedure of the fighters transportation tothe besieged island was well established.First the crated, dismantled aircraft weretransported to Gibraltar where they wereassembled and boarded on the aircraftcarrier. After the approach to Malta, theairplanes took off directly from the decksof the aircraft carriers Eagle, USS Wasp(CV-7) or Furious which immediatelyafter turned back. Except of one instancewhen Eagle and USS Wasp (CV-7) sailedtogether (Operation Bowery) only a singleaircraft carrier sailed to Malta at a time.In order to get Spitfire airborne off themere 200 m (660 ft) long flight deck ithad to place the landing flaps into thetake-off setting. However, the Spitfire’spneumatically controlled flaps had onlyone setting – 85 degrees which wasactually a breaking setting for slowingdown the aircraft during the landing. Thesolution was quite simple – wooden shimswere inserted into the space betweenflap and wing that prevented the flaps toclose and in this rather primitive mannerassured some 25 degrees setting. OnceSpitfire was safely airborne, the pilot fullydropped the flaps for a moment and theshims fell off. After that he retracted theflaps and continued in cruising flight.The first fifteen Spitfires were delivered toMalta on March 7 as a part of the OperationSpotter. Two weeks later another nineSpitfires followed (Operation Picket I).In order to increase the transportationcapacity, the American aircraft carrierUSS Wasp (CV-7) was on loan to theBritons. As a part of the OperationCalendar further 48 Spitfires weredelivered to Malta. However, very few ofthe freshly delivered aircraft survivedmore than several weeks, sometimesthey were lost in couple of days after thelanding and there were instances whenthe aircraft was lost on the same day. Theintensity of the fighting was tremendousand peaked during March–April 1942.During this period, the tonnage of thebombs dropped on Malta surpassed thebombs tonnage dropped on London duringthe Battle of Britain.On May 9, during the following OperationBowery, another 61 Spitfires were safelydelivered. Immediately after the landing,those were refueled, rearmed and took offto counter the anticipated attacks. In thefollowing days the heaviest dogfightingtook place up until then and Spitfiresinflicted the heavy losses to the Axispowers.German obstinacyDespite this, Kesselring was convincedthat the danger coming from Maltadefenders to German supply routes toNorth Africa had been eliminated andreported to the German High Commandthat “there is nothing left to bomb”. Theinvasion of the island was thus postponed,and a substantial part of the Luftwaffewas redeployed in the second half of Mayto support Rommel’s offensive in Libya.Any further air offensive was thus layingprimarily with the Italian Air Force.The neutralization of Malta continuedThe first Spitfire leaves the deck of HMS Eagle onMarch 7, 1942. Codenamed Spotter, the operationsent fifteen Mk.Vb Spitfires to the island, whichwere received by No. 249 Squadron upon landing.Keith Park in his personal Spitfire Mk.Vb at SafiAirport on the occasion of the opening of the newrunway on May 15, 1943.Page 14
HISTORYto be maintained mainly by the navalblockade of the island, where defenderswere running low on supplies. The lackof fresh water was unpleasant and foodrations were being reduced. Despite thisdesperate situation, however, Malta wasnot about to surrender.When, during June, the Axis forcesexperienced a resurgence of losses onthe supply routes to Africa, a renewedair offensive was ordered. However, theisland managed to replenish Spitfirenumbers in the intervening time providedduring Operations Style and Salient, andso once again the attackers met stiffresistance from the defenders and againsuffered heavy losses. During July, theItalian bomber air force was withdrawnfrom the attacks, and in the second half ofthe month only German bombers appearedover Malta with a combined Luftwaffe andRegia Aeronautica fighter escort.Here comes ParkThe failure of the renewed air offensivewas also significantly affected by thechange of the air force high command onthe island in mid-July. The command ofthe air force defending Malta was takenover by AVM Keith Park. Park’s adversary,coincidentally, became Albert Kesselringagain. Park had been pitted against himin the Battle of Britain as commanderof No. 11 Group. In his new position Parkimmediately introduced a new tactic, theaim of which was to attack enemy bomberformations over the sea between Sicilyand Malta and force them to drop bombsbefore reaching their target. The change intactics later proved to be a turning point,as it was very successful and forced theLuftwaffe to stop bombing in daylight. Bythe end of July, one hundred Axis aircrafthad been destroyed, greatly reducingthe strength of the bombing offensive.When the enemy then switched to high-flying fighter patrols, Park showed keentactical insight. He limited the Spitfirepatrols to 20,000 feet (6,100 m), so that theBf 109s had to drop to an altitude wherethe defenders with Spitfires had theadvantage in terms of the performance oftheir aircraft.By August, however, the stock situation onthe island was critical. The defenders wererunning out of fuel and other necessarystuff again and if they were not deliveredto Malta by September, the island wouldprobably have to surrender. With fuel inshort supply, Park was forced to instructhis pilots to save as much as possible.When a Spitfire landed, it did not proceedwith engine on. The pilot immediately shutit down and the aircraft was pushed ontoits stand. If the plane made an emergencylanding, it had to be pushed off the runwayimmediately, even if there was a riskof further damage, just so that othersdidn’t have to circle the airfield and wastevaluable fuel.With all this in mind, the convoy of theoperation Pedestal was dispatched duringAugust with a hitherto unprecedentedsupplies load carried by 14 British andAmerican merchant ships loaded withammunition, aircraft spare parts, fuel andfood. They were escorted by 36 warships,including three aircraft carriers. TheAxis powers understood the strategicimportance of this convoy and respondedwith a coordinated air and naval attack toprevent it from reaching Malta. Despitesignificant losses of merchant and escortships, including the sinking of the aircraftcarrier HMS Eagle, sufficient supplieswere eventually managed to reach thebesieged island. Thus, in late August,three squadrons of Spitfires were ableto make a highly effective attack on threeSicilian airfields, in which they shot downten enemy aircraft and destroyed 29 on theground with the loss of only two Spitfires.Indomitable DefendersSeptember became the calmest period ofSpitfire Mk.Vc, BR344, 3oM, during an engine testaboard USS Wasp during the delivery of Spitfiresto Malta under the code name Operation Bowery.Spitfire Mk.Vb, BP844, the first of nine Spitfires toreinforce the RAF in Malta during Operation PicketI, takes off from the deck of HMS Eagle on March21, 1942. In its cockpit sits the commander of ESquadron. J. “Jumbo” Gracie. BP844 was shot downover Malta on April 2, 1942.A Spitfire Mk.Vc is transported by lift aboard theaircraft carrier USS Wasp bound for Malta duringOperation Bowery.Page 15
HISTORYthe whole year 1942. The number of attackson the island dropped significantly, andfor the whole month Spitfires took off foronly 38 scramble sorties. The importantthings, however, took place at sea. Thanksto the success of the Pedestal convoyand ample fuel supplies in Malta, Britishoffensive operations aimed at supplyroutes for Rommel’s “PanzerarmeeAfrika” were once again in full swing.While the British were successfullybuilding up supplies in advance of thedecisive battle, the Axis forces graduallylost 20 per cent of all supplies sent by seafrom Italy during September and as muchas 44 per cent of supplies in October.Fuel shortages were particularly critical.It was therefore decided to carry outanother bombing offensive against Maltawith the aim of re-securing safe shippingroutes and eliminating it once and for all.The offensive, also known as the OctoberBlitz, was launched on October 11, andonce again there were “dogfights” betweenSpitfires Mk.V, German Bf-109F/Gs andItalian C.202s and Re.2001s. However, airsuperiority over Malta was by then clearlyin the hands of the re-enforced Britishsquadrons, while considerable fatiguewas already showing on the German-Italian side, as well as frustration andwear and tear from the previous battles.The spectacularly planned October Blitzlasted only seven days and was a cleardefeat for the Axis forces. During thosedays, RAF pilots flew nearly 2,400 combatsorties with their Spitfires, shooting down99 confirmed enemy aircraft, 51 probablyand 122 aircraft damaged with the loss of24 Spitfires and thirteen pilots. In addition,40 aircraft were damaged and 13 Spitfireswere destroyed on the ground.In November the number of Luftwafferaids dropped significantly, with only 29alerts during the month. With the intensityof hostilities so drastically reduced, Alliedconvoys bringing essential suppliesfound it easier to reach the island andalso brought material for repairs andairfield construction. Malta’s survival wasessential to the victory at El Alamein andthe subsequent success of the land battlein North Africa.So much desired Spitfires thereforeultimately achieved the air superiority overthe battlefield and thanks to them Maltaheld on. Until the middle of November,when the air raids on Malta were recalled,385 Spitfires were dispatched to Maltaduring thirteen operations off the aircraftcarriers, 367 of them flew over to theisland. During the heavy fighting, theSpitfire pilots were credited with at least600 aerial victories. The most successfulof them all, Canadian George “Screwball”Beurling scored 28 confirmed kills.He was followed in distant second placeby “Paddy” Schade with 14 kills, CanadianWally McLeod with 13 kills and “Slim”Yarra with 12 kills. A total of 41 Spitfirepilots scored five or more kills duringthe fighting for Malta, earning ace status.Almost one hundred of Spitfire pilots paidthe ultimate price during the combat.After the battleDuring the first months of 1943 the airbattle for Malta ceased. The defenderswon having destroyed more thana thousand of the enemy aircraft incombat. Another sign of the changein the situation of Malta’s defenders wasthe arrival of new Mk.IX Spitfires at theend of March. The Mediterranean Islandwas transformed from the besieged baseto the “spring board” for the OperationHusky, i.e., invasion of Sicily. On the eveof the operation there were 35 squadronswith 600 aircraft based in Malta. Thecapacity of the four existing airfields atLuqa, Ta Kali, Hal Far and Qrendi wasexpanded, and a fifth airfield, Xewkija,was temporarily built for USAAF on theadjacent Gozo archipelago. On July 10,1943, this operation opened the way tothe liberation of the whole continent.In just couple of days, the Allies capturedthe solid supporting base on the Siciliansoil and soon after the Allied aircraftwere transferred from Malta bases to theliberated airfields in Sicily and SouthernItaly. Due to these changes the specialMalta camouflages became history.Spitfires flew their further missionscarrying the standard camouflagepatterns only.An RAF ground crew refuels and rearms a Spit-fire Mark Vc from No. 603 Squadron RAF at TaKali airfield. The protective wall was raised fromempty fuel cans and sandbags.Mechanics of the special assembly group at theSpitfire Mk.V at Gibraltar. Behind them the fuse-lages of Hawker Hurricanes can be seen in theirshipping crates. The Special Assembly Group wasset up at Gibraltar in July 1942 to assemble andtest fly aircraft transported from Britain and de-stined for Malta. The two earliest Mk.Vb Spitfires,EP720 and EP791, became part of the OperationTrain, the last delivery of Spitfires to Malta.Spitfires Mk.Vb from No. 249 Squadron at Ta Kaliairfield, autumn 1942.A trio of Mk.Vc Spitfires from No. 249 Squad-ron waiting on the main runway at Ta Kali forscramble, while a Bristol Beaufighter lands in thebackground.Page 16
HISTORYSPITFI RE SUPPLI ES AN D TH EI R CAMOU FLAGEThere is still no definitive informationabout the precise color shades applied in1942 however, based on the available dataanalysis, study of the period photographsand factoring in the camouflage standards,the most probable aircraft appearance canbe determined. The camouflage schemesof the Spitfires flown off the island variedquite a bit. Initially the most suitable colorwas considered the Dark MediterraneanBlue but due to the shortage of this paintthere were aircraft painted in differentshades of blue. The lighter shade, LightMediterranean Blue, originally intended forthe biplanes, was also used, then the navalExtra Dark Sea Grey, American Blue GrayM485 and various colors from the ships‘stocks, initially not intended to be appliedon the airplanes. Spitfires from the laterdeliveries mostly received the “Malta” ca-mouflage either at Gibraltar before embar-king or immediately upon their arrival onthe island. The quality of the paint appli-cation was rather inferior to the factoryfinish. The coat of paint sometimes fullycovered the original paint work, in othercases it was rather thin, and the originalcoloration showed through so the newcoating was more of the blue filter ratherthan fully covering coat of paint.March 7, 1942OPERATION SPOTTERThe first Spitfires that reached Malta, andthe first ones deployed outside of Britain,took off on March 7 off the Royal Navy aircraftcarrier HMS Eagle. During the operationcode-named Spotter fifteen SpitfiresMk.Vb were dispatched carrying 340 l (90gal) drop tanks which enabled them toextend their range for more than 1,000 km(650 miles) long flight to Malta. All fifteenSpitfires safely landed at Ta Kali airfield.No. 249 Squadron was the first to receivethe new Spitfires and three days later, onMarch 10, it flew its first combat missionsagainst the Ju 88 formation escorted byBf 109.March 21, 1942OPERATION PICKETTwo weeks later another nine SpitfiresMk.Vb reached Malta in the same manner.Spitfires arriving in Malta during theoperations Spotter and Picket werecamouflaged in the standard desert schemeof Dark Earth and Middle Stone on the uppersurfaces, the lower surfaces were paintedin either Sky or Azure Blue. The lowersurfaces color depended on the factory: theaircraft manufactured at Supermarine hadSky, those completed at Aircraft ServicingUnits (ASU) had the lower surfaces in AzureBlue. Upon the arrival in Malta the MiddleStone patterns were overpainted in a greycolor which is said to have been a mixtureof various shades. The exact color of thismixture remains unknown, but it’s believedit was very similar to Extra Dark Sea Grey.March 29, 1942OPERATION PICKET IIThe rather strong contrast of the desertcamouflage colors did not seem the bestscheme for flying over the sea. Therefore,before embarking on the aircraft carrier atGibraltar, the third batch of seven SpitfiresMk.Vb had their upper surfaces overpaintedin the dark grey-blue color, probably ExtraDark Sea Grey.April 20, 1942OPERATION CALENDARThe oldest document promulgating therequirement for the new camouflage forthe Spitfires delivered to Malta was thesupplement Nr. 1 to M.E. Air MovementInstruction No. 1 dated March 30, 1942.It stated that the Spitfires destined forMalta were to be camouflaged in the newscheme of Dark Mediterranean Blue on theupper surfaces and Sky Blue on the lowersurfaces. At the same time, the No. 601and No. 603 Squadrons personnel in GreatBritain was getting ready to be dispatchedto Malta with the full complement of 47new Spitfires Mk.Vc (including reserves).These aircraft were to be painted in thenew Malta camouflage but upon relayingthe instructions they were simplified tothe “sea camouflage“ which was, logicallyanticipated as the camouflage applicable tothe Fleet Air Arm aircraft and the aircraftwere painted in that way at the factory.Once this mistake was noticed at Gibraltarthe stocks of Dark Mediterranean Blueand Sky Blue were loaded together withthe aircraft. The supplies however weresufficient for repainting only the portionof the aircraft to be delivered. Out of fortyseven Spitfires on board of USS Waspduring the Operation Calendar twentyseven were camouflaged at ASU with RoyalNavy colors, the remaining twenty wererepainted with new “Malta” colors of DarkMediterranean Blue and Sky Blue. TheSpitfires on board received markings inwhite numerals 1 and 2 and a code lettter.May 9, 1942OPERATION BOWERYFor years, based on the archivephotographs, it was speculated what colorwas applied to Spitfires Mk.Vc transportedon board of the USS Wasp carrier during theOperation Bowery. Photographic evidencefrom the embarking of the Spitfiresconfirms both the desert camouflage inDark Earth, Middle Stone, Azure Blue orSky and the Navy camouflage in ExtraDark Sea Grey, Dark Slate Grey and Sky.According to the veterans’ recollectionsmost of the Spitfires were repainted onboard in some kind of blue or blue-greycolor. The application of the USN colorsseems the most probable. Those areM-485 Non-Specular Blue Gray, appliedto the upper surfaces of the twelve F4FWildcats assigned to the USS Wasp (CV-7) CAP duties, and Deck Blue 20-B colorapplied to the exterior steel deck as a partof the aircraft carrier camouflage scheme.There is a third option: both colors, M-485Non-Specular Blue Gray and Deck Blue20-B could have been applied to maintainthe upper surfaces camouflage pattern onsome Spitfires. In that manner the two-tone blue-grey camouflage scheme wouldhave been consistent with the scheme onthe upper surfaces of the aircraft operatingon Malta at that time. The lower surfacescolor remained the standard shade ofAzure Blue or Sky. 46 Spitfires aboardUSS Wasp and 18 aboard HMS Eagle weremarked in the same way as the Spitfiresfrom the Operation Calendar. The whitenumerals 3 or 4 on one side of the cockadeand the code letter on the other one.An interesting event worth mentioningoccurred during the Operation Bowerywhen the Spitfires took off from the USSWasp. After the take off in his SpitfireBR126 X-3, the Canadian pilot, P/O JerroldAlpine “Jerry” Smith found out that his droptank was inoperable, and he was not ableto reach the airfield on Malta. He jettisonedhis tank and received order to bail out of hisSpitfire. Instead Jerry inquired about theattempt to save the aircraft by landing it onthe aircraft carrier deck. After the captainapproved, he indeed tried to do it. His firstapproach was too high and too fast howeverhis second attempt was successful and hesafely landed his Spitfire and stopped meresix feet from the end of the flight deck. Hemanaged, as the first in the world, to landa Spitfire on the aircraft carrier and evenwithout an arresting hook! For his deedP/O “Jerry” Smith was unofficially awardedthe American Navy Wings from the flightPage 17
