08/2024

INFO Eduard is a monthly scale model-historical magazine published in Czech and English by Eduard Model Accessories since 2010. The magazine is available for free on the Triobo platform and can be downloaded in PDF format. Eduard is a manufacturer of plastic models and accessories with over 30 years of tradition. Throughout its history in the plastic modeling industry, Eduard has become one of the world's leaders. Further details about the company and its product range can be found at www.eduard.com. You can subscribe to the INFO magazine and receive product information for free at: https://www.eduard.com/cs/info-eduard/

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  INFO Eduard

  e-magazine FREE Vol 23 August 2024

  # 174

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  INFO Eduard

  e-magazine FREE Vol 23 August 2024

  # 174

  © Eduard - Model Accessories, 2024

  FREE FOR DOWNLOAD, FREE FOR DISTRIBUTION!

  This material may only be used for personal use. No part of the text

  or graphic presentations can be used in another publication in any other media

  form or otherwise distributed without the prior written

  permission of Eduard - Model Accessories and authors involved.

  Editorial and Graphics - Marketing department, Eduard - Model Accessories, Ltd.

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  eduard

  eduard

  AUGUST

  CONTENTS

  Published by Eduard-Model Accessories, spol. s.r.o.

  Mírová 170, Obrnice 435 21

  support@eduard.com www.eduard.com

  EDITORIAL

  KITS

  BRASSIN

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED SETS

  SPACE

  BUILT

  ON APPROACH

  –

  September 2024

  TAIL END CHARLIE

  ARTICLES

  BOXART STORY

  ACES OF THE EIGHTH Limited 1/72

  P-51B Mustang Birdcage canopy ProfiPACK 1/48

  Bf 109E-4 ProfiPACK 1/32 Re-Release

  Bf 109G-6/AS Weekend 1/48 Re-Release

  P-51B MUSTANG 1/48

  Fw 190D-9 1/48

  Fw 190A-5 light fighter 1/48

  The Modern Lad

  Bernie Lay and Piccadilly Lilly

  Air War in Ukraine

  -

  One Su-57 Less

  The First Frantic

  The Youngest Kommodore

  Höhengruppe

  4

  10

  31

  34

  52

  70

  80

  90

  96

  112

• Editorial

  I just returned from the United States where, as we have done every year for the past thirty, we attended the IPMS USA National convention. It was also my own personal 30th anniversary of my first Nationals this year.

  EDITORIAL

  Good day, dear Friends!

  I just returned from the United States where,

  as we have done every year for the past thirty,

  we attended the IPMS USA National convention.

  It was also my own personal 30th anniversary

  of my first Nationals this year. Together with my

  colleague Jiri Silhanek of MPM/Special Hobby,

  we first experienced the atmosphere of the

  Nats in 1994 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was

  a completely new world for me then, it was one of

  my first trips across the Atlantic, I was learning

  how America works and it was a good education.

  In those thirty years, Eduard missed the Nationals

  only twice, during the covid era in 2020 and 2021,

  but over the years we have become part of the

  event and today it seems that its participants

  can hardly imagine this event without us. And

  I can't imagine a summer without America either.

  One of the charms of the Nationals is that it's

  held in a different location every year, so it's

  a good opportunity for us Europeans to get to

  know new corners of the United States, get

  to know it in its diversity and appreciate its

  standards. Because one of America's advantages

  is the standardization of its basic infrastructure,

  you can count on finding the same highways,

  the same organized stores and other things

  everywhere, as well as the language. In many

  ways here in Europe we have a lot to learn from

  America, but I fear that there are many things we

  will never learn and that will be a shame.

  Many things are different even in America. Last

  year in Texas the asphalt was melting under our

  feet, and this year in Wisconsin, the climate was

  pleasant. And not just the climate. Madison is

  a nice town, and since we arrived early, we had

  a chance to enjoy it a little more than we usually

  get to at shows. The event itself took place in

  the beautiful Monona Terrace Community and

  Convention Center, a building designed by the

  famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright

  in 1959. The event was as always well organized,

  and our thanks and respect go to all members

  of the organizing team not only for the quality

  organization, but also for their kindness and

  attentiveness, which they dedicated to our

  group. As always, we enjoyed discussions with

  customers and our old friends, many of whom we

  have met over those thirty years. The interest in

  us was such that we closed up shop long after

  there were only empty tables around us and the

  other exhibitors were already on their way to

  grab a bite. Last but not least, we are delighted to

  have had the honor of supporting Valeriia Buzina

  from ICM at the show, who was at the Nationals

  for the first time and, I hope, not the last.

  This year's exhibition date was earlier than

  usual in recent years. It caused us some minor

  difficulties, mainly because we had to hurry up

  the completion of August’s new releases that we

  wanted to have at the show. Above all, the B-17F

  in The Bloody Hundred 1943 Limited Edition form,

  which was understandably of enormous interest.

  But the end date had one huge advantage.

  The exhibition ended two days before the start of

  the famous air show in Oshkosh, which is about 150

  km northeast of Madison. This was an opportunity

  not to be missed. We went to the Oshkosh show

  twice and it was the experience of a lifetime.

  The superbly organized event, which this year was

  attended by 680,000 spectators and 10,000 aircraft

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  during the week, not only met but exceeded our

  expectations. It was an American show in every

  sense. Seeing two B-29s fly in formation with

  a Lancaster and an F-35 with F-22s, A-10s and

  F-16s is an experience in itself, but experiencing

  a flight demonstration of F-35s and F-22s by the

  USAF display team is something unforgettable!

  Of course, there is much, much more to Oshkosh,

  from the wonderful EAA museum filled with

  unique (and mostly civilian) exhibits to the

  aircraft on static display throughout the airport

  grounds, not to mention everything that flies in.

  If you want to experience for yourself the

  meaning of the word beauty in the aviation sense

  of the word, come to Oshkosh!

  I was reminded of the influence America

  had on Eduard's development during our trip

  from beginning to end. Over our last night in

  America we slept at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in

  Rosemont, near Chicago's O'Hare Airport. This is

  the hotel to which we went every year for almost

  twenty years around the end of September and

  beginning of October, when the RICHTA exhibition

  was held annually in the adjacent exhibition

  and conference center. This was the name of

  an American organization that brought together

  manufacturers of models and kits of all fields,

  from both functional and static model making.

  It also brought together many manufacturers,

  if memory serves. Eduard was its member. It was

  a sort of an American answer to Nuremberg, albeit

  on a smaller scale. We used to regularly have

  a smaller table there, we promoted new products,

  and we met with our distributors. It was important

  to us then and worth going there because at the

  turn of the millennium we had nine distributors

  in America and America's share of our sales was

  40%. In the 1990s and early 2000s, manufacturers

  such as Monogram, AMT and Esci-ERTL were

  very active in the USA, as was Minicraft, which

  worked as Academy-Minicraft. There was also

  Accurate Miniatures, and Verlinden, which was

  a leader in cast resin accessories in the first half

  of the 1990s, and relocated there. There were

  a number of manufacturers of model railways and

  functional models, all of whom were members of

  RICHTA, and it was alive at the exhibition.

  It was a real American show, and included

  great American ice cream, a shoe shiner with

  his stand behind the entrance, who was always

  busy, because back then people still went to

  EDITORIAL

  INFO Eduard

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  EDITORIAL

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  shows in suits and dress shoes, and not in jeans

  and t-shirts like they do today. I bought a pair

  of American boots on Michigan Avenue and had

  them cleaned by him, and he greeted me every

  morning. It was just great. Everyone we needed

  to talk to was at the show, but unlike Nuremberg,

  the public was invited to attend and sales could

  be conducted there. So, among others, members

  of the Czech community, which is large in Chicago,

  attended the event. There I met Johnny Vojtech,

  and Jules Bringuier lived in Chicago at the time,

  for whom we worked on Classic Airframes kits,

  who brought me to Chicago for the first time in

  1993 and to whom I will be eternally grateful for

  everything he taught me. Father and son Sojko,

  who worked as toolmakers at Monogram, used to

  attend regularly. They were responsible for all the

  beautiful kits from Monogram that I admired and

  I wanted to match them. They were as proud of

  their efforts as they were of their Czech heritage.

  Europeans used to also attend, with a regularly

  present Airfix stand there, the old Airfix, before

  Hornby bought them, Esci was there because

  they belonged to the same company as AMT and

  Ertl, Canadian Hobbycraft used to go there, and

  Japan’s Hasegawa and Tamiya could be found

  there, too, among others.

  Japanese related business interests also took

  part in the show, such as Mr. Ono, the founder

  and owner of Beaver, which is still our Japanese

  distributor. Mr. Ono also had a booth there several

  times, where he once exhibited figures by Hajime

  Sorayama and caused quite a stir when a girl

  scout leader came to his booth to see what the

  members of her troop were looking at. Then she

  started screaming terribly, and the result was

  that the organizers ordered Mr. Ono to cover the

  sensitive parts of the figures. So he stuck pieces

  of paper from those poisonously colored notepads

  on their breasts and in their laps, making the

  figures even more tempting targets for all the

  scouts present. If you don't understand what this

  is all about, google Hajime Sorayama, it's totally

  worth it. In the evening, Mr. Ono taught me how to

  eat lobster properly and Chuck Harransky from

  Squadron Signal introduced me to American

  chicken noodle soup, while explaining to me

  how the model business is done in America and

  what we need to do to succeed there. In Chicago,

  our cooperation with Hasegawa started when

  Mr. Horiike came to me and told me that we, the

  ‘old guard’, should work together more to better

  face the new competition. It was like he elevated

  me to nobility!

  None of us knew then that this world was

  coming to its end. American modeling firms fell

  victim to deindustrialization. In the late 1990s,

  they began experimenting with transferring

  production to Asia, first to Korea, and when Korea

  became more expensive, to China. That was

  the beginning of the end, with the new century

  American manufacturing companies began to

  struggle, fail, change hands, and fail again until

  they disappeared from the scene altogether.

  The exhibition itself shrank to a half of one hall

  and finally ended for good. The last time we

  were there was sometime in 2014 or 2015, and

  we even took off to go and check out the U-515

  submarine museum during the show, because the

  exhibition was already very quiet and there were

  not many people. Unfortunately, it also affected

  business. The decline of brick-and-mortar stores

  is gradually continuing, the model shops are

  becoming more and more an on-line affair, and

  this is true all over the world. Today, we only have

  four distributors in the United States, but two

  of them are new. Three years ago, we had two

  business partners in this market, and the share

  of the American market in our overall turnover

  dropped to 16%. So it is not such a tragedy, because

  in financial terms it is still about twice as much

  as it was in 2010. Rather, it reflects how business

  has developed in Europe and especially in our

  domestic market. Since 2000, the share of the

  Czech market in our total turnover has doubled

  from 13%, last year being up to 27%. I rather

  suspect that it is similar in production, where two

  main locations of plastic model production have

  been created. One is in China, and the other is in

  Eastern Europe, primarily in the Czech Republic

  and Ukraine. Both of these differing geographic

  locations cooperate intensively, which can be

  seen especially in Poland, whose producers of

  plastic models intensively use the services of

  Chinese production facilities.

  Despite the sad end of the RICHTA fair, our

  participation in it had a great influence on

  the development of our company. Eduard is

  connected to America more than anyone can

  imagine, and for me personally, the interaction

  with the American environment was and is a great

  education. Not only do I try to approach problem

  solving in a somewhat American way, but we have

  also learned from developments in American

  companies. While they were deindustrializing

  and starting their Chinese experiment, we were

  building our own production base and building

  Eduard as an independent entity, independent

  of external suppliers of key components. I know

  that even in Europe it is considered an outdated

  approach, and when I talk about how Eduard

  works, that all of our own production is done

  in-house, I get a lot of raised eyebrows. But I am

  sticking to my guns. I remember what happened

  to those who got rid of their local production base.

  The companies that drive the development and

  modernization of our field today have their own

  production base. It's Eduard, Tamiya, Trumpeter/

  Hobby Boss (that's one company), HKM, Academy

  and ICM. I may have forgotten some players here,

  and to them, I apologize. I am still going through

  a bit of jet lag! But, I digress….

  New releases for August

  The impact of the IPMS Nationals in Madison on

  our new releases for August will be plain to see.

  We wanted to bring some attractive new items to

  the event, so there is naturally a strong American

  flavor here. The intended ‘show stopper’, and

  EDITORIAL

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  EDITORIAL

  the main new product for August, the B-17F

  ‘The Bloody Hundredth, 1943’ Limited Edition kit,

  is sold out here. But that does not mean that it is no

  longer available. We've sold some 80% of the run

  to merchants, and they'll have this kit available

  for some time to come. But if you want it, don't

  hesitate, but if you still happen to miss out, it's

  still not a hopeless situation. We are registering

  demand from merchants for more pieces, and if

  this demand is sufficient, we would do another

  smaller reissue in November or December.

  There, however, the content will change a bit, for

  example the bonus decals will no longer be part

  of the kit, but will be available for purchase as

  a separate item.

  The other two American flavored new releases

  are Mustangs, the P-51B in the 1:48 scale

  Profipack kit and the P-51D in the ‘Aces of the

  Eighth’ 72nd scale Limited Edition boxing. Both

  are still available, you don't need to worry about

  that. This American set is complemented in

  August by two German reissues, the Bf 109 E-4 in

  the Profipack line in 1:32nd scale, and the Bf 109

  G-6/AS in the 48th scale Weekend line.

  Our kits, as usual, benefit from the release of

  aftermarket accessory items, designed for not

  just new kits, but older ones as well. Note the

  series of sets for the B-17F. These are the old

  items we released for the HKM kit, but the ones

  being released now have new catalog numbers,

  meaning they've been modified to not duplicate

  parts that are already components of the Bloody

  Hundredth 1943 kit, Cat No. 11183.

  Of course, it’s not just Eduard kits that are

  being covered with what we release. We still

  produce sets to enhance our competitors’ kits too,

  such as the FM-1 Wildcat in 1:48th by Tamiya, the

  1:72nd B-24H Liberator from Airfix and the A-10

  by GWH. Generally speaking, they’re not huge

  sets, but it shouldn’t necessarily pour when a

  light rain will do nicely. As usual, you will find

  the complete listing in today's newsletter, and

  I hope you will read it thoroughly, enjoying it in

  the process.

  Articles

  Unfortunately, among the articles you will

  find the already 29th installment of Air War over

  Ukraine by Mira Baric. Miro writes well, and

  I firmly believe that at some point, we will be

  printing the last installment with a description

  of a Ukrainian victory in this war. There will

  certainly be a victory parade of the Ukrainian Air

  Force led by an F-16. Although, after what I saw

  last week in Oshkosh, I would wholeheartedly

  wish the Ukrainians a delivery of the F-35!

  I took the liberty of writing an article about

  what our new P-51D in 1:72nd scale brings

  to modellers. It's also written in a bit of an

  American style, and should it be taken as a bit

  of an advertisement, I won't mind. If you would

  like to put our Mustang in the context of how it

  compares to other manufacturers' Mustangs,

  I recommend purchasing a kit from KP. It is also

  new, and is presented as a simple kit suitable for

  children and beginners. Place the two kits side by

  side and you will see the unseen, I guarantee you

  a truly extraordinary modelling experience.

  Jan Zdiarský's article ‘Bernie Lay and Piccadilly

  Lily’ is a great read. I read his preview yesterday

  morning over breakfast and it was a great start

  to the day. I recommend it not only to those who

  have bought or want to buy The Bloody Hundredth

  1943 kit, to which this text is closely related,

  because it’s just that good an article...and no,

  I will not link it. Read it yourself!

  Don't miss the three Box Art Stories by Jan

  Bobek. They are dedicated to the boxarts of the

  new P-51B, and the reissued Bf 109 E-4 and

  Bf 109 G-6/AS. They are short texts, they read well,

  and are chock full of information and interesting

  stories. The perfect coffee companion!

  Happy Modelling!

  Vladimir Sulc

  INFO Eduard8

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• The Modern Lad: P-51D Mustang, Eduard in 1/72 Scale

  The world is changing, and so are we. It might sound like a cliché, but it's true in every aspect of society's evolution. The world and society are evolving at an unprecedented pace, and our industry is no exception. Over the past thirty years, we've seen tremendous technological as attitudinal shifts, which have significantly impacted both the production and the use of model kits. These developments influence and shape each other, resulting in new requirements for modern plastic kits. What are these requirements, and how have we addressed them in the new 1/72 scale P-51D Mustang kit?

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  INFO Eduard

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• Bernie Lay and Piccadilly Lily

  The ‘Double Strike’ mission of the 8th AF on Schweinfurt and Regensburg on August 17th, 1943 is among the most famous air operations of World War II in Europe. Not perhaps in so much as its scope, where it was surpassed many times during the months that followed, but in its significance in the development of strategic bombing attack planning and, above all, in terms of losses. Of the 376 B-17s involved, sixty were lost and over ninety others were seriously damaged for the loss of thirty German fighters.

  Col. Bernie Lay was just shy of 34 years of age

  when the 100th BG took off for Regensburg, older

  than most 8th AF combat airmen. He had an inter-

  esting military and writing career, and although

  he had not been trained on USAAF four-engine

  bombers, he was certainly not new to flying.

  He was born on September 1st, 1909 in Berke-

  ley Springs, West Virginia. After graduating from

  Yale University in 1931, he enlisted in the US Army

  Air Corps and completed flight training between

  July 1932 and June 1933, from which he emerged

  with the rank of Second Lieutenant (2nd Lt). He

  was assigned to the 20th BS (which, a few years

  later, as part of the 2nd Bomb Group, 15th AF, also

  participated in the battles over central Europe).

  Here he flew twin-engined biplanes in the form of

  the Keystone B-6 and Curtiss B-2 Condor bomb-

  ers. At the beginning of 1934, he became involved

  in the affair known as the ‘Air Mail scandal’, when

  the AAF was used, thanks to a specially passed

  law to transport mail, which was understood,

  among other things, to be a corrupt interference

  of the business environment and piled on itself

  several related problems.

  The scandal, fueled by the deaths of several

  army airmen in crashes in bad weather, was

  more of a political affair. But it also had

  an impact on the army pilots themselves.

  Fed up with the fuss and press coverage of

  the event after the failed project, Bernie Lay

  retired from active duty in the AAF. Although

  he remained in the rank of Lieutenant (1st Lt.)

  in the army reserves, he devoted himself to civil-

  ian life. He contributed articles to several maga-

  zines and newspapers, which he began to devote

  himself to during his service in the Air Force.

  He became editor-in-chief of The Sportsman

  Pilot magazine in 1936, and a year later published

  his autobiographical book, ‘I Wanted Wings’.

  He was immediately approached by Holly-

  wood producers to prepare a film adaptation

  of the book. He worked on it for three years, and

  although the result was rather disappointing

  for Lay, as his work was taken up by a group

  of screenwriters who changed it to a large extent

  in typical Hollywood fashion, the new experience

  brought him the acquaintance of new people,

  among them his first wife, Philippe Ludwell Lee.

  The ‘Double Strike’ mission of the 8th AF on Schweinfurt and Regensburg on August 17th, 1943 is among the most famous air oper-

  ations of World War II in Europe. Not perhaps in so much as its scope, where it was surpassed many times during the months that

  followed, but in its significance in the development of strategic bombing attack planning and, above all, in terms of losses. Of the 376

  B-17s involved, sixty were lost and over ninety others were seriously damaged for the loss of thirty German fighters.

  Many stories are born from such monumental events. Some of them will be forgotten forever, because after a few minutes after their

  creation, there is sadly no one left to tell them. Other stories, though seemingly insignificant at first, later reveal their full impact as to

  become unforgettable. One such example, from a chain of events that began to form several thousand feet above Germany on August

  17th, 1943, was the story of American pilot and writer Col. Bernie Lay. His name has been mentioned by us several times recently in

  connection with the Limited Edition kit of the B-17F, ‘The Bloody Hundredth 1943’ and specifically in the historical notebook we issued

  on Piccadilly Lily, on which Col. Lay completed the mission on August 17th, 1943. In addition to Piccadilly Lily, a total of twenty-one

  B-17Fs from the 100th BG took part in this mission, four of which are represented in the aforementioned kit.

  Title picture - detail of Piotr Forkasiewicz’s artwork for Eduard kit No.11183 B-17F “The Bloody Hundredth 1943”.

  On the co-pilot’s seat of Piccadilly Lily sits Lt.Col. Bernie Lay.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard14

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  Tensions, spreading in Europe in the late 1930s,

  erupted into World War II on Lay’s thirtieth birth-

  day. Shortly thereafter, he returned to military

  service at his own request and served as a flight

  instructor at Chino, California.

  A book he had written a few years earlier, which

  had since become a bestseller, introduced him to

  a fellow writer, Col. Ira Eaker, then the command-

  er of the Air Corps Information Division. Eaker ar-

  ranged for Lay’s transfer to the staff of the U.S.

  Army Air Corps in Washington, where he was

  promoted to the rank of captain and worked in

  the PR section of General Henry H. Arnold, com-

  mander of the US Army Air Force.

  When Ira Eaker became a general in 1942 and

  was entrusted with building the 8th AF, he took

  Bernie Lay with him to work as historian and

  unit documentation commander. The status be-

  tween Lay and Hollywood, with whom he had

  entered into a partnership a few years earlier,

  also changed. He now commanded Hollywood

  directors who worked on film reports from the

  battlefield. He thus saw with his own eyes the

  Flying Cadet Bernie Lay during basic training (1932-1933). The aircraft

  in the background is a Douglas BT-2 from the Army Air Corps Primary

  Flying School, Randolph Field, TX. Lay completed his training

  on February 28, 1933. (Photo: OMPF)

  2nd Lt. Bernie Lay, after completing his

  flight training, served in the 20th BS

  at Langley Field. (Photo: Dennis Duffy)

  Curtiss B-2 Condor

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

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  Keystone B-6

  The Sportsman pilot, 1936

  magazine cover.

  Grafton Underwood Air Base, August 17, 1942: Men from the 8th Air

  Force HQ observe the return of B-17s from the Eighth’s first com-

  bat mission to the marshalling yard at Rouen, France. Standing

  to the left of the ladder is General Carl A. Spaatz. Directly above

  the open window on the left is Bernie Lay, head of the command’s

  history and film section. (Photo: Freeman Collection)

  HISTORY

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  first steps of the 8th AF, the ups and downs, the

  difficulties in building a position and promoting

  the idea of the importance of heavy bombers and

  their daily missions. One of the films created

  in his section was the 40-minute documentary

  ‘The Memphis Belle - A Story of a Flying Fort-

  ress’ which was shot in the spring of 1943 by Maj.

  William Wyler. However, even before this film

  was completed, Bernie Lay was tired of sitting

  behind a desk. Although he was promoted to

  Lieutenant Colonel and a career at the top of the

  army air force certainly awaited him, he asked

  to be transferred from the air force staff to com-

  bat duty. Also thanks to having rubbed shoulders

  with important commanders, his request was

  granted in the summer of 1943. Due to his age and

  previous experience, he was offered command of

  one of the nascent air units. First, however, real

  combat experience had to be gained. The choice

  fell on the 100th Bomb Group, which from June

  1943 flew from East Anglia USAAF base No. 139

  near the village of Thorpe Abbotts. This is where

  Bernie Lay went ‘for some experience’. With

  a rank among the highest in Thorpe Abbotts,

  but no experience on heavy four-engined aircraft,

  he was to fly several combat missions as an ob-

  server or co-pilot. Out of five missions flown, the

  first four were pretty standard, while the fifth

  would become impossible to forget....

  The best way to tell this story is to let Bernie

  tell it himself in his own words. The following

  is from his article ‘I saw Regensburg destroyed’

  published in The Saturday Evening Post on

  October 6, 1943:

  In the brieng room, the intelligence ofcer of

  the bombardment group pulled a cloth screen away

  from a huge wall map. Each of the 240 sleepy-eyed

  combat-crew members in the crowded room leaned

  forward. There were low whistles. I felt a sting of an-

  ticipation as I stared at the red string on the map that

  stretched from our base in England to a pin point

  deep in Southern Germany, then south across the

  Alps, through the Brenner Pass to the coast of Italy,

  then past Corsica and Sardinia and south over the

  Mediterranean to a desert airdrome in North Africa.

  You could have heard an oxygen mask drop.

  “Your primary,” said the intelligence ofcer, “is Re-

  gensburg. Your aiming point is the center of the Mess-

  erschmitt 109 G aircraft-and-engine-assembly shops.

  This is the most vital target we’ve ever gone after. If you

  destroy it, you destroy thirty per cent of the Luftwaffe’s

  single-engine-ghter production. You fellows know what

  that means to you personally.”

  There were a few hollow laughs. After the brieng,

  I climbed aboard a jeep bound for the operations of-

  ce to check up on my Fortress assignment. The stars

  were dimly visible through the chilly mist that cov-

  ered our blacked-out bomber station, but the weath-

  er forecast for a deep penetration over the Continent

  was good. In the ofce, I looked at the crew sheet,

  where the line-up of the lead, low and high squad-

  rons of the group is plotted for each mission. I was

  listed for a copilot’s seat.

  While I stood there, and on the chance suggestion

  of one of the squadron commanders who was look-

  ing over the list, the operations ofcer erased my

  name and shifted me to the high squadron as copilot

  in the crew of a steady Irishman named Lieutenant

  Murphy, with whom I had own before. Neither

  of us knew it, but that operations ofcer saved my

  life right there with a piece of rubber on the end of

  a pencil.

  The commander who initiated the transfer

  of Bernie Lay from the bottom squadron to the

  better protected upper one was Maj. Gale ‘Buck’

  Cleven, who alone remained in the cockpit of the

  lead airplane of the exposed bottom squadron.

  Of the six aircraft in his group, only two would

  remain after the battle... Lt. Col. Bernie Lay was

  originally cast as a member of the crew under

  Lt. Roy F. Claytor, who flew the Fortress named

  ‘Alice from Dallas’ on her tenth mission. Lay was

  replaced in his intended seat by the co-pilot of

  Claytor’s crew, Lt. Raymond J. Nutting, Jr. Alice

  was among the first aircraft of the 100th Bom-

  bardment Group to be shot down that day. Three

  men were killed out of the crew of ten.

  A more detailed write up describing the fate

  of Alice from Dallas can be found in the special

  edition of our newsletter ‘The Bloody Hundredth,

  1943’ from June, 2024.

  Maj. Gale “Buck” Cleven, CO of the 350th BS, who on

  August 17, 1943, initiated the transfer of Bernie Lay

  from the low squadron to the top squadron, which

  was composed by the 349th and 351st BS ships.

  B-17F s/n 42-5867 “Alice from Dallas” was lost at Regensburg on August 17, 1943,

  with Lt. Roy F. Claytor and his crew.

  HISTORY

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  17

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• Page 18

  At 5:30 a.m., fteen minutes before taxi time,

  a jeep drove around the ve-mile perimeter

  track in the semi-darkness, pausing at each dispersal

  point long enough to notify the waiting crews that

  poor local visibility would postpone the take-off

  for an hour and a half. I was sitting with Murphy

  and the rest of our crew near the Piccadilly Lily. She

  looked sinister and complacent, squatting on her fat

  tires with scarcely a hole in her skin to show for the

  twelve raids behind her. The postponement tight-

  ened, rather than relaxed. Once more I checked over

  my life vest, oxygen mask and parachute, not per-

  functorily, but the way you check something you’re

  going to have to use. I made sure my escape kit was

  pinned securely in the knee pocket of my ying suit,

  where it couldn’t fall out in a scramble to abandon

  ship. I slid a hunting knife between my shoe and

  my ying boot as I looked again through my extra

  equipment for this mission: water canteen, mess kit,

  blankets and English pounds for use in the Algeri-

  an desert, where we would sleep on the ground and

  might be on our own from a forced landing.

  Murphy restlessly gave the Piccadilly Lily anoth-

  er once-over, inspecting ammunition belts, bomb

  bay, tires and oxygen pressure at each crew station.

  Especially the oxygen. It’s human fuel, as important

  as gasoline, up where we operate. Gunners eld-

  stripped their .50-calibers again and oiled the bolts.

  Our top turret gunner lay in the grass with his head

  on his parachute, feigning sleep, sweating out his

  thirteenth start.

  We shared a common knowledge which grimly

  enhanced the normal excitement before a mission.

  Of the approximately 150 Fortresses who were hit-

  ting Regensburg, our group was the last and lowest,

  at a base altitude of 17,000 feet. That’s well within

  the range of accuracy for heavy ak. Our course

  would take us over plenty of it. It was a cinch also

  that our group would be the softest touch for the

  enemy ghters, being last man through the gantlet.

  Furthermore, the Piccadilly Lily was leading the last

  three ships of the high squadron—the tip of the tail

  end of the whole shebang. “We didn’t relish it much.

  Who wants a Purple Heart?“

  The minute hand of my wrist watch dragged.

  I caught myself thinking about the day, exactly one

  year ago, on August 17, 1942, when I watched a piti-

  fully small force of twelve B-17’s take off on the rst

  raid of the 8th Air Force to make a shallow penetra-

  tion against Rouen, France. On that day it was our

  maximum effort. Today, on our rst anniversary,

  we were putting thirty times that number of heavies

  into the air—half the force on Regensburg and half

  the force on Schweinfurt, both situated inside the in-

  terior of the German Reich. For a year and a half, as

  a staff ofcer, I had watched the 8th Air Force grow

  under Maj. Gen. Ira C. Eaker. That’s a long time to

  watch from behind a desk. Only ten days ago I had

  asked for and received orders to combat duty. Those

  ten days had been full of the swift action of partici-

  pating in four combat missions and checking out for

  the rst time as a four-engine pilot.

  Now I knew that it can be easier to be shot at than

  telephoned at. That staff ofcers at an Air Force

  headquarters are the unstrung heroes of this war.

  And yet I found myself reminiscing just a little affec-

  tionately about that desk, wondering if there wasn’t

  a touch of suicide in store for our group. One thing

  was sure: Headquarters had dreamed up the biggest

  air operation to date to celebrate its birthday in the

  biggest league of aerial warfare.

  B-17F-30-VE, 42-5864, crew of Capt. Thomas E. Murphy, Lt. Col. Beirne Lay. Jr., 351st BS,

  100th BG, Telergma, Algeria, Aug. 17, 1943

  Thomas E. Murphy was

  born in Waltham, Massa-

  chusetts. He was killed at

  the age of 27 as the pilot

  of the B-17F Piccadilly Lily

  during a raid on Bremen

  on October 8, 1943.

  (Photo: Murphy family)

  HISTORY

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• Page 19

  At 7:30 we broke out of the cloud tops into

  the glare of the rising sun. Beneath our B-17 lay

  English elds, still blanketed in the thick mist from

  which we had just emerged. We continued to climb

  slowly, our broad wings shouldering a heavy load of

  incendiary bombs in the belly and a burden of fuel

  in the main and wing-tip Tokyo tanks that would

  keep the Fortress aoat in the thin upper altitudes

  eleven hours.

  From my copilot’s seat on the right-hand side,

  I watched the white surface of the overcast, where

  B-17’s in clusters of six to the squadron were punc-

  turing the cloud deck all about us, rising clear of the

  mist with their glass noses slanted upward for the

  long climb to base altitude. We tacked on to one of

  these clutches of six. Now the sky over England was

  heavy with the weight of thousands of tons of bombs,

  fuel and men being lifted four miles straight up on

  a giant aerial hoist to the western terminus of a 20,000-

  foot elevated highway that led east to Regensburg.

  At intervals I saw the arc of a sputtering red, green

  or yellow are being red from the cabin roof of

  a group leader’s airplane to identify the lead squad-

  ron to the high and low squadrons of each group.

  Assembly takes longer when you come up through

  an overcast. For nearly an hour, still over Southern

  England, we climbed, nursing the straining Cyclone

  engines in a 300-foot-per-minute ascent, forming

  three squadrons gradually into compact group stag-

  ger formations—low squadron down to the left and

  high squadron up to the right of the lead squad-

  ron—groups assembling into looser combat wings

  of two to three groups each along the combat-wing

  assembly line, homing over predetermined points

  with radio compass, and nally cruising along the

  air division assembly line to allow the combat wings

  to fall into place in trail behind Col. Curtis E. Le May

  in the lead group of the air division. Formed at last,

  each anking group in position 1000 feet above or

  below its lead group, our fteen-mile parade moved

  east toward Lowestoft, point of departure from the

  friendly coast, unwieldy, but dangerous to fool with.

  From my perch in the high squadron in the last ele-

  ment of the whole procession, the air division looked

  like huge anvil-shaped swarms of locusts—not on

  dress parade, like the bombers of the Luftwaffe that

  died like ies over Britain in 1940, but deployed to

  uncover every gun and permit maneuverability.

  The fog covering most of the airfields of the

  8th Air Force did not clear in time. Nevertheless,

  the planes making up the so-called ‘Regens-

  burg Strike Force’ took off, while the ‘Schwein-

  furt’ bomber groups waited for better conditions

  to take off. This disruption of the careful timing

  of the operation was later one of the main con-

  ditions for the disastrous development of the

  entire mission. The officers of the VIII Bomber

  Command faced a big dilemma – to increase the

  time gap between the start of the mission of both

  its parts would have implications on the fragile

  assumptions made regarding the distribution of

  German defenses in time and over a larger area,

  and on the coordination between the movement

  of the bomber streams and their fighter escort.

  On the other hand, if both forces had waited

  for the weather to improve at launch, and their

  mutual timing had been maintained, this would

  have meant that the Regensburg component of

  the mission would not have reached the north

  coast of Africa before sunset. Command opted for

  the first option, and nearly 150 B-17s rose from

  their bases into an opaque blanket of fog and low

  cloud over the counties of eastern England.

  The Regensburg force consisted of the 94th,

  95th, 96th, 100th, 385th, 388th and 390th Bomb

  Groups. These were formed into Provisional

  Combat Wings (PCBW) numbered 401st, 402nd

  and 403rd. In the following text by Bernie Lay, the

  term ‘4th Air Division’ appears, which is some-

  what inaccurate.

  The steady flow of bombers was led by the 96th

  Bomb Group, as the first unit of the 403rd PCBW,

  followed by the 388th and 390th Bomb Groups.

  The middle part of the bomber stream, the 401st

  PCBW, consisted of the 94th and 385th Bomb

  Groups, while the 402nd PCBW led by the 95th

  Bomb Group brought up the rear, with the 100th

  Bomb Group closing out the stream. In terms

  of height, the units were arranged in descend-

  ing order, with the leader of the seven combat

  boxes, consisting of one bomb group, flew the

  highest and the others followed at intervals of

  1000 feet (approx. 300m) above or below. The

  Bloody Hundred, which was not dubbed as such

  until after the mission, flew last and at the

  lowest altitude. That position was called ‘Tail

  End Charlie’ or ‘Purple Heart Corner’ - a place

  where you didn’t want to fly such an operation.

  Although the fog over the airfield had not

  completely cleared, headquarters judged

  that the units that were to form the Regens-

  burg portion of the mission were experienced

  enough for their crews to handle it. The deci-

  sion was made not to wait any longer and to go

  for it. The 8th Air Force’s biggest mission was

  about to begin. Unfortunately, so far only for

  half of the bombers…

  HEADQUARTERS

  100TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP (H)

  APO 634

  U. S. Army Station 139

  25 August 1943

  SUBJECT: Personal report on the Regensburg

  mission, 17 Aug 1943.

