Info EDUARD
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{"cz":"Info EDUARD"}
{"cz":"Měsíčník o historii a plastikovém modelářství.","en":"Monthly magazine about history and scale plastic modeling."}
12/2022
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INFO Eduard# 154e-magazine FREE Vol 21 December 2022Page 2
INFO Eduard# 154© Eduard - Model Accessories, 2022FREE FOR DOWNLOAD, FREE FOR DISTRIBUTION!This material may only be used for personal use. No part of the textor graphic presentations can be used in another publication in any other mediaform or otherwise distributed without the prior writtenpermission of Eduard - Model Accessories and authors involved.Editorial and Graphics - Marketing department, Eduard - Model Accessories, Ltd.e-magazine FREE Vol 21 December 2022Page 3
eduardeduardDECEMBER 2022CONTENTSEDITORIALKITSCHEMISTRYBRASSINPHOTO-ETCHED SETSBIG EDBUILTON APROACH–January 2023TAIL END CHARLIEHISTORYBOXART STORYBf 109E-3 ProfiPACK 1/72SAMURAI Limited 1/48P-51D-10 Weekend edition 1/48Spitfire Mk.IXc Weekend edition 1/72Fw 190D-9 ProfiPACK 1/48Bf 109G-10 Mtt. Regensburg ProfiPACK 1/48AdhesivesA6M3 Zero Type 32 1/48Z-226MS Trenér 1/48Reichsverteidigung 1/48P-38J nose gun bay PRINT 1/48P-38J cockpit PRINT 1/48Fw 190A8/R2 SPACE 1/48USS Lexington IIPappy of the Strafers IIIAir war over Ukraine - The hot autumnAgainst the West Riding SpitfiresStrange targetsLandings protectionBy order of the ReichsbahnSquares against stripes462634315874808696114Published by Eduard-Model Accessories, spol. s.r.o.Mírová 170, Obrnice 435 21support@eduard.com www.eduard.comPage 4
Good day, ladies and GentlemenWelcome to the final newsletter of this year. Asmatter of course, this will apparently also bethe next to last newsletter released under ourcurrent publishing system. As you know frombefore, we are about to embark on a changeto the Triobo digital publishing platform. Thisshould happen in January, when we will pub-lish the newsletter in its classic form, but wewill simultaneously put one up on a trial basisusing Triobo. Then, both yourselves and us willbe able to test out the new system’s functiona-lity, and if it works well, February’s newsletterwill come out only through Triobo. I can deflectany skepticism regarding the release of newitems by assuring one and all that Triobo willnot be generating any reader discomfort. Onthe contrary, it’s a logical step consistent withour progress as a whole over the last seve-ral years. From our initially humble marketingcapabilities, we have turned what is basicallya flyer into a company e-magazine that as-sures something for pretty much everyone ina good read before bedtime or at the breakfasttable. Given the current range of our publishednewsletter, which includes at least three de-tailed historical and technical articles and fourboxart story editions added this year to eachissue, we are at the point where an innovationraising reader comfort is at hand. Our evoluti-on will not end with the implementation of thisnew system, either. The near future will alsosee further changes that will improve gra-phics. It’s also no secret that we are kicking insome changes to distribution, a part of whichwill affect our long awaited printed version.That idea still presents itself as a little beyondour capabilities, but we believe that throughthe course of the year coming, we’ll get the-re. It will likely take the form of a quarterlycollection of historical articles. And if you’reworried about the printing option of our mon-thly newsletter, don’t be…Brassins and 3D Production PrintsWe are at the end of the year, and as you cansee, right from the get go I’m diving headlonginto the favorite part of this time of year, anassessment of our successes achieved anda look at future plans. Its ‘favorite’ status alsomakes it a bit of a dangerous endeavor, be-cause the interpretation of the successes isoften off by those who make them, and virtu-ally everyone misses future plans to at leastsome degree. I am no exception, and as anexample, I can cite the fact that my plans forthe release schedule of kits typically come outat around fifty-fifty, despite them coming out ofdetailed planning involving my colleagues sixmonths prior to the end of the year. But thenit just pleases me that much more that theplanning for the evolution of the Brassin linecame out pretty much spot on. This concernsthe switch over to 3D printing where previous-ly, everything was cast. This is a good exam-ple of a switch whose dynamic can be almosthellish. From last fall, when we integrated 3Dprinters into our production system, to the mi-dpoint of this one, we switched the majority ofour production to straight 3D prints. The rema-inders of the products that are still cast resinare wheels and the landing gears that are inbronze. This month, another two 3D printersshould arrive, giving us a total of six and I ex-pect our printing capacity to rise through theyear. The reason why we are investing and fo-cusing so much on these innovations is simple.3D printing offers a completely different levelof quality. It represents the biggest break-through in the industry since the introductionof cast resin sets by Francois Verlinden somethirty-five years ago. Compared to casts, 3Dprints are more precise, geometrically stablewith time, don’t require removal from castingblocks that sometimes can affect fit and canbe quite labor intensive, and they don’t requirethe same level of cleanup and don’t present thesame fit issues. 