HISTORYdeck officer David McCampbell, the futuremost successful USN fighter pilot who, asa LSO (Landing Signal Officer) directed thewhole operation.May 19, 1942OPERATION LBEven though no known photographs ofseventeen Spitfires Mk.Vc flying during theOperation LB came to light it is assumed,that they were repainted at Gibraltar inDark Mediterranean Blue on the uppersurfaces and probably the Azure Blue onthe lower surfaces was also repaintedwith Sky Blue color. Thanks to the pilots’logbooks we know that these Spitfireswere marked with the code letter C infront of the fuselage cockade and two-digitnumeral behind it. For example, SpitfireBR107, delivered during the Operation LB,was coded C-22 while BR108 carried thecode C-20 and BR175 was marked C-51.June 3, 1043OPERATION STYLEAltogether 31 Spitfires Mk.Vc wereembarked on the HMS Eagle deck for theOperation Style. Of them, 27 reached Malta.Many surviving photographs of SpitfireBR305, which was delivered during theOperation Style, show that it had beenfinished in the Dark Mediterranean Blue/Sky Blue.June 9, 1942OPERATION SALIENTSalient was the last operation duringwhich the Spitfires camouflaged in DarkMediterranean Blue and Sky Blue weredelivered. In total 32 Spitfires Mk.Vc weredelivered during the June. After that, the aircommand on Malta (AHQ Malta) requestedthe change in the coloration to be appliedto the newly delivered Spitfires.July 15, 1942OPERACE PINPOINTIt is not exactly clear why the AHQ Maltadecided to change their camouflagerequirements from a single blue coloron the upper surfaces to the two colorspattern which included the lighter bluecolor shade. It might have somehowbeen related to the appearance of someSpitfires delivered during the OperationBowery which carried two tone blue-gray scheme on the upper surfaces. Thenew camouflage scheme, required by theAHQ Malta as of June 1942, resulted inthe adoption of two colors pattern for theupper surfaces: Deep Sky Blue and DarkSlate Grey. Light Mediterranean Bluewas to be applied on the lower surfaces.Based on the surviving photographs it isquite probable that some of eight SpitfiresMk.Vc and 24 Spitfires Mk.Vb participatingin the Operation Pinpoint could have beencamouflaged in these new colors.July 21, 1942OPERATION BELLOWSOperation Bellows was the third missionduring which the Spitfires were transportedfrom the United Kingdom directly to Malta,bypassing Gibraltar. The operation was anintegral part of the convoy Pedestal, thefamous mission to supply Malta. On August11, 38 Spitfires Mk.Vb took off off the HMSFurious flight deck. All of them, except one,which was forced to make an emergencylanding on HMS Indomitable, reachedMalta safely. Typically for Spitfires destinedfor Malta, the coloration of the aircraftparticipating in the Operation Bellowsis questionable. Most of the airplaneswere finished in the desert schemewith Azure Blue on the lower surfaces,a part of them however received thenaval camouflaged in Extra Dark SeaGrey, Dark Slate Grey and Sky. Thephotographs of Spitfires delivered to Maltaduring the Operation Bellows confirmsrepainting of the “desert” upper surfacesin the workshops of the local MaintenanceCommand. It is highly probable that theupper surfaces repainting was done withonly one shade of Deep Sky or Extra DarkSea Grey or the new standard camouflagescheme in Deep Sky and Dark Slate Greywas applied.August 17, 1942OPERATION BARITONEHMS Furious returned to Gibraltar fromher latest mission on August 12 andimmediately embarked two Hurricanesand 32 Spitfires. On August 16, she set sailagain and a day later 32 Spitfires took offfrom her flight deck, 14 of them in versionVc and 18 in version Vb. Twenty-nine ofthem managed to reach Malta shores.According to the period pictures thecamouflage of these Spitfire varied fromthe new scheme of Deep Sky and DarkSlate Grey to the upper surfaces finishedin Dark Mediterranean Blue.October 30, 1942OPERATION TRAINThe aircraft loaded on the decks of theOG.85 convoy ships were originallydestined for the Operation Torch (theAllied landing in the North Africa). With theGeneral Eisenhower approval, however,44 Spitfires were diverted to Malta (32 inMk.Vb on board of HMS Furious while 12aircraft in the version Mk.Vc flew directlyfrom Gibraltar). Operation Train wasthe last mission to reinforce Malta withSpitfires flying off the aircraft carrier.These were finished in the standardcamouflage scheme of Deep Sky and DarkSlate Grey on the upper surfaces and LightMediterranean Blue on the lower surfaces.Sources:Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 082 –Malta Spitfire AcesAir Marshal Sir Keith Park: Victorof the Battle of Britain, Defenderof Malta – Murray RowlandsSniper of the Skies: The Story ofGeorge Frederick “Screwball” Beur-ling, DSO, DFC, DFM–Nick ThomasScale Aviation Modeller; May 21;A Malta Story Reprised – The MaltaSpitfires of 1942 by Paul LucasScale Aviation Modeller; Nov 18;A Malta Story concluded – The MaltaSpitfires November 1942 – July 1943by Paul LucasScale Aviation Modeller; Oct 18;A Malta Story concluded – The MaltaSpitfires June – October 1942;by Paul LucasScale Aviation Modeller; Sep 17;A Malta Story Continued – ColloquialCamouflage Malta Spitfires deliveredvia Gibraltar 18 May to 17 August 1942by Paul LucasScale Aviation Modeller; Aug 17;A Malta Story Continued – OperationsOppidan, Hansford and Bowery. USSWasp’s Second Spitfire Delivery toMalta 24 April to 9 May 1942 by PaulLucasScale Aviation Modeller; Jan 16;A Malta Story – Spitfire Vc’s of Opera-tion Newman & Calendar 13–20 April1942 (Part 2) by Paul LucasScale Aviation Modeller; Dec 15;A Malta Story – Spitfire Vc‘s of Opera-tion Newman & Calendar 13–20 April1942 (Part 1) by Paul LucasMalta Spitfire Vs – 1942: Their Coloursand Markings by Brian CauchiPage 18
HISTORIEThe first American carrier was USS Langley(CV-1) that entered service in 1920. She came tolife by rebuilding the coal transporting ship USSJupiter which had been in service since 1913.During the rebuild, eight double cranes wereremoved as well as both smokestacks, whichup until then had stood next to each other, wererelocated to the port side where they stood in-line. In that manner the space for the flight deck,mounted on the tall supports, was created.While Jupiter coal transport had 19 670 tonsdisplacement, Langley aircraft carrier featured14 100 tons displacement only. The vessel lengthwas 165 meters and the crew accounted for 468sailors. Langley carried 36 aircraft which coulduse one lift and one catapult. The armamentconsisted of 127 mm caliber cannons – two onthe bow and two on the stern. They howevercould not be used for the AA defense. Anotherobsolete feature was a pigeon cage locatedbetween two rear cannons. The idea was that theaircraft taking off of Langley will take a postalpigeon on board which will deliver the messageback to the ship. The pigeons were trained whileLangley was being rebuilt at Norfolk shipyardsand all seemed to work. After that, however,when the ship set sail and the pigeons werereleased near Tangier Island they returned toNorfolk. After this blunder the pigeon cage waseliminated. It was also deleted from the plansof the future carriers, USS Lexington and USSSaratoga.Langley holds several “firsts” for the US Navy.On October 17, 1922, the first take off from theaircraft carrier in the USA took place from herdeck as well as, on November 18, 1922, the firstcatapult launched take off. Even though she wasextremely slow (15.5 knots only) to performefficient operations while Naval aviation wastechnically advancing rapidly, she helpedtrained the first generations of naval aviators.After she was completely outdated during 1936-37, she was re-built as a seaplanes’ carrier. Shewas seriously damaged by the Japanese G4M1Betty bombers on February 27, 1942, while shewas transporting Curtiss P-40 fighters to Java.After the crew abandoned her, she was sunk bythe escorting destroyers.Bermuda TriangleLangley sank as the last of her sister ships.She was the only aircraft carrier (the secondplanned vessel was cancelled after thedecision was made to rebuild Lexington andSaratoga) but as a former coal ship she hadthree sister ships. And all of them disappearedwithout trace in Bermuda Triangle. SometimeWe spoke about the naval battles around Guadalcanal in the previousarticle. The aircraft carriers also participated in them, however theyfought from the distance. Some of them were lost during the fighting.One such loss was the USS Hornet, the last American aircraft carriercompleted before the attack on Pearl Harbor. She sank exactly one yearand one week after entering the service.SEARCHING FOR THE LOSTSHIPS WITH PAUL ALLENIN A YEAR ANDONE WEEKText: Miro BaričAircraft carrier shortlyafter completion at HamptonRoads, Virginia, October 27,1941Source: Naval History & Heritage CommandINFO Eduard18May 2023Page 19
after Mach 4, 1918, it was USS Cyclops with306 sailors and passengers on board. Shewas sailing from South America to Baltimore,Maryland. She made a stopover in Barbados,and it was the last time she was seen. In theend of 1941, in the same area and on the sameroute, within two and half weeks two remainingsister ships disappeared. First, some time afterNovember 23, 1941, USS Proteus was lost andafter December 10, 1941, the sea swallowed USSNereus. There are several theories about theships’ demise. The design fault which weakenedthe hull, and it broke under the combination ofa storm and cargo overload was considered. Orthey could have become victims of the Germansubmarines which themselves were sunk andcould not report their success. In neither casethe Germans recorded an attack on the shipthat would resemble any of those three vessels.Their disappearance may remain withoutclarification forever.Learning on the runAnother two vessels were full-fledged aircraftcarriers even though completed through a re-build. The Washington Treaty from 1922, aboutlimitations of the Naval armament, practicallyexcluded building of new battleships andbattle cruisers. However, redesigning of someof the half-built ships to the aircraft carrierswas permitted. In the USA this was true aboutLexington and Saratoga which entered theservice in 1937 as CV-2 and CV-3. Initially theNavy was not clear about their purpose either.Besides the airplanes they carried heavy anti-shipping weaponry in the form of 203 mm calibercannons. However, the variety of exercisesperformed on the regular basis taught theNavy a lesson and they gradually worked outthe correct tactics for the aircraft carriers’deployment. It was learnt, for example, thatthese ships needed to avoid encounter with theenemy surface vessels therefore the 203 mmcaliber cannons were deleted. On May 8, 1942,Lexington was sunk in the Battle of Corral Sea.We spoke about her fate in the previous articles.Despite various damages, Saratoga survivedthe war and on July 25, 1946, was sunken atBikini atoll during the nuclear bomb tests. Theexplosion took place barely 370 meters fromthe aircraft carrier and despite her size (length270.7 meters, displacement 37 000 tons) thewhole ship was lifted off the water surface. Thewreck lies in shallow waters and is accessibleto scuba divers.The first American vessel, designed and builtfrom the beginning as an aircraft carrier was USSRanger (CV-4). The construction begun in 1931and the ship entered service in 1934. The design,however, had been under way since 1925, it isbefore Lexington and Saratoga were completed.Also based on the prior experience Ranger’sdesign changed several times. Initially the flightHISTORIESource: Naval History & Heritage CommandSource: Naval History & Heritage CommandSource: Naval History & Heritage CommandUSS Ranger in the 1930sThe aircraft carrier USS Wasp as she enters Hampton Roads, Virginia, May 26, 1942. In the backgroundis the destroyer USS Edison.US aircraft carriers Langley, Saratoga and Lexington (from bottom to top)INFO Eduard19May 2023Page 20
HISTORIEdeck was to be clean, same as on Langley. Toeliminate chimneys’ smoke interfering with theaircraft operations six smokestacks (three oneach side) were designed as collapsible. Duringthe construction, however, the bridge was added.The smokestacks were already completed atthat time and their re-design would have beentoo expensive, so they were left in the originalconfiguration. Ranger was relatively small,222.5 meters long, her standard displacementwas less than 15 000 tons and full displacementless than 18 000 tons. It was also slower, 29.5knots. Lexington and Saratoga could reachthe speed of 33 knot. Therefore, Ranger wasconsidered unsuitable for the Pacific battlefieldand for the most part of the war operated inthe Atlantic. The German navy was considereda weaker opponent than the Japanese navy.Ranger took part in the operation Torch (landingin the North Africa) and attacks on the Germantargets in the Norwegian waters. She was theonly pre-war American aircraft carrier whichdid not participated in the fight against Japan.In 1946 she was struck of charge and in January1947 sold to the scrap yards.Yorktown classThe Navy applied the experience from buildingand deploying the previous vessels into buildingthe next Yorktown class. The war gamesanalysis clearly showed the necessity of fastaircraft carriers equipped with the large aircraftgroup on board. In addition, good anti-torpedoprotection of the hull was required. Therefore,USS Yorktown (CV-5), USS Enterprise (CV-6) andUSS Hornet (CV-7) were all built based on theseprinciples. The construction of the first twowas launched in 1934, right after completion ofRanger. In addition, the USA managed to put USSWasp (CV-7) on the building schedule betweenEnterprise and Hornet. After Langley wasrebuilt to the seaplanes’ carrier, the tonnagelimit opened and based on the treaties in placeat that time the USA could use it for building theaircraft carriers. It was not enough for the full-fledged Yorktown class and the result was kindof her down-scaled version. The weight wassaved at the cost of the anti-torpedo protectionwhich later proved costly for USS Wasp. Hornet’sconstruction begun in September 25, 1939, afterWWII broke out in Europe. She was launchedon December 14, 1940, and entered service onOctober 20, 1941. The ship was 251 meters long,her standard displacement was 20 000 tonsand full displacement reached 26 000 tons. Thepowerplant, consisting of nine boilers and foursteam turbines possessed 120 000 HP (89 000kW). Thus, Hornet could reach the speed of 32.5knots. The flight deck measured 248x26 meters.The hangar below measured 166x19 meters andwas connected to the flight deck by three lifts.Hornet could carry 72 aircraft and the flightpersonnel accounted for 851 people. The ship’screw was comprised of 86 officers and 1280sailors. Initially her armament was comprisedof eight single barrel, 127 mm caliber cannons,four twin barrel 28 mm caliber cannons and 2412.7 mm caliber machine guns. In January 1942,the machine guns were removed and graduallyreplaced by 32 single barrel 20 mm calibercannons. Later a single four-barrel, 28 mmcaliber cannon was added increasing the totalnumber of weapons of this caliber to twenty.Into the action in the PacificAll the ships of these class, together withThe USS Wasp was the first aircraft carrier with an elevator at the edge of the flight deck. The aircraft, in this case an SB2U-2 Vindicator from VS-72 in June 1940,was lifted in a semicircle by two arms on the sides of the elevator platform.Source: U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval AviationINFO Eduard20May 2023Page 21
Lexington and Saratoga, bore the brunt of thefighting in the Pacific during the opening stagesof the war. Wasp operated in the Atlantic whereshe, in the summer of 1941, transported theAmerican P-40 fighters to Iceland and in Apriland May 1942 the British Spitfire fighters toMalta. Only in June 1942 she transferred to thePacific. At the time of the Pearl Harbor attack,Hornet was going through training at Norfolk.In February 1942, during one of her trainingvoyages, two twin-engine US Army AF B-25Mitchell bombers were embarked. To the greatsurprise of the crew these two bombers took offwhile the ship was on the open sea. The sailorsunderstood the actual reason of this experimenton April 2, 1942, when Hornet set sail fromAlameda, California, with 16 B-25 bomberson the flight deck. Skipper Marc A. Mitscherinformed the crew that they were going to bombJapan. Hornet had her own aircraft stored underthe deck and on this raid deep into the enemywaters was escorted by Enterprise. The planwas to take off 400 nautical miles (740 km) fromJapan. On April 18, 1942, however, the Americanfleet was spotted by a Japanese patrol ship and16 bombers led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittletook off 600 nautical miles (1110 km) fromJapan. It was the first Hornet’s combat mission.On April 30, 1942, Hornet set sail from PearlHarbor to participate in the Battle of Corral Sea,which was brewing and during which, on May 8,1942, Lexington sank. Hornet could not make iton time, however, together with Enterprise andYorktown was part of the task force that set upthe trap for Japanese at Midway. On June 7, 1942,Yorktown was sunk but Japanese Navy, but theenemy lost four large aircraft carriers and theiradvance in the Pacific was stopped.Dangerous submarinesIn the previous article we spoke about theAllied counterattack in the Solomon Islands andnaval battles around Guadalcanal. The aircraftcarriers took part in this campaign on bothsides. The American carriers were Enterprise,Saratoga, Wasp and Hornet. The first threecovered the Guadalcanal landing on August 7,1942. At that time Hornet stayed in Pearl Harborin reserve in case she was needed elsewhere.While supporting the landings Wasp lost oneDauntless and three Wildcats. One aviator waskilled and another wounded. In exchange theaircraft from Wasp destroyed 15 flying boatsand seven Rufe floatplane fighters on anchorand a Rufe and a Zero in the air. The Avengersand Dauntlesses attacked the ground targetswith bombs.In the evening of August 8, 1942, the AmericanHISTORIESource: R/V Petrel / Vulcan Source: R/V Petrel / VulcanSource: R/V Petrel / VulcanSource: R/V Petrel / VulcanUSS Wasp burning shortly before sinking on Sept. 15, 1942Source: United States Library of CongressSource: United States Library of CongressSunken Grumman Avenger aircraft near the wreck of the USS Wasp127 mm gun on the sunken USS Wasp 28 mm four-barrel gun aboard the USS WaspINFO Eduard21May 2023Page 22