  TO: Commanding Ofcer, 100th Bombardment

  Group (H).

  1. Introduction

  This report does not attempt to render a complete

  summary of the mission. It is merely an eyewitness

  account of what was seen, together with certain

  recommendations pertinent thereto, during an or-

  To describe the next story, it only makes sense

  to again let Bernie Lay describe it in his report to

  the commander of the 100th Bombardment Group,

  Col. To Neil B. ‘Chick’ Harding, the main part of

  which is reproduced in full:

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  19

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• Page 20

  deal in which the 100th Group fought its way to the

  target through erce and prolonged enemy ghter

  attacks and accurately bombed a vital target.

  2. Mission Summary

  When the 100th Group crossed the coast of Holland

  south of the Hague at 1008 hours at our base alti-

  tude of 17, 000 feet, I was well situated to watch the

  proceedings, being co-pilot in the lead ship of the

  last element if the high squadron. The Group had

  all of its 21 B-17’s tucked in tightly and was within

  handy supporting distance of the 95th Group, ahead

  of us at 18, 000 feet. We were the last and lowest of

  the seven groups of the 4th Air Division that were

  visible ahead on a south-east course, forming a long,

  loose-linked chain in the bright sunlight – too long,

  it seemed. Wide gaps separated the three combat

  wings. As I sat there in the tail-end element of that

  many miles long procession, gauging the distance to

  the lead group, I had the lonesome foreboding that

  might come to the last man to run a gauntlet lined

  with spiked clubs. The premonition was well-found-

  ed.

  At 1017 hours, near Woensdrecht, I saw the rst

  ak blossom out in our vicinity, light and inaccurate.

  A few minutes later, approximately 1025 hours, two

  FW-190’s appeared at 1 o’clock level and whizzed

  through the formation ahead of us in frontal attack,

  nicking two B-17’s of the 95th Group in the wings

  and breaking away beneath us in half-rolls. Smoke

  immediately trailed from both B-17s, but they held

  their stations. As the ghters passed us at a high rate

  of closure, the guns of the group went into action.

  The pungent smell of burnt powder lled out cock-

  pit, and the B-17 trembled to the recoil of nose and

  ball-turret guns. I saw pieces y off the wing of one

  of the ghters before they passed from view.

  Here was early action, the members of the crew

  sensed trouble. There was something desperate

  about the way those two ghters came in fast, right

  out of their climb without any preliminaries. For

  a second the interphone was busy with admo-

  nitions: “Lead ‘em more”... “short bursts”... “don’t

  throw rounds away”... There’ll be more along in

  a minute.“…

  Three minutes later. the gunners reported ghters

  climbing up from all around the clock, singly and in

  pairs, both FW-190’s and ME_109’s. This was only

  my fourth raid, but from what I could see on my side,

  it looked like too many ghters for sound health.

  A coordinated attack followed, with the head-on

  ghters coming in from slightly above, the 9 and

  3 o’clock attackers approaching from about level,

  and the rear attackers from slightly below. Every

  gun from every B-17 in out group and the 95th was

  ring, criss-crossing our patch of sky with tracers to

  match the time-fuse cannon shell puffs that squirted

  from the wings of the Jerry single-seaters. I would

  estimate that 75% of our re was inaccurate, falling

  astern of the target–particularly the re from hand

  held guns. Nevertheless, both sides got hurt in this

  clash, with two B-17s from our low squadron and

  one from the 95th Group falling out of formation

  on re with crews bailing out, and several ghters

  heading for the deck in ames or with their pilots

  lingering behind under dirty yellow parachutes.

  Our group leader, Major John Kidd, pulled us up

  nearer the 95th Group for mutual support.

  I knew that we were already in a lively ght. What

  I didn’t know was the real ght, the anschluss of

  20 MM cannon shells, hadn’t really begun. A few

  minutes later we absorbed the rst wave of a hail-

  storm of individual ghter attacks that were to

  engulf us clear to the target. The ensuing action

  was so rapid and varied that I cannot give a chrono-

  logical account of it. Instead, I will attempt a frag-

  mentary report of salient details that even now give

  me a dry mouth and an unpleasant sensation in the

  stomach to recall. The sight was fantastic and sur-

  passed ction.

  It was at 1041 hours, over Eupen, that I looked out

  my copilot’s window after a short lull and saw two

  squadrons, 12 ME-109s and 11 FW-190s climbing

  parallel to us. The rst squadron had reached our

  level and was pulling ahead to turn into us and

  second was not far behind. Several thousand feet

  below us were many more ghters, with their nos-

  es cocked at maximum climb. Over the interphone

  came reports of equal number of enemy aircraft de-

  ploying on the other side. For the rst time I noticed

  a ME-110 sitting out of range on our right. He was

  to stay with us all the way to the target, apparently

  to report our position to fresh squadrons waiting

  for us down the road. At the sight of all these ght-

  ers, I had the distinct feeling of being trapped–that

  the Hun was tipped off, or at least had guessed our

  destination and was waiting for us. No P-47s were

  visible. The life expectancy of the 100th Group sud-

  denly seemed very short, since it already appeared

  that the ghters were passing up the proceeding

  groups, with the exception of the 95th, in order to

  take a cut at us.

  Swinging their yellow noses around in a wide

  U-turn, the 12 ship squadron of ME-109s came in

  from 12 o’clock in pairs and in fours and the main

  event was on.

  A shining silver object sailed past over our right

  wing. I recognized it as a main exit door. Seconds

  later, a dark object came hurtling down through

  the formation, barely missing several props. It was

  a man, clasping his knees to his head, revolving like

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard20

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• Page 21

  a diver in a triple somersault. I didn’t see his chute

  open.

  A B-17 turned gradually out of the formation to the

  right, maintaining altitude. In a split second the B-17

  disappeared in brilliant explosion, from which the

  only remains were four small balls of re, the fuel

  tanks, which were quickly consumed as they fell

  earthward.

  Our airplane was endangered by various debris,

  emergency hatches, exit doors, prematurely opened

  parachutes, bodies and assorted fragments of B-17s

  and Hun ghters breezed past us in the slip-stream.

  I watched two ghters explode not far beneath, dis-

  appearing in sheets of orange ame, B-17s dropping

  out in every stage of distress, from engines on re

  to control surfaces shot away, friendly and enemy

  parachutes oating down, and, on the green carpet

  far behind us, numerous funeral pyres of smoke

  from fallen ghters marking our trail.

  On we ew through the strewn wake of a desper-

  ate air battle, where disintegrating aircraft were

  commonplace and 60 chutes in the air at one time

  were hardly worth a second look.

  I watched a B-17 turn slowly to the right with its

  cockpit a mass of ames. The copilot crawled out of

  his window, held on with one hand, reached back

  for his chute, buckled it on, let go and was whisked

  back into the horizontal stabilizer. I believe the im-

  pact killed him. His chute didn’t open.

  Ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes, and

  still no let up in the attacks. The ghters queued

  up like a breadline and let us have it. Each second

  of time had a cannon shell in it. The strain of being

  a clay duck in the wrong end of that aerial shoot-

  ing gallery became almost intolerable as the minutes

  accumulated towards the rst hour.

  Our B-17 shook steadily with the re of the .50’s

  and the air inside was heavy with smoke. It was

  cold in the cockpit, but when I looked across at

  Lt. Thomas Murphy, the pilot, and a good one, sweat

  was pouring off his forehead and over his oxygen

  mask. He turned the controls over to me for awhile.

  It was a blessed relief to concentrate on holding sta-

  tion in formation instead of watching those everlast-

  ing ghters boring in. It was possible to forget the

  ghters. Then the top-turret gunner’s twin muzzles

  would pound away a foot above my head, giving

  a realistic imitation of cannon shells exploding in the

  cockpit, while I gave a better imitation of man jump-

  ing six inches our of his seat.

  A B-17 of the 95th Group, with its right Tokyo tanks

  on re, dropped back about 200 feet above our right

  wing and stayed there while 7 of the crew successive-

  ly bailed out. Four went out the bomb-bay and exe-

  cuted delayed jumps, one bailed out from the nose,

  opened his chute prematurely and nearly fouled

  the tail. Another went out the left waist-gun open-

  ing, delaying his chute opening for a safe interval.

  The tail gunner dropped out of his hatch, apparently

  pulling the ripcord before he was clear of the ship.

  His chute opened instantaneously, barely missing

  the tail, and jerked him so hard that both his shoes

  came off. He hung limp in the harness, whereas

  the others had showed immediate signs of life after

  their chutes opened, shifting around in the harness.

  The B-17 then dropped back in a medium spiral and

  I did not see the pilots leave. I saw it just before it

  passed from view, several thousand feet below us,

  with it’s right wing a solid sheet of yellow ame.

  After we had been under constant attack for a solid

  hour, it appeared certain that the 100th Group was

  faced with annihilation. Seven of our group had

  been shot down, the sky was still mottled with rising

  ghters and it was only 1120 hours, with the target

  time still 35 minutes away. I doubt if a man in the

  group visualized the possibility of our getting much

  further without 100% loss. I knew that I had long

  since mentally accepted the fact of death, and that

  it was simply a question of next second or the next

  minute. I learned rst-hand that a man can resign

  himself to the certainty of death without becoming

  panicky. Our group re power was reduced 33%,

  ammunition was running low. Our tail guns had

  to be replenished from other gun stations. Gunners

  were becoming exhausted and nerve-tortured from

  the prolonged strain, and there was an awareness

  on everybody’s part that something must have gone

  wrong. We had been the aiming point for the Luff-

  waffe and we fully expected to nd the rest primed

  for us at the target.

  Fighter tactics were running true to form. Frontal

  attackers hit the low squadron and the lead squad-

  ron, while rear attackers went for the high. The man-

  ner of their attacks showed that some pilots were

  old-timers, some amateurs, and that all knew pretty

  denitely where we were going and were inspired

  with a fanatical determination to stop us before we

  got there. The old-timers came in on frontal attacks

  with a noticeably slower rate of closure, apparently

  throttled back, obtaining greater accuracy than those

  that bolted through us wide out. They did some

  nice shooting at ranges of 500 or more yards, and

  in many cases seemed able to time their thrusts so

  as to catch the top and ball turret gunners engaged

  with rear and side attacks. Less experienced pilots

  were pressing home attacks to 250 yards and less

  to get hits, offering point-blank targets on the break

  away, ring long bursts of 20 seconds, and in some

  cases actually pulling up instead of going down and

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  21

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• Page 22

  out. Several FW-190 pilots pulled off some rst rate

  deection shooting on side attacks against the high

  group, then raked the low group on the break away

  out of a sideslip, keeping the nose cocked up in the

  turn to prolong the period the formation was in their

  sights.

  I observed what I believe was an attempt at air-to-air

  bombing, although I didn’t see the bombs dropped.

  A patch of 75 to 100 gray white bursts, smaller than

  ak bursts, appeared simultaneously at our level, off

  to one side.

  One B-17 dropped out on re and put its wheels

  down while the crew bailed out. Three ME-109s cir-

  cled it closely, but held their re, apparently ensur-

  ing that no one stayed in the ship to try for home.

  I saw Hun ghters hold their re even when being

  shot at by a B-17 from which the crew were bailing

  out.

  Near the IP, at 1150 hours, one hour and a half af-

  ter the rst of at least 200 individual ghter attacks,

  the pressure eased off, although hostiles were in

  the vicinity. We turned at the IP at 1154 hours with

  14 B-17’s left in the group, two of which were bad-

  ly crippled. They dropped out soon after bombing

  the target and headed for Switzerland, one of them,

  “042”, carrying Col William Kennedy as tail gunner,

  #4 engine was on re, but not our of control. Major

  William Veal, leader of the high squadron, received

  a cannon shell in his #3 engine just before the start of

  the bombing run and went in to the target with the

  prop feathered.

  Weather over the target, as on the entire trip, was

  ideal. Flak was negligible. The group got its bombs

  away promptly on the leader. As we turned and

  headed for the Alps, I got a grim satisfaction out of

  seeing a rectangular column of smoke rising straight

  up from the ME-109 shops, with only one burst over

  in the town of Regensburg.

  The rest of the trip was a marked anti-climax. A few

  more ghters pecked at us on the way to the Alps.

  A town in Brenner Pass tossed up a lone burst of fu-

  tile ak. Col LeMay, who had taken excellent care

  of us all the way, circled the air division over Lake

  Garda long enough to give the cripples a chance to

  join the family, and we were on our way toward

  the Mediterranean Sea in a gradual decent. About

  25 ghters on the ground at Verona stayed on the

  ground. The prospect of ditching as we approached

  Bone, short of fuel, and the sight of other B-17’s fall-

  ing into the drink, seemed trivial matters after the

  vicious nightmare of the long trip across Northern

  Germany. We felt the reaction of men who had not

  expected to see another sunset.

  At 1815 hours, with red lights showing on all fuel

  tanks in my ship, the seven B-17’s out of the group

  who were still in formation circled over Bertoux and

  landed in the dust. Our crew was unscratched. Sole

  damage to the airplane; a bit of ventilation around

  the tail from ak and 20 MM shells. We slept on the

  hard ground under the wings of our B-17, but the

  good earth felt softer than a silk pillow.

  Piccadilly Lily after landing at Telergma Base in Algeria, following an attack

  on the Messerschmitt factories at Regensburg during a shuttle mission on August 17, 1943.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard22

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• Page 23

  Shortly after the Regensburg

  mission, Lt. Col. Lay left the

  100th BG. Further assignments

  followed as part of his training,

  after which he was sent back

  to the US to take charge of the

  newly formed 487th BG in late

  February, 1944. However, that

  is another story, which we will

  save for the second part of the

  article.

  Bernie Lay had not forgotten Piccadilly Lily. All

  the more so when he learned that she was shot

  down on October 8th, 1943, during a mission to

  Bremen. His pilot from the Regensburg mission

  less than two months earlier, Capt. Thomas E.

  Murphy was killed in the process. Both Lily and

  Capt. Murphy became central figures of Lay’s

  next book, Twelve O’Clock High, subsequently

  becoming an iconic motion picture. But we’ll talk

  about that next time.

  (to be continued)

  The crew of Capt. Thomas E. Murphy and Piccadilly Lily in North Africa after miraculously

  surviving the Regensburg mission. Lt. Col. Bernie Lay is standing second from the left,

  with Thomas Murphy in the middle.

  Lt. Col. Bernie Lay at Lavenham Base, August 15, 1944, two days before the fateful

  Regensburg mission. The aircraft behind him is a British Airspeed AS.10 ‘Oxford’.

  (Photo: Ivo de Jong).

  SOURCES:

  - US Air Force Research Agency, Maxwell, Alabama

  - National Archives and Record Administration, College Park, MD

  - 100th Bomb Group Foundation Archives

  - Lt Col Beirne Lay Jr. and the 100th Bomb Group Connection, Michael Faley - 100th Bomb Group Historian

  - Findagrave, Wikipedia

  - Century Bombers, Richard LeStrange, 1997

  - The Story of the Century, John R. Nilsson, 1946

  Photographs without a specified source are from the 100th BGF archive or the author’s collection.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  23

  August 2024

• Air War in Ukraine - One Su-57 Less

  In this installment, we will cover the period from June 1 to June 30. Both sides were preparing for the anticipated inclusion of F-16 fighter jets in the Ukrainian Air Force. The Ukrainian side continued clearing the airspace for them, targeting Russian airfields, radars, and air defense systems. In one of these operations, they managed to strike the latest Russian Su-57 fighter jet. Russia also attempted massive attacks on Ukrainian airfields where it expected the F-16s to be deployed.

  Miro Barič

  One Su-57 Less

  We begin with a recap of Ukrainian attacks.

  On the night of Wednesday, June 5, to Thursday,

  June 6, Ukrainian drones attacked the

  Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia's Rostov

  region. A large fire broke out after the strike.

  The refinery's anti-drone defenses, including

  metal cages and nets around the facility,

  proved ineffective.

  On Saturday, June 8, Ukrainian drones

  appeared over North Ossetia for the first

  time. Their target was the Mozdok air base,

  out of which Tu-22M3 and MiG-31K aircraft

  operate. The base is located more than 700

  kilometers from the front line in Ukraine.

  Russian authorities initially announced that

  three attacking drones were shot down and

  no damage occurred. However, social media

  later showed photos of drone debris indicating

  that at least six drones attacked (as there

  were that many engines in the photos). Sergey

  Menyaylo, head of the North Ossetia republic,

  later admitted to minor damages and fires,

  though details were not disclosed. Satellite

  images from June 12 captured traces of fires

  likely caused by the drone impacts, although

  they were far from the aircraft parking

  areas, which were empty as the Russians had

  evacuated their planes after the Ukrainian

  attack.

  Expensive Prey

  On the same day, June 8, Ukrainian drones

  also attacked the Akhtubinsk base in Russia's

  Astrakhan region, located 600 kilometers from

  the front line. In this operation, they managed

  to damage the most modern Russian fighter

  jet, the Sukhoi Su-57, with shrapnel. The

  929th State Flight Test Center V. P. Chkalov

  is based in Akhtubinsk, where Su-57 planes

  were undergoing tests. They were parked in

  an uncovered area. Satellite images show two

  craters and burnt areas near one Su-57, just

  a few meters away from the aircraft, and even

  Russian Telegram channels acknowledged it

  was hit by shrapnel. Only a detailed inspection

  would reveal whether it could be repaired or

  was too damaged to be salvaged. Ukrainian

  military intelligence (HUR) reported that

  another Su-57 was also hit, but sustained only

  minor, repairable damage.

  The following day, Sunday, June 9, marked

  a milestone for the Ukrainian Air Force as they

  launched their first attack on Russian territory

  using manned aircraft. The Russian command

  building in Belgorod was hit, likely using

  Western-guided munitions. Several countries

  had recently lifted restrictions on using

  such munitions on Russian soil in response

  to Russian attacks on the Ukrainian Kharkiv

  region.

  Attacks on Russian air defense systems

  also continued. On Monday, June 10, two S-300

  systems in Yevpatoria and the Tarkhankut

  Peninsula, and an S-400 system in Dzhankoy

  on occupied Crimea, were hit. On Tuesday,

  June 11, two radars – one from an S-300 and

  In this installment, we will cover the period from June 1 to June 30. Both sides were

  preparing for the anticipated inclusion of F-16 fighter jets in the Ukrainian Air Force.

  The Ukrainian side continued clearing the airspace for them, targeting Russian airfields,

  radars, and air defense systems. In one of these operations, they managed to strike the

  latest Russian Su-57 fighter jet. Russia also attempted massive attacks on Ukrainian

  airfields where it expected the F-16s to be deployed.

  Ukrainian Su-27.

  It’s a refurbished

  airplane sporting

  the early camouflage.

  Air War in Ukraine

  INFO Eduard24

  August 2024

• Page 25

  one from an S-400 system – in Belbek, also on

  occupied Crimea, were struck.

  On the night of Friday, June 14, at least 70

  Ukrainian drones attacked the Morozovsk

  airfield in the Rostov region of southern Russia.

  This strategically important base, home to

  Su-34 aircraft, had already faced attacks in

  April 2024. This time, too, Russia claimed to

  have intercepted and shot down all Ukrainian

  drones. However, Morozovsk residents

  reported explosions and fires, and satellite

  images after the attack revealed damage to

  a hangar and two Su-34 aircraft visible through

  holes in the roof. Near the hangar, there were

  burnt areas and fuel spill marks on the parking

  area. It is possible another aircraf t was damaged

  and towed away before the satellite flyover.

  During this mass attack, an air defense

  training center in Yeysk on the Russian side of

  the Azov Sea was also hit. One building was

  completely destroyed, and another was

  damaged. Ukrainian sources suggested the

  destroyed building might have housed up to 120

  Iranian Shahed-136 drones, which Russia uses

  for attacks on Ukrainian cities. Four refineries

  in the Krasnodar region were also struck

  simultaneously.

  The S-500 Failed

  In response to attacks on Russian air defense,

  the latest S-500 system, Triumphator, was

  deployed to occupied Crimea in the first half

  of the monitored period. However, its combat

  debut was an absolute failure. On Sunday, June

  23, the ATACMS missile targeted the NIP-16

  space communication complex in Vitino village

  near Yevpatoria. Built in 1958 iduring the USSR

  era, it served the Soviet space program. After

  the Crimea occupation, Russia took control and

  used it to communicate with military satellites

  for detecting Ukrainian targets and guiding

  bombs to them. Despite the complex being

  protected by the S-500 system, at least four

  ATACMS missiles breached the defense and hit

  the space communication station NIP-16.

  On the same day, a tragedy occurred on the

  beach near Sevastopol. Missile parts fell into

  a crowd of vacationers. Official reports state

  that five people, including three children,

  died, and around 120 were injured. Russian

  authorities accused Ukraine of targeting

  civilians on the beach and the USA of providing

  coordinates for the beach to the ATACMS

  missile. Both claims are dubious. If the ATACMS

  missile with cluster munitions had indeed

  targeted vacationers directly, there would

  have been many more victims. The Russians

  themselves cast doubt on this by stating that

  the ATACMS missiles were intercepted, and

  only debris from one missile fell on the beach.

  Russian social media also showed photos

  indicating that debris from a Russian air

  defense missile hit the beach. This incident

  highlighted the fact that Russians place radars

  and launchers near the beach, increasing the

  risk to vacationers.

  On Friday, June 28, the S-500 battery itself

  came under attack. According to the Ukrainian

  side, an ATACMS missile hit its positions near

  the Dzhankoy airport, destroying the Russian

  system's radar. Satellite imagery recorded

  a fierce fire at the site where the battery was

  deployed. However, this information remains

  unconfirmed.

  Russian Losses in the Air

  The shooting down of a Russian Su-25 in

  the Donetsk region on the same day also

  remains unconfirmed. The Ukrainian National

  Guard captured it on an murky video, showing

  The Akhtubinsk base after the Ukrainian attack on June 8. The Maxar satellite

  image shows three Su-57s, and at the very bottom, there is an aircraft silhouette

  painted on the surface to confuse drones.

  A Tu-22M3 bomber in a photograph released by the Russian Ministry of Defense. The same type

  was stationed at the Mozdok base.

  A close-up of a damaged Su-57. In front of and behind it, to the left, there are

  traces of drone explosions. It is also visible that a shelter was being constructed

  for the airplane just before the attack.

  INFO Eduard

  25

  August 2024

• Page 26

  smoke after the aircraft was hit. Confirmation

  of the kill may come much later. On June 7,

  2024, photos of the Su-25SM wreck with the

  RF-91968 marking and tail number “blue

  09” were released for the first time. It was

  reportedly shot down in the Kherson region in

  2022, and the pilot ejected. Russian soldiers

  only found its wreckage now, thus revealing

  its photos and confirming the kill.

  Two Russian air losses during the monitored

  period are confirmed. The first occurred on

  Tuesday, June 11, in North Ossetia. During

  a training flight in the Alagir region’s mountain

  valley, a Su-34 aircraft crashed. Both

  pilots died. The official cause was technical

  failure (possibly exacerbated by inadequate

  maintenance during the war), though various

  other speculations emerged.

  On Friday, June 21, during a massive

  Ukrainian drone attack, a Kamov Ka-29

  helicopter of the Russian Navy Air Force was

  destroyed over the Black Sea near Anapa

  in Krasnodar Krai. All four crew members

  perished. According to several Russian

  sources, they were mistakenly hit by a missile

  from the Russian Pantsir system, which was

  countering Ukrainian drones. It is also possible

  that the Ka-29 was on a mission against

  Ukrainian naval drones, which hit it with an

  anti-aircraft missile. We previously reported

  that they started carrying them.

  Ukrainian Losses

  During the monitored period, the Ukrainian

  side did not suffer any aerial losses. However,

  Ukrainian airfields were repeatedly under

  Russian fire, resulting in damage to several

  aircraft. The first target in June was the civilian

  airport in Odessa. On Wednesday, June 5,

  photos were released showing the destruction

  Debris of the Su-25SM with the designation RF-91968 and fuselage number "blue 09," which had been possibly

  shot down back in 2022, but the wreckage was only found now.

  INFO Eduard26

  August 2024

• Page 27

  of private acrobatic aircraft Su-31M with

  registration UR

  -

  TOP and Extra EA300SC with

  registration UR

  -

  WIN. An ultra-light aircraft

  Aeroprakt A-22 Foxbat was also damaged in

  the stricken hangar.

  The following day, Thursday, June 6,

  a video was released showing a Lancet suicide

  drone attacking a Ukrainian Su-25 at Kryvyi

  Rih airfield in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

  On Monday, June 10, a Su-27, likely a two-seat

  UB version, was destroyed in a Russian missile

  attack on the Myrhorod base in the Poltava

  region. On the same day, another Lancet attack

  at Kryvyi Rih destroyed another Su-25. In both

  cases, it is unclear whether the aircraft were

  operational, decommissioned, or decoys. The

  use of well-crafted decoys as bait for Russian

  drones at Kryvyi Rih airfield was documented

  back in November 2023.

  Although there were almost no jet aircraft

  encounters and no such incidents were

  recorded during the monitored period, battles

  between Ukrainian propeller-driven planes

  and Russian reconnaissance drones were

  intense. These engagements, reminiscent of

  World War I, were captured in several videos.

  Photos also documented the successes of the

  Yak-52 crew, marking their victories on the

  aircraft's fuselage. This primitive but effective

  tactic involved the pilot of the training aircraft

  approaching the drone as closely as possible,

  and the second crew member shooting it down

  with a machine gun from the rear cockpit.

  Mirage to the Rescue

  At the celebrations of the 80th anniversary

  of the Normandy landing, French President

  Emmanuel Macron announced that Ukraine

  would receive Mirage 2000 fighters. It should

  be the 5F version, which entered service in

  the French Air Force in 2000. It features a new

  cockpit with several large displays replacing

  most instruments, an improved radar, and the

  capability to carry targeting pods. This version

  is optimized for air-to-air combat, carrying

  MICA missiles with a range of 60 to 80 km.

  However, it can also carry weapons against

  ground targets, which Ukraine already uses –

  The training center in Yeisk on satellite images from

  Planet Labs – see condition before the attack above

  and below after the Ukrainian attack. The building on

  the left was hit in the upper part, and the warehouse

  on the right was completely destroyed.

  The Russian Morozovsk base after the attack by more than 70 Ukrainian drones on June 14. The image was taken

  by Planet Labs.

  Close-up of a hangar with a broken roof, through

  which a pair of Su-34s can be seen.

  Below the damaged hangar, a large fuel spill can be

  seen on the surface, possibly from another damaged

  aircraft.

  A hangar at the civilian airport in Ukrainian Odessa,

  where two private acrobatic aircraft were destroyed,

  and at least one ultralight was damaged.

  INFO Eduard

  27

  August 2024

• Page 28

  SCALP

  -

  EG (Storm Shadow) missiles and

  Hammer guided bombs.

  It is not yet known how many aircraft

  Paris will supply to Ukraine. The French Air

  Force has fewer than 30 Mirage 2000-5F in

  service, with more in reserve. The War Zone

  portal speculates whether France might try to

  reclaim fighters previously exported to other

  countries. For instance, Greece has hinted at

  wanting to get rid of its Mirage 2000-5s since it

  recently ordered new F-35 aircraft. Ukrainian

  pilots are expected to retrain on French

  fighters within 12 months.

  For now, the Mirage 2000 remains a future

  prospect, and the F-16 deliveries have yet to

  begin, although they are imminent. The only

  fighter jets Ukraine has received from allies

  so far are MiG-29s delivered from Poland and

  Slovakia. At the end of the monitored period,

  the first photograph of an ex-Slovak aircraft

  with its tail number emerged. Until now, all

  such images had been retouched.

  The photo shows a two-seat MiG-29UBS,

  which sported the bort the number 1303 in the

  Slovak Air Force. It retains its typical fishbone

  camouflage on the fuselage spine. The original

  Slovak number on the tail has been painted over

  in a slightly different shade of grey. In addition

  to the yellow-blue marking, the aircraft now

  has a new number – white 80. This number

  is on the side of the intake openings and in

  smaller format on the vertical tail surface.

  A Ukrainian Su-27 with HARM missiles viewed from the cockpit of another aircraft.

  A Ukrainian MiG-29 pilot showing a tattoo during flight.

  A Ukrainian air defense system with kill markings indicating the battery’s achievements.

  A Ukrainian MiG-29 from the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade inventory

  INFO Eduard28

  August 2024

• Page 29

  A Ukrainian Yak-52 and its pilot in combat against the drones.

  Images from the Russian drones taken during the combat with Yak-52.

  The former Slovak MiG-29UBS (ex 1303) now bears

  the number "white 80" in the Ukrainian Air Force.

  A close-up of kill marks on the side of the Yak-52. The aircraft, originally with

  civilian registration UR

  -

  ODS and named Aleksandra, has its crew credited with

  shooting down eight drones. The symbols at the bottom indicate that the Yak-52

  crew witnessed one Russian drone destroyed in a collision with a bird and another

  by a storm.

  INFO Eduard

  29

  August 2024

• Page 30

• Page 31

  #82107

  BOXART STORY

  During the so-called "Shuttle" missions,

  using bases in the USSR, the US Air Force hit

  a total of 24 strategic Axis targets from June

  to September 1944. The first Shuttle Mission,

  designated Frantic 1, was scheduled for June 2,

  1944. It deployed 130 B-17 bombers and 70 P-51s

  from the 15th Air Force based in Italy. One of

  the fighter units chosen for the mission was

  the 325th FG "Checkertails." Its commander,

  Col. Sluder, later recalled that the preparation

  for the mission was top secret, and only five

  officers from his unit knew about it. His unit

  had flown Mustangs in combat for the first time

  on May 27, 1944, so this was still a completely

  new aircraft to his men. Additionally, ground

  personnel had to be transported to the Soviet

  Union. The mechanics received new uniforms

  and boarded B-17 bombers from the 2nd BG.

  They were convinced they were flying to the UK

  or even home. When they learned during the

  flight where they were actually going, many

  were shocked. On board one of the bombers

  was Gen. Ira Eaker, commander of the Allied air

  forces in the Mediterranean.

  The mission of June 2, 1944, was not just

  a flyover of enemy territory, its objective was

  the railway station in Debrecen, Hungary.

  Eaker placed great emphasis on keeping the

  fighter escorts close to the bombers, which

  were carrying more valuable cargo than usual.

  Only one B-17 was lost after being hit by flak.

  The bombers then landed at Poltava in Ukraine,

  and the "Checkertail Clan" eventually found

  Pyriatyn airfield, located a little further west,

  after some navigational difficulties. Soviets

  and American personnel were waiting for them

  at the scene, having prepared conditions for

  maintenance and operations.

  The Soviets did not allow photographs of the

  bases to be taken back to the West, but the

  Americans smuggled a few films out. Soviets

  provided plenty of food, drink, and singing

  performances. The female soldiers were

  initially shy about dancing with the Americans,

  but after the Soviet commander ordered the

  ladies to dance, that part of the program was

  filled as well. From the American side, fighter

  pilot Bob Barkey had quite a success with his

  tenor.

  On June 6, 1944, the command of the 15th

  Air Force planned a strike against targets in

  the Balkans from two directions. The refinery

  at Ploiești was attacked from Italy by 310

  Liberators with fighter escorts, which attracted

  most of the Axis fighter units in Romania.

  Other raids from Italian bases targeted Brașov,

  Pitești, Turnu Severin, and Belgrade in occupied

  Yugoslavia.

  From the east, 104 B-17 crews from the Poltava

  base and 42 Mustangs from the 352nd Fighter

  Group flew over Romania. Their destination

  was Galați airfield in eastern Romania. They

  managed to hit the airfield due to good visibility,

  and none of the bombers were shot down.

  Although enemy fighters were spotted by the

  Flying Fortress crews, the enemy fighters were

  so far away that the Americans were unsure of

  their identification. The formation then returned

  to Poltava, and after landing, the crews learned

  of the commencement of the landings in France.

  The fighter escort experienced a slightly

  different situation. Americans clashed with

  Romanian Bf 109 G-6s from the elite Grupul

  9 vânătoare. The Americans claimed six

  downed fighters and one Ju 88. One of the

  victories was scored by the aforementioned

  1/Lt. Barkey, whose aircraft is depicted on

  Piotr Forkasiewicz's boxart. The Romanians

  machines were only damaged and several

  of them made emergency landings after the

  battle. They did, however, manage to shoot

  down two Mustangs. Lt. Donald J. MacDonald

  was captured and Lt. John D. Mumford was

  missing. Moreover the P-51 of 2/Lt. Barrie Davis

  was severely damaged by Romanian fighter ace

  Lt. av. Ion Dobran. Wounded Davis managed to

  make it to Mirgorod, Ukraine without a canopy

  and with severely damaged tail surfaces. He

  received the first Purple Heart for a combat

  mission from Soviet territory. Ion Dobran was

  forced to make an emergency landing with his

  damaged Bf 109 when he came under fire from

  1/Lt. Wayne Lowry. Details of this engagement

  can be found, for example, in the Osprey

  publication "Rumanian Aces of World War 2" by

  Dénes Bernád.

  Operation Frantic 1 was completed on June

  11, 1944. On the return of the American crews

  to Italy, the target was the Romanian airfield of

  Focșani. The first Shuttle Mission was judged

  a great success. However, subsequent Frantic

  missions gradually encountered problems and

  security risks that contributed to the growing

  distrust between the Western Allies and the

  Soviet Union.

  Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz

  The First Frantic

  Text: Jan Bobek

  INFO Eduard

  31

  August 2024

• Page 32

  BOXART STORY #3003

  The box art for this kit, firstly released in

  2009, was created by our late friend Martin

  Novotný. This painting is one of my favourites

  due to its composition, the chosen colors, and

  the dynamics Martin infused into it. It captures

  the atmosphere of the Battle of Britain as

  many of us likely imagine it. The depicted

  Messerschmitt belonged to Major Helmut Wick,

  Kommodore of JG 2 "Richthofen." His plane

  is shown as it appeared in November 1940,

  a time when the daily Luftwaffe bomber raids

  on England had ceased. While the depicted

  situation is not historically accurate, I don't

  believe this detracts from the painting's appeal.

  When twenty-five-year-old Helmut Wick was

  killed in aerial combat on November 28, 1940,

  he was the youngest Kommodore and the first

  recipient of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves

  to be killed in action. At the time, Adolf Galland,

  commander of JG 26 "Schlageter," was 28 years

  old, and Werner Mölders, Kommodore of JG 51,

  was only a year younger than Galland. These

  three pilots were competing for the top spot in

  the number of aerial victories achieved since

  September 1939.

  A typical Jagdgeschwader at that time had

  approximately 120 aircraft and an air and

  ground staff of more than 2,000 men. Leading

  such a unit was quite a challenge for officers

  barely thirty years old. These young airmen

  were mostly promoted to Kommodore positions

  in the summer of 1940, during a generational

  shift in command. They replaced officers who

  were sometimes a generation older, many of

  whom had seen combat during World War I.

  Both Adolf Galland and Werner Mölders

  served in the Spanish Civil War. Mölders

  achieved 14 aerial victories in Spain and

  significantly influenced the methodology of

  German fighter deployment before World War

  II. Before becoming Kommodore, Galland led

  his III/JG 26 to become the best Jagdgruppe for

  bomber escort during the Battle of Britain. How

  did Wick compare?