3D prints are used in muchthe same way that the plastic parts of a kit areused, and the only real complication that re-mains is the need to use CA glue for installa-tion. And that’s not typically a big issue and issomething most modellers have mastered.A significant issue that is resolved by the useof 3D printing concerns health. A segment ofthe population is allergic to cast resin mate-rials, but no such problem is known with 3Dprints, at least with the use of our 3D printingmaterials, which were developed to be biocompatible. Another advantage of 3D prints isthat they are simpler because the number ofsmall parts in a given assembly can be prin-ted together as one, where the same assemblycould not be cast, to say nothing of injectionmolding. A good example are the pushrods ona radial engine, various cabling offset a distan-ce from the main block of a given item, and va-rious structural elements of aircraft, such aslanding flaps. The height of this idea is repre-sented specifically by the speedbrakes on theF-16 in 1:48th. These will be released in Febru-ary, and when you see them, take a good, closelook at them. It’s worth it. Landing flaps are anexample of this type of product that is gainingin popularity very quickly. But in order to notget too long winded on the subject, and to keepfrom repeating things that have already beendiscussed at great lengths, I will just menti-on that this is a great example of a successfulinnovation and something which we will inten-sively continue to develop. It is interesting tonote that the Brassin department was formedtwelve years ago as a result of some of ourpeople being displaced by another innovation,our switch from electroplated molds to directCNC milling of Certal plates. We didn’t wantto just let these people go, and the fact thatthey had experience with making molds andcasting polyurethanes, epoxies and syntheticrubbers played only a small role in that. Backthen, we recognized that we were undertakinga large innovative step and it required fromus a lot of work before it would bear any fru-it. But exactly what that fruit would look like,and what kinds of doors it would open up withkit production for us was vague. Although 3Dprinting was already around at the birth of theBrassin department, used for the manufactureof masters, no one could have anticipated thelevel of modernization it was to bring in termsof manufacturing accessory sets!The New Warehouseand Associated MoveWith the coming of new 3D printers wouldcome the potential of a major lack of space.This was coming either way, and our main fa-cility in Obrnice has no more room to expandinto. We have been looking for a solution tothe problem ever since we had that blaze twoyears ago. Immediately after the fire, we beganpreparing for the construction of a new ware-house, into which we would have moved ourEDITORIALINFO Eduard4December 2022Page 5
retail department, packaging of kits and ma-chining and molding, which would entail com-plete kit manufacture. Unfortunately, we en-countered escalating problems with the buildproper, leading to the cessation of the project.A new solution was found last year in the fall,when we found a facility of suitable size forour needs. Its purchase was delayed by typicalCzech bureaucracy, but the deal was finalizedin September. We expect the first renovationto be completed at the end of January, and wewill move the retail and packing sections intoit at the beginning of February. This on its ownwill bring a shortfall in the expediting of mail,and it will likely last through a good chunk ofthe first half of the month. The exact timelinewill be outlined in the January newsletter.The second phase of the reconstruction willbe more complicated, because it will involvethe setting up of space for the installation ofthe presses and tooling shop. This is techni-cally more complicated and the project is inpreparation, and the optimist in me is hopingfor completion by the end of next year. Afterthis is completed and kit manufacturing is mo-ved, its current space will free up and at thevery least, a good chunk of this space will beoccupied by the Brassin department. And thenthere will be nothing stopping it from evolvingfurther.New PricesAs long as we’re on the subject of changes,we are entering the new year with a new pri-ce structure. This is a significant change anda sensitive topic which we have been puttingoff to the end of the year. Prices will increasein intervals of 11 to 15% depending on the pricegroup. Price increases will impact retail andwholesale costs in Czech Crowns and Euros,but won’t affect US retail prices. They will takeeffect during the shutdown of the retail de-partment before Christmas, which this yearwill be December 19th when we will be accep-ting the last of our orders which will