HISTORIEaircraft carriers withdrew to refuel. BetweenAugust 15 and 20, 1942, Enterprise andSaratoga returned to cover the aircraftdelivery to Henderson airfield on Guadalcanal.Simultaneously the Japanese navy tried totransport the reinforcements to the island.Several task forces set sail with the mission notto only cover the transportation ships but alsocounterattack and destroy the American shipsaround the island. The large aircraft carriersShōkaku, Zuikaku and light carrier Ryūjō wereassigned to this mission. On August 24 and25, 1942 the encounter at the eastern SolomonIsland took place which came down in thehistory as the third aircraft carriers’ battle ever.Similar to the Battle of Corral Sea the Americansfirst discovered the light aircraft carrier. Ryūjōwas sailing ahead of the main force with the taskof attacking the Henderson airfield. Saratogalaunched 38 aircraft against her and scoredseveral bomb hits and possibly a torpedo one.The seriously damaged ship sank during thenight. The main Japanese force in the meantimeattacked the American carriers. They focusedon Enterprise which was hit by three bombsdropped by Val dive bombers. However, thanksto the rescue teams in an hour the fires wereput out and the flight operations resumed. TheAmerican aviators managed to locate Shōkakuand Zuikaku and ultimately the enemy fleetretreated from the area.Wasp rushed to help Enterprise and Saratoga.Her airplanes shot down two Jake floatplanesand one flying boat, but they failed to locatethe Japanese aircraft carriers. The disasterstruck in the coming days. First, on August 31,1942, Saratoga was hit by a torpedo and hadto withdraw for repairs. She was hit by I-26submarine which later sank the cruiser USSJuneau about which we spoke in the previousarticle. On September 15, 1942, ever bigger lossoccurred. I-19 submarine launched six torpedoesagainst the American group of ships. One hit thebattleship USS North Carolina, and another hitthe destroyer USS O’Brien, which sank later.Three torpedoes struck Wasp and caused largefires and a series of explosions below the deck.When it became clear that the fires could notbe put out the ship evacuation commenced. Inthe end 193 crew members and 45 aircraft wentdown to the bottom of the ocean.A Japanese Val bomber shot down directly over the bridge of the USS Enterprise on August 24, 1942.A damaged Val dive bomber rushes at the USS Hornet on October 26, 1942. The torpedo bomber Kate takesoff after launching a torpedo.Source: Naval History & Heritage Command Source: Naval History & Heritage CommandWildcat of the Hornet on the seabed127 mm gun aboard the USS HornetThe International Harvester tractor for towing aircraftremained aboard the USS Hornet after her sinking.28 mm four-barrel cannon on the wreck of the HornetSource: R/V Petrel / VulcanSource: R/V Petrel / VulcanSource: R/V Petrel / VulcanSource: R/V Petrel / VulcanSource: R/V Petrel / VulcanINFO Eduard22May 2023Page 23
The last battle before 1944During October 25 through 27, 1942, the Japaneseand American aircraft carriers clashed again inthe Battle of Santa Cruz. Shōkaku and Zuikaku,as well as two light carriers Zuihō and Junyōfaced Enterprise and Hornet. In the morningof October 26, 1942, while searching for theenemy fleet two reconnaissance Dauntlessesfrom Enterprise found Zuihō and hit her withtwo bombs which seriously damaged theJapanese ship and eliminated her from thefurther fighting. The aircraft from both taskforces clashed on the way to attack each other’sships and a series of dogfights took place. TheAmerican aircraft attacked in smaller groups.Ten Dauntlesses from Hornet carpeted Shōkakuwith bombs and hit her at least three times(rather optimistic estimate was six times). AtMidway such a punishment would have meantship’s demise, however, she escaped this time.The bombs destroyed her flight deck and hangarbelow it, but there were no fully fueled andarmed aircraft as at Midway. Thus, the shipavoided the large fires.Another nice Dauntlesses from Hornet hit theheavy cruiser Chikuma with two bombs. ThreeDauntlesses from Enterprise added anotherhit, and nine Avengers scored a torpedohit. The seriously damaged cruiser had towithdraw from the battle. The Japanese, fora change, attacked in large formations. TheEnterprise task force was covered by rainshowers so the whole strength of the firstwave of attack concentrated on Hornet. Shewas hit by three bombs, two torpedoes andin addition two damaged Japanese bombersdived into her on purpose. Hornet stoppedwithout power, but the fires were put outwith the help of escorting destroyers and thecruiser Northampton attempted to tow the ship.Convinced that Hornet was already sinking theJapanese concentrated their second attackwave on Enterprise. She was hit by two bombsand retreated with her escorts. Finally, Hornetstarted to be towed and the crew feverishlyworked to reinstate her own power. And thenthe third wave of attacks arrived. The ship washit by another torpedo and two bombs. TheJapanese surface vessels were approachingso the decision was made to sink the ship. Itwas not that easy, however. While the rest ofthe American ships retreated, the destroyersUSS Mustin and USS Anderson fired severaltorpedoes and more than 400 127 mm calibershells into her hull. Not even that was enough.Both destroyers had to retreat as well whileHornet was still afloat and, in an hour and half,the main Japanese force arrived at the burningwreck. The possibility to capture an Americanaircraft carrier was tempting but then theJapanese realized it was too late. On October27, 1942, at 01:35 the ship went to the bottom. Ithappened exactly a year and seven days sinceshe entered service. 140 dead sailors and 21aircraft went down with the ship.Enterprise remained the only American combatcapable aircraft carrier in the whole PacificOcean. Her crew even painted Enterprise vs.Japan on her deck. After the temporary repairsshe fought in the area around Solomon Islandsuntil the spring 1943. During the fighting forGuadalcanal her aircraft were involved insinking of 16 Japanese ships. The Japanese navyhad more carriers at their disposal, however,many of them were also damaged. Worse yet,there was a shortage of well-trained pilots.Most of them were lost in the fighting in easternSolomon Islands and Santa Cruz Islands.Therefore, the Japanese did not rush into actionneither and the next aircraft carriers clash inthe Pacific took place as late as in the summerof 1944.The wrecks were found at almost the same time.Paul Allen was searching for USS Wasp wrecksince 2017. The search continued after hissudden death on October 15, 2018. In 2019 R/VPetrel research ship sailed several times andher crew first announced that in January 2019they discovered the USS Hornet wreck. It waspreceded by extensive research in the archiveswhere the reports from nine ships, whichwitnessed Hornet demise, were found. Thisinformation was plotted on the map and a gridcreated which made it possible to deduce theaircraft carrier position. R/V Petrel launched anautonomous underwater robot and a remotelycontrolled device equipped with a camera.Both devices can submerge up to 6000 meters.The Hornet’s wreck was discovered at thefirst attempt. It lies upright at a depth of 5330meters. Only a part of the stern had brokenoff and lies nearby. The pictures were taken ofthe International Harvester tractor which wasused to tow the aircraft. It survived not onlythe ship’s fire and the trip to the sea bottom butafter 80 years under the water looked in a goodcondition.Only after a month later the R/V Petrel crewannounced that during the voyage in January2019 they also discovered the USS Wasp wreck.She lies in the depth of 4345 meters. The searchfor her was more complicated since the preciselocation was not known. The underwater robotmoved along the programmed six-mile routeand was emitting a low frequency sonar signalfrom both sides. In one run the robot was ableto cover an area of 40 nautical miles. After therobot was retrieved, the obtained data wereanalyzed, and the crew returned to the promisinglocations with another device equipped with thecamera. Wasp too lies upright on the sea bottombut in the very muddy area. The hull was buriedup to the water line therefore the torpedo hitcould not be determined. There are severalAvenger bombers to be found around the ship.They slipped from the deck while the ship wassinking.Source:Hubáček, M.: Vítězství v Pacifiku. Praha 2003Hrbek, I./Hrbek, J.: Námořní válka vrcholí; Praha 1995Cbsnews.comwarbirdnews.comnytimes.comnews.usni.org-waspnews.usni.org.hornethistory.navy.milHISTORIEJapanese heavy cruiser Chikuma during an attack by U.S. aircraft on October 26, 1942Source: Naval History & Heritage CommandINFO Eduard23May 2023Page 24
6. KVĚTNA 9–16.30 hKULTURNÍ DŮM KOPŘIVNICE25. ročník mezinárodní výstavy a soutěžeMezinárodní soutěž plastikových a papírových modelů ve vyhlášených kategoriíchSOUTĚŽ MODELŮMLÁDEŽE DO 15-TI LETSPECIÁLNÍ CENY „MORAVSKÝ KNIPL“A„MORAVSKÝ ŠRAPNEL“Page 25
#7469BOXART STORYIt´s August 28, 1992. I´m standing next to one of the fiveMi-24Vs of our Pilsen display box as we are preparingto our choppers´ startup procedure prior to the generalrehearsal of our performance for tomorrow´s Airshowin České Budějovice. The first APU sounds, but as I amin the fifth solo chopper there is still some time for usto follow. With my foot on the footrest under the cockpit,gripping the edge of it, I can´t resist to watch thedynamic performance of a MiG-21MF. It roars throughthe air on full throttle with the afterburner and startsa spectacular steep bank roll through the reverseposition. The seconds which follow are like a slow-motion movie. In the reverse position, the aircraft pitchesthe nose sharply and descends rapidly. The pilot tries toget the aircraft back to normal position but having notenough speed it is now flat-falling rather than flying.The MiG disappears behind the edge of the distant forestand suddenly the big explosion cloud rises and its soundhits us a split second later … It´s clear there would beno point to start our engines. The crash was disastrousas Lt. Col. Jiří Moutvička was killed. He was a memberof the Delta team, the group of three pilots and aircraftwhich was performing MiG-21MF displays. He died inthe cockpit of aircraft number 7709, the camouflagedone and also the only standard MiG-21MF of the team.The other two aircraft were examples of the last20-aircraft delivery of this type to Czechoslovakia. Asthey were delivered in a light grey color, the nickname“Greyish” was logical. They all were produced by PlantNo. 21 in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod), which by thattime was already producing a more advanced versionMiG-21bis. Czechoslovakia decided not to introduce thelatter, as it had already its fighter regiments on fullstrength with MiG-21MFs. These were all produced byZnamaya Truda Plant No. 30 in Moscow. However, atthe time of the order for the last MiG-21MFs the latterwas already producing MiG-23s. And, as the Gorkyplant no longer produced the MFs either, the MiG-21bisbeing the standard product there, they manufacturedthe “Grayishs” as side products for last-call MiG-21MForders by several countries.The “Grayishs” actually represented a kind ofintermediate type, as they carried several featuresof the MiG-21bis version. For example, they differedfrom the standard MFs by a different “periscope”(rear-view mirror), a different cockpit layout, in whicha modernized KM-1M ejection seat was installed,a slightly different gun cover, and a different locationof the cartridge belt covers. In addition, oval panelswere missing on the upper side of the wing. This changewas related to a different technological procedurefor sealing the wing integral tanks. The Moscow plantfirst assembled the wing and then injected the liquidseal into the tank through the hole under the panels.However, at Gorky they applied the seals during theassembly of the wing and so they did not need the holeunder the oval panels.The Delta team was founded in the spring of 1992 by Lt.Col. František Hlavnička (who died in a car accident onAugust 13, 2019). This excellent pilot and later inspectorof piloting techniques at the Air Force Headquarters(already as a Full Colonel) had been demonstrating theMiG-21s since 1988, and it was his idea to spray paint thewing and fuselage of one camouflaged aircraft (7709)and two “Grayishs” (2410 and 2205) with winged arrowsin the colors of the Czechoslovak tricolor. In addition,the Delta team emblem was painted on the verticalstabilizer and the number 9 on the rudder representedthe 9 Fighter-Bomber Regiment based in Bechyně.Together with František Hlavnička, who even at the endof his flying career considered himself a “young pilot” (inthe sense that he still had a lot to learn), the membersof Delta team were Lt Col. Jiří Moutvička and Lt. Col.František Bittner.The disaster in which Jiří Moutvička died was the firstnail in the coffin of the Delta team. The next was thedisbanding of the 9 Fighter-Bomber Regiment and theoverhaul of the no. 2205 aircraft in November 1992.Subsequently it served with the 82 Independent FighterSquardon in Mošnov and then in Čáslav, there already inthe MFN version. Aircraft No. 2410 also served briefly inMošnov, but it did not see overhaul nor upgrade to theMFN version and was handed over to the museum inKbely, where it is still located today.As part of the repairs carried out at the beginning of the1980s in the Aviation Repair Shop Kbely, the “Grayishs”were repainted with a similar shade of a gray paint, theexception being aircraft No. 4175, which for unknownreasons was painted in a slightly blue-gray shade.However, some of the standard MiG-21MFs also receivedgray paint as a part of repairs, so not every MiG-21MF ina gray color is a “Grayish”. This nickname belongs onlyto the aircraft with fuselage numbers 2205, 2410, 2500,3008, 4003, 4008, 4017, 4038, 4101, 4127, 4175, 4405,4421, 5494, 5508, 5512, 5581, 5603, 5612 and 9307. The2205, 2500, 3008, 4003, 4017, 4127,4175, 4405, 5581 and5603 were converted to the MFN version. Aircraft 3008and 4127 were destroyed in the crash on October 10,2000, while No. 5494 was also lost in a previous crash(1980).One of the two “Grayihs”" with striking Delta teamgraphics is depicted on Piotr Forkasiewicz´s boxartfor the kit Cat. No. 7469 in a low pass over the base.It may just be leaving for an airshow, and the pilot isdetermined to show what this aircraft can do despiteits age...Illustration: Piotr ForkasiewiczOne shade of GrayText: Richard PlosINFO Eduard25May 2023Page 26
BOXART STORY #84188Hans-Joachim “Jochen” Marseille was bornin 1919 in Berlin and was a descendant ofHuguenot immigrants. He came from a difficultfamily background and had strong ties to hisyounger sister Ingeborg, who was murderedin 1941, and “Jochen” was reportedly unableto cope with her death. With 158 victories, hebecame the most successful German fighterpilot fighting against the Western Allies. In1938, he joined the Luftwaffe and one of hisinstructors was Julius Arigi, one of the mostsuccessful Austro-Hungarian fighters of theFirst World War.On August 10, 1940 Marseille was assignedto 1.(Jagd)/LG 2, which at that time foughtin the Battle of Britain. He flew as wingman(Kaczmarek) of StFw. Helmut Goedert andachieved his first victory on 24 August. Hegradually added six more enemy kills to histally with this unit, but his Staffelkapitän,Oblt. Adolf Buhl had difficulty with him.A report he prepared on the young airmanon 6 September, after four weeks with theunit, shows that the undisciplined Marseillehad been reprimanded, given three daysof light imprisonment and five days ofdetention. According to Buhl, however,Marseille flew with wisdom and courage. Hewas honest and friendly with his colleaguesand was above average intelligence. Indifficult situations he handled himself withpoise and aggressiveness, and after fourweeks he was awarded the Iron Cross 2ndand 1st Class. The GruppenkommandeurHerbert Ihlefeld also gave hima positive assessment in December 1940.In December, Marseille was transferred to4./JG 52 under the command of JohannesSteinhoff. Among “Jochen's” colleagues in thisStaffel was Gerhard Barkhorn. But “Jochen”did not stay there long either, apparently thereason again being disciplinary problems.Steinhoff later commented: “Marseille wasconstantly undisciplinned, but he was anexcellent flier. Something was wrong in hisfamily. He never wanted to see his fatheragain.”In February 1941 he was transferred to3./JG 27. He had a brief deployment in theBalkans with his new Staffel, but by April hehad already scored his first victory in Africa.When Marseille told his new Staffelkapitän,who was Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt, aboutthe difficulties he had had with his previousunits, his new superior asked him, “And youwant to become a big eagle here?” Marseilleanswered quite frankly, “The biggest!”By the end of 1941 he had 36 victories to hiscredit. He often scored several kills in one day.After achieving his 50th aerial victory on 21stFebruary 1942, he was awarded the Knight'sCross. He received the Oak Leaf Cluster inearly June after achieving his 75th victory,and in the same month he also received theSwords for his 101st aerial victory. In June1942 he was appointed commander of 3./JG27. In early September 1942, after achieving126 victories, he received the Diamonds tothe Knight's Cross. Between 31st August 1942and September 26, he achieved 57 victories,17 of these were achieved in a single day,on 1st September. In September 1942, hewas promoted to the rank of Hauptmann.Marseille had versatile skills in both pilotingand gunnery. He did not hesitate to maneuverin enemy formation at low speed and toperform deflection shooting. He also tried torescue downed enemy airmen in the desertand dropped news of their fate on the otherside of the front. Marseille was killed on 30thSeptember 1942 at Sidi Abd el Rahman whilejumping from his machine with damagedengine. News of his death was carried evenby the Allied press. A small pyramid waserected at the site of the tragic end. He wasnicknamed the “Star of Africa” and AdolfGalland called him “the unrivalled virtuosoamong fighter pilots”. Marseille was knownfor his bohemian life, his relationships withfamous female artists. He ran a bar in thedesert outposts called “The Blue Cave” andhis favorite song was “Rumba Azul”. In 1957,a German-Spanish feature film “Der Sternvon Afrika” was made about him.The question remains, of course, howsuccessful a fighter Marseille actually was.Researchers Dan Case and Nick Hectorconclude that 135 kills can be documentedout of the Marseille´s total of 158 officiallycertified and five unconfirmed victories.Marseille thus has an 82.8 % accuracy ratefor his claimed victories.Text: Jan BobekIllustration: Marek RyśThe Star of AfricaINFO Eduard26May 2023Page 27