  He joined the Luftwaffe in early April 1936

  and began training for an officer's career at

  the Luftkriegsschule Dresden. In July of that

  year, he was recommended for future officer

  career in an evaluation, but his flight training

  was rated as mediocre, and he performed

  below average in theoretical instruction.

  Consequently, he did not complete the course.

  In May 1937, he was assigned to bomber unit

  II./KG 254 (later II./KG 55 "Greif"), but after only

  a month, he was sent back to school in Dresden.

  He was unable to complete the second course

  either and only successfully completed the

  course on his third attempt in the summer of

  1938. He then underwent six weeks of training

  on fighter aircraft at the Jagdfliegerschule

  Werneuchen, where he was highly rated for

  his marksmanship and his daring approach to

  conducting mock attacks.

  Finally, he was assigned to a fighter unit, I./JG

  333 (later I./JG 54 "Grünherz"), which rearmed

  from Arado Ar 68 biplanes to Bf 109 Ds during

  the autumn of 1938 and participated in the

  occupation of the Czechoslovakian border area.

  Helmut Wick was promoted to the rank of

  Leutnant in November 1938, and on January

  1, 1939, he became a member of JG 133, which

  was redesignated JG 53 "Pik As" in May 1939.

  He was assigned to the 1st Staffel, which

  the legendary Werner Mölders became

  commander in March. Wick later recalled

  with great respect the knowledge imparted

  to him over several months by both Mölders

  and I. Gruppe commander Hptm. Lothar von

  Janson. When the Gruppenkommandeur

  completed Wick's assessment on August 31,

  1939, he recommended him for service with

  I./JG 2 "Richthofen." According to the evaluation,

  during his eight months with I./JG 53, Wick

  demonstrated organizational talent and had

  no interest in anything other than military

  and aviation subjects. He had exceptionally

  good eyesight and remained very cool when

  practicing aerial combat. Initially, he served

  as the technical officer of the 1st Staffel, and

  from July 15, he was in charge of training NCO

  candidates.

  His career with JG 2 is fairly well known.

  After a year of service in the 3. Staffel, during

  which he achieved 22 victories and became

  its commander, he was appointed head of the

  I. Gruppe in September 1940. Six weeks later,

  on October 20, he took command of the entire

  JG 2. The young Kommodore, however, was

  very focused on his personal score at a time

  when the Luftwaffe was pulling back from

  major daily operations against Great Britain.

  He himself described it as a compulsive, even

  obsessive, desire to engage the enemy, which

  likely contributed to his death.

  Text: Jan Bobek

  Illustration: Martin Novotný

  The Youngest Kommodore

  INFO Eduard32

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  #84169

  BOXART STORY

  When III./JG 1 was newly established in

  Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, in April 1943, it did

  not have an easy start. Some airmen had been

  transferred from other parts of JG 1. However,

  the Stab and one full Staffel of III./JG 1 were

  created from scratch. The unit was armed with

  Bf 109 Gs. The first commander was Maj. Karl-

  Heinz Leesmann (37 victories, Knight's Cross),

  who, for health reasons, had not participated in

  combat flights in the past months and had led

  his previous unit on the Eastern Front "from

  the ground." A good part of the new members

  of III./JG 1 came directly from training units.

  The unit therefore had to devote itself to intensive

  training in combat operations in June and July.

  At the same time, though it began to be deployed

  in combat against four-engine bombers. In one

  engagement with the Americans, on July 25,

  1943, Maj. Leesmann was killed.

  The next CO was Hptm. Robert Olejnik, who

  had previously led 4./JG 1 within II./JG 1 (formerly

  I./JG 3). He achieved his 40th victory on August

  17, 1943, during the defense against air raids

  on Regensburg and Schweinfurt, when he shot

  down a B-17. Yet, III./JG 1 was one of several

  units to receive harsh criticism from other

  Jagdgeschwader commanders for their poor

  performance that day.

  Under a new CO, Hptm. Friedrich Eberle,

  III./JG 1 became in November the so-called

  "leichte Gruppe," or light fighter group. Their task

  was to attack the fighter escorts of American

  bombers, making it easier for their colleagues

  in I. and II./JG 1, armed with Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A

  aircraft, to engage the bomber formations.

  The increasing range and effectiveness

  of American fighter escorts posed a serious

  problem for German airmen. Thus the Berlin

  command hesitated for a long time on how

  to deal with the escorts. Göring and his staff

  wanted to concentrate the fighter units as

  much as possible on attacking the bombers but

  refused to concentrate their forces in one area.

  The political directive was clear: some fighter

  units were to remain in every part of the Reich to

  maintain the population's morale.

  In late February 1944, it was finally decided that

  one dedicated Jagdgruppe would be assigned

  to each fighter division (Jagddivision) within

  I. Jagdkorps to combat American fighters at high

  altitude. These were I./JG 3 (within Jagddivision

  1), II./JG 11 (JD 2), and III./JG 1 (JD 3). These units

  were named "Höhengruppen" and were armed

  with Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-5 and G-6 aircraft

  equipped with the GM-1 system. From April

  onwards, priority was given to upgraded Bf 109

  G-6/AS machines with DB 605 AS engines.

  Accomplishing this task in the first half

  of 1944 was extremely difficult. The German

  pilots faced experienced opponents whose

  aircraft outperformed even the modified

  Bf 109s. Occasionally, German formations

  became targets of their own flak. Enemies also

  radioed false orders in German, which were

  sometimes hard to distinguish from their own

  command's instructions.

  Among the ranks of III./JG 1 at that time were

  experienced airmen such as Hptm. Lutz-Wilhelm

  Burkhardt (58 v., KC), Hptm. Alfred Grislawski

  (133 v., KC with Oak Leaves), and Obfw. Herbert

  Kaiser (68 v., KC). However, the veterans left no

  room for the motivated newcomers' illusions.

  Upon arrival at III./JG 1, surprised young airmen

  learned, "If you see him (the American) on the

  right, bail out. If you see him on the left, bail

  out." Moreover, aerial combat had reached

  a brutal phase, and German airmen on parachute

  became targets for American fighters both in the

  air and on the ground.

  In the first five months of 1944, III./JG 1 achieved

  26 victories, mostly against fighter escorts.

  However, enemy action resulted in the loss of

  84 aircraft, and nearly 70 of its airmen were

  killed or wounded. Its airbase was repeatedly

  targeted by heavy bomber raids. The commander

  of III./JG 1, Hptm. Eberle, was sent to a rear

  ground unit in late April 1944 and was replaced

  by Maj. Hartmann Grasser (103 v., KC with Oak

  Leaves). Just before the start of the invasion,

  Grasser was appointed to head the operational

  training unit II./JG 110, which probably saved his

  life.

  In the first half of June, III./JG 1 ceased its

  role as Höhengruppe and underwent a short

  deployment in Normandy. It returned to this

  battlefield after a few weeks and, during July

  and August, lost 56 aircraft and 53 airmen who

  were wounded, killed, captured, or missing.

  In the first eight months of 1944, III./JG 1 thus lost

  approximately three times its aircrew number.

  The Luftwaffe no longer had a chance to win the

  war over Western Europe.

  Illustration: Adam Tooby

  Höhengruppe

  Text: Jan Bobek

  INFO Eduard

  33

  August 2024

• Page 34

  #2147

  ACES OF THE EIGHTH

  1/72

  Limited edition kit of WWII US fighter aircraft P-51D in 1/72 scale.

  The box contains markings of Mustangs block D-5 with or without

  the dorsal fin assembly and for later production blocks up to D-25.

  All markings are of the units of the 8th Air Force. The plastic kit

  includes parts for two scale models.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  marking options: 12

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: yes, pre-painted

  painting mask: yes

  resin parts: no

  Product page

  KITS 08/2024

  Dual Combo

  INFO Eduard34

  August 2024

• Page 35

  P-51D-5, s/n 44-13321, Maj. George Preddy Jr., 487th FS, 352nd FG, Bodney, United Kingdom, July 1944

  P-51D-10, 44-14221, Maj. Pierce W. McKennon, CO of 335th FS, 4th FG,

  Debden, United Kingdom, April 1945

  The future fighter ace with the highest score

  achieved on Mustang among all the pilots was

  born on February 5, 1919, in Greensboro, North

  Carolina. He had completed the pilot training

  before the War and tried three times to enlist in

  the US Navy in 1940. But he was refused every

  time. For the fourth try he applied to enlist in the

  USAAC and was accepted in 1940. He completed

  the fighter training consequently and after

  his assignment to 49th PS was dispatched to

  Australia. Flying P-40E in the defense of Darwin

  he was credited with two Japanese airplanes

  damaged. In July 1942, after the mid-air collision

  during the training flight, he was wounded and

  sent back to the United States. As of September

  1943, his next combat assignment awaited him in

  Europe with 352nd FG, where he was flying P-47

  Thunderbolts providing cover for heavy bombers

  of the 8th AF. In April, the unit converted to P-51

  Mustangs. In June, the war photographer snapped

  Maj. Preddy’s aircraft sporting seventeen kills

  painted on the aircraft nose in the form of the

  white crosses. The aircraft lacked any camouflage

  and sported the blue-painted nose, same as other

  352nd FG aircraft. The fuselage and wings were

  still carrying so-called invasion stripes.

  Future Second World War twelve kill ace Pierce

  Winningham McKennon was born on November 30,

  1919, in Clarksville, Arkansas. Although his ability

  to play the piano awarded him a scholarship at

  the University of Arkansas, he did not complete

  studies and entered USAAF in 1941, with the wish

  to become a fighter pilot. After two months he

  was let go due to his nausea, but he refused to

  give up on his dream. He joined the RCAF, where

  he finished his training and was assigned to

  an Operational Training Unit in Europe. He was

  reintegrated into the USAAF on February 22,

  1943, with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, and was

  assigned to the 335th FS, which was flying P-47

  at that time, but were later replaced by Mustangs.

  He was not only an excellent pilot, but due to

  the piano playing skills he was also a regular

  invitee to social functions. His final sortie came

  about during a squadron-wide raid on an air

  bases around Prague, when his aircraft was hit

  in the canopy, and a piece of Plexiglass narrowly

  missed his eye. After the war, he stayed with

  the Air Force, serving as an instructor. He died

  together with a student pilot in a crash of their

  AT-6D near San Antonio, Texas, on June 18, 1947.

  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard

  35

  August 2024

• Page 36

  P-51D-10, 44-14733, Capt. Ray S. Wetmore, 370th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, United Kingdom, March 1944

  P-51D-20, 44-72218, Lt Col. John D. Landers, CO of 78th FG, Duxford, United Kingdom, March 1945

  Ray Shuey Wetmore became one of the most

  successful Mustang fighter pilots, as he scored

  21,25 aerial victories. He was born on September

  30, 1923, and upon commissioning in March 1943,

  he joined the newly formed 359th Fighter Group

  which was sent to England in October that year.

  As a member of the 370th FS he scored his first

  4.25 victories during February and March 1944.

  All of them were achieved on the P-47. After

  retraining to P-51 Wetmore achieved status of

  ace after he shot down two Bf 109s on May 19,

  1944, and by the end of May 1944, the number

  of Wetmore’s victories raised to 8.25. In a little

  over a year, he shot down 15 enemy aircraft

  and was promoted to the rank of Captain.

  He added more during his second tour of duty,

  his last victory came on March 15, 1945, near

  Wittenberg. His victim was a very rare bird, the

  Me 163 Comet. When chasing this rocket plane,

  speed of Wetmore’s P-51D reached 600 MPH (965

  km/h)! During both operational tours he flew

  142 combat missions. His final score was 21.25

  aerial victories, one damaged aircraft and 2.33

  destroyed on the ground. This made Wetmore

  the highest scorer within 359th FG and eighth

  best of all American flying aces in Europe.

  All of Wetmore’s aircraft sported the “Daddy’ s Girl”

  name on the nose. He continued to serve with US

  Air Force after the war. His last appointment was

  CO of the 59th FIS at Otis AB. On February 14, 1951,

  Maj. Wetmore took off from Los Angeles in F-86

  Sabre to fly it to Otis AB. When he was on his final

  approach, the plane violently raised nose, then

  turned towards the ground and crashed. He was

  reporting handling problems prior to the crash.

  John Dave Landers was born on August 23rd, 1920,

  in Joshua, Texas. He joined the Army Air Force in

  April 1941. After undergoing pilot training, he was

  assigned to the 9th FS in Australia in January

  1942, a unit that flew P-40s. In the Pacific theatre,

  he gained six aerial victories and in January 1943,

  he was called back to the United States. There,

  he served as a flight instructor, but by his own

  request, he was reassigned to a combat unit

  in April 1944. That combat unit was the 38th FS

  based at Wormingford, which flew the P-38s and

  re-equipped with the P-51s from July 1944. After

  being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel rank, he

  took over command duties of the 357th FG, which

  he led from October to December 1944. After

  some downtime in the United States, he returned

  to Great Britain and was named CO of 78th FG,

  holding this post until the end of the Second

  World War. In December 1945, he left the military

  and worked in construction. John Landers passed

  away on September 12, 1989.

  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard36

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  P-51D-5, 44-13316, Maj. Leonard K. Carson, 362nd FS, 357th FG, USAAF Station 373 Leiston, Suffolk,

  Great Britain, June 1944

  P-51D-15, 44-15152, Maj. Donald J. Strait, 361st FS, 365th FG, United Kingdom,

  February 1945

  The second top scoring Fighter Group of the 8th

  USAAF and the top scoring FG equipped with

  P-51D Mustangs was 357th FG, credited with

  609 German aircraft destroyed in the air and

  106 on the ground, with their own losses of 128

  aircraft. Altogether 35 aces served with the

  unit. The most successful of them was Major

  Leonard Kyle “Kit” Carson with 18 aerial victories.

  He became 362nd FS CO on April 8, 1945. The key

  to the success of the unit was its fighting academy,

  called Clobber College, where the experienced

  pilots taught the newcomers the fighting tactics.

  The 362nd FS received their P-51Ds just

  a few days before D-day. Most of the unit’s early

  Mustangs had upper surfaces camouflaged Dark

  Green with Neutral Grey bottom surfaces, or Dark

  Green upper surfaces over the aluminum/natural

  metal bottom surfaces with border between

  green and NMF surfaces high on fuselage sides.

  The colors were probably RAF paints from RAF

  stock. The “Nooky Booky II” wore full D-day

  stripes, as the aircraft was delivered to the unit

  probably around June 6, 1944. The previous name

  of this plane was “Mildred”.

  Donald Jackson Strait was born on April 28, 1918,

  in East Orange, new Jersey. He was a baseball

  player during high school studies, but also was

  interested in aviation. He took the bother to ride

  his bicycle eight miles (13 km) to observe flying

  aircraft and speak to pilots at the Caldwell Wright

  Airport. He enlisted with the New Jersey National

  Guard in 1940 and flew observation planes as

  member of the 119th Observer Squadron prior

  to entering US Army’s aviation cadet program

  in 1942. He completed his training in March 1943

  as a pilot of P-47 Thunderbolt and was assigned

  to combat duty in England. He became member

  of the 356th FG and flew his first operational

  missions in October 1943 with P-47 he named

  “Jersey Jerk”. He later gave the same rather

  unflattering name to his Mustangs. From October

  1944 he led 361st Squadron and continued in that

  role for the rest of the war. Altogether he flew

  122 missions and achieved 13,5 aerial victories.

  Later after the war, in 1968, he was hired by

  Fairchild- Republic company as an expert for the

  development of A-10 Thunderbolt II. He passed

  away on March 30, 2015.

  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard

  37

  August 2024

• Page 38

  P-51D-10, 44-14223, Lt. Col. Elwyn G. Righetti, CO of 55th FG, 8th AF, Wormingford,

  United Kingdom, January 1945

  P-51D-10, 44-14164, Lt. Urban L. Drew, 375th FS, 361st FG, Little Walden, October 1944

  Elwyn Guido Righetti, also known as “Eager El”,

  was not only the 55th FG top fighter ace but also

  the most successful strafing ace in the whole

  ETO. Righetti joined the 338th FS, 55th FG in

  October 1944. At the age of 29, he was already

  a matured pilot, however he lacked the combat

  experience. Despite his age he was eager and

  aggressive, so he was able to boost morale of his

  rather tired group. One of Righetti’s “hobbies” was

  destroying the locomotives. He also managed to

  shoot down two Mistels and destroyed several

  Me 262 jets on the ground. Unfortunately, Righetti’s

  outstanding achievements were cut short right

  before the end of war. On April 17, 1945, exactly

  on his 30th birthday, Righetti was shot down by

  flak while raiding the airfield near Dresden. He

  successfully performed the emergency landing

  and advised his friends over the radio that he was

  okay, just had broken his nose. Since then, no one

  ever heard about Righetti again. Supposedly he

  was murdered by the enraged German civilians.

  During his short combat career, he scored 7.5 kills

  and destroyed 35 enemy aircraft on the ground.

  He flew two personal Mustangs (44-14223 and

  44-47222), both of them were decorated with the

  inscription KATYDID and grasshopper artwork on

  the port side of the fuselage.

  Urban Leonard Drew was born in Detroit,

  Michigan, in 1924 and received his education at

  Wayne University and the University of Michigan.

  He graduated with a degree in Political Science.

  Three months after the Japanese attack on Pearl

  Harbor, Drew enlisted in the USAAF and entered

  the Aviation Cadet Program in October 1942.

  He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and

  awarded his pilot wings on October 1, 1943. Instead

  of combat, he was trained as an instructor for

  the P-51 Mustang and served in this role with the

  56th FS. He went overseas in May 1944 and was

  assigned to 375th Squadron of the 361st Fighter

  Group “Yellowjackets”, stationed at RAF Bottisham

  and later at Little Walden. During his tour Drew

  completed 75 missions and after leading the

  A Flight, he was promoted to the role of CO of 375th

  FS. He was credited with six aerial victories, one

  destroyed on the ground and one damaged enemy

  aircraft. He added one special victory, when

  he destroyed the Blohm & Voss BV 238V-1, the

  largest aircraft in the world at the time. Another

  interesting achievement came on October 7, 1944,

  when Drew shot down two Me 262 jets at Achmer.

  He remained the only pilot who managed to do

  so in one mission. He was assigned to the 413th

  FS of 414th FG flying Thunderbolts at Iwo Jima in

  1945. After the war he helped to organize the 127th

  FG of Michigan ANG and became first the deputy

  Commander and later was appointed first Adjutant

  General of the state of Michigan. He stayed in the

  position until the end of his active duty in 1950.

  Urban L. Drew passed away on April 3, 2013.

  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard38

  August 2024

• Page 39

  P-51D-5, 44-13761, Capt. Jack M. Ilfrey, 79th FS, 20th FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 367 Kings Cliffe,

  Northamptonshire, Great Britain, autumn 1944

  P-51D-10, 44-14372, Capt. Kirk B. Everson, 504th FS, 339th FG, 8th AF, Fowlmere,

  United Kingdom, April 1945

  Captain Jack Ilfrey became an ace in North Africa,

  where he claimed 5 kills (plus two damaged

  enemy aircraft) while flying P-38F “Texas Terror”.

  He joined 20th FG, 79th FS at USAAF Station Kings

  Cliffe in England on April 20, 1944 and served

  as an Operations Officer from June 14, 1944.

  He claimed two more Bf 109Gs on May 24, flying

  P-38J “Happy Jack’s go Buggy”. He was shot

  down behind enemy lines in France on June 12,

  but he successfully evaded capture walking and

  cycling 150 miles to Allied lines in Normandy with

  a help of French civilians. He became 79th FS CO

  on September 7, leading the unit until December

  9, 1944. He completed 142 combat missions over

  ETO and MTO. The 20th FG did not replace their

  P-38Js with P-51Cs until July 1944, changing

  them for P-51Ds shortly afterwards. The early

  Mustangs of the 20th FG are known to have upper

  surfaces overpainted with green color, probably

  with RAF Dark Green, with irregular splitting

  line between green upper surfaces and silver/

  natural metal bottom surfaces. The 20th FG was

  nicknamed “Loco Busters” because the unit made

  significant number of attacks against railroad

  network.

  Kirk Everson’s war career took off in 1945 only.

  Regardless, he achieved great successes in

  the numerous diving strikes on the German-

  occupied airfields. The Mustang he regularly

  flew was inherited from Richard C. Penrose who

  had christened it “Beaver Chant” nad Everson

  renamed it “Mery Belt”. On April 4, 1945, he shared

  a victory over Me 262 above Parchim. Three days

  later he shot down a Bf 109 nearby Celle. On April

  10, during the strafing attack on the Neuruppin

  airfield, he destroyed three enemy aircraft and

  on April 16 three Fw 190 fell victims to his guns at

  Klatovy airfield. On the following day Everson re-

  appeared over the Klatovy airfield and this time

  he claimed the destruction of seven airplanes.

  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard

  39

  August 2024

• Page 40

  P-51D-5, s/n 44-13677, flown Lt. William G. Cullerton, 357th FS, 355th FG, Steeple Morden,

  United Kingdom, 1944

  P-51D-25, 44-73060, Col. Glenn E. Duncan, 350th FS, 353rd FG, Raydon, United Kingdom, April 1945

  William Cullerton, a native of Chicago, was born

  on June 2, 1923. He volunteered for the air service

  on America’s entry into the war, underwent

  training and flew P-51B and P-51D Mustangs with

  the 357th FG. On April 8, 1945, he was hit during

  an attack on the field at Ansbach and was forced

  to belly-land. He was discovered by German

  soldiers who shot him in the stomach and left

  behind. He was found by a German farmer, who,

  thinking this was a German pilot, took him to the

  nearest hospital, from where the American was

  able to escape. After the war, he married Elaine

  Stephen and in the fifties, he formed Cullerton

  Co., a maker of outdoor and fishing products.

  He died on January 12, 2013. Over the course of

  the Second World War, he destroyed 21 enemy

  aircraft, five in the air and sixteen on the ground.

  His aircraft appeared as it was delivered, with

  the nose and tail painted at unit level in light

  blue. The nose bore an inscription relating to his

  fiancée Miss Steve.

  Glenn Emile Duncan was born on May 12, 1918, in

  Bering, Texas. He enlisted in the aviation Cadet

  Program of the USAAF on February 9, 1940,

  and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant

  and awarded pilot wings on October 5, 1940.

  He served as instructor pilot prior and in Panama

  prior to conversion to P-47 and his assignment to

  361st FG and successively to 353rd FG in England.

  He scored his first victory on September 23, 1943

  and was promoted to the rank of Full Colonel in

  November 1944. He became the ace on December

  20 that year when he destroyed a Fw 190 over

  Rastede. By June 7, 1944, he had accumulated

  15,5 kills but a month later he was hit by AA fire

  and forced to belly-land near Nienburg, Germany.

  Duncan escaped captivity and joined the Dutch

  resistance for the time to liberation by Allies.

  He then rejoined the 353rd FG, now flying P-51s,

  and served as its CO from April 22 until October

  1945. During WW II, Duncan destroyed 19.5 enemy

  aircraft in aerial combat plus one probable

  and seven damaged. This made him the most

  successful ace of 353rd FG. He recorded all his

  victories with P-47. His P-51D was named “Dove

  of Peace” like all his P-47s. The name came after

  the original “Winged Death” did not meet the

  understanding of the higher brass and Duncan

  renamed his aircraft sarcastically. The Mustang

  was number VIII of this name. After the war he

  became White House Liaison Officer, later he held

  several commanding posts in Japan and USA and

  retired on February 1, 1970. Glenn Duncan passed

  away on July 14, 1998.

  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard40

  August 2024

• Page 41

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  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard

  41

  August 2024

• Page 42

  #82107

  P-51B Mustang Birdcage canopy

  1/48

  The ProfiPACK edition kit of US fighter aircraft P-51B Mustang

  in 1/48 scale. It allows to build the aircraft with standard Birdcage

  canopy in one of six USAAF markings.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  marking options: 6

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: yes, pre-painted

  painting mask: yes

  resin parts: no

  Product page

  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard42

  August 2024

• Page 43

  P-51B-15-NA, 43-24857, Capt. Robert M. Barkey, 318th FS, 325th FG, 15th AF, Lesina, Italy, June 1944

  P-51B-5-NA, 43-6787, Capt. Gilbert O'Brien, 362nd FS, 357th FG, 8th AF,

  Leiston, United Kingdom, June 1944

  P-51B-10-NA, 42-106730, Capt. John T. Godfrey, 336th FS, 4th FG, 8th AF,

  Debden, United Kingdom, April 1944

  Robert Barkey, after initial training, was assigned

  to a unit called the “Checkertail Clan” (319th FS,

  325th FG) flying P-40s in Africa. After retraining

  on P-47s in late 1943, he was transferred to

  Italy with the unit. Barkey’s first victory came

  on February 22, 1944, when he shot down two

  Bf 109s, both flown by the aces of the elite

  German JG 26. After the unit switched to P-51B

  Mustangs, Barkey scored his fifth and final victory

  on June 6, 1944. He retired with the rank of Major

  in 1961. During World War II, he flew 53 combat

  sorties and achieved five confirmed victories and

  one probable victory. Barkey’s Mustang number

  90 bore his wife Dorothy’s name on the left side

  of the engine cowling.

  Gilbert O'Brien was born on August 24, 1916, in

  Charleston, South Carolina. He joined the Army

  Reserves in April 1942 and served as an air cadet

  from August 1942 to May 1943. On May 20, 1943,

  he qualified as a pilot with the rank of second

  lieutenant. In 1943 he was assigned to the 362nd

  Fighter Squadron and by the end of the year had

  flown 476 hours. He was promoted to lieutenant

  on March 26, 1944 and to captain in September.

  He returned to the United States at the end of

  September. During the war years he scored eight

  confirmed aerial victories, two of them shared.

  His personal aircraft was a Mustang named

  “Shanty Irish”. This Mustang was converted to

  a two-seater in late 1944 and served with the

  364th Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group with

  the codes C5-H and the inscription “Eager Beaver”

  on the left side of the engine cowling.

  John Trevor Godfrey, one of the most successful

  fighter pilots on the European theatre of

  war, was born in Montreal on March 28, 1922.

  He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)

  in October 1941 and, after training, transferred to

  the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) in 1943.

  As a member of the 4th Fighter Group within the

  8th Air Force USAAF, Godfrey was a friend and

  wingman of Don Gentile. Together they were known

  as “Captains Courageous”, “The Two Man Air Force”,

  “Messerschmitt Killers”, and “Damon and Pythias”.

  Godfrey achieved eighteen confirmed kills in

  combat against the Luftwaffe. On August 24, 1944,

  he was accidentally shot down by his wingman

  and captured by the Germans. Shortly before the

  end of the war, he managed to escape from Stalag

  Luft III prison camp. After the war, Godfrey served

  in the Rhode Island State Senate. Godfrey died on

  June 12, 1958, at his home in Freeport. Godfrey’s

  autobiography, The Look of Eagles, was published

  posthumously in 1958.

  KITS 08/2024

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  43

  August 2024

• Page 44

  P-51B-5-NA, 43-6461, 1/Lt Wilson K. Baker Jr, 370th FS, 359th FG, 8th AF, East Waltham,

  United Kingdom, August 1944

  P-51B-10-NA, 42-106501, Col. Charles McCorckle, CO of 31st FG, 15th AF, San Severo,

  Italy, July 1944

  The Mustang with the red “Hot Pants” inscription

  was one of three P-51Bs that landed in

  Sweden on August 4, 1944, while escorting

  a B-24 against Peenemünde. This was due to

  a cooling system failure on Division Commander

  Raymond Lancaster’s aircraft on the return flight,

  forcing him to fly towards Sweden, where he

  subsequently made an emergency landing. Along

  the way, two other Mustangs followed to protect

  him and ensure he made it to Sweden without

  incident. When escort pilots saw that Lancaster

  had reached the Swedish coast, they made their

  way to England. Over Denmark, however, they

  encountered a German Messerschmitt Bf 110G,

  which was radar-guided towards the Mustangs,

  believing it to be an American bomber, not two

  fighters in close formation. The German aircraft

  was therefore attacked and shot down by

  2/Lt Wilson Kirby Baker, Jr. flying a P-51B called

  “Hot Pants”. After the dogfight, both pilots realized

  that they had used so much fuel that they would

  have difficulty reaching England soil. Wilson

  Baker and Richard Rabb were interned at Mullsjö

  and sent back to England on November 1, 1944.

  On April 9, 1945, “Hot Pants” was sold to the

  Swedish Royal Air Force and was assigned the

  registration number 26002. However, it is almost

  certain that the aircraft was never painted in

  Swedish colors and was never flown. Instead,

  it served as a spare parts stock for other

  Mustangs and was scrapped on June 16, 1947.

  As a fighter pilot in World War II, Charles “Sandy”

  McCorkle commanded fighter groups in two

  theaters of war. He was one of only seventeen

  American pilots to achieve ace status flying the

  British Spitfire. In 1942, at age 27, he became the

  youngest colonel in the Army Air Corps. Charles

  McCorkle was born in Newton, North Carolina

  in 1915. He was accepted to the U.S. Military

  Academy in 1932 and graduated in June 1936.

  A year later he graduated from the Advanced

  Flying School at Kelly Field, Texas, and was

  assigned as a fighter pilot to the 24th Pursuit

  Squadron. At the beginning of World War II,

  he was transferred to the 54th Fighter Group

  (P-39) at Harding Field and Alaska. He assumed

  command of the 54th Fighter Group on June 3,

  1942. In July 1943, McCorkle assumed command

  of the 31st Fighter Group (flying Spitfires and later

  P-51s) in Sicily. He participated in the air actions

  during the landings at Salerno and Anzio, fighter

  support of air attacks in Italy and Central Europe,

  and other typical missions assigned to fighter

  units during this period. When he returned to the

  United States and received a new assignment as

  Chief of Staff of First Fighter Command at Mitchel

  Field, he was credited with eleven victories, five

  of them were achieved with Mk. VIII Spitfires and

  six with P-51Bs.

  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard44

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• Page 45

  P-51B-1, 43-12405, Col. David L. Hill, CO of 23rd FG, 14th AF, China, 1944

  David Lee “Tex” Hill was born on July 13, 1915,

  in Kwangju, Korea, to American missionaries.

  He entered the Navy in 1938 as an air cadet and

  earned his air wings in 1939 after graduating from

  Pensacola NAS. He was first assigned to Torpedo

  Squadron 3, flying the TBD Devastator from

  USS Saratoga (CV-3), then flew with Bombing

  Squadron 4, flying the SB2U Vindicator from

  USS Ranger (CV-4). In 1941 he was transferred

  to China to the Flying Tigers, where he flew first

  as a squadron leader and then as commander

  of 2nd Squadron AVG flying 250 combat hours

  in the P-40 Tomahawk. He was credited with

  13 destroyed Japanese aircraft. In July 1942 the

  AVG disbanded, and Hill remained until the end of

  1942 as commander of the 75th Fighter Squadron

  and assumed command of the 23rd Fighter

  Group later. He returned to the US in November

  1944. In all, Hill scored 19 confirmed kills plus

  more than 20 probable ones and spent the rest

  of the war as commander of the 412th Fighter

  Group, operationally testing the first Bell YP-59

  and Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star jets. In 1945,

  he left the Army Air Corps and joined the Texas

  Air National Guard to command the 58th Fighter

  Wing, becoming the youngest brigadier general

  ever to serve in the National Guard.

  FE1449 P-51B/C seatbelts STEEL (PE

  -

  Set)

  644268 P-51B/C LööK (Brassin)

  648986 P-51B/C wheels diamond tread (Brassin)

  648987 P-51B/C wheels oval tread (Brassin)

  648988 P-51B/C wheels cross tread (Brassin)

  648989 P-51B/C wheels block tread (Brassin)

  648990 P-51B/C wheels diamond tread 2 (Brassin)

  648991 P-51B/C wheels block tread 2 (Brassin)

  648992 P-51B/C exhaust stacks (Brassin)

  648993 P-51B/C exhaust stacks w/fairing (Brassin)

  648994 P-51B/C undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)

  648997 P-51B/C gun bays PRINT (Brassin)

  6481001 P-51B/C 108gal drop tanks PRINT (Brassin)

  6481002 P-51B/C seat Type 1 PRINT (Brassin)

  6481003 P-51B/C seat Type 2 PRINT (Brassin)

  6481004 P-51B/C engine (Brassin)

  6481005 P-51B/C 75gal drop tank early PRINT (Brassin)

  6481006 P-51B/C Hamilton Standard propeller (Brassin)

  6481007 P-51B/C Hamilton Standard

  propeller uncuffed (Brassin)

  6481008 P-51B/C bazooka rocket launcher (Brassin)

  6481009 P-51B/C/D seat Type 3 PRINT (Brassin)

  6481010 P-51B/C wheel bay PRINT (Brassin)

  3DL48177 P-51B/C SPACE (3D Decal Set)

  EX1036 P-51B/C framed canopy TFace (Mask)

  EX1037 P-51B/C Malcolm Hood canopy TFace (Mask)

  EX1038 P-51B/C US national insignia (Mask)

  Recommended: for

  P-51B 1/48

  #644268

  #648997

  #6481004

  #6481002

  #648986

  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard

  45

  August 2024

• Page 46

  #84169

  Bf 109G-6/AS

  1/48

  The Weekend edition kit of German WWII fighter

  aircraft Bf 109G-6/AS in 1/48 scale.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  marking options: 5

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: no

  painting mask: no

  resin parts: no

  Product page

  Re-Release

  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard46

  August 2024

• Page 47

  9./JG 1, Paderborn, Germany, May 1944

  WNr. 412179, Uffz. Horst Petzschler, 2./JG 3, Burg near Magdeburg, Germany, May 1944

  The Bf 109G-6/AS was developed to intercept

  enemy aircraft at higher altitudes. This accounts

  for the camouflage paint consisting of just RLM

  76. At unit level, these aircraft often received

  additional coats of then standard colors consisting

  of RLM 74 and RLM 75 over the side and upper

  surfaces. The JG 1 unit emblem was applied to

  the nose, and this was a winged numeral 1 inside

  of a square, rotated to sit on one of its corners.

  On period photographs of Yellow 14, the red

  fuselage band is clearly visible, signifying the

  fact that this aircraft served within the Defense

  of the Reich system. The vertical bar located

  within it was a designator for III. Gruppe planes

  and was always rendered in the Staffel color. This

  was, in the case of the 9. Staffel, yellow. Some

  sources conclude that the fuselage code of Yellow

  14 covered the earlier applied numeral 3, while

  others suggest that the covered designation

  was either the factory applied TO or TQ. We are

  offering both possibilities.

  Horst Petzschler was born in Berlin on September

  1, 1921, and joined the Luftwaffe on April 1, 1941.

  After undergoing fighter pilot training, he was

  assigned to JG 51 on August 23, 1943, and it was

  there he would gain his first three kills. On April

  13, 1944, he was transferred to 2./JG 3 which

  was a component of the Defence of the Reich

  structure, but by June 1944, he would return

  to JG 51 on the Eastern Front. On May 4, 1945,

  III./JG 51 was relocated to Schleswig-Holstein

  from eastern Prussia. Horst Petzschler did not

  reach that location due to a navigation error and

  landed at Bulltofta in Sweden, where he was

  interned and in January 1946, the Swedes handed

  him over to the Soviets. He was released from

  captivity on September 22, 1949. On his return,

  he worked for the Berlin Police Department and

  in 1953, he emigrated to Canada and then to the

  United States, where he worked in the aviation

  industry. He retired in 1988. Over the course of the

  Second World War, he downed 26 enemy aircraft.