havedispatched guaranties by before the holidays.As with every year, this will be followed by ourtaking inventory, and this is when the new pri-cing will be implemented. So, your last chanceto buy at current prices will be December 19th.Retail will reopen, with the new prices, proba-bly the first week of January, 2023, and in alllikelihood, this will be on the 3rd or 4th of themonth.Nuremberg, 2023It is necessary to now say something aboutour participation at the Nuremberg Toy Fairfor 2023. As you all know, I have always main-tained the importance of our participation withthis event. Our regular attendance has beenconsistent with this notion. Unfortunately, theneed to cancel the last two years due to covidrestrictions was less than pleasant. Participa-tion of firms in the upcoming event will be low,and what’s worse, many of our retail partnersand journalists won’t be there, either. For thisreason, we decided to tone down our own par-ticipation at the event. We are not cancellingit outright, but we will reduce our floor spaceand share it with our colleagues at Special Ho-bby. We are also cancelling our regular pressconference. I am hopeful that this is all justtemporary and the fair will return to its pastglory and significance in our industry in theyears to come. But it may not happen that way,in which case this may be our last participationat this event.And that ends our look at the upcoming year.In our next installment, we’ll have a look at thefuture production side of things, dedicated firstand foremost on new kits for 2023. Now, wewill have a look at new releases for December.Because these have been available since thelast week of November, I won’t outline all ofthem; just the more significant items.KitsDecember finds us continuing on with our Zeroproject, originally known as Project Voldemort,with a Limited Edition kit dubbed ‘Samurai’. Aswith most kits currently coming out of this line,‘Samurai’ is a Dual Combo boxing with twocomplete sets of plastic in the package. The kitallows for the building of two versions of theA6M3 Zero, the Model 32 and the Model 22. Themarking options contain twelve aircraft, six ofeach flavor. When I was a more active modellerin my youth, the A6M3 Zero Model 32 with itsrelatively attractive camouflage schemes wasconsidered the most striking of all versions.I hope that you will see it the same way, at leastup to the point when we come out with othervariants that promise to be no less attractive!In the ProfiPACK line, we have a 1:72nd scaleBf 109E-3, a kit developed in association withSpecial Hobby. SH have released this kit inseveral boxings themselves, but I believe thatour version of the kit will capture your attenti-on and interest. Of the most important aspectof the kit, its marking options, I can say that wegave it our usual high level of care and thereare six attractive schemes to choose from.In the 1:48th scale ProfiPACK line, we are re-turning the Fw 190D-9 to our range. This wasoriginally planned as a re-edition of the origi-nal kit, but because we added an aircraft flownby Waldemar Wubke of JV44, which is also thesubject of the boxart, we have given this kita new catalog number. In the same line,you’ll also find another straight reissue, theBf 109G-10 Mtt. Regensburg, also in 1:48th. Thisis a kit that was quickly sold out and is makinga long awaited comeback.In the Weekend line, we have the P-51D-10Mustang and Spitfire Mk.IXc in 1:72nd. Bothfeature attractive marking options. For exam-ple, in the Mustang kit, there is an option forMan O’ War flown by Claiborne Kinnard of the4th Fighter Group, 8thAF. This is a bird firmlyetched in the minds of me and my peers thanksto an old 48th scale Revell kit, sold in the lateeighties in the Czech Republic. I still have thekit. For the Spitfire, we have the S/Ldr KarelCermak flown aircraft, in which he shot downan Fw 190A-8 in June, 1944 above Normandy.AccessoriesThe thing to note this month in terms of newlyreleased accessory sets is the 1:48th scaleP-38J Cockpit for the Tamiya kit. It is one ofthe nicest sets of this type to be released inthe Brassin line. I think it’s an excellent exam-ple of the capabilities of 3D printing that arepresented to the modeller that I wrote aboutabove. This set is unique not only for its levelof detail, but also for the engineering that wentinto it, which significantly eases the integra-tion of the set into the model. The installati-on is even easer and smoother than the kitcockpit, which is virtually unheard of in theworld of aftermarket accessory items. Thisquality could make accessory items very in-teresting to more modellers in the future, be-cause modellers who in the past avoided usingresin sets due to their labor intensity will nowfind them attractive.Another interesting and welcome item is thewheel well set for our F6F Hellcat, a kit alsomaking its way back into our range. The po-pularity of this set is leading us to thoughtsof developing further sets, such as a cockpitset and perhaps a wingfold set. It won’t beeasy, though, because when it comes to theBrassin line, we have a lot of conceptually andfrom a production standpoint, intense