#8162BOXART STORYThe September morning of April 20, 1918, is stillshrouded in a foggy haze when the cough of anengine, revved up for the morning engine warm-up, cuts through the silence. Another hecticday of the German spring offensive starts atCappy airfield for the JG I and its commandingofficer Manfred von Richthofen. At Val Heureuxairfield, just some 30 miles to the northwest,members of No. 3 Squadron RAF, led by twenty-four-year-old Major Richard Raymond-Barker,are carrying out similar procedures. In theevening, these units will fight an air battle andManfred von Richthofen will achieve his lasttwo victories. One of his victims will be thecommander of the British unit...Camels of No. 3 Sqn took off from Val Heureuxunder the lead of Capt. Douglas Bell, C Flightleader, although Raymond-Barker was alsoon patrol. When the formation was less thanthree miles behind the front line, it was spottedby pilots from Jasta 11. The fight began witha frontal attack by both formations and at 18:40,just seconds after the rivals engaged eachother, the main fuel tank of Raymond-Barker´sCamel exploded after a direct hit. The one whofired the bullet was none other than the RedBaron. Three minutes later, von Richthofenwas attacking another opponent. It was Camelnumber B7393 . And here we start with ourstory...Lieutenant David Lewis notices his commander´splane explodes, but doesn´t have time to watchhis fate. He attacks one of the enemies, butsuddenly splinters fly off of one of his Camel´sstruts. He kicks the pedals, full throttle andsends his aircraft into a steep-bank turn. Hefinds himself facing the red Dreidecker that firedat him. He tries to escape with even more violentmaneuvering, and at one point manages to getthe red machine in his gunsight. He knows alltoo well who he´s dealing with, and after someof his bullets hit the fuselage of the opponent´saircraft, he wonders how great it would be if he,a rookie who´s only been at the front for threeweeks, was the one to shoot down the famousace. But the fortunes are to change. The enemyis an all-too-experienced pilot. He escapes andwithin seconds the hunter is the prey. One ofRed Baron´s bullets shatters the compass,another miraculously misses David´s head, hitshis aviation goggles and knocks them off. Justas miraculously, another bullet gets throughhis pant leg, but only grazes the pilot himself.Then a few bullets hit the fuel tank. Even so, it´sa stroke of luck anyway, as only a small reservetank is hit. Instead of a devastating explosion, it“only” catches fire and Lewis immediately diveshis Camel. He plummets to the ground as flamesconsume the fuselage´s canvas covering. It´sa race against time to get to the ground beforethe fire destroys the controls! A hard emergency“landing” at around 60 mph rips the poor Camelapart and the impact throws David out of thecockpit. He briefly loses consciousness andwhen he regains it, he lies motionless fora moment. Perhaps he´s reluctant to believehe´s alive. He gets up and is astonished to findthat, apart from minor burns, he is unharmed.A miracle! Less than 50 yards away, thewreckage of the Raymond-Barker´s Camel isburning. David runs towards it, but the heat ofthe flames won´t let him near the wreckage.The body of his CO is not inside and will neverbe found ... Then a red Dr.I flies over the grimscene and waves. Is Manfred von Richthofenhonoring his victims, or is he trying to attractthe attention of the nearby German soldiersfor future verification of his victories? We don´tknow. He himself cannot know that the man onthe ground was his last victim, nor would heever know that he was a barely twenty-year-oldDavid Greswolde “Tommy” Lewis from SouthernRhodesia. A native of Bulawayo who, as soonas his age allowed, made his way to the UKand joined the ranks of the RFC. He graduatedfrom pilot school in April 1917, was promotedto officer rank in June and served withNo. 78 (HD) Squadron before being transferred toNo. 3 Squadron at the end of March 1918. Afterbeing shot down over enemy territory, he spentthe rest of the war in a prisoner of war campat Graudenz (now Grudziądz, Poland) and thenreturned to Southern Rhodesia. He farmed andalso worked in government administration anddied on August 10, 1978, outliving his conqueror,who died the day after their duel, by more thansixty years...Adam Tooby´s boxart captures the moment afterLewis´s Camel was hit. The young pilot turns hisburning machine into a steep dive as the RedBaron watches his victim. The Dr. I of WernerSteinhäuser, who also took part in the battle onApril 20, can be seen in the background huntinganother Camel. His Dreidecker is also part ofthe markings offered in the box.Text: Richard PlosIllustration: Adam ToobyThe last victimINFO Eduard27May 2023Page 28
#8229F6F-5 Hellcat late1/48Weekend edition kit of US naval fighter aircraft F6F-5Hellcat in 1/48 scale. This version of the legendarynaval fighter was without a window in the fuselagebehind the cockpitplastic parts: Eduardmarking options: 6decals: EduardPE parts: yes, pre-paintedpainting mask: yesresin parts: yes, wheelsProduct pageKITS 05/2023INFO Eduard28May 2023Page 29
Lt. Eugene A. Valencia, VF-9, USS Lexington, February 1945Lt. Cornelius N. Nooy, VF-31, USS Belleau Wood, August 1945One of the highest scoring naval fighter aces,Eugene Anthony Valencia, made himself famousas leader of the “Valencia Circus”, which wasthe name given to his division because of theirability to shoot down enemies and also thanks totheir rather flamboyant demeanor. He was bornon April 13, 1921, in San Francisco and joinedthe US Navy in 1941. He was designated a NavalAviator on February 9, 1942, and after a stint asan instructor, he reported to VF-9 on board of USSEssex a year later. When November 11 came, theday of the massive, combined strike on Rabaul,Valencia achieved three full victories plus oneshared. After one victory at the end of January1944, he became ace with three Zeros shot downon February 17. When back from his first combattour, he worked with selected pilots on the tactics“Mowing Machine”, the idea he got during fightsover Truk archipelago. In this tactic a pilot couldconstantly be on the attack while his mates wouldbe providing cover for him. The VF-9 returned toPacific in January 1945 and soon after Valencia’sdivision started to reap the benefits of theirtraining. Valencia increased his score steadilyfrom February 16, 1945, when he added his eighthfull victory near the Imba lake. At the end of thetour, his score counted 23 confirmed enemiesshot down, two probably and two damaged,making him the third best US naval ace of WWII.He passed away in 1972.Cornelius Nicholas Nooy was born on April 15,1921, in Smithtown and became probably thedeadliest ornamental gardener in the world,as he graduated with a bachelor’s degree inOrnamental Horticulture from the New York StateInstitute of Agriculture in 1941 and also becameone of the most successful Naval fighters. Heenlisted in the US Navy on March 18, 1942, andstarted his flight training on August 1, 1942. Fourand a half months later he was designated a NavalAviator and became member of VF-31. There hedid not waste time and achieved his first aerialvictory on January 29, when he shot down oneZero while another was classified as probable. Inthe end he had 19 victories to his credit, rankinghim the fifth most successful US naval fighterof WWII (rank shared with Alexander Vraciu andPatrick Fleming) and the most successful fighteroperating from light aircraft carriers. The Hellcatdepicted here sports symbols of all of his victoriesunder the windshield and also his name and theemblem of the VF-31. Between them, there wasprobably the emblem of NYSIA. This aircraftserved several pilots to take commemorativephotos at the end of the tour and so all the logosand names were temporary. As the unit’s symbolwas usually placed in front of the windshield, wepresume it was also the case of this aircraft. Nooyleft active duty on December 28, 1945, and servedin the Naval Reserve, where he was promoted toLt Cdr on February 1, 1952. He died of cancer justa month before his 37th birthday.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard29May 2023Page 30
BuNo 70597, Lt. James L. Pearce, VF-17, USS Hornet, March 21, 1945BuNo 72663, Ens. William A. Sinnott, VF-24, USS Santee, July 7, 1945James Lano Pearce became not only a Navalfighter but also a remarkable aviation personality.He enlisted with the Navy on July 3, 1941. Aftergetting his “wings” and promotion to the rank ofEnsign he served with VS-52 flying scout planesfrom Bora Bora, Society Islands, from December1942 to July 1943. Following he was transferredto VF-18 and he probably shot down a Zeke onNovember 11 in vicinity of Rabaul and shared0,25 of the victory over a Betty on December 25,1943. A damaged Betty bomber on January 1944was his last achievement with VF-18 prior to hisreturn to west coast, where he helped to reformVF-17 from March 1944. He returned to combataboard USS Hornet (CV-12). He shared one Myrtshot down on March 18, 1945 and his best daycame on March 21, when he sent down two Bettybombers and finally recorded 5,25 victories plus15 aircraft destroyed on the ground. After thewar he was stationed at the Flight Test Divisionat NAS Patuxent River until his departure fromthe Navy on August 27, 1948. He then continuedhis career of test pilot with Grumman, but justafter six months he changed employer and forthe next 15 years helped with the developmentof the North American Aviation aircraft. Duringthis service he lost his left leg below knee in 1953but kept flying. Another change came at the earlystage of the Apollo space program. Jim Pearcewas placed in charge of test and check out ofthe Apollo Command and Service Modules forthe Lunar program and remained at the KennedySpace Center until 1967, when he decided to starthis own business, which he run until February 9,2011, when he died.July 7, 1945, was not a lucky day for the escortcarrier USS Santee units VF-24 and VT-24. Duringthe landing procedure the arresting hook of theHellcat flown by Ens William A. Sinnott broke, theaircraft cleared all the barriers a ran into parkedplanes, causing a fire. Four Hellcats and twoAvengers were jettisoned, six torpedo bomberswere damaged and one of the pilots of the parkedaircraft was killed. VF-24 was on its second tourfrom March 27 to July 19. During this spell thepilots were mostly tasked with ground attackmissions, as they were supporting the Alliedlandings on Okinawa from April 1 and helpingBritish carrier forces to deny Japanese units touse the airfields on the Sakishima islands. OnJune 16, USS Santee launched a fighter bombermission against targets on Kyūshū, Japanesemainland. On June 19 the ship arrived at LeyteGulf and undergo minor repairs. She was inaction again from July 1 and at the time of theSinnott’s crash was covering minesweepingoperations west of Okinawa. During the wholesecond tour the pilots of VF-24 achieved justthree aerial victories, which was down to thenature of their tasks. Two months and two weeksafter the crash on the deck of USS Santee, theVF-24 was disbanded on September 20, 1945. Asa part of the Carrier Division 22, their Hellcatssported white tails and white rectangles on theleading edge of the starboard wing’s upper side).The aircraft of USS Santee were distinguishedby two yellow stripes on the rear fuselage andon the wing, accompanying the white rectangle.Aircraft from USS Chennango sported one yellowstripe, USS Suwanee two white stripes and USSSangamon one white stripe.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard30May 2023Page 31
BuNo 72296 Lt. Louis A. Menard, jr., VBF-12, USS Randolph, February 17, 1945Flottille 1F, PA Arromanche, French Indochina, 1951Louis Arthur Menard, called Lou, joined the Navyon July 21, 1941. He was designated a Naval Aviatoron January 31, 1942 and promoted to the rank ofEnsign. His first combat deployment took him toNorth Africa on board of USS Ranger as a memberof VF-9. There he achieved one confirmed and oneprobable kill flying F4F-4 on November 9. A yearlater, on November 11, he added two Zekes to histally still as a member of VF-9, but aboard USSEssex. After shooting down a Kate on January 29,1944, he made himself an ace as he shot down twoKates and two Petes on February 17. Promoted tothe rank of Lieutenant on April 1, 1944, he wasattached to the VF-12 and, on January 2, 1945,moved to its sibling squadron VBF-12. February 16was the day of his last victory. He shot down oneJudy, but the next day he had to bail out over theocean and strong wind dragged him through thewater. The crew of the destroyer Taussig finallysaved him. This ended his tour and he returned tothe USA. He stayed in active duty until 1968, whenhe retired in the rank of Commander. He was XOof VF-33 from June 1953 and CO of VF-102 fromSeptember 1954. Regarding the Navy loss list,Menard flew Hellcat BuNo 72296 and a paintingaccompanying the interview with him portrays theaircraft with tactical number 32. We thus assumeit was the one Lou had to bail out from. Anothersource states the aircraft was BuNo 72635 andto make the things even more complicated, therewere two Hellcats with number 32 on board ofUSS Randolph. Which of them was this No. 32Hellcat of VBF-12 is not clear. The decals offerboth BuNo. options.The French Navy bought 124 F6F-5s and fifteenF6F-5Ns between 1950 and 1953. The planeequipped several combat units, including famouswartime I/6 Corse and II/6 Normandie-Niemensquadrons. The Naval 1F Flotille was another unitto convert to Hellcats and one of those fightingin Indochina, where France tried to reinstateits pre-war colony but faced the communistsopposition led by Ho Chi Minh. The unit wastransformed into 11F on June 20, 1953, while backin France, and sent back to French Indochinaimmediately. The Hellcats were also used by 54S,57S and 59S training squadrons. French scrappedtheir Hellcats in 1960 and replaced them with theF8F Bearcat. Their Hellcats were painted in GlossSea Blue and had a modified French roundelwith an anchor. The aircraft sported the famoussymbol of the Seahorse on the vertical stabilizer.The appearance of the seahorse varied fromaircraft to aircraft.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard31May 2023Page 32
Recommended:for F6F-5 Hellcat late 1/4848585 F6F undercarriage (PE-Set)48588 F6F gun bay (PE-Set)491347 F6F-5 (PE-Set)FE1065 F6F-5 seatbelts STEEL (PE-Set)644012 F6F-5 LööK (Brassin)648061 HVAR rockets (Brassin)648086 US 250lb bombs (2 pcs) (Brassin)648102 F6F wheels (Brassin)648683 F6F exhaust stacks (Brassin)648747 F6F undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)648798 F6F wheel bays PRINT (Brassin)3DL48069 F6F-5 SPACE (3D Decal Set)EX866 F6F-5 TFace (Mask)OVERTREES#8222XF6F-5/Hellcat Mk.II1/48Product pageOVERLEPT#8229-LEPTF6F-5 Hellcat PE-Set1/48Product page# 644012# 648798# 648747KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard32May 2023Page 33
SPITFIRE STORY: MALTALimited edition kit of British WWII fighter aircraft Spitfire Mk.Vband Vc in 1/48 scale. From the kit you can build Spitfires fightingin the defence of the island Malta.plastic parts: Eduardmarking options: 15decals: EduardPE parts: yes, pre-paintedpainting mask: yesresin parts: noProduct page#111721/48DUAL COMBOKITS 05/2023INFO Eduard33May 2023Page 34
Spitfire Vb Trop, AB264, F/O Robert W. McNair, No. 249 Squadron, RAF Ta Kali, Malta, March 1942Spitfire Vb Trop, EP122, Sgt. Claude Weaver III, No. 185 Squadron, RAF Ta Kali, Malta, July 1942The first three Spitfire Mk.Vb deliveries to Maltawere conducted under the code names Spotterand Picket/Picket II. Spitfires that arrivedin Malta during the Operations Spotter andPicket were camouflaged in Dark Earth andMiddle Stone on the upper surfaces, the lowersurfaces were painted in Sky or Azure Blue. Thelower surfaces color depended either on themanufacturing factory Supermarine, which usedSky, or Aircraft Servicing Units (ASU) which usedAzure Blue color. Upon arrival in Malta the MiddleStone camouflage pattern was overpainted inExtra Dark Sea Grey. Spitfire AB263 was ferriedto Malta by P/O Peter Nash on March 7, 1942,during the Operation Spotter. On March 20, 1942,a Canadian pilot, Robert Wendell “Buck” McNairshot down a Ju 88, another Ju 88 probably anddamaged another one. On March 25, Nash shotdown a Ju 87 and in November Sgt. ThomasKebbell shot down a Ju 88. Spitfire AB264 wasone of 16 aircraft in of the first Spitfires deliveryto Malta which survived the campaign andhad a long service life. It served with No. 249,No. 185, No. 1435 and No. 229 Squadron. In May 1943it was overhauled and handed over to the USAAF.It finished its career in the Middle East.Spitfire EP122 arrived in Malta from HMS Eagle onJuly 15, 1942, during the Operation Pinpoint andwas immediately assigned to the combat dutywith the No. 185 Squadron. It became a regularmount of Sgt. Claude Weaver III who scored fivekills (4x Bf 109 and 1x Ju 88). He became theyoungest Allied ace during the conflict. LaterEP122 became the personal mount of the WingCommander J. M. Thompson who had the aircraftmarked with his name initials JM-T. In OctoberThompson at its controls shot down a Bf 109and Ju 88 and damaged another two Bf 109s. Inthe beginning of 1943 EP122 was ordered to theNo. 1435 Squadron where it flew carrying the codeletter L. On March 27, 1943, it made an emergencylanding at the edge of the cliff in Dwejra Bay onGozo island. EP122 was afterward dumped overthe edge of the cliff into the bay. EP122 wreck,lying in 10 m depth, was discovered by scubadivers from the RAF Sub Aqua Club on the Gozoshore in 1969. In the middle of 1970, the wreckwas recovered. The initial restoration work wasdone by Steve Vizard in Hampshire followed bythe Airfram Assemblies in Sandown, Surrey. Theairframe was transferred to Biggin Hill HeritageHangar for the completion. The first flight fromBiggin Hill took place in May 2016. The navalcamouflage and markings are authentic howeverthe typical tropical air filter is missing.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard34May 2023Page 35