  During his service with 2./JG 3, Uffz. Petzschler

  flew an aircraft coded Black 14. The aircraft was

  painted RLM 76 overall at the plant and carried

  the JG 3 insignia on the nose. On May 30, 1944,

  Fw. Otto Bülsow was shot down during combat in

  this airplane over Belzig.

  Hptm. Friedrich-Karl Müller, CO of 1./NJGr. 10, Werneuchen, Germany, July 1944

  The future Knight’s Cross recipient, the ace

  with 30 night victories over the enemy aircraft,

  was born on December 4, 1912, in Sulzbach in

  Saarland. In 1934 he completed his pilot training

  and got the job with Lufthansa. After the outbreak

  of World War Two he was ordered to the Luftwaffe.

  Initially he was flying as a transport pilot, later

  as an instrument flying instructor. In December

  1942 he was assigned to KG 50 operating He 177

  aircraft, in the summer of the following year he

  responded to Hajo Hermann call and requested

  the reassignment to JG 300 famous for its Wilde

  Sau (single-engine fighter night interception

  deployment) tactics. While serving with this unit

  he was credited with 19 kills and in January 1944

  he was ordered to form 1./NJGr. 10. In August 1944

  he was promoted to command I./NJG 11 and lead

  this unit until the end of World War II. He passed

  away on November 2, 1987. The lower and partially

  side surfaces were painted black for the better

  night camouflage. The red stripe surrounding the

  rear fuselage indicated the original owner of this

  aircraft within Reich Defense, JG 300.The pilot’s

  “score” was painted on both sides of the rudder

  in the form of the 23 stripes with the enemy

  nationality and date of the victory.

  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard

  47

  August 2024

• Page 48

  48885 Bf 109G-6 (PE

  -

  Set)

  FE1142 Bf 109G-6/AS Weekend (PE

  -

  Set)

  644003 Bf 109G-6 LööK (Brassin)

  644060 Bf 109G-6 LööKplus (Brassin)

  648255 Bf 109G-6 propeller (Brassin)

  648261 Bf 109G-6 wheels (Brassin)

  648953 Bf 109G-6/AS cockpit PRINT (Brassin)

  3DL48014 Bf 109G-6 SPACE (3D Decal Set)

  EX524 Bf 109G-6 Erla canopy (Mask)

  Recommended: for

  Bf 109G-6/AS 1/48

  MT-463, ylik. Tapio Järvi, 2/HLeLv 24, Lappeenranta, Finland, July/August 1944

  MT-463, HLeLv 31, Utti, Finland, summer 1948

  Among the deliveries of Bf 109G-2 and G-6

  fighters to Germany’s ally Finland were two G-6/

  AS version aircraft. In the Finnish Air Force, these

  were coded MT-463 and MT-471. MT-463 was

  delivered on June 28, 1944, and was assigned to

  HLeLv 24, where it was flown by, among other

  pilots, ylikersantti (Technical Sergeant) Järvi,

  who used it to shoot down two of his total 27

  victims. A further five kills with this aircraft were

  claimed by another four pilots. The Bf 109G-6/AS

  did not represent any major advantage for the

  Finnish Air Force, because the majority of air

  combat with the Soviets took place at altitudes

  below 3,000 m. The DB 605AS, which powered the

  type, was designed to offer advantages at high

  altitudes. The camouflage scheme of this aircraft

  consisted of sprayed RLM 74/75/76 with the blue

  swastikas on white discs on the fuselage and

  wing positions. The code MT-463 appeared on the

  fuselage ahead of the tail surfaces. The yellow

  number of the aircraft within the unit was applied

  between the fuselage code and the cockpit. There

  are no available photographs of this aircraft

  during its combat career with HLeLv 24, but from

  other period photographs of other such aircraft,

  the list of aircraft numbers for this specific plane

  has been reduced to 2, 4 or 6.

  The end of the fights with the Soviet Union

  brought a ceasefire from September 5, 1944. One

  of conditions of the ceasefire was a change in

  the marking of the Finnish aircraft – the blue

  swastika was substituted by cockade bearing

  Finnish national colors, i.e., blue and white. Pilots

  of Messerschmitts Bf 109G from Lentolaivue 24

  achieved 304 victories in aerial combats and kept

  these aircraft during the period of peacetime

  duties. From December 4, 1944, the planes

  served with HLeLv 31, which is still active today.

  The pilots of this squadron fly F-18C Hornets

  at present time. The aircraft concerned is the

  same as the one portrayed in the paint scheme

  D, though, used in the post-war service – this is

  proved by the national insignia in Finnish national

  colors introduced from April 1, 1945. The marking

  of the aircraft is accompanied by the painting of

  the bat placed on the blue cloud and the moon –

  marking of the HLeLv 31 night fighters. The moon

  used to be white or yellow; MT-463 had the white

  one. The rudder was repainted most likely with

  the Finnish olive green color.

  #644003

  #648953

  #648261

  #648255

  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard48

  August 2024

• Page 49

  #3003

  Bf 109E-4

  The ProfiPACK edition kit of German WWII fighter aircraft Bf 109E-4

  in 1/32 scale. The kit contains five markings of famous Luftwaffe fighter

  pilots of different Luftwaffe units.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  marking options: 5

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: yes, pre-painted

  painting mask: yes

  resin parts: no

  Product page

  1/32

  Re-Release

  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard

  49

  August 2024

• Page 50

  WNr. 5344, Maj. Helmut Wick, CO of JG 2, Beaumont, France, November 1940

  WNr. 5587, Ofw. Fritz Beeck, 6./JG 51, Wissant, France, August 1940

  The appearance of this aircraft falls to the period

  when it was flown by Maj. Helmut Wick. At the

  time it had undergone many modifications to the

  camouflage scheme and tactical markings. The

  changes mirrored not only Wick’s raise through

  the ranks from Staffel leader to Gruppe leader

  and then to commanding officer of JG 2, but also

  the prescribed changes to Luftwaffe camouflage

  specifications in the second half of 1940. Our

  reconstruction of the aircraft shows appearance

  of the final guise, when Maj. Wick was killed in

  combat with Spitfires on November 28, 1940,

  after achieving his 58th victory. The aircraft

  carried a standard scheme of RLM 02/71/65.

  The light blue fuselage sides were darkened

  with a light overspray of RLM 71, which was

  applied with the blunt end of a brush. The yellow

  rudder was similarly dulled. The yellow rudder

  and nose segments were part of later marking

  modifications. The fuselage retains evidence of

  the double chevron marking denoting the CO of

  the Gruppe. Besides the tactical markings, the

  JG 2 unit insignia was carried below the cockpit,

  and on the front fuselage, there was another one

  of Wick’s original 3. Staffel. The pilot’s personal

  emblem, the flying kingfisher, was partly

  oversprayed with the Kommodor insignia, over

  which the emblem was partially reconstructed.

  This aircraft had the armored windscreen

  removed towards the end of its career but was

  still mounted when Wick led I./JG 2. Many JG 2

  Emils, including Wick’s 5344, had the fuselage

  insignia crosses with accentuated black border

  at the expense of the white segments, while

  those on the bottom of the wing were modified as

  indicated in our illustrations.

  This aircraft was lost after noon of August 28,

  1940, in the vicinity of East Langdon with Ofw. Fritz

  Beeck at the controls. It happened during the

  second escort mission of the day that culminated

  in combat with RAF fighters in which the engine

  of Yellow 10 was hit. After an unavoidable belly

  landing the aircraft stayed in relatively good

  shape, but civilian vandals and allied soldiers

  changed this state before it could be inspected

  by RAF experts. The aircraft sported simple but

  effective camouflage. Light blue sides of the RLM

  02/71/65 fuselage scheme were sprayed with

  the upper surface colors. Yellow identification

  colors, typical for mid-August 1940, were

  applied to the wing tips, horizontal tail surfaces,

  and top of the fin. As the aircraft belonged to

  6. Staffel, tactical numbering and the background

  II./JG 51 “Gott strafe England” emblem were

  yellow. Three victory tabs on the left side were in

  white. It cannot be ruled out that these were also

  applied on the right side, but there is no known

  evidence of this.

  32219 Bf 109E (PE

  -

  Set)

  634021 Bf 109E LööK (Brassin)

  632004 Bf 109E wheels (Brassin)

  632192 Bf 109E rudder pedals early PRINT (Brassin)

  632193 Bf 109E rudder pedals late PRINT (Brassin)

  Recommended: for

  Bf 109E-4 1/32

  #634021

  #632192

  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard50

  August 2024

• Page 51

  Lt. Josef Eberle, 9./JG 54, the Netherlands, August 1940

  WNr. 1480, Oblt. Franz von Werra, II./JG 3, Wierre-au-Bois, France, September 1940

  WNr. 5819, Obstlt. Adolf Galland, CO of JG 26, Audembert,

  France, December 1940

  Ground personnel of JG 54 created very

  interesting camouflage schemes on the unit’s

  aircraft in summer of 1940. They applied

  vertical to diagonal lines of RLM 71 in an

  attempt to darken the light blue fuselage sides.

  The standard scheme of RLM 02/71/65 was applied,

  along with the quick identification markings.

  The period scheme was applied also to Yellow

  13, with which Lt. Josef Eberle managed to cross

  the Channel and belly land in France despite

  personal injury on August 12, 1940. The wingtips

  and fin of Eberle’s aircraft were painted RLM 27

  Yellow, which was lighter shade than RLM 04 of

  the spinner, tactical number and background of

  the III./JG 54 emblem. The bottom wing color RLM

  65 extended marginally to the upper surfaces.

  Some sources erroneously identify this aircraft

  as an E-3. Despite having tempted fate once over

  the Channel, Josef Eberle was not as successful

  on October 9, 1940, when he lost his life in combat

  with RAF fighters.

  This “Emil” became the subject of a fascinating

  event that delivered the first German ace

  Oblt. Franz von Werra into British hands.

  On the morning of September 5, 1940, Franz von

  Werra was shot down over Kent. He managed

  a successful belly landing and was taken

  prisoner of war. His plane was scrutinized by

  RAF experts. Von Werra attempted to escape on

  several occasions, and finally succeeded during

  transfer to a POW camp in Canada. He managed

  to go through the United States to South America,

  and then back to Germany, where he rejoined the

  Luftwaffe. He served on both the eastern and

  western fronts but had strict orders to avoid the

  shores of England. The Channel, nevertheless,

  proved fateful for him when, on October 25, 1941,

  as CO of I./JG 53, he vanished. Aircraft WNr. 1480

  carried the standard camouflage of RLM 02/71/65

  with white identification markings. These

  included the rudder and wingtips. The RAF report

  suggests that the engine cowl was in RLM 65

  and looked cleaner than the rest of the airframe.

  It may have been a replacement off another

  aircraft. The tail surfaces carried victory marks

  (eight aerial and five on the ground). Positioning

  of them was different on each side of the fin.

  The RLM 65 color extended to the upper surfaces

  of the leading edge wing.

  Adolf Galland flew the illustrated Emil in the

  fall of 1940 to the beginning of 1941 as CO

  of III. Gruppe, and later of the entire JG 26.

  The tactical markings on the aircraft kept pace

  with the changes during this period. The standard

  camouflage of RLM 02/71/65 was darkened on

  the fuselage sides with RLM 02/71. The yellow

  cowling was complemented by the yellow rudder

  that also bore the kill marks. The surface area of

  the original RLM 65 was not enough for them and

  the yellow was oversprayed with fresh RLM 65

  for the next row of kill marks. The most typical

  changes for WNr. 5819 at this time came with

  the personal emblem of Mickey Mouse and most

  of all the installation of the ZFR-4 telescope

  (installed together with the regular Revi). It didn’t

  serve as an gunsight but for the identification of

  distant aircraft. Galland replaced Werner Mölders

  who commanded the German fighter force as

  General der Jagdflieger. Later on, he became

  famous for locking horns with Hermann Göring.

  He established JV 44 at the end of the war, the

  famous unit well known for its Me 262 jet fighters

  and colorful Fw 190D piston fighters. Galland

  managed to shoot down 104 enemy airplanes and

  was awarded with Knight Cross with Oak Leaves,

  Swords and Diamonds.

  KITS 08/2024

  INFO Eduard

  51

  August 2024

• Page 52

  BRASSIN

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard

  and STEEL seatbelts for Boston Mk.IV in 1/32 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: HKM

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 2 parts

  - resin: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard

  and STEEL seatbelts for B-24J in 1/48 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Hobby Boss

  Set contains:

  - resin: 1 part

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  634047

  Boston Mk.IV LööK

  1/32 HKM

  644275

  B-24J LööK

  1/48 Hobby Boss

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard52

  August 2024

• Page 53

  644276

  Bf 108 regular wheels LööKplus

  1/48 Eduard

  Collection of 4 sets for Bf 108 in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  - LööK set (pre-painted Brassin

  dashboard & Steelbelts)

  - TFace painting mask

  - undercarriage wheels

  - propeller

  BRASSIN

  Collection of 4 sets for Bf 108 in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  - LööK set (pre-painted Brassin

  dashboard & Steelbelts)

  - TFace painting mask

  - undercarriage wheels

  - propeller

  644277

  Bf 108 spoked wheels LööKplus

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  53

  August 2024

• Page 54

  BRASSIN

  Collection of 3 sets for P-51B or P-51C in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  - LööK set (pre-painted Brassin

  dashboard & Steelbelts)

  - TFace painting mask

  - exhaust stacks w/fairing

  Collection of 3 sets for P-51B or P-51C in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  - LööK set (pre-painted Brassin

  dashboard & Steelbelts)

  - TFace painting mask

  - exhaust stacks w/fairing

  644278

  P-51B/C framed canopy LööKplus

  1/48 Eduard

  644279

  P-51B/C Malcolm Hood canopy LööKplus

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard54

  August 2024

• Page 55

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard

  and STEEL seatbelts for B-17F in 1/48 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 4 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  644281

  B-17F LööK

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - cockpit for P-51D in 1/72 scale.

  Made by direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble, replaces

  plastic parts. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 21 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  672364

  P-51D-10 cockpit PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  55

  August 2024

• Page 56

  672370

  P-51D wheels diamond tread 2

  1/72 Eduard

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for P-51D

  in 1/72 scale. The set consists of the main wheels

  and a tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic

  parts. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  Product page

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for P-51D

  in 1/72 scale. The set consists of the main wheels and

  a tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  Product page

  672369

  P-51D wheels block tread

  1/72 Eduard

  INFO Eduard56

  August 2024

• Page 57

  672371

  P-51D wheels block tread 2

  1/72 Eduard

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for P-51D

  in 1/72 scale. The set consists of the main wheels and

  a tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  Product page

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - fuel drop tanks for P-51D in 1/72 scale.

  The set consists of 2 tanks. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 4 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  672373

  P-51D 75gal drop tanks PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  57

  August 2024

• Page 58

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - gun sights for P-51D in 1/72 scale.

  Set consists of 3 gun sights. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  672377

  P-51D gun sights PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  Product page

  Brassin set - fuel drop tanks for P-51D in 1/72 scale.

  The set consists of 2 tanks. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 4 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  672375

  P-51D 110gal fuel tanks PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  Product page

  INFO Eduard58

  August 2024

• Page 59

  Brassin set - bazooka type rocket launchers for

  P-51D in 1/72 scale. The set consists of 2 launchers.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 8 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  672378

  P-51D bazooka rocket launcher

  1/72 Eduard

  Product page

  BRASSIN

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard and STEEL

  seatbelts for P-51D in 1/72 scale. Easy to assemble,

  replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 2 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  674012

  P-51D-5 LööK

  1/72 Eduard

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  59

  August 2024

• Page 60

  BRASSIN

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard and STEEL

  seatbelts for P-51D in 1/72 scale. Easy to assemble,

  replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 2 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  674014

  P-51D-15+ LööK

  1/72 Eduard

  Product page

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard and STEEL

  seatbelts for P-51D in 1/72 scale. Easy to assemble,

  replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 2 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  674013

  P-51D-10 LööK

  1/72 Eduard

  Product page

  INFO Eduard60

  August 2024

• Page 61

  Brassin set - wheel bays for P-51B or P-51C

  in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 5 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  6481010

  P-51B/C wheel bay PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for B-26B

  in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels and

  a nose wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: ICM

  Set contains:

  - resin: 3 parts,

  - decals: no,

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: yes

  6481011

  B-26B wheels

  1/48 ICM

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  61

  August 2024

• Page 62

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - exhaust pipes for FM-1 in 1/48 scale.

  Made by direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble, replaces

  plastic parts. Recommended kit: Tamiya

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 2 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  6481015

  FM-1 exhaust PRINT

  1/48 Tamiya

  Product page

  Brassin set - pilot seat for Fw 190A in 1/48 scale.

  Made by direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble, replaces

  plastic parts. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 1 part

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details:

  yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  6481014

  Fw 190A seat PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  INFO Eduard62

  August 2024

• Page 63

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for FM-1

  in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels and

  a tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Tamiya

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 2 parts

  - resin: 2 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: yes

  6481016

  FM-1 wheels

  1/48 Tamiya

  Product page

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - pilot seat for FM-1 in 1/48 scale.

  Made by direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble,

  replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: Tamiya

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 1 part

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  6481017

  FM-1 seat PRINT

  1/48 Tamiya

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  63

  August 2024

• Page 64

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - engines for B-17F in 1/48 scale.

  The set consists of 4 engines.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 92 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  6481021

  B-17F engines

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for B-17F

  in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels and

  a tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 7 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  6481020

  B-17F wheels diamond tread

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  INFO Eduard64

  August 2024

• Page 65

  Brassin set - the undercarriage legs for B-17F in 1/48

  scale.The set consists of the main wheels legs and

  a tail wheel leg. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 4 parts

  - bronze: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  6481022

  B-17F undercarriage legs BRONZE

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - the guns for B-17F in 1/48 scale.

  The set consists of 14 guns. Easy to assemble,

  replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 32 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  6481023

  B-17F guns

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  65

  August 2024

• Page 66

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for B-17F

  in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels and

  a tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic

  parts. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 7 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  6481025

  B-17F wheels block tread

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for B-17F

  in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels and

  a tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 7 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  6481024

  B-17F wheels cross tread

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  INFO Eduard66

  August 2024

• Page 67

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for B-17F in 1/48

  scale. The set consists of the main wheels and a tail wheel.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 7 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  6481026

  B-17F wheels oval tread

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for B-17F

  in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels and

  a tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic

  parts. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 7 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  6481027

  B-17F wheels rhomboid tread

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  67

  August 2024

• Page 68

  Collection of 3 sets for Beaufort Mk.I in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: ICM

  - engines

  - guns

  - undercariage wheels

  SIN648128

  Beaufort Mk.I

  1/48 ICM

  Product page

  All sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,

  but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.

  BRASSIN

  INFO Eduard68

  August 2024

• Page 69

  Collection of 7 sets for A-1 in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Tamiya

  - HVAR rockets

  - Mk.82 bombs

  - M 117 bomb early

  - LAU-10/A ZUNI rocket launchers

  - LAU-3/A rocket launchers

  - SUU-14 dispenser

  SIN648129

  A-1 armament

  1/48 Tamiya

  Product page

  All sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,

  but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.

  BRASSIN

  INFO Eduard

  69

  August 2024

• Page 70

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  AUGUST 2024

  USS Ranger CV-4 part 2

  1/350 Trumpeter

  #53312

  INFO Eduard70

  August 2024

• Page 71

  USS Ranger CV-4 part 3

  1/350 Trumpeter

  #53313

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  INFO Eduard

  71

  August 2024

• Page 72

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  B-24H bomb bay

  1/72 Airfix

  #72740

  INFO Eduard72

  August 2024

• Page 73

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  B-24H cockpit and engines

  1/72 Airfix

  #SS829

  #73829

  B-24H nose and radio compartment

  1/72 Airfix #73830

  INFO Eduard

  73

  August 2024

• Page 74

  INFO Eduard74

  August 2024

• Page 75

  B-17 ACCESSORIES

  INFO Eduard

  75

  August 2024

• Page 76

  B-17 ACCESSORIES

  INFO Eduard76

  August 2024

• Page 77

  B-17 ACCESSORIES

  INFO Eduard

  77

  August 2024

• Page 78

  B-17 ACCESSORIES

  INFO Eduard78

  August 2024

• Page 79

• Page 80

  3DL32026 Bf 109E-4 SPACE 1/32 Eduard

  3DL72040

  F-15J SPACE 1/72 Fine Molds

  Product page

  Product page

  easy

  application

  INFO Eduard80

  August 2024

• Page 81

  SPACE

  3DL72041 B-24H SPACE 1/72 Airfix

  3DL72042

  La-7 SPACE 1/72 Eduard

  SPACE

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  81

  August 2024

• Page 82

  3DL48188 B-17F radio compartment SPACE 1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  SPACE

  3DL48187 B-17F SPACE 1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  INFO Eduard82

  August 2024

• Page 83

  DECALS

  D72047

  L-29 stencils

  1/72 Eduard/AKM

  Product page

  D48117

  L-29 stencils

  1/48 Eduard/AKM

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  83

  August 2024

• Page 84

  BIG ED

  All sets included in this BIG ED are available separately,

  but with every BIG ED set you save up to 30 %.

  BIG49414 Buccaneer S.2B 1/48 Airfix

  BIG49415

  Buccaneer S.2B Gulf War 1/48 Airfix

  BIG49416

  FM-1 1/48 Tamiya

  491440 Buccaneer S.2B

  FE1442 Buccaneer S.2B seatbelts STEEL

  EX1034 Buccaneer S.2B

  491441 Buccaneer S.2B Gulf War

  FE1442 Buccaneer S.2B seatbelts STEEL

  EX1034 Buccaneer S.2B

  481137 FM-1 landing flaps

  491443 FM-1

  FE1444 FM-1 seatbelts STEEL

  EX1029 FM-1

  Product page

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard84

  August 2024

• Page 85

  All sets included in this BIG ED are available separately,

  but with every BIG ED set you save up to 30 %.

  BIG ED

  BIG49417 MC.200 1/48 Italeri

  BIG49418

  F-14A 1/48 Great Wall Hobby

  481138 MC.200 landing flaps

  491447 MC.200

  FE1448 MC.200 seatbelts STEEL

  EX314 MC.200

  49103 Remove Before Flight STEEL

  491445 F-14A

  FE1446 F-14A seatbelts STEEL

  EX1040 F-14A windshield TFace

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  85

  August 2024

• Page 86

  MASKS

  IT FITS!

  EX1051 P-51B/C framed canopy

  1/48 Eduard

  EX1052 P-51B/C Malcolm Hood

  canopy

  1/48 Eduard

  EX1053 B-17F US national insignia

  rounded

  1/48 Eduard

  EX1054 B-17F US national insignia

  w/ red outline

  1/48 Eduard

  EX1055 B-17F US national insignia

  w/ blue outline

  1/48 Eduard

  CX668 B-24H US national insignia

  1/72 Airfix

  CX669 F-15J

  1/72 Fine Molds

  CX669 F-15J

  CX669 F-15J

  INFO Eduard86

  August 2024

• Page 87

• Page 88

  RELEASES

  AUGUST 2024

  KITS

  PE

  -

  SETS

  ZOOMS

  MASKS

  2147 ACES OF THE EIGHTH DUAL COMBO 1/72 Limited Edition

  82107 P-51B Mustang Birdcage canopy 1/48 ProfiPACK

  3003 Bf 109E-4 Re-Release 1/32 ProfiPACK

  84169 Bf 109 G-6/AS Re-Release 1/48 Weekend

  36519 Sd.Kfz. 250/1 1/35 Dragon

  53312 USS Ranger CV-4 part 2 1/350 Trumpeter

  53313 USS Ranger CV-4 part 3 1/350 Trumpeter

  72739 B-24H undercarriage 1/72 Airfix

  72740 B-24H bomb bay 1/72 Airfix

  73828 F-15J 1/72 Fine Molds

  73829 B-24H cockpit & engines 1/72 Airfix

  73830 B-24H nose & radio compartment 1/72 Airfix

  491458 A-10C 1/48 Great Wall Hobby

  481146 B-17F landing flaps 1/48 Eduard

  481147 B-17F undercarriage & exterior 1/48 Eduard

  481148 B-17F ammo feed chutes 1/48 Eduard

  491460 B-17F cockpit 1/48 Eduard

  491461 B-17F nose interior 1/48 Eduard

  491462 B-17F nose interior

  (alternate nose, sprue X) 1/48 Eduard

  491463 B-17F radio compartment 1/48 Eduard

  491464 B-17F waist section 1/48 Eduard

  491465 B-17F bomb bay 1/48 Eduard

  491466 B-17F wooden floors & ammo boxes 1/48 Eduard

  FE1458 A-10C 1/48 Great Wall Hobby

  FE1459 A-10C seatbelts STEEL 1/48 Great Wall Hobby

  SS829 B-24H 1/72 Airfix

  SS828 F-15J 1/72 Fine Molds

  FE1460 B-17F seatbelts STEEL 1/48 Eduard

  CX668 B-24H US national insignia 1/72 Airfix

  CX669 F-15J 1/72 Fine Molds

  EX1051 P-51B/C framed canopy 1/48 Eduard

  EX1052 P-51B/C Malcolm Hood canopy 1/48 Eduard

  EX1053 B-17F US national insignia rounded 1/48 Eduard

  EX1054 B-17F US national insignia w/ red outline 1/48 Eduard

  EX1055 B-17F US national insignia w/ blue outline 1/48 Eduard

  BIG-EDBIG-ED

  BIG ED

  DECALS

  BIG49414 Buccaneer S.2B 1/48 Airfix

  BIG49415 Buccaneer S.2B Gulf War 1/48 Airfix

  BIG49416 FM-1 1/48 Tamiya

  BIG49417 MC.200 1/48 Italeri

  BIG49418 F-14A 1/48 Great Wall Hobby

  D72047 L-29 stencils 1/72 Eduard/AMK

  D48117 L-29 stencils 1/48 Eduard/AMK

  INFO Eduard88

  August 2024

• Page 89

  RELEASES

  BRASSIN

  LöökPLUS

  BIG SIN

  SPACE

  634047 Boston Mk.IV LööK 1/32 HKM

  644275 B-24J LööK 1/48 Hobby Boss

  672364 P-51D-10 cockpit PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  672369 P-51D wheels block tread 1/72 Eduard

  672370 P-51D wheels diamond tread 2 1/72 Eduard

  672371 P-51D wheels block tread 2 1/72 Eduard

  672373 P-51D 75gal drop tanks PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  672375 P-51D 110gal fuel tanks PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  672377 P-51D gun sights PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  672378 P-51D bazooka rocket launcher 1/72 Eduard

  674012 P-51D-5 LööK 1/72 Eduard

  674013 P-51D-10 LööK 1/72 Eduard

  674014 P-51D-15+ LööK 1/72 Eduard

  6481010 P-51B/C wheel bay PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  6481011 B-26B wheels 1/48 ICM

  6481014 Fw 190A seat PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  6481015 FM-1 exhaust PRINT 1/48 Tamiya

  6481016 FM-1 wheels 1/48 Tamiya

  6481017 FM-1 seat PRINT 1/48 Tamiya

  644281 B-17F LööK 1/48 Eduard

  6481020 B-17F wheels diamond tread 1/48 Eduard

  6481021 B-17F engines 1/48 Eduard

  6481022 B-17F undercarriage legs BRONZE 1/48 Eduard

  6481023 B-17F guns 1/48 Eduard

  6481024 B-17F wheels cross tread 1/48 Eduard

  6481025 B-17F wheels block tread 1/48 Eduard

  6481026 B-17F wheels oval tread 1/48 Eduard

  6481027 B-17F wheels rhomboid tread 1/48 Eduard

  644276 Bf 108 regular wheels LööKplus 1/48 Eduard

  644277 Bf 108 spoked wheels LööKplus 1/48 Eduard

  644278 P-51B/C framed canopy LööKplus 1/48 Eduard

  644279 P-51B/C Malcolm Hood canopy LööKplus 1/48 Eduard

  SIN648128 Beaufort Mk.I 1/48 ICM

  SIN648129 A-1 armament 1/48 Tamiya

  3DL32026 Bf 109E-4 SPACE 1/32 Eduard

  3DL72040 F-15J SPACE 1/72 Fine Molds

  3DL72041 B-24H SPACE 1/72 Airfix

  3DL72042 La-7 SPACE 1/72 Eduard

  3DL48187 B-17F SPACE 1/48 Eduard

  3DL48188 B-17F radio compartment SPACE 1/48 Eduard

  AUGUST 2024

  INFO Eduard

  89

  August 2024

• Page 90

  BUILT

  P-51B MUSTANG

  DUAL COMBO

  1/48

  built by Robert Szwarc

  #R0019

  MARKING N

  INFO Eduard90

  August 2024

• Page 91

  BUILT

  P-51B-15-NA, s/n 42-106942, Col. Thomas Cristian, CO 361st FG, 8th AF,

  Bottisham, UK, June 1944

  West Point graduate Thomas Christian decided

  to follow in his father’s footsteps and enlisted

  in the Artillery. Here he achieved the rank of

  Second Lieutenant and soon changed his mind

  due to his interest in flying. He next attended the

  Texas Air Corps Flying School and then, in 1940,

  was appointed an instructor at Randolph Field.

  In March 1941, he joined the 19th BG in the

  Philippines and flew B-17s, and after the Japanese

  invasion he was transferred to Australia where

  he flew P-40s. While doing so he was shot down

  and presumed missing. However, with the help

  of the natives, he made it back. In 1942, he was

  assigned to the 67th Pursuit Squadron, where he

  flew the P-400 and was promoted to the rank of

  major. Back in the US, he joined the 361st FG as

  its first commander. It was the last group to be

  armed with Thunderbolts in the 8th AF. Cristian

  flew three aircraft in succession, all named Lou

  after his daughter. In March 1944, at the age of

  28, he was promoted to Colonel and continued to

  fly combat missions until his last one on August

  12, 1944. That day he was hit by anti-aircraft fire

  while attacking ground targets and was killed in

  a crash.

  INFO Eduard

  91

  August 2024

• Page 92

  BUILT

  built by Richard Zimmerman

  1/48

  Fw 190D-9

  #8188

  MARKING B

  INFO Eduard92

  August 2024

• Page 93

  BUILT

  WNr. 500698, Lt. Günter Seyd, 7./JG 26, Uetersen, Germany, May 1945

  JG 26 was established on November 1, 1938,

  (originally as JG 132) with Eduard von Schleich, an

  ace with 35 kills in WWI as its first Kommodore.

  JG 26 entered the war under the command of

  Hans Hugo Witt but stayed in Germany during

  the invasion of Poland. It than operated on the

  Western Front until 1943, with its most famous

  Kommodore, Adolf Galland, taking command on

  August 22, 1940. Galland was leading JG 26 for

  the rest of the Battle of Britain and well beyond

  until December 5, 1941. In early 1943, JG 26 was to

  replace JG 54 in the Luftflotte 1 formation on the

  Eastern Front, but in the end, it was only a brief

  episode of I./JG 26. The group continued to operate

  in France and then as a part of the defense of

  the Reich system. From late 1941 onwards all

  Gruppe except III./JG 26 started their conversion

  to Fw 190As, the first to receive Fw 190D-9s were

  I. Gruppe and II. Gruppe starting from mid-October

  1944. Lt. Günter Seyd of 5./JG 26 took off with this

  aircraft from Uetersen on May 5, 1945, but due to

  an engine failure he made an emergency landing

  in Schleswig. In the only known photograph, the

  lower engine cowling appears slightly darker and

  it is likely it was painted RLM 76 early (probably

  taken from another aircraft), but a yellow color

  cannot be completely ruled out. The brown color

  of the fuselage numbers was unusual, with

  only a few Staffeln within the Luftwaffe using it.

  However, 7./JG 26 kept this habit throughout the

  war. Günter Seyd scored a single kill during the

  war when he shot down a Lancaster from No.

  405 (or No. 582) Sqn. RAF west of Cologne on

  December 23, 1944. It was not only his first kill,

  but also the first kill of II./JG 26 after conversion

  to Fw 190D-9.

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  93

  August 2024

• Page 94

  BUILT

  Fw 190A-5

  light fighter

  1/48

  built by Paolo Portuesi

  #84118

  MARKING C

  Fw 190A-5, WNr. 410004, Oblt. Walter Nowotny, CO of I./JG 54, Orel, the Soviet Union, October 1943

  A German fighter pilot of Austrian origin and

  a native of Gmünd situated near the border with

  Czechoslovakia, Walter “Nowi” Nowotny was

  a holder of the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves,

  Swords and Diamonds, and shot down 258 enemy

  aircraft over the course of 442 combat sorties.

  He was killed in an Me 262 Schwalbe in combat

  with American escort fighters near an airfield at

  Hesepe on November 8, 1944. “Nowi’s” aircraft

  got a non-standard camouflage consisting of

  two shades of dark green, most likely RLM

  70 and RLM 71. The yellow wingtips of the

  undersides and yellow band round the fuselage

  identified the aircraft flying in the Eastern Front.

  The JG 54 aircraft bore yellow band on the

  fuselage, underneath the fuselage crosses, and

  bottom part of the rudder was painted yellow as

  well.

  Product page

  INFO Eduard94

  August 2024

• Page 95

  INFO Eduard

  95

  August 2024

  Dunstable Business Centre, Office Suite No.2, Blackburn Road, Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire LU5 5BQ

  Tel: +44 (0)1582 668411, Email: kim@guidelinepublications.co.uk

  All major credit cards accepted.

  Orders can be placed by mail, telephone, email or through the website.

  (www.guidelinepublications.co.uk) Plus postage and packing on all

  orders. Overseas readers pay postage at air mail printed paper rate.