Spitfire Vb Trop, EP706, P/O George F. Beurling, No. 249 Squadron, RAF Ta Kali, Malta, August - October 1942Spitfire Vb, EP829, S/Ldr John J. Lynch, No. 249 Squadron, RAF Qrendi, Malta, February - May 1943A brilliant pilot and sharpshooter but rathermysterious personality, Canadian GeorgeFrederick Beurling achieved unbelievablesuccesses during the fierce fighting for Maltain 1942 where in the course of a half year hescored 28 confirmed kills. Beurling’s SpitfireEP706 arrived in Malta off the HMS Furious deckon August 11, 1942 during the Operation Bellows.The original desert camouflage was repainted atthe Malta Maintenance Command probably withDeep Sky or Extra Dark Sea Grey color. Accordingto the period pictures, the wing upper surfacesaround the weapon wells were rather worn andthe original desert camouflage was showingthrough. P/O “Screwball” Beurling had his killmarkings painted on the fuel tank cover of hisSpitfire flown regularly between August 20 andOctober 9. He flew 27 combat missions with it andscored four out of his total 28 kills achieved inMalta.Spitfire EP829 was flown by S/Ldr Lynch fromFebruary to May 1943 with No. 249 Squadron andwas part of the delivery during the Operation Trainwhich was the last Spitfire delivery to reinforceMalta from the aircraft carriers. Spitfires werefinished in the standard Malta camouflagescheme with the upper surfaces in Deep Sky andDark Slate Grey. EP829 initially flew with clippedwings, later was operated with the full wingspan.The squadron commander insignia and five killmarkings, achieved by April 25, 1943, were paintedon the fuselage fuel tank. Three days later, Lynchshot down two Ju 52 and scored 1,000th victoryfor the Malta defenders. To commemorate thisanniversary kill he had painted “Malta’s 1000”in white under the windshield. John Lynch wasborn on February 3, 1918, in Alhambra, California.In 1941 he joined RAF and in September 1941 hecompleted his pilot training at No. 56 OTU. Hisfirst assignment was at No. 232 Squadron. Thefollowing month he joined the No. 121 “Eagle”Squadron and No. 71 “Eagle” Squadron where, onApril 17, 1942, he shared a victory over a Ju 88.In November 1942 he was transferred to Maltaand assigned to No. 249 Squadron with which heflew combat in the area. In the beginning of 1943,he was promoted to the squadron commanderand achieved many successes against theAxis transportation aircraft which supplied theGerman and Italian troops in Tunisia. In July1943 he was ordered to the USAAF but did not flycombat. He returned to the United States whereafter the war end continued his service with theUSAF. In 1956 he became an operations officerwith the 49th Fighter-bomber Wing on Okinawabut shortly after, on March 9 he was killed in theaircraft crash in F-84G near Naha airport. Duringhis wartime career Lynch claimed in total 17 kills(10 individual and 7 in cooperation), one probableand two enemy aircraft damaged.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard35May 2023Page 36
Spitfire Vb, ER647, S/Ldr John R. Urwin-Mann, No. 126 Squadron, RAF Luqa, Malta, spring 1943Spitfire Vb Trop, ER187, Maj. Frank A. Hill, 309th FS, 31st FG, Xewkija, Gozo - Malta, beginning of July 1943ER647 represents yet another of the camouflageschemes used in Malta where the factory appliedMiddle Stone was repainted with Dark Slate Grey.A Mk.Vb painted in similar way is documentedin the color photographs by AVM Keith Park.The depicted ER647 was flown by the No. 126Squadron commander, a Battle of Britain aceS/Ldr Urwin-Mann, who on January 28, 1943, shotdown a Me 210 flying this aircraft. In February1944, ER647 was handed over to the USAAF andin 1945 finished its career with the French AF.During his wartime career, John Roland “Jack”Urwin-Mann scored 10 kills, two of them shared.In the middle of 1943, Malta became a fundamental“springboard” for the Operation Husky, an Alliedinvasion of Sicily. The island became a key postmainly due to its support of the air operations.There were five operational airfields on Malta,all of them occupied by the large numbers of theBritish airplanes which impaired the operationsof the USAAF units. The only solution was to turnthe attention to Gozo, mountainous land whichis the part of the Malta archipelago. The area inXewkija turned out to be the best solution despitethe negotiations with the local farmers. Xewkijaairport, also known as Ta’ Lambert, was built asthe principal USAAF airbase during the OperationHusky in the very short time of 12 days of theconstruction only to cease the operations aftermere six months of the intense traffic. In June1944 the land on which the airport was built wasreturned to the original landlords and turned backto the fertile soil. One of the Spitfires flying out ofthe airfield Xewkija in the beginning of July 1943was ER187, a personal aircraft of the commanderand the most successful pilot of the 309th FS,Maj. Frank Hill. His Spitfire is known to carry twodifferent designs of the national insignia, witha yellow outline and also with the “wings” withthe red outline which fell into the period of theirofficial application, from June 28 to the end ofJuly 1943. A question remains if the new insigniawere painted for that ten days stay on Gozo orin Sicily, where the 31st FG was transferred onJuly 13, 1943. During his wartime carrier Maj.Frank Hill shot down in total eight enemy aircraftincluding two shared victories, two probable andhe also damaged five enemy aircraft.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard36May 2023Page 37
Spitfire Vb Trop, ER187, Maj. Frank A. Hill, 309th FS, 31st FG, Xewkija, Gozo - Malta, beginning of July 1943Spitfire Vc Trop, BR190, F/Sgt Virgil P. Brennan, No. 249 Squadron, RAF Ta Kali, Malta, May 1942Maj. Frank Hill’s Spitfire is known to carry twodifferent designs of the national insignia, witha yellow outline and with the “wings” with the redoutline which fell into the period of the officialapplication, from June 28 to the end of July 1943.A question remains if the new insignia werepainted for the ten days stay on Gozo or in Sicilywhere the 31st FG was transferred on July 13,1943.Spitfire BR190 arrived in Malta on April 20, 1942,during the Operation Calendar. It carried thenaval camouflage which was on the board ofUSS Wasp (CV-7) partially overpainted with so-called Malta blue. On May 5, at the controls ofthis unusually camouflaged Spitfire, F/Sgt PaulBrennan shot down a Bf 109. Spitfire BR190 flyingcareer however was very short. On May 14 it wasdestroyed during the bombing of the airport TaKali. Virgil Paul Brennan was born in Warwickin Queensland on March 6, 1920, and before thewar practiced law. In November 1940 he joinedRAAF and was sent to Canada for an advancedtraining. In August he was ordered to the GreatBritain where he continued his training with No.53 OTU. In October he was assigned to the No. 64Squadron but in the beginning of March he wastransferred to Malta. On March 17 he flew offthe HMS Eagle deck to the island together withthe first Spitfires delivery. After the landing hewas attached to the No. 249 Squadron. BetweenMarch 17 and June 7 he scored seven kills. In Julyhe completed his tour of duty with the No. 249Squadron and flew back to the Great Britain. Herehe served as an instructor with the No. 52 OTUuntil January 1943 and after that he set sail forhome, Australia. On May 1 he was assigned to theNo. 79 Squadron RAAF in Laverton, unfortunatelyhe did not fly there for long. On June 13, 1943, hewas mortally wounded in a crash near Garbutt.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard37May 2023Page 38
Spitfire Vc Trop, BP975, F/Lt Denis Barnham, No. 601 Squadron, RAF Luqa, Malta, April - May 1942Spitfire Vc Trop, BR126, P/O Jerrold A. Smith, No. 126 Squadron, USS Wasp (CV-7), May 1942After the outbreak of the war, Dennis Barnhamjoined RAF in April 1941. Initially he served withthe No. 65 Squadron, in July he was ordered tothe No. 609 Squadron and on December 30 hewas transferred to the No. 154 Squadron. In April1942 he was promoted and assigned to the No. 601Squadron as a flight leader. At that time the unitwas preparing for the deployment to Malta. OnApril 20, 1942, during the operation code-namedCalendar, he flew off the American aircraft carrierUSS Wasp (CV-7) for the island. During April andMay Barnham scored five aerial victories, all ofthem flying Spitfire BP975. On board of USS Wasp(CV-7), over its original desert camouflage hisSpitfire was painted in the US Navy Non SpecularBlue Gray used on the USS Wasp escort F4FWildcats. Denis Barnham was an artist as welland he often painted and drew sketches. Some ofhis drawings were included in the book One Man’sWindow (William Kimber, 1956) he wrote after thewar about his experiences from Malta.On May 9, 1942, after he took off in his SpitfireBR126 X-3, the Canadian pilot, P/O Jerrold Alpine“Jerry” Smith found out that his drop tank wasinoperable, and he was not able to reach theairfield on Malta. He jettisoned his tank andreceived order to bail out of his Spitfire. Instead,Jerry inquired about the attempt to save theaircraft by landing it on the aircraft carrier deck.After the captain approved, he indeed tried to doit. His first approach was too high and too fasthowever his second attempt was successful, andhe safely landed his Spitfire mere six feet fromthe end of the flight deck. He managed, as the firstin world, to land a Spitfire on the aircraft carrierand without an arresting hook! For his deedP/O “Jerry” Smith was unofficially awarded theAmerican Navy Wings from the flight deck officerDavid McCampbell, the future most successfulUSN fighter pilot who, as a LSO (Landing SignalOfficer) directed the whole operation. Jerryultimately made it to Malta couple of days lateron May 19 with another batch of Spitfires duringthe Operation LB. In Malta, he met his brotherRod at the No. 126 Squadron and on July 18 theytogether shot down a Ju 88. On August 10, 1942, hetook off in the order to search for some targetedminelayers. He was seen for the last timepursuing a Ju 88 on the course towards Sicily.Neither aircraft made it back to the home base.His brother Rod was searching hours for him butdid not find any sign of neither the body nor hisSpitfire. Jerry’s name is engraved on the Malta’smemorial. During the Malta fighting he scoredfour individual kills and shared one.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard38May 2023Page 39
Spitfire Vc Trop, BR311, F/Lt Roderick I. A. Smith, No. 126 Squadron, RAF Luqa, Malta, October 1942Spitfire Vc Trop, BR321, F/Lt John A. Plagis, No. 185 Squadron, RAF Hal Far, Malta, June 1942Spitfire BR311 arrived in Malta during theOperation Style on June 3, 1942 and successfullyparticipated in the battle for the island. On August14, flying this aircraft, S/Ldr W. J. Johnson shotdown two Macchi MC.202. Between October 12and 25, P/O Nigel Park at its controls shot downthree Ju 88 and three Bf 109 and on October 25F/Lt “Rod” Smith shot down a Bf 109, which washis last victory in Malta. During the defense ofMalta, he shot down in total six aircraft. Rod Smithwas a brother of Jerry Smith, and they foughttogether in the ranks of the No. 126 Squadron.BR311 coloration matched the recommendedMalta scheme in Dark Mediterranean Blue onthe upper surfaces and Sky Blue on the lowersurfaces. The original markings on the fuselage,applied on board of USS Wasp, were overpaintedwith Light Mediterranean Blue and assigned thecode letters MK-L. On October 5, 1944, Rod Smithbecame the first Allied pilot who shot down a Me262 jet. During his wartime carrier Rod Smithscored 14 kills.Spitfire BR321 arrived in Malta on June 9 duringthe operation Salient. It became a personalmount of F/Lt John Plagis who scored threeaerial victories in it. John Plagis was born onMarch 10, 1919, in Hartley, South Rhodesia. Afterthe outbreak of war, he volunteered for theRhodesian AF but was rejected since he wasstill officially a Greek citizen. Therefore in 1940he volunteered for RAF. In May 1941 he started hispilot training at the No. 58 OTU in Grangemouth.In the end of June, he was initially attached tothe No. 65 Squadron, then he was transferred tothe No. 266 Squadron. In all his flight evaluationshe was graded as above average. In the end ofJanuary 1942, he was ordered to the Near Eastand on March 7 he was one of the first pilotswho flew their Spitfires to Malta from HMS Eagleduring the Operation Spotter. Initially he flew withthe No. 249 Squadron where between March andMay he shot down nine enemy aircraft, includingtwo shared victories. In the end of May he wasdispatched to Gibraltar to help fly over a newbatch of Spitfires during the Operation Style onJune 3. After the arrival he was transferred tothe No. 185 Squadron as a flight A leader anduntil the end of June he shot down another threeopponents. In the beginning of July, he returned tothe Great Britain. In August he was ordered to theNo. 53 OTU where he was graded as exceptional.In April 1943 he returned to the combat flying atthe No. 64 Squadron. In July 1944 he assumedcommand of the No. 126 Squadron and duringthe Normandy landing he scored another threevictories. In December the unit was re-equippedwith Mustangs and Johnny Plagis was promotedto the Wing Commander. On March 27, 1945, heflew cover for the bomber Mosquitos raiding theGestapo HQ in Copenhagen. After the war hecommanded the No. 234 Squadron and the No. 266Squadron flying the jet Meteors Mk.III. In May 1948he retired from RAF and returned to Rhodesia.During his wartime carrier John Plagis shot down15 aircraft individually, two in the cooperation andbecame the most successful Greek pilot of WWII.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard39May 2023Page 40
Spitfire Vc Trop, BR387, P/O John W. Yarra, No. 185 Squadron, RAF Hal Far, Malta, June 1942Spitfire Vc, BR498, W/Cdr Peter P. Hanks, Luqa Wing, Malta, August 1942 – February 1943John William “Slim” Yarra was born in Stanthorpein Queensland on August 24, 1921 and beforejoining RAAF in October 1940 he made living asa printing apprentice. He completed his trainingin Canada between May and August 1941 and thenhe was dispatched to the Great Britain where hewas attached to the No. 55 OTU. In October hewas transferred to Gibraltar. Consequently, hetook part in two attempts to fly Spitfires to Malta.On March 7, during the Operation Spotter, asa replacement pilot, he had to return to his aircraftcarrier and back to Gibraltar. On March 21, duringthe Operation Picket I he flew Spitfire AB333 andafter landing on Malta he was attached to theNo. 249 Squadron. After several successful combatmissions, he was ordered to the No. 185 Squadronwhich was short of pilots. In its ranks, he becameone of the most successful pilots in the defense ofMalta. In the course of three months he shot down12 enemy aircraft, out of which five while at thecontrols of his personal Spitfire BR387. Yarra’spersonal Spitfire BR387 landed in Malta on June9 during the Operation Salient. BR387 camouflagecomplied with the recommended Malta scheme inDark Mediterranean Blue on the upper surfacesand Sky Blue color on the lower surfaces. On July14, Yarra logged his last flight over Malta andafter that flew back to the Great Britain. Aftersome rest he was assigned as a flight B leaderto the No. 453 Squadron RAAF. On December 10,1942, he led his flight in the attack on the convoyat the Dutch coast, north of Vlissingen, but hisSpitfire was hit by the enemy AA fire and crashedinto the sea. His brother became a fighter pilotas well and same as brother “Slim” was killed inaction.Spitfire BR498 was delivered to Malta on August17, 1942, during the Operation Baritone in thenew camouflage scheme required by AHQ Maltadated June 1942. It resulted in the adoption of thedisruptive pattern of two shades for the uppersurfaces, Deep Sky and Dark Slate Grey andLight Mediterranean Blue for the lower surfaces.W/Cdr Peter Prosser Hanks, Luqa Wingcommanding officer chose this airplane as hispersonal mount. At the controls of BR498, W/CdrHanks scored four confirmed kills, two probablesand damaged four aircraft. Another pilot who wassuccessful in BR498 was the No. 126 Squadronmember, F/Lt William “Bill” Rolls who, duringthe month of October 1942, shot down five Axisairplanes (three Ju 88 and two MC.202). BR498served from the middle of February 1943 at theNo. 185 Squadron carrying GL-K code letters andwas equipped with the Vokes desert air filter.In this configuration it was most frequently flownby the No. 185 Squadron commander, S/Ldr H. A.Grafts. Peter Prosser Hanks was born on July 29,1917 and in 1935 joined RAF. After he completedhis pilot training at No. 6 FTS, in September hewas assigned to the No. 1 Squadron. During theBattle of France and Britain he shot down sevenaircraft. Consequently, he flew with the No. 257and No. 56 Squadrons. From February to July1942, he commanded a Spitfire Wing at Coltishall.In August he was transferred to Malta wherehe assumed command of a Spitfire Wing at theairport Luqa. Until the end of war, and afterwards,he held several service posts. In 1964 he retiredfrom RAF.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard40May 2023Page 41
RECOMMENDED:FOR SPITFIRE STORY: MALTA 1/48481065 Spitfire Mk.V landing flaps (PE-Set)FE1207 Spitfire Mk.V seatbelts STEEL (PE-Set)644113 Spitfire Mk.V LööK (Brassin)648640 Spitfire Mk.V engine (Brassin)648663 Spitfire Mk.V cockpit (Brassin)648664 Spitfire Mk.V wheels (Brassin)648665 Spitfire Mk.Vb gun bays (Brassin)648666 Spitfire Mk.Vc gun bays (Brassin)648667 Spitfire Mk.V three-stacks exhausts rounded (Brassin)648668 Spitfire Mk.V three-stacks exhausts fishtail (Brassin)648669 pitfire Mk.V six-stacks exhausts fishtail (Brassin)648670 Spitfire Mk.Va/b undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)648671 Spitfire Mk.Vc undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)648738 Spitfire Mk.V landing flaps PRINT (Brassin)3DL48031 Spitfire Mk.V SPACE (3D Decal Set)D48101 Spitfire Mk.V national insignia (Decal Set)EX914 Spitfire Mk.V TFace (Mask)OVERTREESOVERTREES#82157XSpitfire Mk.Vb Trop1/48#82158XSpitfire Mk.Vc/Vc Trop1/48Product pageProduct pageOVERLEPT#11172-LEPTSPITFIRE STORY:MALTA PE-Set1/48Product pageSpitfire Vc Trop, JK715, S/Ldr Evan D. Mackie, No. 243 Squadron, RAF Hal Far, Malta, June – July 1943In the middle of 1943, when the air battle for Maltawas won, the island became a key base for thesupporting air operations. On June 11, the No. 243Squadron was transferred from Tunisia to the HalFar airport. The unit, under the leadership of oneof the most successful pilots in the Mediterranean,S/Ldr Evan Mackie, during the following monthsupported the Allied landing on Sicily during theOperation Husky. With the change of the strategicenvironment, the special Malta camouflages werenot necessary anymore and became history. Theincoming No. 243 Squadron however was anexemption as the unit altered coloration of itsSpitfires. According to the memoires of its pilot inhis book Spitfire Leader, before the arrival to Maltahis new personal Spitfire Mk.Vc JK715, which untilthen sported the classic “desert“ camouflage, wasrepainted in olive green color on the upper surfaceswhich matched Dark Slate Grey frequently used onMalta. During his tenure at the No. 243 Squadron,Mackie at the controls of his JK715 flying out ofthe Hal Far airport, shot down five enemy aircraft.Makie’s original occupation was a mechanic, sohe was always interested in the maintenance ofhis Spitfire. He obtained a set of exhausts fromSpitfire Mk.IX and was pleased with the improvedperformance. For the first time those exhausts hadbeen installed on his previous Spitfire ES347. Afterit crash landed, Mackie removed the pricelessexhausts and installed them on his new JK715.He finished his war career with a score of 23 killsincluding 3 shared victories, 2 probables and 11aircraft damaged.# 648738KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard41May 2023Page 42
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1 Squadron, 9 Fighter Bomber Air Regiment, Bechyně, Czech Republic, September 1993116 CBP (116 Combat Training Center), Privolzhsky, Soviet Union, May 199010 Pułk Lotnictwa Myśliwskiego, Airport Łask, Poland, 1986–1993MiG-21MF serial number 96002410 wasmanufactured on June 25, 1975. It flew with the1 Fighter Air Regiment, 4 Fighter Air Regimentand for a longest time with the 9 Fighter AirRegiment, respectively the 9 Fighter-Bomber AirRegiment. In 1992 the striking colorful markingswere applied on this airframe consisting of thewhite triangle shaded in red and number 9 onthe rudder in reverse colors. The stripe in thecolors of the Czech tricolore (blue–red–white)was spanning across the wing and wideningtoward the fuselage. On its ridge it was shapedinto an arrow. The “Twenty-ones“ painted thisway were part of the display unit Delta Team. OnSeptember 10, 1993, this MiG flew its last sortieand then flew over to the Plzeň-Líně airport forpermanent storage. Consequently, it was struckoff the military register and handed over to thedepository of the Prague-Kbely Aviation Museum.Despite the MiG-21MFs manufactured at Gorkywere intended for client states of the SovietUnion several of these aircraft made it intoSoviet service, nonetheless. The only unit knownto have flown the type was the 116 CombatTraining Centre, based at Privolzhsky Air Base,near Astrakhan. The aircraft was camouflagedon the upper surfaces in two shades of greenand brown, supplemented by a sand shade. Thebottom surfaces were in blue-grey. This unitused the aircraft for combat training of pilots oncompletion of their basic part of the curriculum.The coloration of MiG-21MF number 8055reflects the customs from 1980s. On the nose itis decorated with the insignia created in 1986 bythe initiative of the 10 Regiment‘s Headquarters.The regimental insignia adopts its symbolismfrom the “Cracowian” times and depicts thestylized dragon with hat Krakushka (a part of thePolish national costumes). The dragon also holdsthe shield with the white-red checkerboard anda yellow light bolt. The insignia was painted onboth sides of the aircraft nose. Over the timeseveral modifications appeared differing fromeach other by small details such as missing eyes,teeth, white mottles painted on the wings ordragon’s body painted in white.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard43May 2023Page 44
Mogadishu Airport, Somali Air Force, Somalia, 1991Somali AF MiG-21MFs sported the standardcamouflage of the Soviet aircraft delivered toNear East and North Africa – the upper surfacespainted in light sand color with green mottlesand lower surfaces in light blue color. The MiG-21MF carrying bort number 226 was among a fewsurvivors of the Ogaden war and was fairly wellpreserved until the beginning of 1990s. In 1992 theinternational forces found it abandoned at theMogadishu airport.RECOMMENDED:FOR MIG-21MF INTERCEPTOR 1/7272689 MiG-21MF (PE-Set)SS801 MiG-21MF interceptor WEEKEND (PE-Set)672181 MiG-21MF exhaust nozzle (Brassin)672182 MiG-21MF wheels (Brassin)672185 R-3S missiles for MiG-21 (Brassin)672186 R-3S missiles w/ pylons for MiG-21 (Brassin)672189 UB-16 rocket launchers for MiG-21 (Brassin)672190 UB-16 rocket launchers w/ pylons for MiG-21 (Brassin)672191 RS-2US missiles for MiG-21 (Brassin)672192 RS-2US missiles w/ pylons for MiG-21 (Brassin)672193 MiG-21MF airbrakes (Brassin)672195 SPS-141 ECM pod for MiG-21 (Brassin)672197 MiG-21MF ejection seat (Brassin)SIN67217 MiG-21MF armament (Brassin)3DL72002 MiG-21MF SPACE (3D Decal Set)D72015 MiG-21MF stencils (Decal Set)CX511 MiG-21MF (Mask)CX512 MiG-21MF TFace (Mask)# 672197# 672181# 672193# 672189KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard44May 2023Page 45
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Bf 109F-4/Trop, WNr. 8673, Hptm. Hans-Joachim Marseille, CO of 3./JG 27, Quotaifiya, Egypt, September 1942Bf 109F-4, Lt. Hans-Joachim Heyer, 8./JG 54, Siverskaya, Soviet Union, April 1942Bf 109F-4/Z, WNr. 7420, Lt. Hermann A. Graf, CO of 9./JG 52, Kharkov-Rogan, Soviet Union, May 1942Hans-Joachim Marseille used this plane after hisreturn from Rome and achieved 49 victories withthis last of “Friedrichs” he used from August 24,1942, to September 25, 1942. On September 30,1942, he flew the Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2/Tropas he led escort mission of the 3. Staffel to covera squadron of Ju 87 Stukas. On the return leg,a smoke filled the cockpit, and Marseillewas forced to bail out. Hitting the rudderafter the emergency exit of the plane, he lostconsciousness, and his parachute did not open.Seconds later, Marseille died from the impact onthe ground. After his death, WNr. 8673 was used by1./SG 2 but was hit by flak and lost southward of ElAlamein on October 22, 1942. The aircraft had theupper camouflage color RLM 79 sprayed all overthe fuselage sides as a non-standard finish. Thelower surfaces were sprayed with RLM 78 and thecamouflage was complemented by the markingsof the aircraft operating on the Southern front,i.e., white wingtips, white propeller cone anda band on the aft fuselage of the same color. Theengine cowling bore the emblem of I. GruppeJG 27 on both sides.The recipient of the Knight’s Cross, Hans-JoachimHeyer, was born on April 20, 1922, in Rehungen.He served his entire aviation career as a memberof 8./JG 54 and scored his first kill on the firstday of the invasion to Soviet Union on June 22,1941. His victim was a Polikarpov I-15. Heyer’s“Black 9”, which he flew from the spring of 1942,was camouflaged with RLM 74/75/76 colors andthe fuselage sides were completed with RLM 70and RLM 71 patches. The upper surfaces of thewing, the rear fuselage behind the cockpit andthe horizontal tail surfaces were all painted inwhite overpaint made by washable color. TheIII./JG 54 emblem was painted below thewindshield on both sides of the fuselage. Moreto it, on the left side under the cockpit therewas painted the JG 54 emblem – a green heart.On the rudder, there were kill marks painted onboth sides. Hans-Joachim Heyer was shot downand killed near Leningrad on November 9, 1942.He was posthumously awarded the Knight’sCross on November 25, 1942. His score stoppedat 53 aerial victories, all achieved on the EasternFront.Hermann Anton Graf was born on October 24, 1912. Hetrained as a locksmith and was a keen football playerin his youth. Later he took up sailing and entered thearmy in 1939. In the spring of 1940, he served in JG 51and participated in the Battle of France. In April 1941,he fought over Greece and Crete, but did not recordany victories during this period. His first kill came onAugust 4, 1941, near Kiev and things changed. At the endof January 1942, he received the Knight’s Cross for 45kills, in May 1942, he achieved his 100th aerial victoryand received Oak Leaves and Swords in addition to theCross. He was the fifth in line of pilots to be awardedthe Diamonds to the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leavesand Swords on September 29, 1942. Graf became part ofpropaganda campaigns, even a member of the Luftwaffefootball team. At the end of the war, he was leadingJG 52 and retreated with the unit from East Prussia,through Silesia and into Bohemia. He surrendered onMay 8, 1945, in Písek (South Bohemia) to the Americans.They promptly handed him over to the Russians andGraf spent more than four years in captivity.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard46May 2023Page 47
FE844 Bf 109F-4 Weekend (PE-Set)644010 Bf 109F LööK (Brassin)648282 Bf 109F wheels (Brassin)648288 Bf 109F propeller LATE (Brassin)648289 Bf 109F propeller EARLY (Brassin)648291 Bf 109F landing flaps (Brassin)648300 Bf 109F engine & fuselage guns (Brassin)648308 Bf 109F undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)3DL48028 Bf 109F-4 SPACE (3D Decal Set)D48026 Bf 109F stencils (Decal Set)EX535 Bf 109F-4 (Mask)EX588 Bf 109F TFace (Mask)Bf 109F-4/Trop, WNr. 10145, Fw. Rudolf Müller, 6./JG 5, Petsamo, Finland, June 1942Rudolf “Rudi” Müller was born on November21, 1920, in Frankfurt am Main. During 1940 heunderwent pilot training and was assigned to1./JG 77 in August 41. He scored his first kill onSeptember 12, 1941. His victim was a Soviet I-16.On March 21, 1942, the 6./JG 5 was formed andthe number of Müller’s victories over Soviet pilotswas steadily rising during this time. Encounterstook place during Luftwaffe attacks on convoys toand from Murmansk and during multiple combatswith Soviet forces in the area of the Vayengaairfield or over the base of the JG 5 at Petsamo-Luostari. Rudolf Müller was awarded the Knight’sCross on June 19, 1942, but was shot down andcaptured by Soviet forces on April 19, 1943. Hedid not survive, as he was shot while attemptingto escape from a prison camp in Mordvinsk onOctober 21, 1943.Recommended:for Bf 109F-4 1/48# 644010# 648300# 648308# 648282KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard47May 2023Page 48
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425/17, Rtm. Manfred A. Freiherr von Richthofen, CO of JG 1, Cappy, France, April 1918577/17; Lt. Rudolf Klimke, Jasta 27, Halluin-Ost, France, May 1918The Great War highest scoring ace and respectedcommander of Jagdgeschwader 1 achievedhis last two victories flying this DreideckerNo. 425/17 on April 20, 1918. The aircraft had alreadythe national insignias adjusted according to theregulation issued by Luftstreitkräfte on March 18,1918, calling for the adoption of the Balkenkreuzinstead of Iron Cross. The penultimate and lastvictims of “Red Baron” were two Camels ofNo. 3 Squadron RAF: Maj. R. Raymond-Baker as79th victim and Capt. D. G. Lewis as 80th. Justa day later, von Richthofen was in combat again.As he was hunting the Camel flown by Lt. May ofNo. 209 Squadron, Captain Arthur “Roy” Browncame to the latter’s aid, while at the same time,infantrymen opened machine gun fire on the redtriplane. It is not known who shot the fatal bulletwhich hit the “Red Baron”. The autopsy conductedby a field surgeon indicated the mortal bullet wasshot by ground machine gun because of the angleof the hit in the chest of Manfred Richthofen. Inany case, on April 21, 1918, at 11.50, the final pagein the life of Manfred von Richthofen had beenwritten … The aircraft depicted here had thecrosses already changed, but on the bottom of thelowest wing the paintjob was either not finishedor it was slovenly done. As red paint had to beused for crosses adaption, it is likely the typicalscratches on the port side of the cockpit wereoverpainted during the process.As a member of FFA 55, Rudolf Klimke got hisfirst kill on the Russian Front in 1916. In May 1917,flying an Albatros C.VII with FA 19, along with hisobserver, he conducted a lone night attack onLondon. After being transferred to Kasta 13/KG3, he was flying big Gotha bombers. A Sopwithfighter was shot down by crew of Klimke, Leonand Reintrop over London on June 7, 1917. Afterthat, Klimke underwent training at JastaschuleI and was assigned to Jasta 27 in September 1917.There he gradually increased his kill count toseventeen. On the same day he shot down his 17thvictim, September 21, 1918, he was also seriouslywounded by enemy fighter fire. Klimke managedto land on the German side of the front but wasnearly killed during a bombing of the hospital,where he was treated. He did not return toa combat unit before the war ended.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard49May 2023Page 50
479/17; Lt. August Raben, Jasta 18, Montingen (Montoy-Flanville), France, October 1917213/17; Lt. Friedrich P. Kempf, Jasta 2, Bavichove, Belgium, February 1918August Raben was born on December 2, 1892.After the outbreak of War, he first served with theFeldartillerie Regiment Nr 55. He was transferred toLuftstreitkräfte on April 18, 1916, and after completionof pilot training, he was assigned to Kasta 25 inAugust 1916. His first fighter unit was Jasta 36,which he joined on February 17 and after he gainedexperience, he was transferred to the newly formedJasta 39 to become its CO on August 2. The unit wasthen sent to Italy, where Raben achieved his first twovictories on September 26. He was then wounded byAA fire on November 17. After recovery, he took overthe lead of Jasta 15, part of JG II, on March 14, 1918. Itwas just six days prior to the “big swap” with Jasta18, which ended with Raben as CO of Jasta 18 and outof the JG II assembly. As the “original” Jasta 18 kepttheir colors after becoming Jasta 15, Raben’s unithad to opt for new ones: red for front of the fuselageand wings and white for the rest. Raben shot downtwo more enemies and continued as a member ofFreikorps after the war. His aircraft always sportedblack or white stylized raven for apparent reason, asrabe is the German word for raven. This Dr.I was noexception. It is not sure which color were the wingstruts. They lacked the stenciling and seemed to beof a lighter shade than red surfaces but darker thanwhite ones. The original white fields surrounding theolder type of the crosses were overpainted with red,but the white background made the red look a littlebit lighter.Friedrich Paul Kempf was born on May 9, 1894,in Freiburg. He entered military service in 1913,interrupting his technical studies. In May 1915,he was transferred from the infantry to theLuftstreitkräfte and served with bombing unitKagohl 4 on both the Western and Balkan Fronts.In April 1917, he was assigned to Jasta Boelckewith which he served his entire career as a fighterpilot (twice interrupted by stints with JastaschuleI). Fritz Kempf distinguished himself more withhis two Fokkers Dr.I than with his four kills (BE2e,Pup and two Camels). His planes were similar inappearance and carried the taunting inscription“Kennscht mi noch?” on the medium wing. Themeaning is “Do you remember me?” and thesewords were his typical zinger. He asked this wayeven people he never met … More to it, he put hisname on the top wing to distinguish his Dr.I fromthe others even more. The aircraft depicted here isthe first from two “Kennst mi noch?” ones. FriedrichKempf survived both world wars and died in 1966.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard50May 2023Page 51
425/17 flown by Rtm. Manfred A. Freiherr von Richthofen, CO of JG 1, Lechelle, France, March 1918564/17; Lt. Werner Steinhäuser, Jasta 11, Avesnes-le-Sec, France, February, 1918Manfred Albrecht von Richthofen is rightfullyconsidered the greatest fighter pilot of the FirstWorld War as he knocked eighty enemies downprior to his death on April 21, 1918. No one knowswhat his score might be, if the things wenta different way and he had the opportunity to flythe Fokker D.VII in combat- a new fighter he likedvery much. On contrary to the general perception,the Fokker Dr.I was not his typical mount, as heshot down only 17 out of his 80 victims while flyingthe Dreidecker for the short period of March andApril 1918. He was assigned to the Luftstreitkräfteon his own request in 1915 after his service witha cavalry unit. He became an observer but whenhe met Oswald Boelcke, the impr fighter acecharisma made him to request pilot training. Oncompletion of that, he became pilot of observeraircraft, but after another meeting with Boelckehe joined the ranks of the newly formed Jasta2. In January 1917, von Richthofen was awardedthe highly coveted Pour le Mérite and wassubsequently made CO of Jasta 11. In June 1917, hereceived orders to form Jagdgeschwader 1 fromJasta 4, 6, 10 and 11 units. He led this “wing” untilhis death on April 21, 1918. Von Richthofen had hisaircraft painted red from January 1917 when heled Jasta 11 and flew the Albatros D.III. He carriedthis practice over to the Fokker Dr.I which he flewas JG 1 Commanding Officer.Werner Steinhäuser was born on June 29, 1893.As a wartime pilot he first served with FA(A) 261where he achieved his first kill, when he shotdown an observing balloon on August 20, 1917.Four months later he was reassigned to Jasta11, where he started his career by destroyinganother balloon on January 13, 1918, andgradually increased his count to ten victories. Hewas wounded when forced to land on March 17,1918, but recovered and got back to the action. Inthe morning of June 26, 1918, he was shot down inhis Fokker D.VII and killed in combat with FrenchSPADs from either Spa 124 or Spa 93. Steinhäuserflew at least two Dreideckers. The first had thefuselage band red with yellow crosses, on theother one the colors were reversed as they werefor the horizontal stabilizer and elevator.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard51May 2023Page 52
#70119Fw 190F-81/72ProfiPACK edition kit of German WWII fighter aircraftFw 190F-8 in 1/72 scale. Version F was used for attacksagainst ground targets.plastic parts: Eduardmarking options: 5decals: EduardPE parts: yes, pre-paintedpainting mask: yesresin parts: noProduct pageRe-releaseKITS 05/2023INFO Eduard52May 2023Page 53
5./SG 77, Cottbus, Germany, early March 1945SG 2, Huingary, Winter 1944/19451./SG 4, Piacenza, Italy 1944This aircraft was photographed at Cottbus airportin early 1945. It bore a standard camouflagescheme consisting of the RLM 74 and 75 colorson the upper surfaces. The lower surfaces weresprayed in RLM 76, which was complementedon the fuselage bottom by a green-blue shadeof the RLM 76. The black horizontal stripeindicates the aircraft belonged to 5. Staffel SG77. The significance of the red flash on the enginecowling is unknown.The standard camouflage of this aircraft of RLM74 and 75 colors was covered with irregular whitepatches on the upper and side surfaces. The yellowband around the fuselage was complemented byyellow stripes forming a V on the wing. This markingwas introduced by Fliegerkorps IV after Romaniahad crossed over to the other side of the conflictand it was necessary to visually distinguish its ownGerman aircraft from the same types of Romanianaircraft, which became enemies.During the time Schlachtgeschwader 4 operatedin Italy, where the unit was part of efforts to slowdown advancing Allied forces, its Fw 190F-8ssported an interesting appearance. The uppersurfaces were painted over with sandy browncolor complemented with irregular olive spots.This modification was done hastily in fieldconditions and led to partial respray of theinsignia. Also, the white stripe on the upper sideof the fuselage which indicated the unit operatingin the Mediterranean theatre was resprayed. Theaircraft belonged to the I. Gruppe and sportedunit´s emblem on the nose. The propeller conewas probably black, complemented with a whitespiral.KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard53May 2023Page 54