  Warpaint on the web

  For more information and secure ordering please visit:

  www.guidelinepublications.co.uk

  1 Bristol Beaufighter £13.00

  2 Blackburn Buccaneer £13.00

  3 Junkers Ju 87 Stuka £13.00

  4 North American F-100 Super Sabre £13.00

  5 Hawker Typhoon £13.00

  6 Avro Shackleton £14.00

  7 Junkers Ju 88 £13.00

  8 Hawker Hunter £17.00

  9 Grumman F4F Wildcat/Martlet £13.00

  10 Vickers Wellington £13.00

  11 de Havilland Sea Vixen £13.00

  12 Fairey Swordfish £15.00

  13 Focke Wolfe Fw 200 Condor £14.00

  14 BAC Lightning £18.00

  15 Short Stirling £14.00

  16 Hawker Sea Fury £13.00

  17 Gloster Javelin £14.00

  18 Douglas Skyraider £14.00

  19 de Havilland Hornet and Sea Hornet £14.00

  20 Supermarine Seafire (Griffon engine) £15.00

  21 Armstrong Whitworth Whitley £14.00

  22 Gloster Meteor £20.00

  23 Fairey Gannet £15.00

  24 Dornier Do 217 £14.00

  25 Short Sunderland £14.00

  26 Bristol Blenheim £15.00

  27 de Havilland Vampire £20.00

  28 Fairey Firefly £17.00

  29 Hawker Sea Hawk £15.00

  30 Avro Vulcan £16.00

  31 RAF/RN Phantoms £17.00

  32 Douglas A-20 Boston/Havoc £17.00

  33 Heinkel He 177 £14.00

  34 Avro Lincoln £16.00

  35 Fairey Barracuda £15.00

  36 Handley Page Victor £16.00

  37 Gloster Gladiator £17.00

  38 Republic F-105 Thunderchief £15.00

  39 Supermarine Walrus £13.00

  40 Canadair/Commonwealth Sabre £16.00

  41 Fairey Fulmar £15.00

  42 Boulton Paul Defiant £13.00

  43 Lockheed F-104 Starfighter £18.00

  44 de Havilland Venom £15.00

  45 Martin B-57 Canberra £16.00

  46 Handley Page Halifax £17.00

  47 McDonnell F-101 Voodoo £15.00

  48 Westland Lysander £15.00

  49 Fiat G.91 £15.00

  50 Bristol Beaufort £15.00

  51 Lockheed Neptune £16.00

  52 Fairey Albacore £15.00

  53 Avro Anson £16.00

  54 Westland Whirlwind F.Mk I £13.00

  55 Hawker Tempest £14.00

  56 Blackburn Firebrand £14.00

  57 Handley Page Hampden £14.00

  58 Supermarine Swift £14.00

  59 Lockheed Hudson £14.00

  60 English Electric Canberra £20.00

  61 Savoia Marchetti S.79 Sparviero £14.00

  62 Handley Page Hastings £14.00

  63 Vickers Valiant £14.00

  64 Convair F-102 £15.00

  65 Westland Wessex £17.00

  66 Bristol Bulldog £13.00

  67 Folland Gnat and Ajeet £13.00

  68 Bristol Brigand £13.00

  69 Martin B-26 Marauder £14.00

  70 Vought Corsair £18.00

  71 Armstrong Whitworth 650/660 Argosy £14.00

  72 Vickers Supermarine Merlin Seafire £14.00

  73 North American B-25 Mitchell £15.00

  74 Hawker Siddeley Harrier £17.00

  75 BAe Sea Harrier £15.00

  76 Grumman Tracker/Trader/Tracer £17.00

  77 Curtiss P-40 £15.00

  78 Aer Macchi C.202-205 Folgore-Veltro £15.00

  79 Consolidated PBY Catalina £17.00

  80 Saab Draken £17.00

  81 Junkers Ju 52 £14.00

  82 BAC Jet Provost £17.00

  83 Fairey Battle £17.00

  84 Grumman F6F Hellcat £18.00

  85 Supermarine Scimitar £15.00

  86 Vickers Wellesley £15.00

  87 Grumman Avenger £18.00

  88 Lockheed T-33A £15.00

  89 Avro Lancaster £18.00

  90 Boeing B-17 £18.00

  91 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 'Fishbed' £27.00

  92 Grumman HU-16 Albatross £17.00

  93 Messerschmitt Me 262 £15.00

  94 Supermarine Attacker £15.00

  95 Westland Sea King £18.00

  96 Consolidated B-24 Liberator £27.00

  97 North American RA-5C Vigilante £18.00

  98 Avro York £17.00

  99 McDonnell Demon £17.00

  100 Republic F-84F and RF-84F £20.00

  101 de Havilland D.H.82 Tiger Moth £16.00

  102 Convair B-36 £16.00

  103 Avro Manchester £14.00

  104 General Dynamics F-111 & EF-111A £20.00

  105 Sopwith Pup £14.00

  106 Sikorsky S-55/H-19 & Westland Whirlwind £18.00

  107 Ilyushin Il-2 ‘Sturmovik’ £15.00

  108 Martin Mariner and Marlin £17.00

  109 Douglas C-54/R5D Skymaster & DC-4 £21.00

  110 Westland Scout & Wasp £16.00

  111 Vought OS2U Kingfisher £16.00

  112 Douglas A3D Skywarrior £20.00

  113 Panavia Tornado ADV £17.00

  114 McDonnell F-4 Phantom II £25.00

  115 Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle £14.00

  116 Hawker Fury and Nimrod £17.00

  117 Douglas F4D/F-6 Skyray & F5D Skylancer £15.00

  118 NAA B-45 Tornado £16.00

  119 Grumman F9F Panther £15.00

  120 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 £17.00

  121 Douglas A-4 Skyhawk £26.00

  122 Albatros D.I - D.III £16.00

  123 de Havilland (Canada) Chipmunk £15.00

  124 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 £17.00

  125 Bristol Britannia, Argus and Yukon £17.00

  126 Grumman F-14 Tomcat £26.00

  127 Cessna T-37 A/B/C and A-37 A/B £21.00

  128 Bristol Scout £15.00

  129 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 £18.00

  130 Ilyushin Il-28 £18.00

  131 Auster in British Military & foreign air arm service £18.00

  132 Boeing B-52 Stratofortress £25.00

  133 Douglas C-47 Skytrain/Dakota £25.00

  134 Aero L-29 Delfin £21.00

  135 DH.89 Dragon Rapide & Dominie £17.00

  136 Airspeed Oxford & Consul £18.00

  137 Douglas SBD Dauntless £28.00

  138 Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk £18.00

  139 de Havilland (Canada) DHC-2 Beaver £18.00

  140 North American OV-10 Bronco £28.00

  141 Vickers Viking, Valetta & Varsity £19.00

  Warpaint Specials

  No.1 Republic P-47 Thunderbolt £19.00

  No.2 Messerschmitt Bf 109 £25.00

  No.3 de Havilland Mosquito £25.00

  No.4 Cessna Bird Dog £12.00

  No.5 NAA P-51 Mustang and Derivatives £22.00

  No.6 Dambusters and the Lancaster £20.00

  Having launched the signature bomber for use in the European Theatre, Boeing embarked on a voyage into

  the unknown. Bringing together numerous untried technologies the Boeing Aircraft Company launched its

  most significant bomber, the B-29 Superfortress. Although beset by development problems and having

  suffered the loss of the prototype and its Chief Test Pilot Eddie Allan, the company pushed on to create the

  first long-range strategic bombers. Once the Pacific Islands had been captured the B-29 Bomb Groups

  began bombing raids on the Japanese Home Islands. On the other side of the Himalayas further bomb

  groups launched attacks against targets in Japan. As combat experience grew the focus turned to

  destroying as much as possible of its production facilities, mainly by firebombing areas known to have

  these targets. And then the world changed forever. The use of two atom bombs against Hiroshima and

  Nagasaki had shown the power of the atom. When the Japanese finally surrendered the Cold War

  arrived to take its place. War in Korea followed, being the swan song for the B-29 while its younger

  sibling, the B-50, assumed the mantle of Strategic Defence, a position it held until the B-47 Stratojet

  arrived. One of the largest aircraft of World War II, the B-29 remained in service in various roles throughout the

  1950s, being retired in the early 1960s after 3,970 had been built. The Royal Air Force flew the B-29 with the service name

  ‘Washington from 1950 to 1954’ while the re-engined B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II became the first aircraft to fly around the world

  non-stop, during a 94-hour flight in 1949. The Soviet Union produced 847 Tupolev Tu-4s, an unlicensed

  reverse-engineered copy of the B-29. This latest in the essential Warpaint series offers a comprehensive look at

  the famous bomber in all its guises, with history, development, service details, and colour artwork and scale plans

  by Sam Pearson.

  Boeing

  BB--2299

  and

  BB--5500

  Superfortress

  By Kev Darling

  B-29 Superfortress 44-70072 X-55 named Limber Richard of the 5th

  Bombardment Squadron, 9th Bombardment Group, flying toward Japan

  with other squadron bombers in 1945. The bombing missions against

  Japan a 3,500 mile round trip, could last as long as sixteen hours. Also

  shown is at least one B-29 of the 1st BS of the same group, complete

  with black and yellow rear fuselage and fin bands. (USAF via DRJ)

  WARPAINT SERIES No.143

  paint Master 21/06/2024 14:48 Page 118

  During the 1960s, Dassault commenced development of what would become the Mirage F1 as a private

  venture, alongside the larger Mirage F2. Work on the F1 eventually took precedence over the more costly

  F2, which was cancelled during the late 1960s. The Armée de l'Air took great interest in the fledgling F1 to

  meet its requirement for an all-weather interceptor aircraft. The Mirage F1 was of similar size to the Mirage

  III and Mirage 5 and was powered by the same SNECMA Atar engine that had been used on the

  larger Dassault Mirage IV, however, unlike its predecessors, it had the layout of a swept wing, but mounted

  high on the fuselage, and a conventional tail surface as used by the F2. Although it had a smaller wingspan

  than the Mirage III, the Mirage F1 nevertheless proved to be superior to its predecessor, carrying more

  fuel while possessing a shorter take-off run and greater manoeuvrability. This latest addition to the

  Warpaint series includes all the usual reference and historical material that has made the series the go-

  to source for modellers and aviation enthusiasts alike. This book is written by Andy Evans and is

  superbly illustrated by Sam Pearson.

  All these titles are available in printed format via our on demand printing service. Please contact our office for further information.

  £25.00

  Warpaint series No.143

  Orders from the world’s book

  and hobby trade are invited

  New

  release

  Previous Warpaint titles

  £19.00

  Warpaint series No.142

  Boeing BB--2299 and BB--5500

  Superfortress

  GGUUIIDDEELLIINNEE PPUUBBLLIICCAATTIIOONNSS LLIIMMIITTEEDD

  Dassault

  MMIIRRAAGGEE FF11

  By Andy Evans

  A French Air Force Mirage F1 returns to its mission

  after receiving fuel from a US Air Force KC-10

  Extender while flying over Afghanistan in support of

  Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’, on 25 November

  2010. (US Air Force Photo/Staff Sgt. Eric Harris)

  WARPAINT SERIES No.142

  42 Warpaint Mirage F1.qxp_Warpaint Master 19/03/2024 20:24 Page 58

  Dassault MMiirraaggee FF11

  Warpaint 143 B-29 & B-50 + Mirage F1.qxp_Warpaint Advert 22/06/2024 09:42 Page 1

• Page 96

  ON APPROACH

  SEPTMEBER 2024

  644280

  A-10C LööK

  1/48 Great Wall Hobby

  674018

  Bf 109G-10 LööK

  1/48 Eduard

  BIG33161 A-20J/K 1/32 HKM

  BIG33162 Boston Mk.IV 1/32 HKM

  BIG33163 B5N2 1/35 Border Model

  BIG49419 TBD-1 1/48 Hobby Boss

  BIG5373 USS Sangamon CVE-26 1/350 Trumpeter

  BIG72181 SM.79 1/72 Italeri

  632199 WWII USAAF oxygen cylinder A-4 PRINT 1/32

  632200 WWII USAAF oxygen cylinder A-6 PRINT 1/32

  632201 WWII USAAF oxygen tank G-1 PRINT 1/32

  644280 A-10C LööK 1/48 Great Wall Hobby

  672365 P-51D-15+ cockpit PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  672374 P-51D 108gal paper drop tanks PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  672376 P-51D 165gal fuel tanks PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  672379 P-51D gun bays PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  672381 MiG-21 wheel bays PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  672383 Bf 109G-10/K-4 propeller 1/72 Eduard

  672385 Bf 109G-10 wheels 1/72 Eduard

  674018 Bf 109G-10 LööK 1/72 Eduard

  6481018

  A-10C rotary gun flash suppressor PRINT 1/48 Great Wall Hobby

  6481019 A-10C wheels 1/48 Great Wall Hobby

  6481028 B-24J wheels 1/48 Hobby Boss

  6481030 B-24J superchargers PRINT 1/48 Hobby Boss

  6481031 P-51B/C gun sights PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  6481034 B-17F bombsight PRINT 1/48 Eduard/HKM

  644282 FM-1 LööKplus 1/48 Tamiya

  644283 B-26B Marauder LööKplus 1/48 ICM

  674015 P-51D-5 LööKplus 1/72 Eduard

  674016 P-51D-10 LööKplus 1/72 Eduard

  674017 P-51D-15+ LööKplus 1/72 Eduard

  SIN648130 F-35B 1/48 Tamiya

  SIN648132 F-16A MLU 1/48 Kinetic

  BIG ED (September)

  BRASSIN (September)

  LöökPlus (September)

  BIGSIN (September)

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard

  and STEEL seatbelts for Bf 109G-10 in 1/72 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 1 part

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details:

  yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard

  and STEEL seatbelts for A-10C in 1/48 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Great Wall Hobby

  Set contains:

  - resin: 1 part

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details:

  yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  632199

  WWII USAAF oxygen cylinder A-4 PRINT

  1/32

  Brassin set - oxygen cylindres for USAAF WWII multiengined

  a/c in 1/32 scale. The set consists of 6 cylinders. Made by

  direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 6 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  INFO Eduard96

  August 2024

• Page 97

  632200

  WWII USAAF oxygen cylinder A-6 PRINT

  1/32

  632201

  WWII USAAF oxygen tank G-1 PRINT

  1/32

  6481018

  A-10C rotary gun flash suppressor PRINT

  1/48 Great Wall Hobby

  Brassin set - oxygen cylindres for USAAF WWII

  multiengined a/c in 1/32 scale. The set consists

  of 6 cylinders. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 6 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - oxygen cylindres for USAAF WWII multiengined

  a/c in 1/32 scale. The set consists of 6 cylinders. Made by

  direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 6 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - rotary gun flash suppressor for A-10C

  in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Great Wall Hobby

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 1 part

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  ON APPROACH

  INFO Eduard

  97

  August 2024

• Page 98

  ON APPROACH

  SEPTEMBER 2024

  6481019

  A-10C wheels

  1/48 Great Wall Hobby

  6481028

  B-24J wheels

  1/48 Hobby Boss

  6481030

  B-24J superchargers PRINT

  1/48 Hobby Boss

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for A-10C

  in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels

  and a nose wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic

  parts. Recommended kit: Great Wall Hobby

  Set contains:

  - resin: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for B-24J

  in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels and

  a nose wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Hobby Boss

  Set contains:

  - resin: 4 parts

  - 3D print: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: yes

  Brassin set - superchargers for B-24J in 1/48 scale.

  The set consists of 4 superchargers. Made by direct

  3D printing. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Hobby Boss

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 4 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  INFO Eduard98

  August 2024

• Page 99

  ON APPROACHSEPTEMBER 2024

  6481031

  P-51B/C gun sights PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  6481034

  B-17F bombsight PRINT

  1/48 Eduard/HKM

  672365

  P-51D-15+ cockpit PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  Brassin set - gun sights for P-51B/C in 1/48 scale.

  Set consists of 13 gun sights of different types.

  Made by direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble,

  replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 13 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - Norde type bomb sight for B-17F

  in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard / HKM

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 1 part

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - cockpit for P-51D in 1/72 scale. Made by direct

  3D printing. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 23 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  INFO Eduard

  99

  August 2024

• Page 100

  ON APPROACH

  672374

  P-51D 108gal paper drop tanks PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  Brassin set - fuel drop tanks for P-51D in 1/72

  scale. The set consists of 2 tanks. Made by direct 3D

  printing. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 6 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  672379

  P-51D gun bays PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  Brassin set - gun bays for P-51D in 1/72 scale.

  The set consists of bun bays for both wings.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 22 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  672376

  P-51D 165gal fuel tanks PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  Brassin set - fuel drop tanks for P-51D in 1/72 scale.

  The set consists of 2 tanks. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 4 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  SEPTEMBER 2024

  INFO Eduard100

  August 2024

• Page 101

  ON APPROACH

  672381

  MiG-21 wheel bays PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  672383

  Bf 109G-10/K-4 propeller

  1/72 Eduard

  672385

  Bf 109G-10 wheels

  1/72 Eduard

  Brassin set - wheel bays for MiG-21 in 1/72 scale.

  The set consists of nose and main wheel bays. Made by

  direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic

  parts. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 9 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - propeller for Bf 109G-10 or Bf 109K-4

  in 1/72 scale. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 2 parts

  - resin: 4 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for Bf 109G-10

  in 1/72 scale. The set consists of the main wheels

  and a tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  SEPTEMBER 2024

  INFO Eduard

  101

  August 2024

• Page 102

  Collection of 4 sets for FM-1 in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Tamiya

  - LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboard & Steelbelts)

  - TFace painting mask

  - undercarriage wheels

  - exhast pipes

  644282

  FM-1 LööKplus

  1/48 Tamiya

  ON APPROACH

  Collection of 3 sets for P-51B or P-51C in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  - LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboard & Steelbelts)

  - TFace painting mask

  - undercarriage wheels

  644283

  B-26B Marauder LööKplus

  1/48 ICM

  SEPTEMBER 2024

  INFO Eduard102

  August 2024

• Page 103

  Collection of 3 sets for P-51D-5 in 1/72 scale.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  - LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboard & Steelbelts)

  - seat

  - gun sights

  674015

  P-51D-5 LööKplus

  1/72 Eduard

  Collection of 3 sets for P-51D-10 in 1/72 scale.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  - LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboard & Steelbelts)

  - seat

  - gun sights

  Collection of 3 sets for P-51D-15+ in 1/72 scale.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  - LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboard & Steelbelts)

  - seat

  - gun sights

  674016

  P-51D-10 LööKplus

  1/72 Eduard

  674017

  P-51D-15+ LööKplus

  1/72 Eduard

  ON APPROACH

  SEPTEMBER 2024

  INFO Eduard

  103

  August 2024

• Page 104

  SIN648130

  F-35B

  1/48 Tamiya

  Collection of 4 sets for F-35B in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Tamiya

  - cockpit

  - dorsal fan

  - undercariage wheels

  - Remove Before Flight tags STEEL

  All sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,

  but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.

  ON APPROACH

  SEPTEMBER 2024

  INFO Eduard104

  August 2024

• Page 105

  SIN648132

  F-16A MLU

  1/48 Kinetic

  Collection of 4 sets for F-16A MLU in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Kinetic

  - cockpit

  - undercarriage bays

  - undercariage wheels

  - exhaust nozzle

  All sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,

  but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.

  BRASSIN 02/2022BRASSIN 02/2022

  ON APPROACHSEPTEMBER 2024

  INFO Eduard

  105

  August 2024

• Page 106

  PE

  -

  SETS

  321020 AH-64A early 1/35 Trumpeter

  36520 Nashorn 1/35 Tamiya

  36521 BMD-2 1/35 Hobby Boss

  481149 A-4B/C landing flaps 1/48 Hobby 2000 / Hasegawa

  491467 Fulmar Mk.II 1/48 Trumpeter

  491469 U-2S 1/48 Hobby Boss

  491471 MS 406.C1 1/48

  Dora Wings

  491473 A-4B 1/48 Hobby 2000 / Hasegawa

  491475 A-4C 1/48 Hobby 2000 / Hasegawa

  491476 Bulldog Mk.II 1/48 Airfix

  53314 USS Midway CV-41 part 1 1/350 Trumpeter

  ZOOMS

  33371 AH-64A early 1/35 Trumpeter

  33372 AH-64A early seatbelts STEEL 1/35 Trumpeter

  FE1467 Fulmar Mk.II 1/48 Trumpeter

  FE1468 Fulmar Mk.II seatbelts STEEL 1/48 Trumpeter

  FE1469 U-2S 1/48 Hobby Boss

  FE1470 U-2S seatbelts STEEL 1/48 Hobby Boss

  FE1471 MS 406.C1 1/48

  Dora Wings

  FE1473 A-4B 1/48 Hobby 2000 / Hasegawa

  FE1474 A-4B/C seatbelts STEEL 1/48 Hobby 2000 / Hasegawa

  FE1475 A-4C 1/48 Hobby 2000 / Hasegawa

  FE1476 Bulldog Mk.II seatbelts STEEL 1/48 Airfix

  MASKS

  EX1056 Fulmar Mk.II 1/48 Trumpeter

  EX1057 Fulmar Mk.II TFace 1/48 Trumpeter

  EX1058 U-2S 1/48 Hobby Boss

  EX1059 U-2S TFace 1/48 Hobby Boss

  EX1060 A-4B 1/48 Hobby 2000 / Hasegawa

  EX1061 A-4B TFace 1/48 Hobby 2000 / Hasegawa

  EX1062 A-4C 1/48 Hobby 2000 / Hasegawa

  EX1063 A-4C TFace 1/48 Hobby 2000 / Hasegawa

  EX1064 MS 406.C1 1/48

  Dora Wings

  EX1065 MS 406.C1 TFace 1/48 Dora Wings

  EX1066 Bulldog Mk.II 1/48 Airfix

  JX327 AH-64A early 1/35 Trumpeter

  JX328 AH-64A early TFace 1/35 Trumpeter

  SPACE

  3DL32027 AH-64A early SPACE 1/35 Trumpeter

  3DL48190 Fulmar Mk.II SPACE 1/48 Trumpeter

  3DL48191 U-2S SPACE 1/48 Hobby Boss

  3DL48192 A-4B SPACE 1/48 Hobby 2000 / Hasegawa

  3DL48193 A-4C SPACE 1/48 Hobby 2000 / Hasegawa

  3DL48194 MS 406.C1 SPACE 1/48 Dora Wings

  3DL48195 Bulldog Mk.II SPACE 1/48

  Airfix

  3DL72042 La-7 SPACE 1/72 Eduard

  DECALS

  D72048 Bf 109G stencils 1/72 Eduard

  D72049 Bf 109G Balkenkreuze 1/72 Eduard

  D72050 P-51D stencils 1/72 Eduard

  D72051 P-51D US national insignia 1/72 Eduard

  ON APPROACH

  SEPTEMBER 2024

  INFO Eduard106

  August 2024

• Page 107

  ON APPROACH

  Bf 109G-10

  #R0022

  1/72

  Bf 109G-10/U4, WNr. 613165,

  101. Puma vadászrepülö osztály, Neubiberg,

  Germany, May 1945

  Bf 109G-10/U4, II./JG 52, Brno,

  Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia,

  April 1945

  Avia S-99, Police Air Patrol Unit, Czechoslovak Police Air Force, Prague-Kbely, 1947

  SEPTEMBER 2024

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  August 2024

• Page 108

  ON APPROACH

  Bf 109G-10, 1./KG(J) 6, Prague-Kbely,

  Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia,

  March/April 1945

  Bf 109G-10, Hptm. Erich Hartmann,

  CO of I./JG 52, Görlitz, Germany, April 1945

  Bf 109G-10, WNr. 152xx6, 11./JG 300, Prague-Kbely,

  Czechoslovakia, May 1945

  Bf 109G-10, 13./JG 27, Schleswig-Holstein,

  Germany, March 1945

  Bf 109G-10, WNr. 491407, Capt. Cesare

  Marchesi, 3

  a

  Squadriglia, 1

  o

  Gruppo Caccia,

  ANR, Lonate Pozzolo, Italy, March 1945

  Bf 109G-14/AS, WNr. 784938,

  III./JG 6, Bissel, Germany,

  January 1945

  Bf 109G-14/AS, WNr. 782xxx, str. Vladimir Sandtner,

  2.ZLJ, Lučko, Croatia, April 1945

  SEPTEMBER 2024

  INFO Eduard108

  August 2024

• Page 109

  Bf 109G-10, 13./JG 27, Schleswig-Holstein,

  Germany, March 1945

  ON APPROACH

  FM-2 Wildcat

  #82205

  1/48

  Lt. Robert I. Myers, VC-93,

  USS Petrof Bay (CVE-80), April 1945

  VC-9, USS Solomons (CVE-67), spring/summer 1944

  Lt. Martin Ferko, VC-4, USS White Plains (CVE-67),

  June – September 1944

  VC-88, USS Saginaw Bay (CVE-82), 1945

  VC-99, USS Hogatt Bay (CVE-75), 1945

  JV836, No. 882 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Searcher, August 1945

  SEPTEMBER 2024

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  August 2024

• Page 110

  ON APPROACH

  Bf 109G-2

  1/48

  Bf 109G-2/trop, WNr. 10533, Uffz. Horst Schlick,

  1./JG 77, Bir-el-Abd, Egypt, November 1942

  Bf 109G-2/R-6/trop, WNr. 13916, Fw. Hans Döbrich,

  6./JG 5, Alakurtti, Finland, February 1943

  Bf 109G-2/R6, Lt. Walter Krupinski, 6./JG 52,

  Maykop, the Soviet Union, October 1942

  Bf 109G-2/R6, WNr. 13633, Hptm. Wolf-Dieter Huy,

  7./JG 77, Tanyet Harun, Egypt, October1942

  Bf 109G-2/R6 WNr. 13949, Maj. Hans Hahn, II./JG 54,

  Rjelbitzy, the Soviet Union, January 1943

  Re-Release

  #82165

  SEPTEMBER 2024

  INFO Eduard110

  August 2024

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  ON APPROACH

  P-39Q Airacobra

  1/48

  Re-Release #8470

  P-39Q-5, 42-20351, Lt. William A. Shomo,

  82nd TRS, 71st TRG, 5th AF, Dobodura,

  New Guinea, March 1944

  P-39Q-1, 42-19467, 46th FS, 15th FG,

  7th AF, Kanton atoll, Phoenix archipelago,

  August 1943

  P-39Q-5, 42-19896, Lt. William W. Gambill,

  363rd FS, 357th FG, 8th AF, Oroville CA, USA,

  autumn 1943

  P-39Q-5, 42-20043, 70th FS, 347th FG, 13th AF,

  Torokina airfield, Bougainville, Solomon Islands,

  autumn 1943

  SEPTEMBER 2024

  INFO Eduard

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  August 2024

• Tail End Charlie

  After returning from the IPMS USA National Convention 2024, held in Madison, Wisconsin, I was determined to write about the the most impactful moment that I experienced during the trip. No matter how much I think about it, what struck me most this year was the level of popularity we enjoyed from the American modelers at the event. I'll try to convey this to you through several examples. Throughout the year, I man the Eduard booth at many modeling exhibitions, where I meet and chat with large number of modelers, so I have heard a lot of opinions I can evaluate.

  After returning from the IPMS USA National

  Convention 2024, held in Madison, Wisconsin,

  I was determined to write about the the most

  impactful moment that I experienced during

  the trip. No matter how much I think about it,

  what struck me most this year was the level

  of popularity we enjoyed from the American

  modelers at the event. I'll try to convey this to

  you through several examples. Throughout the

  year, I man the Eduard booth at many modeling

  exhibitions, where I meet and chat with large

  number of modelers, so I have heard a lot of

  opinions I can evaluate.

  But before I get deeper into the positive

  feeback from the American modelers, I’d like to

  mention the attitude of "our folks", Czech and

  Slovak modelers. In my opinion, they criticize

  and complain the most. And I don't mean it in

  a negative way, that seems to be their „habit“.

  They complain about mistakes in the designs,

  instructions, camouflage schemes, basically

  any component of our business you can think

  of. On Modelforum (Czech scale modeling

  board), in the section dedicated to discussions

  about Eduard, which my colleagues and myself

  monitor closely, every day we read about what

  we've done wrong and how we constantly

  need to improve. Of course, modelers are our

  customers, and they have every right to do so.

  I believe that thanks to the negative feedback

  from our customers, we are constantly moving

  forward and improving, and I hope that not only

  Czech and Slovak modelers appreciate this.

  Now let's talk about the Americans.

  The IPMS USA Nationals is unique, primarily

  because it runs the longest, from Wednesday

  to Saturday, with companies setting up

  their booths as early as Tuesday afternoon.

  By Tuesday afternoon, we already knew that

  our inventory wouldn't arrive until Wednesday

  morning, which meant we couldn't start

  selling at Wednesday lunchtime when the

  event officially begins. The first modelers who

  arrived were surprised to see us sitting in one

  of the largest booths at the exhibition with

  empty tables. As soon as they learned that

  our merchandise wouldn't arrive until around

  eight in the evening, many of them immediately

  offered to help us set up the booth and bring

  in our products in the evening. Throughout the

  afternoon, we received so many offers of help

  that I was worried we would be getting in each

  other's way that evening. When the supplies

  finally arrived around seven in the evening,

  there was already a well-organized group of

  volunteers at the loading dock who helped us

  offloading the boxes until ten in the evening,

  full of enthusiasm and smiling. By Thursday,

  we were finally able to start selling. So many

  modelers came by, praised us, admired us, said

  they loved Eduard, that they loved us—I had

  never experienced anything like it. Next to me,

  at the cash register, colleague of mine, chief

  designer Stan Archman, was autographing his

  creations, one signature after another. After

  a while, the modelers even gave him a silver

  color marker. Stan even has his own fan club

  among American modelers! I have to admit,

  we felt great among them (we even received

  a case of beer to enjoy the evening after the

  busy days at the exhibition, which were indeed

  demanding, especially after the crowds of

  modelers rushed to buy August new releases,

  mainly Mustangs and the 1/48 scale limited

  edition of B-17F). With this wonderful vibes and

  in a great environment, more than ever before,

  we were proud of our accomplishments and

  felt motivated to work even harder in the

  future, never mind endless complaints and

  nitpicking. Make no mistake, the American

  modelers have been critical as well. They just

  somehow presented their „case“ in a more

  polite and friendly manner!

  COMPLAINTS AND PRAISES

  Text: Jakub Nademlejnský

  INFO Eduard112

  August 2024

• Page 113

  www.eduard.com/bfc

  BUNNY BUNNY FIGHTERFIGHTER

  CLUB

  Eduard's special membership club for all modeling enthusiasts!

  15% Permanent Club discount at Eduard Store – you will receive permanent 15% discount on all Eduard

  products 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 sold

  products, specially made for BFC members.

  Even better prices at Eduard events stand – do you know that Eduard usually has huge discounts on

  their products at fairs and events all over the world? BFC members will have even higher discount at

  these 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 available

  to 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 Championship

  BOX CONTENT:

  Plastic parts, Marking options 6, Decal Set, PE parts, Maska, Brassin

  parts (two different types of wheels, landing flaps, dust filter with

  eyelid, intake ring and RP-3 60lb rockets), 3D decals for main and si

  -

  dewalk instrument and control panels with photo-etched details and

  seat belts.

  BOX CONTENT:

  Plastic parts, Marking options 4, Decal Set, PE parts, Maska, Brassin

  parts (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 Eduard

  product in your shopping cart. To apply this discount, the Activation product has to be in your shopping

  cart. Activation product is excluded from this calculation.

  Activation products:Activation products:

  Tempest Mk. V + T-shirt 1/48MiG-21MF + T-shirt 1/72

• The Modern Lad: P-51D Mustang, Eduard in 1/72 Scale

  
  

  Text: Vladimír Šulc

   

  Why does Eduard make kits the way they do?

  The world is changing, and so are we. It might sound like a cliché, but it's true in every aspect of society's evolution. The world and society are evolving at an unprecedented pace, and our industry is no exception. Over the past thirty years, we've seen tremendous technological as attitudinal shifts, which have significantly impacted both the production and the use of model kits. These developments influence and shape each other, resulting in new requirements for modern plastic kits. What are these requirements, and how have we addressed them in the new 1/72 scale P-51D Mustang kit?

   

  Conformity to the Subject

  The digitization and accessibility of archives have opened up almost unlimited possibilities for historical research. Researchers, along with publishers of professional and popular literature, have translated these possibilities into an immense number of specialized publications and websites covering aircraft, tanks, combat and civilian equipment, military units, and other historical topics relevant to the creation of kits and models. This abundance of information has led to increasing customer demands for accurate subject-to-kit conformity. Ignoring these requirements can be detrimental, as every real or perceived mistake is discussed on modelling forums and influences customer acceptance of the kit.

  On the other hand, meeting all these stringent requirements is extremely challenging. This is especially true for aircraft like the Mustang, Spitfire, or Bf 109, which had numerous production variants with differences ranging from significant to minuscule, often previously considered irrelevant. If we were to address every one of these minute differences, such as varying covers, cranks, or holes, we would end up creating an incredibly complex puzzle for users. However, since our goal is to produce kits that are easy and quick to assemble rather than complex puzzles or IQ tests, we decided to overlook some of these differences and leave it to modelers to address them or ignore them. The old adage, "the skilled modeler will finish it himself," still holds true.

  We recognize that we are caught between Scylla and Charybdis, facing two conflicting demands from two different groups of modelers. On one side, there are the die-hard perfectionists, whom I would venture to call "hardcore modelers," who demand absolute accuracy and conformity to the original design. On the other side are those commonly known in Czech environment as "gluers," who desire the simplest possible kit and find the complexity that comes with striving for perfect conformity irritating. It is impossible to fully satisfy both groups. Therefore, we have no choice but to find a reasonable compromise, which, as we know, often doesn't fully satisfy anyone.

   Then there's a third, relatively rare but very vocal group: the “hardcore gluers.” They demand absolute perfection, but when they receive it, they complain that the kit is too complicated. I know a few of these, and I’ll admit that I tend to avoid them. If I do get caught, I often respond to their demands with irony and humour. From my perspective, these individuals have one notable trait, which can be seen as either a strength or a weakness: they have rarely, if ever, actually built a model, and when they have, they've often made a mess of it. However, they are never short on confidence!

  We once took advice from one such expert on a kit. When we implemented his suggestions, he later criticized the result, saying we had overcomplicated it and made it unclear what version was being represented. He was right, it was confusing, and that experience taught us not to follow such advice again.

   

  How About the Mustang

  Airframe - Fuselage

  For this kit, we have two major versions: the P-51D-5, without the dorsal fin in front of the vertical tailplane, and a version covering all other production blocks from the P-51D-10 onward, equipped with the dorsal fin and later modifications. This version presents the challenge of dealing with minor differences between production blocks (and sometimes even within them). Additionally, we will offer a third version of the kit for the photo reconnaissance F-6D.

  The differences among these kits are primarily in the fuselages. The fuselage and wing sprue have interchangeable inserts that change depending on the variant being molded. The frame labeled "C" contains the P-51D-5 fuselage without dorsal fin, sprue "B" contains the fuselage for all production blocks with the fin, and sprue "D" includes the F-6D fuselage, featuring the cameras and their lens covers located on the sides of the fuselage behind the cockpit.

  You might wonder why we don't have a single fuselage with interchangeable tail surfaces for all P-51D production blocks, especially since we've already separated the entire rudder. The reason is that the D-5 had a different horizontal tailplane angle of attack compared to the other production blocks. Additionally, we used a separate fuselage for the D-5 to address a few minor differences in the cowling and other details on the fuselage. For the other production blocks, these differences are not consistently addressed, as they share a single fuselage in the kit, necessitating the compromise described in the previous paragraph. If you want these differences to be accurately represented on your model, you will need to research them and make the necessary adjustments yourself, if you believe it's worth the effort.

  
  

  Tail Assembly

  The kit includes three versions of the vertical tail surfaces: one for the P-51D-5 without the dorsal fin and two for versions with dorsal fins. One dorsal fin version features a curved leading edge, while the other, used in later and more common production models, has a straight leading edge. Although the earlier version came in several developmental forms with minor differences, the kit includes only one version. If you wish to accurately replicate the specific version used on the aircraft you're building, you will need to research the details and make the necessary modifications yourself. The elevators of the horizontal tail surfaces are separate and come in two versions: the older one with canvas covering and the newer one with metal covering. Most Mustangs flying in 1944 had canvas-covered  rudders.