WNr. 584592, SG 2 or SG 10, Neubiberg, Germany, May 1945SG 10, České Budějovice, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, May 1945The yellow 14, belonging to II. Gruppe SG 2 or SG10 and left behind by Luftwaffe personnel at theend of the war at Neubiberg, represents the Fw190F-8 of the last production series. The uppersurfaces were painted in RLM 75/76/81/83, whilethe lower surfaces were partly sprayed in RLM76. Similar to the Fw 190D-9s produced at the endof the war, part of the lower wing surfaces wereleft in bare metal for example, while the flaps,ailerons and fuselage bottom were sprayed withRLM 76. The bottom of the elevator appears darkin the photo, but this is down to the different angleof its surface to the light source. A yellow bandwas sprayed around the nose, indicating attackaircraft of the Luftwaffe at the time.One of the aircraft left by Stab SG 10 and some of itsGruppe at the airfield in České Budějovice was the Fw190F-8 marked with a yellow letter K. It sported signsof camouflage modifications of some SG 10 aircraft atthe end of the war. The entire upper surfaces werebrushed over with dark green RLM 83 or a very similarcolor. As it was made in field conditions the greencolor interfered irregularly with the lower surfaces.The insignia on the upper side of the wing and onthe fuselage partially perished under the new paint.Shortly afterwards the yellow K got a replacementtail surfaces in the standard grey-gray camouflagefrom a destroyed Fw 190. This was the reason forthe mismatch in the style of the applied crosses andswastikas. By May 1945, the brush-painted greencolor was considerably worn. The identifying yellowJabo stripe wrapped around the engine cowling.Inconsistent interpretation of the regulation on theapplication of this stripe led to different widths of thestripe and also to different positions of its application.For this scheme, the yellow stripe appearance wasreconstructed according to the most commonoccurrence within SG 10. It is worth noting the removalof the lower main landing gear wheel covers, whichwas intended to prevent operational difficulties onmuddy airfields. The aircraft carried ETC 50 hangersfor four 50 kg bombs under the wings.OVERTREES OVERLEPT#70119XFw 190F-81/72#70119-LEPTFw 190F-8 PE-Set1/72Product page Product pageRecommended:for Fw 190F-8 1/72672080 Fw 190A wheels late (Brassin)672082 Fw 190A-8 engine (Brassin)672085 Fw 190A exhaust stacks (Brassin)672086 Fw 190A propeller (Brassin)672088 Fw 190A-8 engine & fuselage guns (Brassin)672113 SC 250 German WWII bombs (Brassin)672115 SC 50 German WWII bombs (Brassin)KITS 05/2023INFO Eduard54May 2023Page 55
www.eduard.com/bfcBUNNY BUNNY FIGHTERFIGHTERCLUBEduard's special membership club for all modeling enthusiasts!15% Permanent Club discount at Eduard Store – you will receive permanent 15% discount on all Eduardproducts and also discount on various other non-Eduard products. Fixed, permanent, forever!Unique valuable Club kits and accessories – you will gain access to unique and nowhere else to be soldproducts, specially made for BFC members.Even better prices at Eduard events stand – do you know that Eduard usually has huge discounts ontheir products at fairs and events all over the world? BFC members will have even higher discount atthese events.Club T-shirt – you will receive fancy BFC T-shirt with unique design and special barcode(used for event discounts). This exclusive T-shirt will be only availableto the members of BFC.Free entry fee on E-day – you will not have to pay a penny to visit Eduard's E-day.That means lot of fun at E-day for two days and entry kit, absolutely free!* E-day - INTERNATIONAL SCALE KIT EXHIBITION - IPMS Czech Republic ChampionshipBOX CONTENT:Plastic parts, Marking options 6, Decal Set, PE parts, Maska, Brassinparts (two different types of wheels, landing flaps, dust filter witheyelid, intake ring and RP-3 60lb rockets), 3D decals for main and si-dewalk instrument and control panels with photo-etched details andseat belts.BOX CONTENT:Plastic parts, Marking options 4, Decal Set, PE parts, Maska, Brassinparts (undercarriage wheels, cockpit, exhaust nozzle, FOD).How to become a member of BFC?How to become a member of BFC?Simply by purchasing the Activation product. You will be given 15% discount on (almost) every Eduardproduct in your shopping cart. To apply this discount, the Activation product has to be in your shoppingcart. Activation product is excluded from this calculation.Activation products:Activation products:Tempest Mk. V + T-shirt 1/48MiG-21MF + T-shirt 1/72Page 56
BRASSINLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for Hurricane Mk.II in 1/32 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: RevellSet contains:- resin: 1 part- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for Spitfire Mk.IXc in 1/24 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: AirfixSet contains:- resin: 1 part- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no634033Hurricane Mk.IIb LööK1/32 Revell634034Spitfire Mk.IXc LööK1/24 AirfixProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard56May 2023Page 57
644211F-16A MLU LööK1/48 KineticLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for F-16A MLU in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: KineticSet contains:- resin: 3 parts,- decals: no,- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted,- painting mask: no.BRASSINLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for F-16C Block 42 in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: KineticSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no644212F-16C Block 42 till 2005 LööK1/48 KineticProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard57May 2023Page 58
BRASSINLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for F-16C Block 42 in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: KineticSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noCollection of 4 sets for A6M2-N RufeIin 1/48 scale. Recommended kit: Eduard- LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)- TFace painting mask- exhaust pipes- seat644213F-16C Block 42 from 2006 LööK1/48 Kinetic644208A6M2-N Rufe LööKplus1/48 EduardProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard58May 2023Page 59
BRASSINCollection of 4 sets for F-16C Block 25in 1/48 scale. Recommended kit: Kinetic- LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)- TFace painting mask- undercarriage wheels- ejection seat644210F-16C Block 25 LööKplus1/48 KineticCollection of 3 sets for Mosquito B Mk.IV in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Tamiya- LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)- TFace painting mask- undercarriage wheels644209Mosquito B Mk.IV LööKplus1/48 TamiyaProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard59May 2023Page 60
624003Spitfire Mk.IX exhaust fishtail PRINT1/24 Airfix632191Luftwaffe rudder pedals PRINT1/32BRASSINBrassin set - exhaust stacks for Spitfire Mk.IXcin 1/24 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: AirfixSet contains:- 3D print: 12 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noBrassin set - rudder pedals for German WWIIaircraft in 1/32 scale. The set consists of 3 pairsof pedals. Made by direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts.Set contains:- 3D print: 6 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard60May 2023Page 61
BRASSINBrassin set - German WWII trench binocularsin 1/35 scale. The set consists of 5 binoculars.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 5 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no635028WWII German trench binoculars PRINT1/35Brassin set - towing cable eyes for German WWIIAFV in 1/35 scale. The set consists of 10 eyes.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 10 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no635027WWII German towing cable eyes PRINT1/35Product pageProduct pageINFO Eduard61May 2023Page 62
BRASSINBrassin set - the engine for F4F-3A in 1/48 scale.The cowlings are included. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 29 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: noBrassin set - cockpit for A6M2-N in 1/48scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 28 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no- SPACE 3D decals: no648850A6M2-N Rufe cockpit PRINT1/48 Eduard648827F4F-3A engine PRINT1/48 EduardProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard62May 2023Page 63
BRASSINBrassin set - the engine for A6M2-N in 1/48 scale.The separate cowlings are included.Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 24 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no648852A6M2-N Rufe engine complete PRINT1/48 EduardBrassin set - landing flaps for A6M2-N Rufein 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 6 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no648851A6M2-N Rufe landing flaps PRINT1/48 EduardProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard63May 2023Page 64
BRASSINBrassin set - gun bays for F4F-4 in 1/48 scale.The Set consists of gun bays for both wings.Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 26 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: noBrassin set - nose radar for F-16 in 1/48 scale.Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: KineticSet contains:- 3D print: 5 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no648856F-16 radar late PRINT1/48 Kinetic648853F4F-4 gun bays PRINT1/48 EduardProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard64May 2023Page 65
BRASSINBrassin set - exhaust nozzle for F-35Ain 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: TamiyaSet contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no648860F-35A exhaust nozzle PRINT1/48 TamiyaBrassin set - ejection seat for F-35A in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: TamiyaSet contains:- 3D print: 9 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no648858F-35A ejection seat PRINT1/48 TamiyaProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard65May 2023Page 66
BRASSINBrassin set - ammunition magazines for Lewisguns in 1/48 scale. The set consists of 12 magazines.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 12 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no648861Lewis 97-cartridges ammo magazines PRINT1/48Product pageINFO Eduard66May 2023Page 67
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BRASSINCollection of 4 sets for F4F-4 in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Eduard- cockpit- undercarriage legs BRONZE- undercarriage wheels- exhaust pipesAll sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.SIN648103F4F-4 ESSENTIAL1/48 EduardProduct pageINFO Eduard68May 2023Page 69
BRASSINCollection of 8 sets for F-16 in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Kinetic- AN/AAQ-28(V) Litening pod- AIM-120C AMRAAM- GBU-12 bomb (2 sets)- Sniper ATP- AN/ALQ-131 (deep) ECM pod- GBU-49- AIM-9M/L SidewinderAll sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately, butwith every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.SIN68104F-16 armament w/ laser guided bombs1/48 KineticProduct pageINFO Eduard69May 2023Page 70
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D48112 Angel of Mercy 1/48 HKMDECALS SETB-25J-1-NC, 43-27716, 445th BS, 321st BG 12th AF, Solenzara, Corsica,France, April 1945B-25J-10-NC, 43-35982, 428th BS, 310th BG, 12th AF, Ghisonaccia,Corsica, France, April 1945The 310th Bombardment Group was activated inMarch 1942 and designated as a medium bomberGroup consisting of four squadrons. Deliveredin June 1944, the 43-35982 ship nicknamed“Angel of Mercy” was flying with the 428th bombsquadron. She was one of 15 aircraft of the unit tofly the mission to the Rovereto on April 19, 1945.She was hit by shell fragments from AA fire andbadly damaged prior to the bomb dropping. Pilot-in-command, 1/Lt. W. S. McMillan managed tokeep the ship on course with help of his co-pilotW. D. McLean, enabling the bombardier to dropthe bombs on the target, the railroad bridge. Thehits knocked out the hydraulic system and maingear, rear gunner A. S. Hatfield was wounded. Thecrew decided not to risk the overseas flight tothe home base at Corsica and opted for anotherbase of the 310th BG at Fano, Italy, where theymanaged to land the ship with only nose landinggear open. The “Angel of Mercy” ship was left innatural metal finish, so it had the horizontal bandon the vertical tail surfaces separated by blackbands. The colors for 310th BG as well as for the428th BS were yellow. The propeller spinner andthe front of the engine covers were of the samecolor. The nose art of the nurse with a bombunder her arm was not accompanied by missionsymbols on this aircraft.Constituted as 321st Bombardment Group(Medium) on June 19, 1942 and activated on June26, the crews of the unit prepared for overseasduty with B-25s. The 43-27716 ship got ratheramusing nickname “Shit house mouse” and hadthe missions marked by black mice. On the enginecowl there was an inscription “Quaketown” (thetown in Pennsylvania). The pilot of the ship andthe Airplane Commander was 1/Lt. R. S. Elmerfrom December 1, 1944, to March 29, 1945. Onthe March 30 Elmer overhanded her to 1/Lt. R. G.Rice, who brought “Shit house mouse” to the endof the war. Until its 73rd mission the aircraft hadonly the Roman numeral I on the tail, after thenLatin number 7 was added on the vertical fin onDecember 14, 1944. The ship sported Olive Drabcolor over the upper and side surfaces, as wasa common practice. Other surfaces were left innatural metal finish. The outhouse was of browncolor.Product pageINFO Eduard80May 2023Page 81
DECALB-25J-1-NC, 43-3890, 82nd BS, 12th BG, 10th AF, Fenny, India, December 1945B-25J-10-NC, 43-28152, 501st BS, 345th BG, 5th AF, Luzon, Philippines, February 1944B-25J-5, 43-27952, 823rd BS, 38th BG, 5th AF, Morotai, Indonesia, November 1944Constituted as 12th Bombardment Group (Light)on November 20, 1940, the unit was activated onJanuary 15, 1941. The crews trained with B-18, B-23and PT-17 aircraft and patrolled the west coastafter the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. Thegroup was redesignated as Medium in December1941 and started flying the B-25s early in 1942.After spell with 9th AF in Mediterranean theaterthe group, nicknamed “Earthquakers”, movedto India in February 1944 and was assigned to10th AF. The 43-3890 was nicknamed “Milk Run”with paintings of five small, adorable bulldogs.Bulldog was a squadron´s mascot, the term “MilkRun” was used for easy, low-risk missions andseveral other aircraft were named similarly. Thepainting was a job of Capt. Norman L. Harms, oneof the second pilots of the unit. The “Milk Run”ship was painted in standard camouflage of OliveDrab upper and side surfaces with Neutral Grayfrom bottom.The 345th Bomb Group was first activated atColumbia Army AB in November 1942 and waschristened the “Air Apaches” in July 1944. It wasthe first Air Force Combat Group to be sent tothe Pacific in WWII. The group consisted of foursquadrons, as usual with the medium bombergroups, one of them, the 501st squadron, had thenickname “Black Panthers”. The 43-28152 wasassigned to the unit on October 22, 1944, andshortly afterwards nicknamed “Apache Princess”and assigned to pilot Roman Ohnemus. Theship was lost on May 27, 1945, when piloted by2/Lt Ted. U. Hart on the mission against Ensuiairfield and rail yard on Formosa. Due toa navigational error and bad weather thesquadron missed the target and attacked sugarrefinery and a brick plant at Mizukami and Meijiinstead. The “Apache Princess” was hit by AA fireduring attack and her left engine caught fire.After releasing the bombs, Hart feathered thedamaged engine, but the fire spread to the bombbay and the aircraft crash landed into the ricefield. SSgt. Robert E. Bever was fatally wounded,the rest of the crew survived and became POW.There is no photo evidence of the port side of theship, it is believed the beautiful and large noseart was only on the starboard side (althoughthe warbird with both sides painting of heavilymodified theme exists). The original paintingwas a masterpiece of work of gifted Sgt. GeorgeM. Blackwell. The aircraft sported the oldervariant of the Group´s badge, the head of theIndian. It is possible it might be already replacedby later simplified badge at the time it reachedits sour end.The 38th Bombardment Group (Medium) wasconstituted on November 20, 1940, and activatedon January 15, 1941, at Langley Army Air Base,Virginia. The initial personnel were transferredfrom the 22nd Bombardment Group. The 38th BGconsisted of four squadrons, but two of them wereassigned to the 42nd BG after the Battle of Midway.The 823rd Bomb Squadron was constituted andassigned to the 38th BG in New Guinea on April20, 1943, as well as the 822nd BS, the two bringingthe 38th BG to the full strength of four squadronsagain. The 823rd BS adopted the name „TerribleTigers“ and started to decorate their aircraftcorrespondingly. It was also the case of the No. 952ship, which was one of few with glass cockpit left,as many B-25Js of the 38th BG were either originalstrafers with solid nose or modified with the glassnose painted over. The “952” was assigned to Lt.John W. Lupardus as a pilot. The tiger´s head waspartly painted over the glass part of the nose ofthe ship, the camo colors were standard OliveDrab and Neutral Gray. The lower part of the finwas either green or blue. The blue was assignedto the squadron, but the green was also used onsome aircraft as it did not intervene with markingsof other squadrons (the 405th BS used also greencolor, but on the upper part of the finsINFO Eduard81May 2023Page 82
BIG EDAll sets included in this BIG ED are available separately,but with every BIG ED set you save up to 30%.BIG49363 Anson Mk.I 1/48 AirfixBIG49364F-16C Block 25 1/48 Kinetic481099 Anson Mk.I landing flaps 1/48481100 Anson Mk.I bomb bays 1/48491326 Anson Mk.I 1/48FE1327 Anson Mk.I seatbelts STEEL 1/48EX917 Anson Mk.I 1/4849103 Remove Before Flight STEEL491328 F-16C Block 25 1/48FE1331 F-16C Block 25/42 seatbelts STEEL 1/48EX919 F-16C Block 25/42 1/48Product pageProduct pageINFO Eduard82May 2023Page 83
All sets included in this BIG ED are available separately,but with every BIG ED set you save up to 30%.BIG EDBIG49365 F-16C Block 42 till 2005 1/48 KineticBIG49366F-16C Block 42 from 2006 1/48 Kinetic49103 Remove Before Flight STEEL491329 F-16C Block 42 till 2005 1/48FE1331 F-16C Block 25/42 seatbelts STEEL 1/48EX919 F-16C Block 25/42 1/4849103 Remove Before Flight STEEL491330 F-16C Block 42 from 2006 1/48FE1331 F-16C Block 25/42 seatbelts STEEL 1/48EX919 F-16C Block 25/42 1/48Product pageProduct pageINFO Eduard83May 2023Page 84
MASKSIT FITS!JX307 CH-54A1/35 ICMJX308 CH-54A TFace1/35 ICMEX940 F-86D1/48 RevellEX941 F-86D TFace1/48 RevellEX942 Mi-171/48 AMKEX943 Mi-17 TFace1/48 AMKEX944 PV-11/48 AcademyEX945 PV-1 TFace1/48 AcademyEX946 Do 335A TFace1/48 TamiyaJX308 CH-54A TFace JX308 CH-54A TFaceJX307 CH-54A JX307 CH-54AJX308 CH-54A TFaceEX941 F-86D TFaceEX941 F-86D TFaceEX943 Mi-17 TFaceEX942 Mi-17 EX942 Mi-17EX941 F-86D TFaceEX943 Mi-17 TFaceEX941 F-86D TFaceEX940 F-86D EX940 F-86DJX308 CH-54A TFaceINFO Eduard84May 2023Page 85