   

  Cockpit

  The cockpit design has been simplified compared to the 1/48 scale kit, but it still maintains a high level of detail and offers variability for different versions of the aircraft. The kit includes two versions of the seat and two versions of the radio equipment behind the pilot's seat, which are integrated into two alternative blocks that attach to the fuselage fuel tank. Additionally, the kit offers two versions of the side panels, two versions of the dashboard, three versions of the under-deck weapons launch panel, two types of sighting devices, and two types of overlays above the dashboard. There are also three versions of the canopy sliding part

   

  Airframe - Wing

  The wing design remains consistent across all production blocks, requiring some compromises. One of the most noticeable is in the hatches on the front of the airframe, specifically the lower surface of the fuselage nose, which is part of the lower surface of the wing in the kit. These hatches varied from block to block and evolved throughout production. The kit includes almost all variations on the front of the wing's lower surface. Depending on the version you're building, some details may need to be filled in or engraved, using the template provided on the photo-etch sheet.

  Another detail that may require modification is the hole for the gun camera lens at the root of the left wing. In the kit, this hole is circular by default, but in later production blocks, it was rectangular. The inner surfaces of the wing parts indicate the later rectangular shape, allowing for easy modification. We chose this approach because it's easier to transform a circular opening into a rectangle, if we had made it a standard rectangle, it wouldn't be as easy to revert it to a circle. Creating an alternate part for such a minor detail seemed unnecessary.

  A similar compromise applies to the HVAR missile suspension points. These points are marked by small dots on the lower surface of the wing and are indicated on the inner surface of the lower half of the wing. They need to be drilled out when installing the rockets. The reinforcements present on the bottom surface of the wing at the hinge points for the missile hangers in the last production blocks are included and are moulded together with the rockets as a single piece. Additional holes are indicated on the inside of the wing's bottom surface for drilling if bomb racks or additional tanks are being installed.

  The machine gun muzzles are separate pieces that are glued into the assembled wing. Two of the three machine guns  protrude slightly from the leading edge of the wing and are not drilled out due to their small diameter, which makes drilling technologically unfeasible. However, the third one, located in the innermost position closest to the fuselage, shows instead a hole. This is not the exposed barrel, which was recessed inside this hole.

  
  

  Flaps

  The landing flaps are designed to be installed only in the lowered position, which reflects the typical configuration of most Mustangs on the ground with the engine off. If you wish to model the flaps in the flight position, you'll need to modify them yourself. For technological reasons, we can't provide alternative flap positions in the kit. Since the correct position for a landed aircraft's flaps is lowered, we have chosen to represent them this way.

   

  Wheel Well

  The wheel wells are simplified compared to the 1/48 scale kit but maintain a high level of detail for the 1/72 scale. We have modified, strengthened, and tightened the undercarriage leg attachments within the wheel well. The cover plates are precisely fixed to the landing gear leg, just ensure the parts are correctly positioned relative to each other during assembly. The same careful positioning is required for the anti-shear scissors on the undercarriage leg dampers.

  
  

  Rivets

  The fuselage features full riveting, while the wing has no riveting in areas covered with putty in production line. However, where putty was not applied on real plane, such as on the fuel tanks, the riveting is present. Panel lines have been retained, despite strong lobbying from some modelers who believe they were fully sealed. In reality, the panel lines on all the P-51Ds I have seen were as distinct on the wings as they were on the fuselage or other aircraft. In fact, rivets are visible on the wings of most Mustangs, just as they are on other aircraft. However, since some modelers believe these details were not visible, we chose not to include them. Perhaps it's a bit cautious, but we prefer to avoid lengthy debates about historical accuracy with those who have their own views. I am considering writing an article about wing sealing and its effects, both aerodynamic and visual.

  
  

  Position Lights and Transparent Parts

  The position lights are moulded from clear plastic and are designed to be glued into relatively deep recesses in the wing. Also made from transparent plastic are the semaphore on the lower surface of the right wing, the landing light, the two alternate gun sights, and the windshield and canopy, which includes three different sliding rear parts. While these parts are generally accurate, they may not be entirely precise for all production blocks. For some variants, minor modifications may be required, however, if these adjustments are not made, they are unlikely to be noticeable.

  
  

  Armament and Equipment

  The kit includes five types of auxiliary tanks, two types of bombs, bazookas, and HVAR rockets.

  
  

  Other Alternative Parts

  The kit includes four types of propellers, two types of propeller cones, two types of exhausts, three types of bow vent hatches, and several types of antennas.

  A small but valuable bonus is the inclusion of duplicate small parts. While not all parts are duplicated, there are enough to satisfy your needs and handle the well known "carpet monsters." These duplicates include antennas, pitot tubes, position lights, and other miscellaneous items.

  This variety and the abundance of small parts sometimes lead reviewers to label our kits as complex, often contrasting them with competing kits praised for their apparent simplicity. It’s up to you to determine whether this perceived "simplicity" truly benefits the modeler.

  
  

  Decal Versions

  The variation in plastic parts and kit details allows for a wide range of interesting and colourful wartime and post-war Mustang paint schemes. Eduard stands out in this regard, offering a unique array of paint schemes not available from other manufacturers. We understand that choosing among them can be challenging, but we have solutions to help with that as well. Enjoy, dear modelers! With a well-equipped kit and your dedication, effort, and experience, you can bring your models to absolute perfection!

  Happy Mustang Modelling!

• The First Frantic

  Text: Jan Bobek

  Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz

  Cat. No. 82107

  
  

  During the so-called "Shuttle" missions, using bases in the USSR, the US Air Force hit a total of 24 strategic Axis targets from June to September 1944. The first Shuttle Mission, designated Frantic 1, was scheduled for June 2, 1944. It deployed 130 B-17 bombers and 70 P-51s from the 15th Air Force based in Italy. One of the fighter units chosen for the mission was the 325th FG "Checkertails." Its commander, Col. Sluder, later recalled that the preparation for the mission was top secret, and only five officers from his unit knew about it. His unit had flown Mustangs in combat for the first time on May 27, 1944, so this was still a completely new aircraft to his men. Additionally, ground personnel had to be transported to the Soviet Union. The mechanics received new uniforms and boarded B-17 bombers from the 2nd BG. They were convinced they were flying to the UK or even home. When they learned during the flight where they were actually going, many were shocked. On board one of the bombers was Gen. Ira Eaker, commander of the Allied air forces in the Mediterranean.

  The mission of June 2, 1944, was not just a flyover of enemy territory, its objective was the railway station in Debrecen, Hungary. Eaker placed great emphasis on keeping the fighter escorts close to the bombers, which were carrying more valuable cargo than usual. Only one B-17 was lost after being hit by flak. The bombers then landed at Poltava in Ukraine, and the "Checkertail Clan" eventually found Pyriatyn airfield, located a little further west, after some navigational difficulties. Soviets and American personnel were waiting for them at the scene, having prepared conditions for maintenance and operations.

  The Soviets did not allow photographs of the bases to be taken back to the West, but the Americans smuggled a few films out. Soviets provided plenty of food, drink, and singing performances. The female soldiers were initially shy about dancing with the Americans, but after the Soviet commander ordered the ladies to dance, that part of the program was filled as well. From the American side, fighter pilot Bob Barkey had quite a success with his tenor.

  On June 6, 1944, the command of the 15th Air Force planned a strike against targets in the Balkans from two directions. The refinery at Ploiești was attacked from Italy by 310 Liberators with fighter escorts, which attracted most of the Axis fighter units in Romania. Other raids from Italian bases targeted Brașov, Pitești, Turnu Severin, and Belgrade in occupied Yugoslavia.

  From the east, 104 B-17 crews from the Poltava base and 42 Mustangs from the 352nd Fighter Group flew over Romania. Their destination was Galați airfield in eastern Romania. They managed to hit the airfield due to good visibility, and none of the bombers were shot down. Although enemy fighters were spotted by the Flying Fortress crews, the enemy fighters were so far away that the Americans were unsure of their identification. The formation then returned to Poltava, and after landing, the crews learned of the commencement of the landings in France.

  The fighter escort experienced a slightly different situation. Americans clashed with Romanian Bf 109 G-6s from the elite Grupul 9 vânătoare. The Americans claimed six downed fighters and one Ju 88. One of the victories was scored by the aforementioned 1/Lt. Barkey, whose aircraft is depicted on Piotr Forkasiewicz's boxart. The Romanians machines were only damaged and several of them made emergency landings after the battle. They did, however, manage to shoot down two Mustangs. Lt. Donald J. MacDonald was captured and Lt. John D. Mumford was missing. Moreover the P-51 of 2/Lt. Barrie Davis was severely damaged by Romanian fighter ace Lt. av. Ion Dobran. Wounded Davis managed to make it to Mirgorod, Ukraine without a canopy and with severely damaged tail surfaces. He received the first Purple Heart for a combat mission from Soviet territory. Ion Dobran was forced to make an emergency landing with his damaged Bf 109 when he came under fire from 1/Lt. Wayne Lowry. Details of this engagement can be found, for example, in the Osprey publication "Rumanian Aces of World War 2" by Dénes Bernád.

  Operation Frantic 1 was completed on June 11, 1944. On the return of the American crews to Italy, the target was the Romanian airfield of Focșani. The first Shuttle Mission was judged a great success. However, subsequent Frantic missions gradually encountered problems and security risks that contributed to the growing distrust between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union.

• The Youngest Kommodore

  Text: Jan Bobek

  Illustration: Martin Novotný

  Cat. No. 3003

  
  

  The box art for this kit, firstly released in 2009, was created by our late friend Martin Novotný. This painting is one of my favourites due to its composition, the chosen colors, and the dynamics Martin infused into it. It captures the atmosphere of the Battle of Britain as many of us likely imagine it. The depicted Messerschmitt belonged to Major Helmut Wick, Kommodore of JG 2 "Richthofen." His plane is shown as it appeared in November 1940, a time when the daily Luftwaffe bomber raids on England had ceased. While the depicted situation is not historically accurate, I don't believe this detracts from the painting's appeal.

  When twenty-five-year-old Helmut Wick was killed in aerial combat on November 28, 1940, he was the youngest Kommodore and the first recipient of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves to be killed in action. At the time, Adolf Galland, commander of JG 26 "Schlageter," was 28 years old, and Werner Mölders, Kommodore of JG 51, was only a year younger than Galland. These three pilots were competing for the top spot in the number of aerial victories achieved since September 1939.

  A typical Jagdgeschwader at that time had approximately 120 aircraft and an air and ground staff of more than 2,000 men. Leading such a unit was quite a challenge for officers barely thirty years old. These young airmen were mostly promoted to Kommodore positions in the summer of 1940, during a generational shift in command. They replaced officers who were sometimes a generation older, many of whom had seen combat during World War I.

  Both Adolf Galland and Werner Mölders served in the Spanish Civil War. Mölders achieved 14 aerial victories in Spain and significantly influenced the methodology of German fighter deployment before World War II. Before becoming Kommodore, Galland led his III/JG 26 to become the best Jagdgruppe for bomber escort during the Battle of Britain. How did Wick compare?

  He joined the Luftwaffe in early April 1936 and began training for an officer's career at the Luftkriegsschule Dresden. In July of that year, he was recommended for future officer career in an evaluation, but his flight training was rated as mediocre, and he performed below average in theoretical instruction. Consequently, he did not complete the course. In May 1937, he was assigned to bomber unit II./KG 254 (later II./KG 55 "Greif"), but after only a month, he was sent back to school in Dresden. He was unable to complete the second course either and only successfully completed the course on his third attempt in the summer of 1938. He then underwent six weeks of training on fighter aircraft at the Jagdfliegerschule Werneuchen, where he was highly rated for his marksmanship and his daring approach to conducting mock attacks.

  Finally, he was assigned to a fighter unit, I./JG 333 (later I./JG 54 "Grünherz"), which rearmed from Arado Ar 68 biplanes to Bf 109 Ds during the autumn of 1938 and participated in the occupation of the Czechoslovakian border area.

  Helmut Wick was promoted to the rank of Leutnant in November 1938, and on January 1, 1939, he became a member of JG 133, which was redesignated JG 53 "Pik As" in May 1939. He was assigned to the 1st Staffel, which the legendary Werner Mölders became commander in March. Wick later recalled with great respect the knowledge imparted to him over several months by both Mölders and I. Gruppe commander Hptm. Lothar von Janson. When the Gruppenkommandeur completed Wick's assessment on August 31, 1939, he recommended him for service with I./JG 2 "Richthofen." According to the evaluation, during his eight months with I./JG 53, Wick demonstrated organizational talent and had no interest in anything other than military and aviation subjects. He had exceptionally good eyesight and remained very cool when practicing aerial combat. Initially, he served as the technical officer of the 1st Staffel, and from July 15, he was in charge of training NCO candidates.

  His career with JG 2 is fairly well known. After a year of service in the 3. Staffel, during which he achieved 22 victories and became its commander, he was appointed head of the I. Gruppe in September 1940. Six weeks later, on October 20, he took command of the entire JG 2. The young Kommodore, however, was very focused on his personal score at a time when the Luftwaffe was pulling back from major daily operations against Great Britain. He himself described it as a compulsive, even obsessive, desire to engage the enemy, which likely contributed to his death.

• Höhengruppe

  Text: Jan Bobek

  Illustration: Adam Tooby

  Cat. No. 84169

   

  When III./JG 1 was newly established in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, in April 1943, it did not have an easy start. Some airmen had been transferred from other parts of JG 1.  However, the Stab and one full Staffel of III./JG 1 were created from scratch. The unit was armed with Bf 109 Gs. The first commander was Maj. Karl-Heinz Leesmann (37 victories, Knight's Cross), who, for health reasons, had not participated in combat flights in the past months and had led his previous unit on the Eastern Front "from the ground." A good part of the new members of III./JG 1 came directly from training units. The unit therefore had to devote itself to intensive training in combat operations in June and July. At the same time, though it began to be deployed in combat against four-engine bombers. In one engagement with the Americans, on July 25, 1943, Maj. Leesmann was killed.

  The next CO was Hptm. Robert Olejnik, who had previously led 4./JG 1 within II./JG 1 (formerly I./JG 3). He achieved his 40th victory on August 17, 1943, during the defense against air raids on Regensburg and Schweinfurt, when he shot down a B-17. Yet, III./JG 1 was one of several units to receive harsh criticism from other Jagdgeschwader commanders for their poor performance that day.

  Under a new CO, Hptm. Friedrich Eberle, III./JG 1 became in November the so-called "leichte Gruppe," or light fighter group. Their task was to attack the fighter escorts of American bombers, making it easier for their colleagues in I. and II./JG 1, armed with Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A aircraft, to engage the bomber formations.

  The increasing range and effectiveness of American fighter escorts posed a serious problem for German airmen. Thus the Berlin command hesitated for a long time on how to deal with the escorts. Göring and his staff wanted to concentrate the fighter units as much as possible on attacking the bombers but refused to concentrate their forces in one area. The political directive was clear: some fighter units were to remain in every part of the Reich to maintain the population's morale.

  In late February 1944, it was finally decided that one dedicated Jagdgruppe would be assigned to each fighter division (Jagddivision) within I. Jagdkorps to combat American fighters at high altitude. These were I./JG 3 (within Jagddivision 1), II./JG 11 (JD 2), and III./JG 1 (JD 3). These units were named "Höhengruppen" and were armed with Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-5 and G-6 aircraft equipped with the GM-1 system. From April onwards, priority was given to upgraded Bf 109 G-6/AS machines with DB 605 AS engines.

  Accomplishing this task in the first half of 1944 was extremely difficult. The German pilots faced experienced opponents whose aircraft outperformed even the modified Bf 109s. Occasionally, German formations became targets of their own flak. Enemies also radioed false orders in German, which were sometimes hard to distinguish from their own command's instructions.

  Among the ranks of III./JG 1 at that time were experienced airmen such as Hptm. Lutz-Wilhelm Burkhardt (58 v., KC), Hptm. Alfred Grislawski (133 v., KC with Oak Leaves), and Obfw. Herbert Kaiser (68 v., KC). However, the veterans left no room for the motivated newcomers' illusions. Upon arrival at III./JG 1, surprised young airmen learned, "If you see him (the American) on the right, bail out. If you see him on the left, bail out." Moreover, aerial combat had reached a brutal phase, and German airmen on parachute became targets for American fighters both in the air and on the ground.

  In the first five months of 1944, III./JG 1 achieved 26 victories, mostly against fighter escorts. However, enemy action resulted in the loss of 84 aircraft, and nearly 70 of its airmen were killed or wounded. Its airbase was repeatedly targeted by heavy bomber raids. The commander of III./JG 1, Hptm. Eberle, was sent to a rear ground unit in late April 1944 and was replaced by Maj. Hartmann Grasser (103 v., KC with Oak Leaves). Just before the start of the invasion, Grasser was appointed to head the operational training unit II./JG 110, which probably saved his life.

  In the first half of June, III./JG 1 ceased its role as Höhengruppe and underwent a short deployment in Normandy. It returned to this battlefield after a few weeks and, during July and August, lost 56 aircraft and 53 airmen who were wounded, killed, captured, or missing. In the first eight months of 1944, III./JG 1 thus lost approximately three times its aircrew number. The Luftwaffe no longer had a chance to win the war over Western Europe.

• Markings for ACES of The Eighth 1/72

  P-51D-5, s/n 44-13321, Maj. George Preddy Jr., 487th FS, 352nd FG, Bodney, United Kingdom, July 1944

  The future fighter ace with the highest score achieved on Mustang among all the pilots was born on February 5, 1919, in Greensboro, North Carolina. He had completed the pilot training before the War and tried three times to enlist in the US Navy in 1940. But he was refused every time. For the fourth try he applied to enlist in the USAAC and was accepted in 1940. He completed the fighter training consequently and after his assignment to 49th PS was dispatched to Australia. Flying P-40E in the defense of Darwin he was credited with two Japanese airplanes damaged. In July 1942, after the mid-air collision during the training flight, he was wounded and sent back to the United States. As of September 1943, his next combat assignment awaited him in Europe with 352nd FG, where he was flying P-47 Thunderbolts providing cover for heavy bombers of the 8th AF. In April, the unit converted to P-51 Mustangs. In June, the war photographer snapped Maj. Preddy’s aircraft sporting seventeen kills painted on the aircraft nose in the form of the white crosses. The aircraft lacked any camouflage and sported the blue-painted nose, same as other 352nd FG aircraft. The fuselage and wings were still carrying so-called invasion stripes.

   

  P-51D-10, 44-14221, Maj. Pierce W. McKennon, CO of 335th FS, 4th FG, Debden, United Kingdom, April 1945

  Future Second World War twelve kill ace Pierce Winningham McKennon was born on November 30, 1919, in Clarksville, Arkansas. Although his ability to play the piano awarded him a scholarship at the University of Arkansas, he did not complete studies and entered USAAF in 1941, with the wish to become a fighter pilot. After two months he was let go due to his nausea, but he refused to give up on his dream. He joined the RCAF, where he finished his training and was assigned to an Operational Training Unit in Europe. He was reintegrated into the USAAF on February 22, 1943, with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, and was assigned to the 335th FS, which was flying P-47 at that time, but were later replaced by Mustangs. He was not only an excellent pilot, but due to the piano playing skills he was also a regular invitee to social functions. His final sortie came about during a squadron-wide raid on an air bases around Prague, when his aircraft was hit in the canopy, and a piece of Plexiglass narrowly missed his eye. After the war, he stayed with the Air Force, serving as an instructor. He died together with a student pilot in a crash of their AT-6D near San Antonio, Texas, on June 18, 1947.

   

  P-51D-10, 44-14733, Capt. Ray S. Wetmore, 370th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, United Kingdom, March 1944 

  Ray Shuey Wetmore became one of the most successful Mustang fighter pilots, as he scored 21,25 aerial victories. He was born on September 30, 1923, and upon commissioning in March 1943, he joined the newly formed 359th Fighter Group which was sent to England in October that year. As a member of the 370th FS he scored his first 4.25 victories during February and March 1944. All of them were achieved on the P-47. After retraining to P-51 Wetmore achieved status of ace after he shot down two Bf 109s on May 19, 1944, and by the end of May 1944, the number of Wetmore’s victories raised to 8.25. In a little over a year, he shot down 15 enemy aircraft and was promoted to the rank of Captain. He added more during his second tour of duty, his last victory came on March 15, 1945, near Wittenberg. His victim was a very rare bird, the Me 163 Comet. When chasing this rocket plane, speed of Wetmore’s P-51D reached 600 MPH (965 km/h)! During both operational tours he flew 142 combat missions. His final score was 21.25 aerial victories, one damaged aircraft and 2.33 destroyed on the ground. This made Wetmore the highest scorer within 359th FG and eighth best of all American flying aces in Europe. All of Wetmore’s aircraft sported the “Daddy’ s Girl” name on the nose. He continued to serve with US Air Force after the war. His last appointment was CO of the 59th FIS at Otis AB. On February 14, 1951, Maj. Wetmore took off from Los Angeles in F-86 Sabre to fly it to Otis AB. When he was on his final approach, the plane violently raised nose, then turned towards the ground and crashed. He was reporting handling problems prior to the crash.

   

  P-51D-20, 44-72218, Lt Col. John D. Landers, CO of 78th FG, Duxford, United Kingdom, March 1945

  John Dave Landers was born on August 23rd, 1920, in Joshua, Texas. He joined the Army Air Force in April 1941. After undergoing pilot training, he was assigned to the 9th FS in Australia in January 1942, a unit that flew P-40s. In the Pacific theatre, he gained six aerial victories and in January 1943, he was called back to the United States. There, he served as a flight instructor, but by his own request, he was reassigned to a combat unit in April 1944. That combat unit was the 38th FS based at Wormingford, which flew the P-38s and re-equipped with the P-51s from July 1944. After being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel rank, he took over command duties of the 357th FG, which he led from October to December 1944. After some downtime in the United States, he returned to Great Britain and was named CO of 78th FG, holding this post until the end of the Second World War. In December 1945, he left the military and worked in construction. John Landers passed away on September 12, 1989.

   

  P-51D-5, 44-13316, Maj. Leonard K. Carson, 362nd FS, 357th FG, USAAF Station 373 Leiston, Suffolk, Great Britain, June 1944

  The second top scoring Fighter Group of the 8th USAAF and the top scoring FG equipped with P-51D Mustangs was 357th FG, credited with 609 German aircraft destroyed in the air and 106 on the ground, with their own losses of 128 aircraft. Altogether 35 aces served with the unit. The most successful of them was Major Leonard Kyle “Kit” Carson with 18 aerial victories. He became 362nd FS CO on April 8, 1945. The key to the success of the unit was its fighting academy, called Clobber College, where the experienced pilots taught the newcomers the fighting tactics. The 362nd FS received their P-51Ds just a few days before D-day. Most of the unit’s early Mustangs had upper surfaces camouflaged Dark Green with Neutral Grey bottom surfaces, or Dark Green upper surfaces over the aluminum/natural metal bottom surfaces with border between green and NMF surfaces high on fuselage sides. The colors were probably RAF paints from RAF stock. The “Nooky Booky II” wore full D-day stripes, as the aircraft was delivered to the unit probably around June 6, 1944. The previous name of this plane was “Mildred”. 

   

  P-51D-15, 44-15152, Maj. Donald J. Strait, 361st FS, 365th FG, United Kingdom, February 1945

  Donald Jackson Strait was born on April 28, 1918, in East Orange, new Jersey. He was a baseball player during high school studies, but also was interested in aviation. He took the bother to ride his bicycle eight miles (13 km) to observe flying aircraft and speak to pilots at the Caldwell Wright Airport. He enlisted with the New Jersey National Guard in 1940 and flew observation planes as member of the 119th Observer Squadron prior to entering US Army’s aviation cadet program in 1942. He completed his training in March 1943 as a pilot of P-47 Thunderbolt and was assigned to combat duty in England. He became member of the 356th FG and flew his first operational missions in October 1943 with P-47 he named “Jersey Jerk”. He later gave the same rather unflattering name to his Mustangs. From October 1944 he led 361st Squadron and continued in that role for the rest of the war. Altogether he flew 122 missions and achieved 13,5 aerial victories. Later after the war, in 1968, he was hired by Fairchild- Republic company as an expert for the development of A-10 Thunderbolt II. He passed away on March 30, 2015.          

   

  P-51D-10, 44-14223, Lt. Col. Elwyn G. Righetti, CO of 55th FG, 8th AF, Wormingford, United Kingdom, January 1945

  Elwyn Guido Righetti, also known as “Eager El”, was not only the 55th FG top fighter ace but also the most successful strafing ace in the whole ETO. Righetti joined the 338th FS, 55th FG in October 1944. At the age of 29, he was already a matured pilot, however he lacked the combat experience. Despite his age he was eager and aggressive, so he was able to boost morale of his rather tired group. One of Righetti’s “hobbies” was destroying the locomotives. He also managed to shoot down two Mistels and destroyed several Me 262 jets on the ground. Unfortunately, Righetti’s outstanding achievements were cut short right before the end of war. On April 17, 1945, exactly on his 30th birthday, Righetti was shot down by flak while raiding the airfield near Dresden. He successfully performed the emergency landing and advised his friends over the radio that he was okay, just had broken his nose. Since then, no one ever heard about Righetti again. Supposedly he was murdered by the enraged German civilians. During his short combat career, he scored 7.5 kills and destroyed 35 enemy aircraft on the ground. He flew two personal Mustangs (44-14223 and 44-47222), both of them were decorated with the inscription KATYDID and grasshopper artwork on the port side of the fuselage.

  
  

  P-51D-10, 44-14164, Lt. Urban L. Drew, 375th FS, 361st FG, Little Walden, October 1944

  Urban Leonard Drew was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1924 and received his education at Wayne University and the University of Michigan. He graduated with a degree in Political Science. Three months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Drew enlisted in the USAAF and entered the Aviation Cadet Program in October 1942. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and awarded his pilot wings on October 1, 1943. Instead of combat, he was trained as an instructor for the P-51 Mustang and served in this role with the 56th FS. He went overseas in May 1944 and was assigned to 375th Squadron of the 361st Fighter Group “Yellowjackets”, stationed at RAF Bottisham and later at Little Walden. During his tour Drew completed 75 missions and after leading the A Flight, he was promoted to the role of CO of 375th FS. He was credited with six aerial victories, one destroyed on the ground and one damaged enemy aircraft. He added one special victory, when he destroyed the Blohm & Voss BV 238V-1, the largest aircraft in the world at the time. Another interesting achievement came on October 7, 1944, when Drew shot down two Me 262 jets at Achmer. He remained the only pilot who managed to do so in one mission. He was assigned to the 413th FS of 414th FG flying Thunderbolts at Iwo Jima in 1945. After the war he helped to organize the 127th FG of Michigan ANG and became first the deputy Commander and later was appointed first Adjutant General of the state of Michigan. He stayed in the position until the end of his active duty in 1950.  Urban L. Drew passed away on April 3, 2013.        

   

  P-51D-5, 44-13761, Capt. Jack M. Ilfrey, 79th FS, 20th FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 367 Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, Great Britain, autumn 1944

  Captain Jack Ilfrey became an ace in North Africa, where he claimed 5 kills (plus two damaged enemy aircraft) while flying P-38F “Texas Terror”. He joined 20th FG, 79th FS at USAAF Station Kings Cliffe in England on April 20, 1944 and served as an Operations Officer from June 14, 1944. He claimed two more Bf 109Gs on May 24, flying P-38J “Happy Jack’s go Buggy”. He was shot down behind enemy lines in France on June 12, but he successfully evaded capture walking and cycling 150 miles to Allied lines in Normandy with a help of French civilians. He became 79th FS CO on September 7, leading the unit until December 9, 1944. He completed 142 combat missions over ETO and MTO. The 20th FG did not replace their P-38Js with P-51Cs until July 1944, changing them for P-51Ds shortly afterwards. The early Mustangs of the 20th FG are known to have upper surfaces overpainted with green color, probably with RAF Dark Green, with irregular splitting line between green upper surfaces and silver/natural metal bottom surfaces. The 20th FG was nicknamed “Loco Busters” because the unit made significant number of attacks against railroad network.

   

  P-51D-10, 44-14372, Capt. Kirk B. Everson, 504th FS, 339th FG, 8th AF, Fowlmere, United Kingdom, April 1945

  Kirk Everson’s war career took off in 1945 only. Regardless, he achieved great successes in the numerous diving strikes on the German-occupied airfields. The Mustang he regularly flew was inherited from Richard C. Penrose who had christened it “Beaver Chant” nad Everson renamed it “Mery Belt”. On April 4, 1945, he shared a victory over Me 262 above Parchim. Three days later he shot down a Bf 109 nearby Celle. On April 10, during the strafing attack on the Neuruppin airfield, he destroyed three enemy aircraft and on April 16 three Fw 190 fell victims to his guns at Klatovy airfield. On the following day Everson re-appeared over the Klatovy airfield and this time he claimed the destruction of seven airplanes.

   

  P-51D-5, s/n 44-13677, flown Lt. William G. Cullerton, 357th FS, 355th FG, Steeple Morden, United Kingdom, 1944

  William Cullerton, a native of Chicago, was born on June 2, 1923. He volunteered for the air service on America’s entry into the war, underwent training and flew P-51B and P-51D Mustangs with the 357th FG. On April 8, 1945, he was hit during an attack on the field at Ansbach and was forced to belly-land. He was discovered by German soldiers who shot him in the stomach and left behind. He was found by a German farmer, who, thinking this was a German pilot, took him to the nearest hospital, from where the American was able to escape. After the war, he married Elaine Stephen and in the fifties, he formed Cullerton Co., a maker of outdoor and fishing products. He died on January 12, 2013. Over the course of the Second World War, he destroyed 21 enemy aircraft, five in the air and sixteen on the ground. His aircraft appeared as it was delivered, with the nose and tail painted at unit level in light blue. The nose bore an inscription relating to his fiancée Miss Steve.

   

  P-51D-25, 44-73060, Col. Glenn E. Duncan, 350th FS, 353rd FG, Raydon, United Kingdom, April 1945

  Glenn Emile Duncan was born on May 12, 1918, in Bering, Texas. He enlisted in the aviation Cadet Program of the USAAF on February 9, 1940, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and awarded pilot wings on October 5, 1940. He served as instructor pilot prior and in Panama prior to conversion to P-47 and his assignment to 361st FG and successively to 353rd FG in England. He scored his first victory on September 23, 1943 and was promoted to the rank of Full Colonel in November 1944. He became the ace on December 20 that year when he destroyed a Fw 190 over Rastede. By June 7, 1944, he had accumulated 15,5 kills but a month later he was hit by AA fire and forced to belly-land near Nienburg, Germany. Duncan escaped captivity and joined the Dutch resistance for the time to liberation by Allies. He then rejoined the 353rd FG, now flying P-51s, and served as its CO from April 22 until October 1945. During WW II, Duncan destroyed 19.5 enemy aircraft in aerial combat plus one probable and seven damaged. This made him the most successful ace of 353rd FG. He recorded all his victories with P-47. His P-51D was named “Dove of Peace” like all his P-47s. The name came after the original “Winged Death” did not meet the understanding of the higher brass and Duncan renamed his aircraft sarcastically. The Mustang was number VIII of this name. After the war he became White House Liaison Officer, later he held several commanding posts in Japan and USA and retired on February 1, 1970. Glenn Duncan passed away on July 14, 1998.  

• Markings for P-51B Mustang Birdcage canopy 1/48

  P-51B-15-NA, 43-24857, Capt. Robert M. Barkey, 318th FS, 325th FG, 15th AF, Lesina, Italy, June 1944

  Robert Barkey, after initial training, was assigned to a unit called the “Checkertail Clan” (319th FS, 325th FG) flying P-40s in Africa. After retraining on P-47s in late 1943, he was transferred to Italy with the unit. Barkey’s first victory came on February 22, 1944, when he shot down two Bf 109s, both flown by the aces of the elite German JG 26. After the unit switched to P-51B Mustangs, Barkey scored his fifth and final victory on June 6, 1944. He retired with the rank of Major in 1961. During World War II, he flew 53 combat sorties and achieved five confirmed victories and one probable victory. Barkey’s Mustang number 90 bore his wife Dorothy’s name on the left side of the engine cowling.

   

  P-51B-5-NA, 43-6787, Capt. Gilbert O'Brien, 362nd FS, 357th FG, 8th AF, Leiston, United Kingdom, June 1944

  Gilbert O'Brien was born on August 24, 1916, in Charleston, South Carolina. He joined the Army Reserves in April 1942 and served as an air cadet from August 1942 to May 1943. On May 20, 1943, he qualified as a pilot with the rank of second lieutenant. In 1943 he was assigned to the 362nd Fighter Squadron and by the end of the year had flown 476 hours. He was promoted to lieutenant on March 26, 1944 and to captain in September. He returned to the United States at the end of September. During the war years he scored eight confirmed aerial victories, two of them shared. His personal aircraft was a Mustang named “Shanty Irish”. This Mustang was converted to a two-seater in late 1944 and served with the 364th Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group with the codes C5-H and the inscription “Eager Beaver” on the left side of the engine cowling.

   

  P-51B-10-NA, 42-106730, Capt. John T. Godfrey, 336th FS, 4th FG, 8th AF, Debden, United Kingdom, April 1944

  John Trevor Godfrey, one of the most successful fighter pilots on the European theatre of war, was born in Montreal on March 28, 1922. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in October 1941 and, after training, transferred to the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) in 1943. As a member of the 4th Fighter Group within the 8th Air Force USAAF, Godfrey was a friend and wingman of Don Gentile. Together they were known as “Captains Courageous”, “The Two Man Air Force”, “Messerschmitt Killers”, and “Damon and Pythias”. Godfrey achieved eighteen confirmed kills in combat against the Luftwaffe. On August 24, 1944, he was accidentally shot down by his wingman and captured by the Germans. Shortly before the end of the war, he managed to escape from Stalag Luft III prison camp. After the war, Godfrey served in the Rhode Island State Senate. Godfrey died on June 12, 1958, at his home in Freeport. Godfrey’s autobiography, The Look of Eagles, was published posthumously in 1958.

   

  P-51B-5-NA, 43-6461, 1/Lt Wilson K. Baker Jr, 370th FS, 359th FG, 8th AF, East Waltham, United Kingdom, August 1944

  The Mustang with the red “Hot Pants” inscription was one of three P-51Bs that landed in Sweden on August 4, 1944, while escorting a B-24 against Peenemünde. This was due to a cooling system failure on Division Commander Raymond Lancaster’s aircraft on the return flight, forcing him to fly towards Sweden, where he subsequently made an emergency landing. Along the way, two other Mustangs followed to protect him and ensure he made it to Sweden without incident. When escort pilots saw that Lancaster had reached the Swedish coast, they made their way to England. Over Denmark, however, they encountered a German Messerschmitt Bf 110G, which was radar-guided towards the Mustangs, believing it to be an American bomber, not two fighters in close formation. The German aircraft was therefore attacked and shot down by 2/Lt Wilson Kirby Baker, Jr. flying a P-51B called “Hot Pants”. After the dogfight, both pilots realized that they had used so much fuel that they would have difficulty reaching England soil. Wilson Baker and Richard Rabb were interned at Mullsjö and sent back to England on November 1, 1944. On April 9, 1945, “Hot Pants” was sold to the Swedish Royal Air Force and was assigned the registration number 26002. However, it is almost certain that the aircraft was never painted in Swedish colors and was never flown. Instead, it served as a spare parts stock for other Mustangs and was scrapped on June 16, 1947.

   

  P-51B-10-NA, 42-106501, Col. Charles McCorckle, CO of 31st FG, 15th AF, San Severo, Italy, July 1944

  As a fighter pilot in World War II, Charles “Sandy” McCorkle commanded fighter groups in two theaters of war. He was one of only seventeen American pilots to achieve ace status flying the British Spitfire. In 1942, at age 27, he became the youngest colonel in the Army Air Corps. Charles McCorkle was born in Newton, North Carolina in 1915. He was accepted to the U.S. Military Academy in 1932 and graduated in June 1936. A year later he graduated from the Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field, Texas, and was assigned as a fighter pilot to the 24th Pursuit Squadron. At the beginning of World War II, he was transferred to the 54th Fighter Group (P-39) at Harding Field and Alaska. He assumed command of the 54th Fighter Group on June 3, 1942. In July 1943, McCorkle assumed command of the 31st Fighter Group (flying Spitfires and later P-51s) in Sicily. He participated in the air actions during the landings at Salerno and Anzio, fighter support of air attacks in Italy and Central Europe, and other typical missions assigned to fighter units during this period. When he returned to the United States and received a new assignment as Chief of Staff of First Fighter Command at Mitchel Field, he was credited with eleven victories, five of them were achieved with Mk. VIII Spitfires and six with P-51Bs.

   

  P-51B-1, 43-12405, Col. David L. Hill, CO of 23rd FG, 14th AF, China, 1944

  David Lee “Tex” Hill was born on July 13, 1915, in Kwangju, Korea, to American missionaries. He entered the Navy in 1938 as an air cadet and earned his air wings in 1939 after graduating from Pensacola NAS. He was first assigned to Torpedo Squadron 3, flying the TBD Devastator from USS Saratoga (CV-3), then flew with Bombing Squadron 4, flying the SB2U Vindicator from USS Ranger (CV-4). In 1941 he was transferred to China to the Flying Tigers, where he flew first as a squadron leader and then as commander of 2nd Squadron AVG flying 250 combat hours in the P-40 Tomahawk. He was credited with 13 destroyed Japanese aircraft. In July 1942 the AVG disbanded, and Hill remained until the end of 1942 as commander of the 75th Fighter Squadron and assumed command of the 23rd Fighter Group later. He returned to the US in November 1944. In all, Hill scored 19 confirmed kills plus more than 20 probable ones and spent the rest of the war as commander of the 412th Fighter Group, operationally testing the first Bell YP-59 and Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star jets. In 1945, he left the Army Air Corps and joined the Texas Air National Guard to command the 58th Fighter Wing, becoming the youngest brigadier general ever to serve in the National Guard.

• Markings for Bf 109G-6/AS 1/48

  9./JG 1, Paderborn, Germany, May 1944

  The Bf 109G-6/AS was developed to intercept enemy aircraft at higher altitudes. This accounts for the camouflage paint consisting of just RLM 76. At unit level, these aircraft often received additional coats of then standard colors consisting of RLM 74 and RLM 75 over the side and upper surfaces. The JG 1 unit emblem was applied to the nose, and this was a winged numeral 1 inside of a square, rotated to sit on one of its corners. On period photographs of Yellow 14, the red fuselage band is clearly visible, signifying the fact that this aircraft served within the Defense of the Reich system. The vertical bar located within it was a designator for III. Gruppe planes and was always rendered in the Staffel color. This was, in the case of the 9. Staffel, yellow. Some sources conclude that the fuselage code of Yellow 14 covered the earlier applied numeral 3, while others suggest that the covered designation was either the factory applied TO or TQ. We are offering both possibilities. 

   

  WNr. 412179, Uffz. Horst Petzschler, 2./JG 3, Burg near Magdeburg, Germany, May 1944

  Horst Petzschler was born in Berlin on September 1, 1921, and joined the Luftwaffe on April 1, 1941. After undergoing fighter pilot training, he was assigned to JG 51 on August 23, 1943, and it was there he would gain his first three kills. On April 13, 1944, he was transferred to 2./JG 3 which was a component of the Defence of the Reich structure, but by June 1944, he would return to JG 51 on the Eastern Front. On May 4, 1945, III./JG 51 was relocated to Schleswig-Holstein from eastern Prussia. Horst Petzschler did not reach that location due to a navigation error and landed at Bulltofta in Sweden, where he was interned and in January 1946, the Swedes handed him over to the Soviets. He was released from captivity on September 22, 1949. On his return, he worked for the Berlin Police Department and in 1953, he emigrated to Canada and then to the United States, where he worked in the aviation industry. He retired in 1988. Over the course of the Second World War, he downed 26 enemy aircraft. During his service with 2./JG 3, Uffz. Petzschler flew an aircraft coded Black 14. The aircraft was painted RLM 76 overall at the plant and carried the JG 3 insignia on the nose. On May 30, 1944, Fw. Otto Bülsow was shot down during combat in this airplane over Belzig. 

   

  Hptm. Friedrich-Karl Müller, CO of 1./NJGr. 10, Werneuchen, Germany, July 1944

  The future Knight’s Cross recipient, the ace with 30 night victories over the enemy aircraft, was born on December 4, 1912, in Sulzbach in Saarland. In 1934 he completed his pilot training and got the job with Lufthansa. After the outbreak of World War Two he was ordered to the Luftwaffe. Initially he was flying as a transport pilot, later as an instrument flying instructor. In December 1942 he was assigned to KG 50 operating He 177 aircraft, in the summer of the following year he responded to Hajo Hermann call and requested the reassignment to JG 300 famous for its Wilde Sau (single-engine fighter night interception deployment) tactics. While serving with this unit he was credited with 19 kills and in January 1944 he was ordered to form 1./NJGr. 10. In August 1944 he was promoted to command I./NJG 11 and lead this unit until the end of World War II. He passed away on November 2, 1987. The lower and partially side surfaces were painted black for the better night camouflage. The red stripe surrounding the rear fuselage indicated the original owner of this aircraft within Reich Defense, JG 300.The pilot’s “score” was painted on both sides of the rudder in the form of the 23 stripes with the enemy nationality and date of the victory.

   

  MT-463, ylik. Tapio Järvi, 2/HLeLv 24, Lappeenranta, Finland, July/August 1944

  Among the deliveries of Bf 109G-2 and G-6 fighters to Germany’s ally Finland were two G-6/AS version aircraft. In the Finnish Air Force, these were coded MT-463 and MT-471. MT-463 was delivered on June 28, 1944, and was assigned to HLeLv 24, where it was flown by, among other pilots, ylikersantti (Technical Sergeant) Järvi, who used it to shoot down two of his total 27 victims. A further five kills with this aircraft were claimed by another four pilots. The Bf 109G-6/AS did not represent any major advantage for the Finnish Air Force, because the majority of air combat with the Soviets took place at altitudes below 3,000 m. The DB 605AS, which powered the type, was designed to offer advantages at high altitudes. The camouflage scheme of this aircraft consisted of sprayed RLM 74/75/76 with the blue swastikas on white discs on the fuselage and wing positions. The code MT-463 appeared on the fuselage ahead of the tail surfaces. The yellow number of the aircraft within the unit was applied between the fuselage code and the cockpit. There are no available photographs of this aircraft during its combat career with HLeLv 24, but from other period photographs of other such aircraft, the list of aircraft numbers for this specific plane has been reduced to 2, 4 or 6.

   

  MT-463, HLeLv 31, Utti, Finland, summer 1948

  The end of the fights with the Soviet Union brought a ceasefire from September 5, 1944. One of conditions of the ceasefire was a change in the marking of the Finnish aircraft – the blue swastika was substituted by cockade bearing Finnish national colors, i.e., blue and white. Pilots of Messerschmitts Bf 109G from Lentolaivue 24 achieved 304 victories in aerial combats and kept these aircraft during the period of peacetime duties. From December 4, 1944, the planes served with HLeLv 31, which is still active today. The pilots of this squadron fly F-18C Hornets at present time.

  The aircraft concerned is the same as the one portrayed in the paint scheme D, though, used in the post-war service – this is proved by the national insignia in Finnish national colors introduced from April 1, 1945. The marking of the aircraft is accompanied by the painting of the bat placed on the blue cloud and the moon – marking of the HLeLv 31 night fighters. The moon used to be white or yellow; MT-463 had the white one. The rudder was repainted most likely with the Finnish olive green color.

• Markings for Bf 109E-4 1/32

  WNr. 5344, Maj. Helmut Wick, CO of JG 2, Beaumont, France, November 1940

  The appearance of this aircraft falls to the period when it was flown by Maj. Helmut Wick. At the time it had undergone many modifications to the camouflage scheme and tactical markings. The changes mirrored not only Wick’s raise through the ranks from Staffel leader to Gruppe leader and then to commanding officer of JG 2, but also the prescribed changes to Luftwaffe camouflage specifications in the second half of 1940. Our reconstruction of the aircraft shows appearance of the final guise, when Maj. Wick was killed in combat with Spitfires on November 28, 1940, after achieving his 58th victory. The aircraft carried a standard scheme of RLM 02/71/65. The light blue fuselage sides were darkened with a light overspray of RLM 71, which was applied with the blunt end of a brush. The yellow rudder was similarly dulled. The yellow rudder and nose segments were part of later marking modifications. The fuselage retains evidence of the double chevron marking denoting the CO of the Gruppe. Besides the tactical markings, the JG 2 unit insignia was carried below the cockpit, and on the front fuselage, there was another one of Wick’s original 3. Staffel. The pilot’s personal emblem, the flying kingfisher, was partly oversprayed with the Kommodor insignia, over which the emblem was partially reconstructed. This aircraft had the armored windscreen removed towards the end of its career but was still mounted when Wick led I./JG 2. Many JG 2 Emils, including Wick’s 5344, had the fuselage insignia crosses with accentuated black border at the expense of the white segments, while those on the bottom of the wing were modified as indicated in our illustrations.

   

  WNr. 5587, Ofw. Fritz Beeck, 6./JG 51, Wissant, France, August 1940

  This aircraft was lost after noon of August 28, 1940, in the vicinity of East Langdon with Ofw. Fritz Beeck at the controls. It happened during the second escort mission of the day that culminated in combat with RAF fighters in which the engine of Yellow 10 was hit. After an unavoidable belly landing the aircraft stayed in relatively good shape, but civilian vandals and allied soldiers changed this state before it could be inspected by RAF experts. The aircraft sported simple but effective camouflage. Light blue sides of the RLM 02/71/65 fuselage scheme were sprayed with the upper surface colors. Yellow identification colors, typical for mid-August 1940, were applied to the wing tips, horizontal tail surfaces, and top of the fin. As the aircraft belonged to 6. Staffel, tactical numbering and the background II./JG 51 “Gott strafe England” emblem were yellow. Three victory tabs on the left side were in white. It cannot be ruled out that these were also applied on the right side, but there is no known evidence of this.

   

  Lt. Josef Eberle, 9./JG 54, the Netherlands, August 1940

  Ground personnel of JG 54 created very interesting camouflage schemes on the unit’s aircraft in summer of 1940. They applied vertical to diagonal lines of RLM 71 in an attempt to darken the light blue fuselage sides. The standard scheme of RLM 02/71/65 was applied, along with the quick identification markings. The period scheme was applied also to Yellow 13, with which Lt. Josef Eberle managed to cross the Channel and belly land in France despite personal injury on August 12, 1940. The wingtips and fin of Eberle’s aircraft were painted RLM 27 Yellow, which was lighter shade than RLM 04 of the spinner, tactical number and background of the III./JG 54 emblem. The bottom wing color RLM 65 extended marginally to the upper surfaces. Some sources erroneously identify this aircraft as an E-3. Despite having tempted fate once over the Channel, Josef Eberle was not as successful on October 9, 1940, when he lost his life in combat with RAF fighters.

   

  WNr. 1480, Oblt. Franz von Werra, II./JG 3, Wierre-au-Bois, France, September 1940

  This “Emil” became the subject of a fascinating event that delivered the first German ace Oblt. Franz von Werra into British hands. On the morning of September 5, 1940, Franz von Werra was shot down over Kent. He managed a successful belly landing and was taken prisoner of war. His plane was scrutinized by RAF experts. Von Werra attempted to escape on several occasions, and finally succeeded during transfer to a POW camp in Canada. He managed to go through the United States to South America, and then back to Germany, where he rejoined the Luftwaffe. He served on both the eastern and western fronts but had strict orders to avoid the shores of England. The Channel, nevertheless, proved fateful for him when, on October 25, 1941, as CO of I./JG 53, he vanished. Aircraft WNr. 1480 carried the standard camouflage of RLM 02/71/65 with white identification markings. These included the rudder and wingtips. The RAF report suggests that the engine cowl was in RLM 65 and looked cleaner than the rest of the airframe. It may have been a replacement off another aircraft. The tail surfaces carried victory marks (eight aerial and five on the ground). Positioning of them was different on each side of the fin. The RLM 65 color extended to the upper surfaces of the leading edge wing.

   

  WNr. 5819, Obstlt. Adolf Galland, CO of JG 26, Audembert, France, December 1940

  Adolf Galland flew the illustrated Emil in the fall of 1940 to the beginning of 1941 as CO of III. Gruppe, and later of the entire JG 26. The tactical markings on the aircraft kept pace with the changes during this period. The standard camouflage of RLM 02/71/65 was darkened on the fuselage sides with RLM 02/71. The yellow cowling was complemented by the yellow rudder that also bore the kill marks. The surface area of the original RLM 65 was not enough for them and the yellow was oversprayed with fresh RLM 65 for the next row of kill marks. The most typical changes for WNr. 5819 at this time came with the personal emblem of Mickey Mouse and most of all the installation of the ZFR-4 telescope (installed together with the regular Revi). It didn’t serve as an gunsight but for the identification of distant aircraft. Galland replaced Werner Mölders who commanded the German fighter force as General der Jagdflieger. Later on, he became famous for locking horns with Hermann Göring. He established JV 44 at the end of the war, the famous unit well known for its Me 262 jet fighters and colorful Fw 190D piston fighters. Galland managed to shoot down 104 enemy airplanes and was awarded with Knight Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds.

• Tail End Charlie

  Complaints and Praises

  Text: Jakub Nademlejnský

  
  

  After returning from the IPMS USA National Convention 2024, held in Madison, Wisconsin, I was determined to write about the the most impactful moment that I experienced during the trip. No matter how much I think about it, what struck me most this year was the level of popularity we enjoyed from the American modelers at the event. I'll try to convey this to you through several examples. Throughout the year, I man the Eduard booth at many modeling exhibitions, where I meet and chat with large number of modelers, so I have heard a lot of opinions I can evaluate.

   But before I get deeper into the positive feeback from the American modelers, I’d like to mention the attitude of "our folks", Czech and Slovak modelers. In my opinion, they criticize and complain the most. And I don't mean it in a negative way, that seems to be their „habit“. They complain about mistakes in the designs, instructions, camouflage schemes, basically any component of our business you can think of. On Modelforum (Czech scale modeling board), in the section dedicated to discussions about Eduard, which my colleagues and myself monitor closely, every day we read about what we've done wrong and how we constantly need to improve. Of course, modelers are our customers, and they have every right to do so. I believe that thanks to the negative feedback from our customers, we are constantly moving forward and improving, and I hope that not only Czech and Slovak modelers appreciate this.

   Now let's talk about the Americans. The IPMS USA Nationals is unique, primarily because it runs the longest, from Wednesday to Saturday, with companies setting up their booths as early as Tuesday afternoon. By Tuesday afternoon, we already knew that our inventory wouldn't arrive until Wednesday morning, which meant we couldn't start selling at Wednesday lunchtime when the event officially begins. The first modelers who arrived were surprised to see us sitting in one of the largest booths at the exhibition with empty tables. As soon as they learned that our merchandise wouldn't arrive until around eight in the evening, many of them immediately offered to help us set up the booth and bring in our products in the evening. Throughout the afternoon, we received so many offers of help that I was worried we would be getting in each other's way that evening. When the supplies finally arrived around seven in the evening, there was already a well-organized group of volunteers at the loading dock who helped us offloading the boxes until ten in the evening, full of enthusiasm and smiling. By Thursday, we were finally able to start selling. So many modelers came by, praised us, admired us, said they loved Eduard, that they loved us—I had never experienced anything like it. Next to me, at the cash register, colleague of mine, chief designer Stan Archman, was autographing his creations, one signature after another. After a while, the modelers even gave him a silver color marker. Stan even has his own fan club among American modelers! I have to admit, we felt great among them (we even received a case of beer to enjoy the evening after the busy days at the exhibition, which were indeed demanding, especially after the crowds of modelers rushed to buy August new releases, mainly Mustangs and the 1/48 scale limited edition of B-17F). With this wonderful vibes and in a great environment, more than ever before, we were proud of our accomplishments and felt motivated to work even harder in the future, never mind endless complaints and nitpicking. Make no mistake, the American modelers have been critical as well. They just somehow presented their „case“ in a more polite and friendly manner!

  
  

• Air War in Ukraine

  Ukrainian Su-27. It’s a refurbished airplane sporting the early camouflage.

  
  

  One Su-57 Less

  Text: Miro Barič

   

  In this installment, we will cover the period from June 1 to June 30. Both sides were preparing for the anticipated inclusion of F-16 fighter jets in the Ukrainian Air Force. The Ukrainian side continued clearing the airspace for them, targeting Russian airfields, radars, and air defense systems. In one of these operations, they managed to strike the latest Russian Su-57 fighter jet. Russia also attempted massive attacks on Ukrainian airfields where it expected the F-16s to be deployed.

  The Akhtubinsk base after the Ukrainian attack on June 8. The Maxar satellite image shows three Su-57s, and at the very bottom, there is an aircraft silhouette painted on the surface to confuse drones.

  A close-up of a damaged Su-57. In front of and behind it, to the left, there are traces of drone explosions. It is also visible that a shelter was being constructed for the airplane just before the attack.

  
  

   We begin with a recap of Ukrainian attacks. On the night of Wednesday, June 5, to Thursday, June 6, Ukrainian drones attacked the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia's Rostov region. A large fire broke out after the strike. The refinery's anti-drone defenses, including metal cages and nets around the facility, proved ineffective.

  On Saturday, June 8, Ukrainian drones appeared over North Ossetia for the first time. Their target was the Mozdok air base, out of which Tu-22M3 and MiG-31K aircraft operate. The base is located more than 700 kilometers from the front line in Ukraine. Russian authorities initially announced that three attacking drones were shot down and no damage occurred. However, social media later showed photos of drone debris indicating that at least six drones attacked (as there were that many engines in the photos). Sergey Menyaylo, head of the North Ossetia republic, later admitted to minor damages and fires, though details were not disclosed. Satellite images from June 12 captured traces of fires likely caused by the drone impacts, although they were far from the aircraft parking areas, which were empty as the Russians had evacuated their planes after the Ukrainian attack.

   

  Expensive Prey

   On the same day, June 8, Ukrainian drones also attacked the Akhtubinsk base in Russia's Astrakhan region, located 600 kilometers from the front line. In this operation, they managed to damage the most modern Russian fighter jet, the Sukhoi Su-57, with shrapnel. The 929th State Flight Test Center V. P. Chkalov is based in Akhtubinsk, where Su-57 planes were undergoing tests. They were parked in an uncovered area. Satellite images show two craters and burnt areas near one Su-57, just a few meters away from the aircraft, and even Russian Telegram channels acknowledged it was hit by shrapnel. Only a detailed inspection would reveal whether it could be repaired or was too damaged to be salvaged. Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) reported that another Su-57 was also hit, but sustained only minor, repairable damage.

   The following day, Sunday, June 9, marked a milestone for the Ukrainian Air Force as they launched their first attack on Russian territory using manned aircraft. The Russian command building in Belgorod was hit, likely using Western-guided munitions. Several countries had recently lifted restrictions on using such munitions on Russian soil in response to Russian attacks on the Ukrainian Kharkiv region.

   Attacks on Russian air defense systems also continued. On Monday, June 10, two S-300 systems in Yevpatoria and the Tarkhankut Peninsula, and an S-400 system in Dzhankoy on occupied Crimea, were hit. On Tuesday, June 11, two radars – one from an S-300 and one from an S-400 system – in Belbek, also on occupied Crimea, were struck.

   On the night of Friday, June 14, at least 70 Ukrainian drones attacked the Morozovsk airfield in the Rostov region of southern Russia. This strategically important base, home to Su-34 aircraft, had already faced attacks in April 2024. This time, too, Russia claimed to have intercepted and shot down all Ukrainian drones. However, Morozovsk residents reported explosions and fires, and satellite images after the attack revealed damage to a hangar and two Su-34 aircraft visible through holes in the roof. Near the hangar, there were burnt areas and fuel spill marks on the parking area. It is possible another aircraft was damaged and towed away before the satellite flyover.

   During this mass attack, an air defense training center in Yeysk on the Russian side of the Azov Sea was also hit. One building was completely destroyed, and another was damaged. Ukrainian sources suggested the destroyed building might have housed up to 120 Iranian Shahed-136 drones, which Russia uses for attacks on Ukrainian cities. Four refineries in the Krasnodar region were also struck simultaneously.

   A Tu-22M3 bomber in a photograph released by the Russian Ministry of Defense. The same type was stationed at the Mozdok base.

  
  

  The S-500 Failed

   In response to attacks on Russian air defense, the latest S-500 system, Triumphator, was deployed to occupied Crimea in the first half of the monitored period. However, its combat debut was an absolute failure. On Sunday, June 23, the ATACMS missile targeted the NIP-16 space communication complex in Vitino village near Yevpatoria. Built in 1958 iduring the USSR era, it served the Soviet space program. After the Crimea occupation, Russia took control and used it to communicate with military satellites for detecting Ukrainian targets and guiding bombs to them. Despite the complex being protected by the S-500 system, at least four ATACMS missiles breached the defense and hit the space communication station NIP-16.

   On the same day, a tragedy occurred on the beach near Sevastopol. Missile parts fell into a crowd of vacationers. Official reports state that five people, including three children, died, and around 120 were injured. Russian authorities accused Ukraine of targeting civilians on the beach and the USA of providing coordinates for the beach to the ATACMS missile. Both claims are dubious. If the ATACMS missile with cluster munitions had indeed targeted vacationers directly, there would have been many more victims. The Russians themselves cast doubt on this by stating that the ATACMS missiles were intercepted, and only debris from one missile fell on the beach.

   Russian social media also showed photos indicating that debris from a Russian air defense missile hit the beach. This incident highlighted the fact that Russians place radars and launchers near the beach, increasing the risk to vacationers.

   On Friday, June 28, the S-500 battery itself came under attack. According to the Ukrainian side, an ATACMS missile hit its positions near the Dzhankoy airport, destroying the Russian system's radar. Satellite imagery recorded a fierce fire at the site where the battery was deployed. However, this information remains unconfirmed.

   Debris of the Su-25SM with the designation RF-91968 and fuselage number "blue 09," which had been possibly shot down back in 2022, but the wreckage was only found now.

  
  

  Russian Losses in the Air

   The shooting down of a Russian Su-25 in the Donetsk region on the same day also remains unconfirmed. The Ukrainian National Guard captured it on an murky video, showing smoke after the aircraft was hit. Confirmation of the kill may come much later. On June 7, 2024, photos of the Su-25SM wreck with the RF-91968 marking and tail number “blue 09” were released for the first time. It was reportedly shot down in the Kherson region in 2022, and the pilot ejected. Russian soldiers only found its wreckage now, thus revealing its photos and confirming the kill.

   Two Russian air losses during the monitored period are confirmed. The first occurred on Tuesday, June 11, in North Ossetia. During a training flight in the Alagir region’s mountain valley, a Su-34 aircraft crashed. Both pilots died. The official cause was technical failure (possibly exacerbated by inadequate maintenance during the war), though various other speculations emerged.

   On Friday, June 21, during a massive Ukrainian drone attack, a Kamov Ka-29 helicopter of the Russian Navy Air Force was destroyed over the Black Sea near Anapa in Krasnodar Krai. All four crew members perished. According to several Russian sources, they were mistakenly hit by a missile from the Russian Pantsir system, which was countering Ukrainian drones. It is also possible that the Ka-29 was on a mission against Ukrainian naval drones, which hit it with an anti-aircraft missile. We previously reported that they started carrying them.

   The training center in Yeisk on satellite images from Planet Labs – see condition before the attack above and below after the Ukrainian attack. The building on the left was hit in the upper part, and the warehouse on the right was completely destroyed.

  The Russian Morozovsk base after the attack by more than 70 Ukrainian drones on June 14. The image was taken by Planet Labs.

  Close-up of a hangar with a broken roof, through which a pair of Su-34s can be seen.

  Below the damaged hangar, a large fuel spill can be seen on the surface, possibly from another damaged aircraft.

  
  

  Ukrainian Losses

   During the monitored period, the Ukrainian side did not suffer any aerial losses. However, Ukrainian airfields were repeatedly under Russian fire, resulting in damage to several aircraft. The first target in June was the civilian airport in Odessa. On Wednesday, June 5, photos were released showing the destruction of private acrobatic aircraft Su-31M with registration UR-TOP and Extra EA300SC with registration UR-WIN. An ultra-light aircraft Aeroprakt A-22 Foxbat was also damaged in the stricken hangar.

   The following day, Thursday, June 6, a video was released showing a Lancet suicide drone attacking a Ukrainian Su-25 at Kryvyi Rih airfield in the Dnipropetrovsk region. On Monday, June 10, a Su-27, likely a two-seat UB version, was destroyed in a Russian missile attack on the Myrhorod base in the Poltava region. On the same day, another Lancet attack at Kryvyi Rih destroyed another Su-25. In both cases, it is unclear whether the aircraft were operational, decommissioned, or decoys. The use of well-crafted decoys as bait for Russian drones at Kryvyi Rih airfield was documented back in November 2023.

   Although there were almost no jet aircraft encounters and no such incidents were recorded during the monitored period, battles between Ukrainian propeller-driven planes and Russian reconnaissance drones were intense. These engagements, reminiscent of World War I, were captured in several videos. Photos also documented the successes of the Yak-52 crew, marking their victories on the aircraft's fuselage. This primitive but effective tactic involved the pilot of the training aircraft approaching the drone as closely as possible, and the second crew member shooting it down with a machine gun from the rear cockpit.

   A hangar at the civilian airport in Ukrainian Odessa, where two private acrobatic aircraft were destroyed, and at least one ultralight was damaged.

  
  

  Mirage to the Rescue

   At the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landing, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that Ukraine would receive Mirage 2000 fighters. It should be the 5F version, which entered service in the French Air Force in 2000. It features a new cockpit with several large displays replacing most instruments, an improved radar, and the capability to carry targeting pods. This version is optimized for air-to-air combat, carrying MICA missiles with a range of 60 to 80 km. However, it can also carry weapons against ground targets, which Ukraine already uses – SCALP-EG (Storm Shadow) missiles and Hammer guided bombs.

   It is not yet known how many aircraft Paris will supply to Ukraine. The French Air Force has fewer than 30 Mirage 2000-5F in service, with more in reserve. The War Zone portal speculates whether France might try to reclaim fighters previously exported to other countries. For instance, Greece has hinted at wanting to get rid of its Mirage 2000-5s since it recently ordered new F-35 aircraft. Ukrainian pilots are expected to retrain on French fighters within 12 months.

   For now, the Mirage 2000 remains a future prospect, and the F-16 deliveries have yet to begin, although they are imminent. The only fighter jets Ukraine has received from allies so far are MiG-29s delivered from Poland and Slovakia. At the end of the monitored period, the first photograph of an ex-Slovak aircraft with its tail number emerged. Until now, all such images had been retouched.

   The photo shows a two-seat MiG-29UBS, which sported the bort the number 1303 in the Slovak Air Force. It retains its typical fishbone camouflage on the fuselage spine. The original Slovak number on the tail has been painted over in a slightly different shade of grey. In addition to the yellow-blue marking, the aircraft now has a new number – white 80. This number is on the side of the intake openings and in smaller format on the vertical tail surface.

  A Ukrainian air defense system with kill markings indicating the battery’s achievements.

  A Ukrainian MiG-29 from the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade inventory.

  A Ukrainian MiG-29 pilot showing a tattoo during flight.

  A Ukrainian Su-27 with HARM missiles viewed from the cockpit of another aircraft.

  A Ukrainian Yak-52 and its pilot in combat against the drones.

  Images from the Russian drones taken during the combat with Yak-52.

  A close-up of kill marks on the side of the Yak-52. The aircraft, originally with civilian registration UR-ODS and named Aleksandra, has its crew credited with shooting down eight drones. The symbols at the bottom indicate that the Yak-52 crew witnessed one Russian drone destroyed in a collision with a bird and another by a storm.

  The former Slovak MiG-29UBS (ex 1303) now bears the number "white 80" in the Ukrainian Air Force.

• Bernie Lay and Piccadilly Lily

  detail of Piotr Forkasiewicz's artwork for Eduard kit No.11183 B-17F "The Bloody Hundredth 1943". On the co-pilot's seat of Piccadilly Lily sits Lt.Col. Bernie Lay.

  
  

  Text: Jan Zdiarský

  
  

  The ‘Double Strike’ mission of the 8th AF on Schweinfurt and Regensburg on August 17th, 1943 is among the most famous air operations of World War II in Europe. Not perhaps in so much as its scope, where it was surpassed many times during the months that followed, but in its significance in the development of strategic bombing attack planning and, above all, in terms of losses. Of the 376 B-17s involved, sixty were lost and over ninety others were seriously damaged for the loss of thirty German fighters.

  Many stories are born from such monumental events. Some of them will be forgotten forever, because after a few minutes after their creation, there is sadly no one left to tell them. Other stories, though seemingly insignificant at first, later reveal their full impact as to become unforgettable. One such example, from a chain of events that began to form several thousand feet above Germany on August 17th, 1943, was the story of American pilot and writer Col. Bernie Lay. His name has been mentioned by us several times recently in connection with the Limited Edition kit of the B-17F, ‘The Bloody Hundredth 1943’ and specifically in the historical notebook we issued on Piccadilly Lily, on which Col. Lay completed the mission on August 17th, 1943. In addition to Piccadilly Lily, a total of twenty-one B-17Fs from the 100th BG took part in this mission, four of which are represented in the aforementioned kit.

   

  Col. Bernie Lay was just shy of 34 years of age when the 100th BG took off for Regensburg, older than most 8th AF combat airmen. He had an interesting military and writing career, and although he had not been trained on USAAF four-engine bombers, he was certainly not new to flying.

  He was born on September 1st, 1909 in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. After graduating from Yale University in 1931, he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps and completed flight training between July 1932 and June 1933, from which he emerged with the rank of Second Lieutenant (2nd Lt). He was assigned to the 20th BS (which, a few years later, as part of the 2nd Bomb Group, 15th AF, also participated in the battles over central Europe). Here he flew twin-engined biplanes in the form of the Keystone B-6 and Curtiss B-2 Condor bombers. At the beginning of 1934, he became involved in the affair known as the ‘Air Mail scandal’, when the AAF was used, thanks to a specially passed law to transport mail, which was understood, among other things, to be a corrupt interference of the business environment and piled on itself several related problems. The scandal, fueled by the deaths of several army airmen in crashes in bad weather, was more of a political affair. But it also had an impact on the army pilots themselves. Fed up with the fuss and press coverage of the event after the failed project, Bernie Lay retired from active duty in the AAF. Although he remained in the rank of Lieutenant (1st Lt.) in the army reserves, he devoted himself to civilian life. He contributed articles to several magazines and newspapers, which he began to devote himself to during his service in the Air Force.

  Flying Cadet Bernie Lay during basic training (1932-1933). The aircraft in the background is a Douglas BT-2 from the Army Air Corps Primary Flying School, Randolph Field, TX. Lay completed his training on February 28, 1933. (Photo: OMPF)

  2nd Lt. Bernie Lay, after completing his flight training, served in the 20th BS at Langley Field. (Photo: Dennis Duffy) 

  Curtiss B-2 Condor

  
  

  He became editor-in-chief of The Sportsman Pilot magazine in 1936, and a year later published his autobiographical book, ‘I Wanted Wings’. He was immediately approached by Hollywood producers to prepare a film adaptation of the book. He worked on it for three years, and although the result was rather disappointing for Lay, as his work was taken up by a group of screenwriters who changed it to a large extent in typical Hollywood fashion, the new experience brought him the acquaintance of new people, among them his first wife, Philippe Ludwell Lee.

  Tensions, spreading in Europe in the late 1930s, erupted into World War II on Lay's thirtieth birthday. Shortly thereafter, he returned to military service at his own request and served as a flight instructor at Chino, California.

  A book he had written a few years earlier, which had since become a bestseller, introduced him to a fellow writer, Col. Ira Eaker, then the commander of the Air Corps Information Division. Eaker arranged for Lay's transfer to the staff of the U.S. Army Air Corps in Washington, where he was promoted to the rank of captain and worked in the PR section of General Henry H. Arnold, commander of the US Army Air Force.

  Keystone B-6

  The Sportsman pilot, 1936 magazine cover.

  
  

  When Ira Eaker became a general in 1942 and was entrusted with building the 8th AF, he took Bernie Lay with him to work as historian and unit documentation commander. The status between Lay and Hollywood, with whom he had entered into a partnership a few years earlier, also changed. He now commanded Hollywood directors who worked on film reports from the battlefield. He thus saw with his own eyes the first steps of the 8th AF, the ups and downs, the difficulties in building a position and promoting the idea of ​​the importance of heavy bombers and their daily missions. One of the films created in his section was the 40-minute documentary ‘The Memphis Belle - A Story of a Flying Fortress’ which was shot in the spring of 1943 by Maj. William Wyler. However, even before this film was completed, Bernie Lay was tired of sitting behind a desk. Although he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and a career at the top of the army air force certainly awaited him, he asked to be transferred from the air force staff to combat duty. Also thanks to having rubbed shoulders with important commanders, his request was granted in the summer of 1943. Due to his age and previous experience, he was offered command of one of the nascent air units. First, however, real combat experience had to be gained. The choice fell on the 100th Bomb Group, which from June 1943 flew from East Anglia USAAF base No. 139 near the village of Thorpe Abbotts. This is where Bernie Lay went ‘for some experience’. With a rank among the highest in Thorpe Abbotts, but no experience on heavy four-engined aircraft, he was to fly several combat missions as an observer or co-pilot. Out of five missions flown, the first four were pretty standard, while the fifth would become impossible to forget....

  Grafton Underwood Air Base, August 17, 1942: Men from the 8th Air Force HQ observe the return of B-17s from the Eighth’s first combat mission to the marshalling yard at Rouen, France. Standing to the left of the ladder is General Carl A. Spaatz. Directly above the open window on the left is Bernie Lay, head of the command's history and film section. (Photo: Freeman Collection)

  
  

  The best way to tell this story is to let Bernie tell it himself in his own words. The following is from his article ‘I saw Regensburg destroyed’ published in The Saturday Evening Post on October 6, 1943:

   In the briefing room, the intelligence officer of the bombardment group pulled a cloth screen away from a huge wall map. Each of the 240 sleepy-eyed combat-crew members in the crowded room leaned forward. There were low whistles. I felt a sting of anticipation as I stared at the red string on the map that stretched from our base in England to a pin point deep in Southern Germany, then south across the Alps, through the Brenner Pass to the coast of Italy, then past Corsica and Sardinia and south over the Mediterranean to a desert airdrome in North Africa. You could have heard an oxygen mask drop.