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RELEASESMAY 2023KITSPE-SETSZOOMSMASKS8229 F6F-5 Hellcat 1/48 ProfiPACK11172 SPITFIRE STORY: MALTA DUAL COMBO 1/48 Limited7469 MiG-21MF Interceptor 1/72 Weekend84188 Bf 109F-4 1/48 Weekend8162 Fokker Dr.I Re-release 1/48 ProfiPACK70119 Fw 190F-8 Re-release 1/72 ProfiPACK53293 USS Missouri BB-63 part 2 1/350 Hobby Boss32482 CH-54A exterior 1/35 ICM321007 P-40B 1/32 Great Wall Hobby321008 CH-54A 1/35 ICM481106 PV-1 exterior 1/48 Academy481107 PV-1 bomb bay 1/48 Academy481108 PV-1 undercarriage 1/48 Academy481109 A6M2-N Rufe landing flaps 1/48 Eduard481110 Mi-17 cargo floor 1/48 AMK491348 PV-1 1/48 Academy491350 F-86D 1/48 Revell491352 Mi-17 1/48 AMK491353 Mi-17 cargo seatbelts 1/48 AMK33345 P-40B 1/32 Great Wall Hobby33346 P-40B seatbelts STEEL 1/32 Great Wall Hobby33347 CH-54A 1/35 ICM33348 CH-54A seatbelts STEEL 1/35 ICMFE1348 PV-1 1/48 AcademyFE1349 PV-1 seatbelts STEEL 1/48 AcademyFE1350 F-86D 1/48 RevellFE1351 F-86D seatbelts STEEL 1/48 RevellFE1352 Mi-17 1/48 AMKFE1353 Mi-17 seatbelts STEEL 1/48 AMKSS801 MiG-21MF interceptor WEEKEND 1/72 EduardJX307 CH-54A 1/35 ICMJX308 CH-54A TFace 1/35 ICMEX940 F-86D 1/48 RevellEX941 F-86D TFace 1/48 RevellEX942 Mi-17 1/48 AMKEX943 Mi-17 TFace 1/48 AMKEX944 PV-1 1/48 AcademyEX945 PV-1 TFace 1/48 AcademyEX946 Do 335A TFace 1/48 TamiyaINFO Eduard86May 2023Page 87
BIG-EDBIG-EDBIG EDBIG49363 Anson Mk.I 1/48 AirfixBIG49364 F-16C Block 25 1/48 KineticBIG49365 F-16C Block 42 till 2005 1/48 KineticBIG49366 F-16C Block 42 from 2006 1/48 KineticRELEASESBRASSINLöökPLUSBIG SINDECALSSPACE634033 Hurricane Mk.IIb LööK 1/32 Revell634034 Spitfire Mk.IXc LööK 1/24 Airfix644211 F-16A MLU LööK 1/48 Kinetic644212 F-16C Block 42 till 2005 LööK 1/48 Kinetic644213 F-16C Block 42 from 2006 LööK 1/48 Kinetic624003 Spitfire Mk.IX exhaust fishtail PRINT 1/24 Airfix632191 Luftwaffe rudder pedals PRINT 1/32 Revell635027 WWII German towing cable eyes PRINT 1/35635028 WWII German trench binoculars PRINT 1/35648827 F4F-3A engine PRINT 1/48 Eduard648850 A6M2-N Rufe cockpit PRINT 1/48 Eduard648851 A6M2-N Rufe landing flaps PRINT 1/48 Eduard648852 A6M2-N Rufe engine complete PRINT 1/48 Eduard648853 F4F-4 gun bays PRINT 1/48 Eduard648856 F-16 radar late PRINT 1/48 Kinetic648858 F-35A ejection seat PRINT 1/48 Tamiya648860 F-35A exhaust nozzle PRINT 1/48 Tamiya648861 Lewis 97-cartridgesammo magazines PRINT 1/48644208 A6M2-N Rufe LööKplus 1/48 Eduard644209 Mosquito B Mk.IV LööKplus 1/48 Tamiya644210 F-16C Block 25 LööKplus 1/48 KineticSIN648103 F4F-4 ESSENTIAL 1/48 EduardSIN648104 F-16 armament w/ laser guided bombs 1/48 KineticD48112 Angel of Mercy 1/48 HKM3DL32014 P-40B SPACE 1/32 Great Wall Hobby3DL32015 CH-54A SPACE 1/35 ICM3DL48116 F-86D SPACE 1/48 Revell3DL48117 Bf 110C SPACE 1/48 Eduard3DL48118 P-400 SPACE 1/48 Eduard3DL48119 Mi-17 SPACE 1/48 AMK3DL72015 Spitfire Mk.IXc SPACE 1/72 Eduard3DL72016 B-25J SPACE 1/72 HasegawaMAY 2023INFO Eduard87May 2023Page 88
GUNZE PRODUCTS-WEATHERINGWEATHERING COLORSYAKUMOWWII WESTERN FRONTCAT.NO.: WY01These Yakumo Colors—Mr. Weathering Color and Mr. Weathering Paste-based weathering colors—were supervised by the world-famous modeler, Mr. Mig Jimenez. The mud and dirt colors are madewith pigments that have been collected from all over the world.WY01 is a weathering paint set for German vehicles in theWWII Western Front. Thin each color with the separately-soldMr. Weathering Colour Thinner (WCT101/102); or MIG015 thinner(YAKUMO thinner).From a modeler’s perspective, Europe was the setting of manyof the most interesting battles of the war, including Normandy,the Battle of the Bulge, Hungary, the Warsaw Uprising and the fallof Berlin. On these fronts the Germans used several standardizedcamouflage patterns, but each was always based on green andbrown camouflage colours over a dark yellow base (C039 darkyellow, C041 red-brown and C070 dark green). Dust in summer anddry mud were the most common effects seen in German vehicles.In addition to the two products used to represent these effects,the perfect wash tone is also included, and another for streakeddirt stains. For the most complete finish, combine with SETD-BASICS.MIGMIGMIGMIGMIG001003002002004DARK WASHApply the wash with a fine brush to details, in panel lines,and around hatches to enhance contrast and volume.Remove the excess with a clean brush moistened withYAKUMO thinner. Let it dry 24 hours.DRY MUDYou can apply the mud with a thick brush to the undersideof the vehicle, the tracks, and the suspension. You canalso apply splashed earth effect with the mud productby the flicking a thick brush loaded with product usinga toothpick. This will create mud splatter effects. Makea few tests on an old model or a piece of paper beforetrying it on the model. Let it dry 24 hours.DARK STREAKING GRIMEStroke well Draw vertical lines on vertical or slopedsurfaces with irregular shapes and different intensity,then blend with a flat brush and YAKUMO thinner tosoften. Let it dry 24 hours.EUROPE DUSTPigment colour to simulate dust effects, particularlyon the horizontal areas and around surface details.Apply the pigment dry with a brush and then moisten thesurface with thinner. Once dry, it can be moistened againand touched up to achieve the desired effect.Product pagePage 89
GUNZE PRODUCTS-WEATHERINGWWII EASTERN FRONTCAT.NO.: WY02WY02 is a weathering paint set for winter camouflaged vehiclesin WWII Eastern Front. Thin each color with the separately-soldMr. Weathering Colour Thinner (WCT101/102); or MIG015 thinner(YAKUMO thinner).The Germans camouflaged their vehicles in the harsh Russianwinters with white paint to blend it with the snowy landscape.A white vehicle needs a very special treatment of aging and dirtto be realistic and credible. This special set for German wintervehicles includes the necessary products to achieve a realisticappearance in a winter environment such as the battles of Moscow,Stalingrad, or the siege of Leningrad. This set is specially designedfor white camouflage applied on German panzer grey colour(Panzer Grey - C040 German Grey, C513 „Dunkelgrau“, C514 „Grau“etc). For the most complete finish, combine with SET D-BASICS.MIGMIGMIGMIG005007006008WINTER WASHsee MIG 001 for descriptionMIG-007 - FRESH DARK MUDsee MIG 003 for descriptionWINTER STREAKING GRIMEsee MIG 002 for descriptionMIG-008 - DRY EARTHsee MIG 004 for descriptionWWII AFRIKA KORPSCAT.NO.: WY03WY03 is a weathering paint set for model vehicles in the WWII AfrikaKorps. It can add realistic sand stains from the harsh weatherconditions of Africa to your scale model. Thin each color withthe separately-sold Mr. Weathering Colour Thinner (WCT101/102);or MIG015 thinner (YAKUMO thinner).The landscapes of Tunisia or Libya were very harsh and hostileenvironments for the vehicles of the German Afrika Korps (DAK).The scorching sun and heat faded the colours quickly whilethe dust was ubiquitous. The Germans over painted their greyvehicles with various shades of sand colour (i.e. C039 Dark Yellow)to make them less visible on the open desert plains. The productincluded in this set allow you to apply washes, dirt effect, and largeaccumulations of dust to give your model realistic look. For morecomplete finish, combine with SET D-BASICS.MIGMIGMIGMIG011010009012SAND FILTERApply the filter over the entire surface of model uniformly fora transparent and subtle effect, without letting the productaccumulate in recesses and panel lines. Allow the filter to dryfor 24 hours.GRAY STREAKING GRIMEsee MIG 003 for descriptionDESERT WASHApply the wash with a fine brush to details, in panel lines, and aroundhatches to enhance contrast and volume. Remove the excess witha clean brush moistened with YAKUMO thinner. Let it dry 24 hours.MIG-008 - DRY EARTHsee MIG 004 for descriptionProduct pageProduct pagePage 90
GUNZE PRODUCTS-WEATHERINGBASICSCAT.NO.: WY04WY04 is a weathering paint set that can be used on variousmilitary models including tanks. This set of paints can replicatebasic oil stains, chipped paint, and rust. Thin each color with theseparately-sold Mr. Weathering Colour Thinner (WCT101/102);or MIG015 thinner (YAKUMO thinner).Most German military vehicles showed certain universalweathering effects, no matter the setting or time of the year. Tanksor half-tracks usually showed chipped paint, rust effects, or largeareas of fuel stains soaked into caked dust or dirt over top. Theseare the weathering effects that bring more life and realism to themodel, and that is the reason why you must pay special attentionwhen adding them. This universal set will allow you to createextremely realistic effects on your models, no matter the locationor time of the year in which they are set. The colours and effectsare accurate for the cold Russian winter, the Normandy campaignor the barren landscapes of the North Africa. Always use this setin combination with one of the YAKUMO sets for military vehiclesin a specific setting.MIGMIGMIGMIG015014013016FUEL & OILApply this product to the sides of model in the shape of verticallines, or add small drops over a surface treated with MIG014pigment. This effect can be diluted with YAKUMO thinner to createa softer and more natural effect. Use this effect sparingly andapply the effect in scale. Let it dry 12 hours.CHIPPINGThe perfect colour to represent chipped paint effects on yourmodels, as long as the surface you are depicting was made outof iron or steel in the real vehicle. Use a brush with a fine tip topaint the chips on the zones most exposed to wear and tear, Youcan also apply the chipping with a piece of sponge or packing foam.Let it dry 10 minutes. Can be cleaned with water.EARTH & GRIMEA pigment tone to simulate accumulated dirt, or to create a baseonto which you can apply fuel stains. Apply the pigment dry witha brush to the designed areas. It can also be used to emphasizeshadows or dirt effect on nooks and crannies.MIG-008 - DRY EARTHEventually all vehicles rust in specific areas due to rain, snow anddew. Apply the product in small quantities around small detailssuch as screw heads, brackets or other fixtures, as well as onvertical or sloped surfaces in the form of faded lines. Use he effectsparingly and apply the effect in scale.Product pagePage 91
17. června 2023V Kulturním domě RychvaldModelářský klub Ostrava 446a předsednictvo IPMS.CZEzve všechny příznivceplastikového modelářstvína Mistrovství České republiky mládeže adoprovodné akceMistrovská soutěž mládeže je organizována pod záštitou SMČRMistrovství ČR mládeže (letadla 1/72,1/48,1/32), bojová technika(1/72,1/48,1/35), lodě a ponorky, dioramy a civilní technika.Doprovodná porovnávací soutěž seniorů, letadla (1/72,1/48,1/32),bojová technika (1/72,1/48,1/35) a civilní technikaBližší informace a propozice na www.aircraft.cz,osobní kontakt Petr Potyš, mob. 730 430 239PROPOZICE NA STRÁNKÁCH SMČRPage 92
built by Robert Szwarc#82202#648818KAMO EF4F-4 + folding wings PRINTWildcat early1/48BUILTINFO Eduard92May 2023Page 93
Ens. Hamilton McWhorter, VF-9, USS Ranger (CV-4), říjen 1942Rodák z Athens, Georgia, Hamilton McWhorter,vstoupil do námořnictva v červnu 1941 po vystudo-vání univerzity v Georgii. Po absolvování výcvikuv Miami byl zařazen k VF-9, létající na Wildcatech.Začátkem října se jednotka nalodila na letadlovouloď USS Ranger (CV-4), směřující k africké pev-nině, kde se měla podílet na úspěšném vyloděníSpojenců u Casablancy ve Francouzském Maroku(operace Torch). Pro snadnější rozlišení vlastníchletadel měla letadla podílející se na operaci Torchkolem znaků na trupu a na spodních plocháchkřídel žluté lemy. Po ukončení odporu Francouzůbyl svaz okolo letadlové lodi USS Ranger odeslánzpět do Norfolku. VF-9 byla na začátku roku 1943jako první námořní jednotka vyzbrojena Hellcaty,naloděna na USS Essex (CV-9) a odvelena do Ti-chomoří. Dne 19. listopadu 1943 se McWhorter stalv bojích proti Japoncům prvním pilotem, který naHellcatu dosáhl pěti sestřelů. K nim přidal běhemdalších bojů ještě sedm sestřelených letadel,čímž své skóre uzavřel na dvanácti sestřelech.BUILTAccessories used:648818 F4F-4 folding wings PRINT (Brassin)Product pageINFO Eduard93May 2023Page 94
built by Jan Novotný#82202KAMO BF4F-4Wildcat early1/48BUILT648829 F4F-4 wheel bay PRINT (Brassin)648779 F4F undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)648803 F4F-4 cockpit PRINT (Brassin)INFO Eduard94May 2023Page 95
BuNo. 5149, VF-3, USS Yorktown (CV-5) & USS Hornet (CV-8), May/June 1942In April 1942 this Wildcat was assigned to VF-3unit based at Kaneohe Bay airbase. The followingmonth it was assigned to Ens. G. F. Markham.After that the unit was transferred on board ofUSS Yorktown (CV-5). During the Battle of MidwayFox-10 was also flown by Lt. A. J. Brassfield whoduring this engagement shot down four carrierborne D3A Val bombers and damaged anothertwo. Despite all the efforts of the defenders USSYorktown was damaged and for that reason thesurviving Yorktown pilots and her Wildcats aswell had to be transferred to USS Hornet (CV-8)where, under the command of Lt. Cdr. Thatch, theyformed the provisional unit designated VF-3-42-8.One of the pilots of this unit was John BurtonBain who flew Wildcat portrayed hereby. At thattime Ens. Bain’s score stood at two confirmedkills, A6M Zero fighter from the Battle of CoralSea and another Zero from the Battle of Midway,shot down during the preceding raid on Shōkaku.Therefore, there are two Japanese flags paintedunder his windshield as a symbol of his successin combat. The national markings in the form ofblue circles with white star and red circle in thecenter were painted on both sides of the fuselageand in four positions on the wings. They weresupplemented by red and white stripes on therudder. During the Battle of Midway these stripeswere painted over with the camouflage paint andthe red circles were deleted from the nationalinsignia. The kill marks were added only at thetime Ens. Bain was flying this aircraft.BUILTAccessories used:648803 F4F-4 cockpit PRINT (Brassin)648815 F4F-4 wheels early (Brassin)648817 F4F-4 landing flaps PRINT (Brassin)648828 F4F-4 engine PRINT (Brassin)648829 F4F-4 wheel bay PRINT (Brassin)648779 F4F undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)648769 F4F gun barrels PRINT (Brassin)648828 F4F-4 engine PRINT (Brassin)648829 F4F-4 wheel bay PRINT (Brassin)648817 F4F-4 landing flaps PRINT (Brassin)Product pageINFO Eduard95May 2023Page 96
Z-526AFSAkrobat1/48BUILTbuilt by Jiří Brož#82184KAMO EINFO Eduard96May 2023Page 97
Z-526AFS-V, OK-ERE, s/n 1307, Točná Aero Club, Slaný airfield, Czech Republic, 2014No. 1307 was manufactured in 1974 and wastaken over by Svazarm on December 29 of thesame year as its last Z-526AFS. The aircraftserved mainly at the Točná airfield, and the localaero club also acquired it later. When the clubwas forced to move to Slaný airfield (after thepurchase of Točná by a private owner), they tookOK-ERE with them. This happened at the time shewas already converted to the AFS-V tow versionafter reaching the aerobatic flying hours limit.The conversion was carried out at AerotechnikKunovice. In 2013, the OK-ERE was damaged ina failed landing, which ended up in the ditchbehind the end of the runway. Another accidentoccurred during the return from an air meetingin Poland, when the pilot hit the power lineswith the rudder and tore it off. During necessaryrepair, the black stripes disappeared from therudder. In June 2019 the OK-ERE was sold toprivate owner, who used the engine for anotherairplane, and sold her engine-less. New ownerplans full overhaul and engine installation. It iscertainly worth mentioning that in the days of heraerobatic career OK-ERE served, among others,the later double European aerobatics championPetr Jirmus. The drawing of the lady on thestarboard side is by the airbrush painter Olivia deDerardinis.BUILTProduct pageINFO Eduard97May 2023Page 98
ON APPROACHJUNE 2023644215Mi-8MT LööK1/48 Zvezda644216PV-1 LööK1/48 Academy/Revell624004Spitfire Mk.IX wheels 5spoke1/24 AirfixBIG33151 Hurricane Mk.IIb 1/32 RevellBIG49367 F-16A MLU 1/48 KineticBIG49368 B-25J glazed nose 1/48 HKMBIG49369 F-35A 1/48 TamiyaBIG72173 C-130J PART I 1/72 Zvezda644215 Mi-8MT LööK 1/48 Zvezda644216 PV-1 LööK 1/48 Academy/Revell624004 Spitfire Mk.IX wheels 5spoke 1/24 Airfix635029 WWII German lamp headlights PRINT 1/35635030 WWII German crowbars PRINT 1/35635031 WWII German starter crank handles PRINT 1/35635032 WWII German pickaxes PRINT 1/35648725 Sopwith Camel 2F.1 Lewis gun PRINT 1/48 Eduard648824 Fw 190F-8 cockpit PRINT 1/48 Eduard648825 F4F-3 engine mid PRINT 1/48 Eduard648843 Bf 109G-6 cockpit PRINT 1/48 Eduard648859 F-35A cockpit PRINT 1/48 Tamiya648862 Bf 110G radio equipment 1/48 Eduard648863 B-25J wheels 1/48 HKM648864 Mi-8MT wheels 1/48 Zvezda648865 Mi-17 wheels 1/48 AMK648867 Lewis 47-cartridges ammo magazines PRINT 1/48648869 F-16 ladder PRINT 1/48648870 B-25J engines PRINT 1/48 HKM648871 B-25J bombsight PRINT 1/48 HKM672313 Bf 109F propeller early PRINT 1/72 Eduard672314 Bf 109F propeller late PRINT 1/72 Eduard672315 Bf 109F gun barrels PRINT 1/72 Eduard672316 Bf 109F wheels PRINT 1/72 Eduard634035 Hurricane Mk.IIb w/ rounded exhausts LööKplus 1/32 Revell634037 Hurricane Mk.IIb w/ fishtail exhausts LööKplus 1/32 Revell644214 F-16A MLU LööKplus 1/48 KineticSIN648105 F4F-3 w/ early engine ADVANCED 1/48 EduardSIN648106 F-16 armament w/ Maverick missiles 1/48 KineticBIG ED (June)BRASSIN (June)LöökPlus (June)BIGSIN (June)LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard and STEELseatbelts for Mi-8MT in 1/48 scale. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: ZvezdaSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for PV-1 in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: Academy / RevellSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for SpitfireMk.IXc in 1/24 scale. The set consists of the mainwheels and tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replacesplastic parts. Recommended kit: AirfixSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: yesPRELIMINARY IMAGESPRELIMINARY IMAGESINFO Eduard98May 2023Page 99
635029WWII German lamp headlights PRINT1/35ON APPROACHBrassin set - lamp headlights for German WWIIAFV in 1/35 scale. The set consists of 12 headlightsof 2 types (6+6). Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 24 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no635030WWII German crowbars PRINT1/35635031WWII German starter crank handles PRINT1/35Brassin set - crowbars for German WWII AFVin 1/35 scale. The set consists of 6 crowbars.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 6 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noBrassin set - crack handles for German WWII AFVin 1/35 scale. The set consists of 3 crank handles.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noINFO Eduard99May 2023Page 100
ON APPROACHJUNE 2023635032WWII German pickaxes PRINT1/35648725Sopwith Camel 2F.1 Lewis gun PRINT1/48 Eduard648824Fw 190F-8 cockpit PRINT1/48 EduardBrassin set - pickaxes for German WWII AFVin 1/35 scale. The set consists of 4 pickaxes.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noBrassin set - the guns for Camel 2F.1 in1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 13 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noBrassin set - cockpit for Fw 190F-8in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 20 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no- SPACE 3D decals: noINFO