  “Your primary,” said the intelligence officer, “is Regensburg. Your aiming point is the center of the Messerschmitt 109 G aircraft-and-engine-assembly shops. This is the most vital target we’ve ever gone after. If you destroy it, you destroy thirty per cent of the Luftwaffe’s single-engine-fighter production. You fellows know what that means to you personally.”

  There were a few hollow laughs. After the briefing, I climbed aboard a jeep bound for the operations office to check up on my Fortress assignment. The stars were dimly visible through the chilly mist that covered our blacked-out bomber station, but the weather forecast for a deep penetration over the Continent was good. In the office, I looked at the crew sheet, where the line-up of the lead, low and high squadrons of the group is plotted for each mission. I was listed for a copilot’s seat.

  While I stood there, and on the chance suggestion of one of the squadron commanders who was looking over the list, the operations officer erased my name and shifted me to the high squadron as copilot in the crew of a steady Irishman named Lieutenant Murphy, with whom I had flown before. Neither of us knew it, but that operations officer saved my life right there with a piece of rubber on the end of a pencil.

   The commander who initiated the transfer of Bernie Lay from the bottom squadron to the better protected upper one was Maj. Gale ‘Buck’ Cleven, who alone remained in the cockpit of the lead airplane of the exposed bottom squadron. Of the six aircraft in his group, only two would remain after the battle... Lt. Col. Bernie Lay was originally cast as a member of the crew under Lt. Roy F. Claytor, who flew the Fortress named ‘Alice from Dallas’ on her tenth mission. Lay was replaced in his intended seat by the co-pilot of Claytor's crew, Lt. Raymond J. Nutting, Jr. Alice was among the first aircraft of the 100th Bombardment Group to be shot down that day. Three men were killed out of the crew of ten.

  A more detailed write up describing the fate of Alice from Dallas can be found in the special edition of our newsletter ‘The Bloody Hundredth, 1943’ from June, 2024.

    At 5:30 a.m., fifteen minutes before taxi time, a jeep drove around the five-mile perimeter track in the semi-darkness, pausing at each dispersal point long enough to notify the waiting crews that poor local visibility would postpone the take-off for an hour and a half. I was sitting with Murphy and the rest of our crew near the Piccadilly Lily. She looked sinister and complacent, squatting on her fat tires with scarcely a hole in her skin to show for the twelve raids behind her. The postponement tightened, rather than relaxed. Once more I checked over my life vest, oxygen mask and parachute, not perfunctorily, but the way you check something you're going to have to use. I made sure my escape kit was pinned securely in the knee pocket of my flying suit, where it couldn't fall out in a scramble to abandon ship. I slid a hunting knife between my shoe and my flying boot as I looked again through my extra equipment for this mission: water canteen, mess kit, blankets and English pounds for use in the Algerian desert, where we would sleep on the ground and might be on our own from a forced landing.

  Murphy restlessly gave the Piccadilly Lily another once-over, inspecting ammunition belts, bomb bay, tires and oxygen pressure at each crew station. Especially the oxygen. It’s human fuel, as important as gasoline, up where we operate. Gunners field-stripped their .50-calibers again and oiled the bolts. Our top turret gunner lay in the grass with his head on his parachute, feigning sleep, sweating out his thirteenth start.

  We shared a common knowledge which grimly enhanced the normal excitement before a mission. Of the approximately 150 Fortresses who were hitting Regensburg, our group was the last and lowest, at a base altitude of 17,000 feet. That’s well within the range of accuracy for heavy flak. Our course would take us over plenty of it. It was a cinch also that our group would be the softest touch for the enemy fighters, being last man through the gantlet. Furthermore, the Piccadilly Lily was leading the last three ships of the high squadron—the tip of the tail end of the whole shebang. "We didn’t relish it much. Who wants a Purple Heart?“

  The minute hand of my wrist watch dragged. I caught myself thinking about the day, exactly one year ago, on August 17, 1942, when I watched a pitifully small force of twelve B-17’s take off on the first raid of the 8th Air Force to make a shallow penetration against Rouen, France. On that day it was our maximum effort. Today, on our first anniversary, we were putting thirty times that number of heavies into the air—half the force on Regensburg and half the force on Schweinfurt, both situated inside the interior of the German Reich. For a year and a half, as a staff officer, I had watched the 8th Air Force grow under Maj. Gen. Ira C. Eaker. That’s a long time to watch from behind a desk. Only ten days ago I had asked for and received orders to combat duty. Those ten days had been full of the swift action of participating in four combat missions and checking out for the first time as a four-engine pilot.

  Now I knew that it can be easier to be shot at than telephoned at. That staff officers at an Air Force headquarters are the unstrung heroes of this war. And yet I found myself reminiscing just a little affectionately about that desk, wondering if there wasn’t a touch of suicide in store for our group. One thing was sure: Headquarters had dreamed up the biggest air operation to date to celebrate its birthday in the biggest league of aerial warfare.

   The fog covering most of the airfields of the 8th Air Force did not clear in time. Nevertheless, the planes making up the so-called ‘Regensburg Strike Force’ took off, while the ‘Schweinfurt’ bomber groups waited for better conditions to take off. This disruption of the careful timing of the operation was later one of the main conditions for the disastrous development of the entire mission. The officers of the VIII Bomber Command faced a big dilemma – to increase the time gap between the start of the mission of both its parts would have implications on the fragile assumptions made regarding the distribution of German defenses in time and over a larger area, and on the coordination between the movement of the bomber streams and their fighter escort. On the other hand, if both forces had waited for the weather to improve at launch, and their mutual timing had been maintained, this would have meant that the Regensburg component of the mission would not have reached the north coast of Africa before sunset. Command opted for the first option, and nearly 150 B-17s rose from their bases into an opaque blanket of fog and low cloud over the counties of eastern England.

  Maj. Gale "Buck" Cleven, CO of the 350th BS, who on August 17, 1943, initiated the transfer of Bernie Lay from the low squadron to the top squadron, which was composed by the 349th and 351st BS ships.

  B-17F s/n 42-5867 "Alice from Dallas" was lost at Regensburg on August 17, 1943, with Lt. Roy F. Claytor and his crew.

  
  

  The Regensburg force consisted of the 94th, 95th, 96th, 100th, 385th, 388th and 390th Bomb Groups. These were formed into Provisional Combat Wings (PCBW) numbered 401st, 402nd and 403rd. In the following text by Bernie Lay, the term ‘4th Air Division’ appears, which is somewhat inaccurate.

  The steady flow of bombers was led by the 96th Bomb Group, as the first unit of the 403rd PCBW, followed by the 388th and 390th Bomb Groups. The middle part of the bomber stream, the 401st PCBW, consisted of the 94th and 385th Bomb Groups, while the 402nd PCBW led by the 95th Bomb Group brought up the rear, with the 100th Bomb Group closing out the stream. In terms of height, the units were arranged in descending order, with the leader of the seven combat boxes, consisting of one bomb group, flew the highest and the others followed at intervals of 1000 feet (approx. 300m) above or below. The Bloody Hundred, which was not dubbed as such until after the mission, flew last and at the lowest altitude. That position was called ‘Tail End Charlie’ or ‘Purple Heart Corner’ - a place where you didn't want to fly such an operation.

  Although the fog over the airfield had not completely cleared, headquarters judged that the units that were to form the Regensburg portion of the mission were experienced enough for their crews to handle it. The decision was made not to wait any longer and to go for it. The 8th Air Force's biggest mission was about to begin. Unfortunately, so far only for half of the bombers…

  B-17F-30-VE, 42-5864, crew of Capt. Thomas E. Murphy, Lt. Col. Beirne Lay. Jr., 351st BS, 100th BG, Telergma, Algeria, Aug. 17, 1943

  
  

   At 7:30 we broke out of the cloud tops into the glare of the rising sun. Beneath our B-17 lay English fields, still blanketed in the thick mist from which we had just emerged. We continued to climb slowly, our broad wings shouldering a heavy load of incendiary bombs in the belly and a burden of fuel in the main and wing-tip Tokyo tanks that would keep the Fortress afloat in the thin upper altitudes eleven hours.

  From my copilot’s seat on the right-hand side, I watched the white surface of the overcast, where B-17’s in clusters of six to the squadron were puncturing the cloud deck all about us, rising clear of the mist with their glass noses slanted upward for the long climb to base altitude. We tacked on to one of these clutches of six. Now the sky over England was heavy with the weight of thousands of tons of bombs, fuel and men being lifted four miles straight up on a giant aerial hoist to the western terminus of a 20,000-foot elevated highway that led east to Regensburg. At intervals I saw the arc of a sputtering red, green or yellow flare being fired from the cabin roof of a group leader’s airplane to identify the lead squadron to the high and low squadrons of each group. Assembly takes longer when you come up through an overcast. For nearly an hour, still over Southern England, we climbed, nursing the straining Cyclone engines in a 300-foot-per-minute ascent, forming three squadrons gradually into compact group stagger formations—low squadron down to the left and high squadron up to the right of the lead squadron—groups assembling into looser combat wings of two to three groups each along the combat-wing assembly line, homing over predetermined points with radio compass, and finally cruising along the air division assembly line to allow the combat wings to fall into place in trail behind Col. Curtis E. Le May in the lead group of the air division. Formed at last, each flanking group in position 1000 feet above or below its lead group, our fifteen-mile parade moved east toward Lowestoft, point of departure from the friendly coast, unwieldy, but dangerous to fool with. From my perch in the high squadron in the last element of the whole procession, the air division looked like huge anvil-shaped swarms of locusts—not on dress parade, like the bombers of the Luftwaffe that died like flies over Britain in 1940, but deployed to uncover every gun and permit maneuverability.

   

   

  To describe the next story, it only makes sense to again let Bernie Lay describe it in his report to the commander of the 100th Bombardment Group, Col. To Neil B. ‘Chick’ Harding, the main part of which is reproduced in full:

   

   

  HEADQUARTERS 100TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP (H) APO 634

   

  U. S. Army Station 139

  25 August 1943

   

  SUBJECT: Personal report on the Regensburg mission, 17 Aug 1943.

   

  TO: Commanding Officer, 100th Bombardment Group (H).

   

  1. Introduction This report does not attempt to render a complete summary of the mission. It is merely an eyewitness account of what was seen, together with certain recommendations pertinent thereto, during an ordeal in which the 100th Group fought its way to the target through fierce and prolonged enemy fighter attacks and accurately bombed a vital target.

   

  2. Mission Summary When the 100th Group crossed the coast of Holland south of the Hague at 1008 hours at our base altitude of 17, 000 feet, I was well situated to watch the proceedings, being co-pilot in the lead ship of the last element if the high squadron. The Group had all of its 21 B-17’s tucked in tightly and was within handy supporting distance of the 95th Group, ahead of us at 18, 000 feet. We were the last and lowest of the seven groups of the 4th Air Division that were visible ahead on a south-east course, forming a long, loose-linked chain in the bright sunlight – too long, it seemed. Wide gaps separated the three combat wings. As I sat there in the tail-end element of that many miles long procession, gauging the distance to the lead group, I had the lonesome foreboding that might come to the last man to run a gauntlet lined with spiked clubs. The premonition was well-founded.

  At 1017 hours, near Woensdrecht, I saw the first flak blossom out in our vicinity, light and inaccurate. A few minutes later, approximately 1025 hours, two FW-190’s appeared at 1 o’clock level and whizzed through the formation ahead of us in frontal attack, nicking two B-17’s of the 95th Group in the wings and breaking away beneath us in half-rolls. Smoke immediately trailed from both B-17s, but they held their stations. As the fighters passed us at a high rate of closure, the guns of the group went into action. The pungent smell of burnt powder filled out cockpit, and the B-17 trembled to the recoil of nose and ball-turret guns. I saw pieces fly off the wing of one of the fighters before they passed from view.

  Here was early action, the members of the crew sensed trouble. There was something desperate about the way those two fighters came in fast, right out of their climb without any preliminaries. For a second the interphone was busy with admonitions: “Lead ‘em more”... “short bursts”... “don’t throw rounds away”... There’ll be more along in a minute.“…

  Three minutes later. the gunners reported fighters climbing up from all around the clock, singly and in pairs, both FW-190’s and ME_109’s. This was only my fourth raid, but from what I could see on my side, it looked like too many fighters for sound health. A coordinated attack followed, with the head-on fighters coming in from slightly above, the 9 and 3 o’clock attackers approaching from about level, and the rear attackers from slightly below. Every gun from every B-17 in out group and the 95th was firing, criss-crossing our patch of sky with tracers to match the time-fuse cannon shell puffs that squirted from the wings of the Jerry single-seaters. I would estimate that 75% of our fire was inaccurate, falling astern of the target–particularly the fire from hand held guns. Nevertheless, both sides got hurt in this clash, with two B-17s from our low squadron and one from the 95th Group falling out of formation on fire with crews bailing out, and several fighters heading for the deck in flames or with their pilots lingering behind under dirty yellow parachutes. Our group leader, Major John Kidd, pulled us up nearer the 95th Group for mutual support.

  I knew that we were already in a lively fight. What I didn’t know was the real fight, the anschluss of 20 MM cannon shells, hadn’t really begun. A few minutes later we absorbed the first wave of a hailstorm of individual fighter attacks that were to engulf us clear to the target. The ensuing action was so rapid and varied that I cannot give a chronological account of it. Instead, I will attempt a fragmentary report of salient details that even now give me a dry mouth and an unpleasant sensation in the stomach to recall. The sight was fantastic and surpassed fiction.

  It was at 1041 hours, over Eupen, that I looked out my copilot’s window after a short lull and saw two squadrons, 12 ME-109s and 11 FW-190s climbing parallel to us. The first squadron had reached our level and was pulling ahead to turn into us and second was not far behind. Several thousand feet below us were many more fighters, with their noses cocked at maximum climb. Over the interphone came reports of equal number of enemy aircraft deploying on the other side. For the first time I noticed a ME-110 sitting out of range on our right. He was to stay with us all the way to the target, apparently to report our position to fresh squadrons waiting for us down the road. At the sight of all these fighters, I had the distinct feeling of being trapped–that the Hun was tipped off, or at least had guessed our destination and was waiting for us. No P-47s were visible. The life expectancy of the 100th Group suddenly seemed very short, since it already appeared that the fighters were passing up the proceeding groups, with the exception of the 95th, in order to take a cut at us.

  Swinging their yellow noses around in a wide U-turn, the 12 ship squadron of ME-109s came in from 12 o’clock in pairs and in fours and the main event was on.

  A shining silver object sailed past over our right wing. I recognized it as a main exit door. Seconds later, a dark object came hurtling down through the formation, barely missing several props. It was a man, clasping his knees to his head, revolving like a diver in a triple somersault. I didn’t see his chute open.

  A B-17 turned gradually out of the formation to the right, maintaining altitude. In a split second the B-17 disappeared in brilliant explosion, from which the only remains were four small balls of fire, the fuel tanks, which were quickly consumed as they fell earthward.

  Our airplane was endangered by various debris, emergency hatches, exit doors, prematurely opened parachutes, bodies and assorted fragments of B-17s and Hun fighters breezed past us in the slip-stream.

  I watched two fighters explode not far beneath, disappearing in sheets of orange flame, B-17s dropping out in every stage of distress, from engines on fire to control surfaces shot away, friendly and enemy parachutes floating down, and, on the green carpet far behind us, numerous funeral pyres of smoke from fallen fighters marking our trail.

  On we flew through the strewn wake of a desperate air battle, where disintegrating aircraft were commonplace and 60 chutes in the air at one time were hardly worth a second look.

  I watched a B-17 turn slowly to the right with its cockpit a mass of flames. The copilot crawled out of his window, held on with one hand, reached back for his chute, buckled it on, let go and was whisked back into the horizontal stabilizer. I believe the impact killed him. His chute didn’t open.

  Ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes, and still no let up in the attacks. The fighters queued up like a breadline and let us have it. Each second of time had a cannon shell in it. The strain of being a clay duck in the wrong end of that aerial shooting gallery became almost intolerable as the minutes accumulated towards the first hour.

  Our B-17 shook steadily with the fire of the .50’s and the air inside was heavy with smoke. It was cold in the cockpit, but when I looked across at Lt. Thomas Murphy, the pilot, and a good one, sweat was pouring off his forehead and over his oxygen mask. He turned the controls over to me for awhile. It was a blessed relief to concentrate on holding station in formation instead of watching those everlasting fighters boring in. It was possible to forget the fighters. Then the top-turret gunner’s twin muzzles would pound away a foot above my head, giving a realistic imitation of cannon shells exploding in the cockpit, while I gave a better imitation of man jumping six inches our of his seat.

  A B-17 of the 95th Group, with its right Tokyo tanks on fire, dropped back about 200 feet above our right wing and stayed there while 7 of the crew successively bailed out. Four went out the bomb-bay and executed delayed jumps, one bailed out from the nose, opened his chute prematurely and nearly fouled the tail. Another went out the left waist-gun opening, delaying his chute opening for a safe interval. The tail gunner dropped out of his hatch, apparently pulling the ripcord before he was clear of the ship. His chute opened instantaneously, barely missing the tail, and jerked him so hard that both his shoes came off. He hung limp in the harness, whereas the others had showed immediate signs of life after their chutes opened, shifting around in the harness. The B-17 then dropped back in a medium spiral and I did not see the pilots leave. I saw it just before it passed from view, several thousand feet below us, with it’s right wing a solid sheet of yellow flame.

  After we had been under constant attack for a solid hour, it appeared certain that the 100th Group was faced with annihilation. Seven of our group had been shot down, the sky was still mottled with rising fighters and it was only 1120 hours, with the target time still 35 minutes away. I doubt if a man in the group visualized the possibility of our getting much further without 100% loss. I knew that I had long since mentally accepted the fact of death, and that it was simply a question of next second or the next minute. I learned first-hand that a man can resign himself to the certainty of death without becoming panicky. Our group fire power was reduced 33%, ammunition was running low. Our tail guns had to be replenished from other gun stations. Gunners were becoming exhausted and nerve-tortured from the prolonged strain, and there was an awareness on everybody’s part that something must have gone wrong. We had been the aiming point for the Luffwaffe and we fully expected to find the rest primed for us at the target.

  Fighter tactics were running true to form. Frontal attackers hit the low squadron and the lead squadron, while rear attackers went for the high. The manner of their attacks showed that some pilots were old-timers, some amateurs, and that all knew pretty definitely where we were going and were inspired with a fanatical determination to stop us before we got there. The old-timers came in on frontal attacks with a noticeably slower rate of closure, apparently throttled back, obtaining greater accuracy than those that bolted through us wide out. They did some nice shooting at ranges of 500 or more yards, and in many cases seemed able to time their thrusts so as to catch the top and ball turret gunners engaged with rear and side attacks. Less experienced pilots were pressing home attacks to 250 yards and less to get hits, offering point-blank targets on the break away, firing long bursts of 20 seconds, and in some cases actually pulling up instead of going down and out. Several FW-190 pilots pulled off some first rate deflection shooting on side attacks against the high group, then raked the low group on the break away out of a sideslip, keeping the nose cocked up in the turn to prolong the period the formation was in their sights.

  I observed what I believe was an attempt at air-to-air bombing, although I didn’t see the bombs dropped. A patch of 75 to 100 gray white bursts, smaller than flak bursts, appeared simultaneously at our level, off to one side.

  One B-17 dropped out on fire and put its wheels down while the crew bailed out. Three ME-109s circled it closely, but held their fire, apparently ensuring that no one stayed in the ship to try for home. I saw Hun fighters hold their fire even when being shot at by a B-17 from which the crew were bailing out.

  Near the IP, at 1150 hours, one hour and a half after the first of at least 200 individual fighter attacks, the pressure eased off, although hostiles were in the vicinity. We turned at the IP at 1154 hours with 14 B-17’s left in the group, two of which were badly crippled. They dropped out soon after bombing the target and headed for Switzerland, one of them, “042”, carrying Col William Kennedy as tail gunner, #4 engine was on fire, but not our of control. Major William Veal, leader of the high squadron, received a cannon shell in his #3 engine just before the start of the bombing run and went in to the target with the prop feathered.

  Weather over the target, as on the entire trip, was ideal. Flak was negligible. The group got its bombs away promptly on the leader. As we turned and headed for the Alps, I got a grim satisfaction out of seeing a rectangular column of smoke rising straight up from the ME-109 shops, with only one burst over in the town of Regensburg.

  The rest of the trip was a marked anti-climax. A few more fighters pecked at us on the way to the Alps. A town in Brenner Pass tossed up a lone burst of futile flak. Col LeMay, who had taken excellent care of us all the way, circled the air division over Lake Garda long enough to give the cripples a chance to join the family, and we were on our way toward the Mediterranean Sea in a gradual decent. About 25 fighters on the ground at Verona stayed on the ground. The prospect of ditching as we approached Bone, short of fuel, and the sight of other B-17’s falling into the drink, seemed trivial matters after the vicious nightmare of the long trip across Northern Germany. We felt the reaction of men who had not expected to see another sunset.

  At 1815 hours, with red lights showing on all fuel tanks in my ship, the seven B-17’s out of the group who were still in formation circled over Bertoux and landed in the dust. Our crew was unscratched. Sole damage to the airplane; a bit of ventilation around the tail from flak and 20 MM shells. We slept on the hard ground under the wings of our B-17, but the good earth felt softer than a silk pillow.

  Piccadilly Lily after landing at Telergma Base in Algeria, following an attack on the Messerschmitt factories at Regensburg during a shuttle mission on August 17, 1943.

  The crew of Capt. Thomas E. Murphy and Piccadilly Lily in North Africa after miraculously surviving the Regensburg mission. Lt. Col. Bernie Lay is standing second from the left, with Thomas Murphy in the middle.

  Lt. Col. Bernie Lay at Lavenham Base, August 15, 1944, two days before the fateful Regensburg mission. The aircraft behind him is a British Airspeed AS.10 'Oxford'.

  
  

   Shortly after the Regensburg mission, Lt. Col. Lay left the 100th BG. Further assignments followed as part of his training, after which he was sent back to the US to take charge of the newly formed 487th BG in late February, 1944. However, that is another story, which we will save for the second part of the article.

  Bernie Lay had not forgotten Piccadilly Lily. All the more so when he learned that she was shot down on October 8th, 1943, during a mission to Bremen. His pilot from the Regensburg mission less than two months earlier, Capt. Thomas E. Murphy was killed in the process. Both Lily and Capt. Murphy became central figures of Lay's next book, Twelve O'Clock High, subsequently becoming an iconic motion picture. But we'll talk about that next time.

   

  (to be continued)

     

  SOURCES:

  - US Air Force Research Agency, Maxwell, Alabama - National Archives and Record Administration, College Park, MD

  - 100th Bomb Group Foundation Archives

  - Lt Col Beirne Lay Jr. and the 100th Bomb Group Connection, Michael Faley - 100th Bomb Group Historian - Findagrave, Wikipedia - Century Bombers, Richard LeStrange, 1997 - The Story of the Century, John R. Nilsson, 1946

   

  Photographs without a specified source are from the 100th BGF archive or the author's collection.

• Editorial

  
  

  
  

  Good day, dear Friends!

   

  I just returned from the United States where, as we have done every year for the past thirty, we attended the IPMS USA National convention. It was also my own personal 30th anniversary of my first Nationals this year. Together with my colleague Jiri Silhanek of MPM/Special Hobby, we first experienced the atmosphere of the Nats in 1994 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was a completely new world for me then, it was one of my first trips across the Atlantic, I was learning how America works and it was a good education. In those thirty years, Eduard missed the Nationals only twice, during the covid era in 2020 and 2021, but over the years we have become part of the event and today it seems that its participants can hardly imagine this event without us. And I can't imagine a summer without America either. One of the charms of the Nationals is that it's held in a different location every year, so it's a good opportunity for us Europeans to get to know new corners of the United States, get to know it in its diversity and appreciate its standards. Because one of America's advantages is the standardization of its basic infrastructure, you can count on finding the same highways, the same organized stores and other things everywhere, as well as the language. In many ways here in Europe we have a lot to learn from America, but I fear that there are many things we will never learn and that will be a shame.

   Many things are different even in America. Last year in Texas the asphalt was melting under our feet, and this year in Wisconsin, the climate was pleasant. And not just the climate. Madison is a nice town, and since we arrived early, we had a chance to enjoy it a little more than we usually get to at shows. The event itself took place in the beautiful Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, a building designed by the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1959. The event was as always well organized, and our thanks and respect go to all members of the organizing team not only for the quality organization, but also for their kindness and attentiveness, which they dedicated to our group. As always, we enjoyed discussions with customers and our old friends, many of whom we have met over those thirty years. The interest in us was such that we closed up shop long after there were only empty tables around us and the other exhibitors were already on their way to grab a bite. Last but not least, we are delighted to have had the honor of supporting Valeriia Buzina from ICM at the show, who was at the Nationals for the first time and, I hope, not the last.

  
  

   This year's exhibition date was earlier than usual in recent years. It caused us some minor difficulties, mainly because we had to hurry up the completion of August’s new releases that we wanted to have at the show. Above all, the B-17F in The Bloody Hundred 1943 Limited Edition form, which was understandably of enormous interest. But the end date had one huge advantage. The exhibition ended two days before the start of the famous air show in Oshkosh, which is about 150 km northeast of Madison. This was an opportunity not to be missed. We went to the Oshkosh show twice and it was the experience of a lifetime. The superbly organized event, which this year was attended by 680,000 spectators and 10,000 aircraft during the week, not only met but exceeded our expectations. It was an American show in every sense. Seeing two B-29s fly in formation with a Lancaster and an F-35 with F-22s, A-10s and F-16s is an experience in itself, but experiencing a flight demonstration of F-35s and F-22s by the USAF display team is something unforgettable! Of course, there is much, much more to Oshkosh, from the wonderful EAA museum filled with unique (and mostly civilian) exhibits to the aircraft on static display throughout the airport grounds, not to mention everything that flies in. If you want to experience for yourself the meaning of the word beauty in the aviation sense of the word, come to Oshkosh!

  
  

   I was reminded of the influence America had on Eduard's development during our trip from beginning to end. Over our last night in America we slept at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rosemont, near Chicago's O'Hare Airport. This is the hotel to which we went every year for almost twenty years around the end of September and beginning of October, when the RICHTA exhibition was held annually in the adjacent exhibition and conference center. This was the name of an American organization that brought together manufacturers of models and kits of all fields, from both functional and static model making. It also brought together many manufacturers, if memory serves. Eduard was its member. It was a sort of an American answer to Nuremberg, albeit on a smaller scale. We used to regularly have a smaller table there, we promoted new products, and we met with our distributors. It was important to us then and worth going there because at the turn of the millennium we had nine distributors in America and America's share of our sales was 40%. In the 1990s and early 2000s, manufacturers such as Monogram, AMT and Esci-ERTL were very active in the USA, as was Minicraft, which worked as Academy-Minicraft. There was also Accurate Miniatures, and Verlinden, which was a leader in cast resin accessories in the first half of the 1990s, and relocated there. There were a number of manufacturers of model railways and functional models, all of whom were members of RICHTA, and it was alive at the exhibition.
  

   It was a real American show, and included great American ice cream, a shoe shiner with his stand behind the entrance, who was always busy, because back then people still went to shows in suits and dress shoes, and not in jeans and t-shirts like they do today. I bought a pair of American boots on Michigan Avenue and had them cleaned by him, and he greeted me every morning. It was just great. Everyone we needed to talk to was at the show, but unlike Nuremberg, the public was invited to attend and sales could be conducted there. So, among others, members of the Czech community, which is large in Chicago, attended the event. There I met Johnny Vojtech, and Jules Bringuier lived in Chicago at the time, for whom we worked on Classic Airframes kits, who brought me to Chicago for the first time in 1993 and to whom I will be eternally grateful for everything he taught me. Father and son Sojko, who worked as toolmakers at Monogram, used to attend regularly. They were responsible for all the beautiful kits from Monogram that I admired and I wanted to match them. They were as proud of their efforts as they were of their Czech heritage. Europeans used to also attend, with a regularly present Airfix stand there, the old Airfix, before Hornby bought them, Esci was there because they belonged to the same company as AMT and Ertl, Canadian Hobbycraft used to go there, and Japan’s Hasegawa and Tamiya could be found there, too, among others.

   Japanese related business interests also took part in the show, such as Mr. Ono, the founder and owner of Beaver, which is still our Japanese distributor. Mr. Ono also had a booth there several times, where he once exhibited figures by Hajime Sorayama and caused quite a stir when a girl scout leader came to his booth to see what the members of her troop were looking at. Then she started screaming terribly, and the result was that the organizers ordered Mr. Ono to cover the sensitive parts of the figures. So he stuck pieces of paper from those poisonously colored notepads on their breasts and in their laps, making the figures even more tempting targets for all the scouts present. If you don't understand what this is all about, google Hajime Sorayama, it's totally worth it. In the evening, Mr. Ono taught me how to eat lobster properly and Chuck Harransky from Squadron Signal introduced me to American chicken noodle soup, while explaining to me how the model business is done in America and what we need to do to succeed there. In Chicago, our cooperation with Hasegawa started when Mr. Horiike came to me and told me that we, the ‘old guard’, should work together more to better face the new competition. It was like he elevated me to nobility!

   None of us knew then that this world was coming to its end. American modeling firms fell victim to deindustrialization. In the late 1990s, they began experimenting with transferring production to Asia, first to Korea, and when Korea became more expensive, to China. That was the beginning of the end, with the new century American manufacturing companies began to struggle, fail, change hands, and fail again until they disappeared from the scene altogether. The exhibition itself shrank to a half of one hall and finally ended for good. The last time we were there was sometime in 2014 or 2015, and we even took off to go and check out the U-515 submarine museum during the show, because the exhibition was already very quiet and there were not many people. Unfortunately, it also affected business. The decline of brick-and-mortar stores is gradually continuing, the model shops are becoming more and more an on-line affair, and this is true all over the world. Today, we only have four distributors in the United States, but two of them are new. Three years ago, we had two business partners in this market, and the share of the American market in our overall turnover dropped to 16%. So it is not such a tragedy, because in financial terms it is still about twice as much as it was in 2010. Rather, it reflects how business has developed in Europe and especially in our domestic market. Since 2000, the share of the Czech market in our total turnover has doubled from 13%, last year being up to 27%. I rather suspect that it is similar in production, where two main locations of plastic model production have been created. One is in China, and the other is in Eastern Europe, primarily in the Czech Republic and Ukraine. Both of these differing geographic locations cooperate intensively, which can be seen especially in Poland, whose producers of plastic models intensively use the services of Chinese production facilities.

   Despite the sad end of the RICHTA fair, our participation in it had a great influence on the development of our company. Eduard is connected to America more than anyone can imagine, and for me personally, the interaction with the American environment was and is a great education. Not only do I try to approach problem solving in a somewhat American way, but we have also learned from developments in American companies. While they were deindustrializing and starting their Chinese experiment, we were building our own production base and building Eduard as an independent entity, independent of external suppliers of key components. I know that even in Europe it is considered an outdated approach, and when I talk about how Eduard works, that all of our own production is done in-house, I get a lot of raised eyebrows. But I am sticking to my guns. I remember what happened to those who got rid of their local production base. The companies that drive the development and modernization of our field today have their own production base. It's Eduard, Tamiya, Trumpeter/Hobby Boss (that's one company), HKM, Academy and ICM. I may have forgotten some players here, and to them, I apologize. I am still going through a bit of jet lag!

   But, I digress….

   

  New releases for August

   The impact of the IPMS Nationals in Madison on our new releases for August will be plain to see. We wanted to bring some attractive new items to the event, so there is naturally a strong American flavor here. The intended ‘show stopper’, and the main new product for August, the B-17F ‘The Bloody Hundredth, 1943’ Limited Edition kit, is sold out here. But that does not mean that it is no longer available. We've sold some 80% of the run to merchants, and they'll have this kit available for some time to come. But if you want it, don't hesitate, but if you still happen to miss out, it's still not a hopeless situation. We are registering demand from merchants for more pieces, and if this demand is sufficient, we would do another smaller reissue in November or December. There, however, the content will change a bit, for example the bonus decals will no longer be part of the kit, but will be available for purchase as a separate item.

   The other two American flavored new releases are Mustangs, the P-51B in the 1:48 scale Profipack kit and the P-51D in the ‘Aces of the Eighth’ 72nd scale Limited Edition boxing. Both are still available, you don't need to worry about that. This American set is complemented in August by two German reissues, the Bf 109 E-4 in the Profipack line in 1:32nd scale, and the Bf 109 G-6/AS in the 48th scale Weekend line.

   Our kits, as usual, benefit from the release of aftermarket accessory items, designed for not just new kits, but older ones as well. Note the series of sets for the B-17F. These are the old items we released for the HKM kit, but the ones being released now have new catalog numbers, meaning they've been modified to not duplicate parts that are already components of the Bloody Hundredth 1943 kit, Cat No. 11183.

   Of course, it’s not just Eduard kits that are being covered with what we release. We still produce sets to enhance our competitors’ kits too, such as the FM-1 Wildcat in 1:48th by Tamiya, the 1:72nd B-24H Liberator from Airfix and the A-10 by GWH. Generally speaking, they’re not huge sets, but it shouldn’t necessarily pour when a light rain will do nicely. As usual, you will find the complete listing in today's newsletter, and I hope you will read it thoroughly, enjoying it in the process.

   

  Articles

   Unfortunately, among the articles you will find the already 29th installment of Air War over Ukraine by Mira Baric. Miro writes well, and I firmly believe that at some point, we will be printing the last installment with a description of a Ukrainian victory in this war. There will certainly be a victory parade of the Ukrainian Air Force led by an F-16. Although, after what I saw last week in Oshkosh, I would wholeheartedly wish the Ukrainians a delivery of the F-35!

   I took the liberty of writing an article about what our new P-51D in 1:72nd scale brings to modellers. It's also written in a bit of an American style, and should it be taken as a bit of an advertisement, I won't mind. If you would like to put our Mustang in the context of how it compares to other manufacturers' Mustangs, I recommend purchasing a kit from KP. It is also new, and is presented as a simple kit suitable for children and beginners. Place the two kits side by side and you will see the unseen, I guarantee you a truly extraordinary modelling experience.

   Jan Zdiarský's article ‘Bernie Lay and Piccadilly Lily’ is a great read. I read his preview yesterday morning over breakfast and it was a great start to the day. I recommend it not only to those who have bought or want to buy The Bloody Hundredth 1943 kit, to which this text is closely related, because it’s just that good an article...and no, I will not link it. Read it yourself!

   Don't miss the three Box Art Stories by Jan Bobek. They are dedicated to the boxarts of the new P-51B, and the reissued Bf 109 E-4 and Bf 109 G-6/AS. They are short texts, they read well, and are chock full of information and interesting stories. The perfect coffee companion!

   

  Happy Modelling!

  Vladimir Sulc