pro-jects planned for newly released kits such asTamiya’s F-35.One more thing I would like to point out thatis related to the Brassin line. These are nice,subtle little items for German AFVs in 1:35thand two sets of American Carly life rafts forforty people in 1:350th.In the Space line, we have six new sets for themonth, among which are two 1:72nd scale setsfor the Arma Hobby Ki-84 and P-51B. in thephotoetched department, we have a P-39 setfor the kit from the same manufacturer, anda new set for the new Mi-4 in 1:48th fromTrumpeter. This is a kit that I am personallylooking forward to. Besides the aircraft sets,we are also covering ships and AFVs, and wehave the regular lineup of new BiG Eds, withtheir Brassin equipped BiG Sin counterparts.LiteratureIn the popular article department, we’ve gotthe second part about the Lexington from MiraBaric, and the already ninth volume coveringthe air war over Ukraine. This time, we alsohave a technical article dedicated to mode-lling adhesives and their optimal usage by JoeBlazek. Add to that our still new boxart stories, dedicated to the description and explanationof the events depicted on our box covers forthe month.And that’s just about it for this year. In closing,I will just reiterate that we are accepting or-ders until December 19th, after which it willnot be possible to guarantee delivery of goodsfrom our e-shop at the current prices. The re-ason for this is the aforementioned re-pricingof our goods, which will take place during theholiday shut down of the retail department. Thee-shop will come back to life after we conclu-de our inventory taking and re-pricing, whichwill happen after January 1st, 2023.So, dear friends, thank you all so much for yoursupport throughout 2022. I wish you all a veryMerry Christmas and all the best into 2023!Happy ModellingVladimir SulcINFO Eduard5December 2022Page 6
HISTORYSearching forthe lost shipswith Paul AllenUSSLexingtonPart 2Text: Miro BaričPhoto: U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval AviationPhoto: Naval History and Heritage CommandA shot down Betty bomber photographed from Lexington’s deck on February 20, 1942.Let’s travel back in time though, to Chicagoin 1920s and 30s when the city was ruledby the notorious gangster Al Capone. Hisclose associate was a lawyer, Edward Jo-seph O’Hare nicknamed Easy Eddie. In 1930he decided to defect to the side of law andbecame a federal agents’ informer. He ledthem to Capone’s bookkeeping records andhelp cracked their code. He also remin-ded them that in the beginning of his trialCapone bribed the jury. Consequently, ajudge replaced the jury and in 1931 Caponewas sentenced to jail. In November 1939,a week before Capone was released fromprison, Easy Eddie was assassinated. Whi-le he was driving his Lincoln Zephyr twomen fired their shotguns at him from thepassing car. O’Hare died on the spot andhis uncontrolled car hit a pole. The killersdisappeared in the traffic and were nevertracked down. They were supposedly Ca-pone’s hitmen. O’Hare senior paid for gang-ster’s jail time with his own life then. It issaid he wanted to avoid prison, that he didnot want to stand in the way of his son toenter the Naval Academy or that he wan-ted to restore his tarnished reputation andset a good example to his son. Allegedly hebrought his son up to recognize good andevil and wanted him to become a betterman that he was.Medal of HonorThat son was “Butch” O’Hare who wasawarded Medal of Honor for his action onFebruary 20, 1942, as a very first US Navyfighter pilot during WWII. On that day hetook off USS Lexington deck as a part ofa larger group of Wildcats. The fate ho-wever put him alone against a group of Ja-panese bombers. His father taught him toface the evil regardless the odds. EdwardHenry “Butch” O’Hare was born on March13, 1914. After his parents divorced in 1927,he lived with his mother Selma and sis-ters Patricia and Marilyn in St. Louis whilehis father relocated to Chicago. In 1933 hestarted his studies at the Naval Academyin Annapolis from which he graduated in1937. Next two years he served on the ba-ttleship USS New Mexico. Then he was sentto Pensacola for a pilot training which hecompleted on May 2, 1940. He was assignedto VF-3 fighter unit aboard Lexington’s si-ster ship, USS Saratoga (CV-3). First, heflew Grumman F3F and after that Brews-ter F2A Buffalo. VF-3 executive officer, Lt.Previously our story about the aircraft carrier USS Lexington(CV-2) ended at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.She avoided it because on December 5, 1941, set sail for MidwayIsland to deliver 18 Vought SB2U Vindicator dive bombers be-longing to the US Marines unit VMSB-231. Thanks to it she couldenter the WWII battles intact from the beginning.Butch O’Hare in the cockpit of a Wildcat captured inone of the propaganda photograph series taken inApril 1942 on Hawaii. Note the censored unit insignia.INFO Eduard6December 2022Page 7
John “Jimmy” Thach heavily focused on theair gunnery training. Under Thach’s leader-ship most VF-3 pilots, including Butch, be-came excellent marksmen.O’Hare’s first flight in the new GrummanF4F Wildcat fighter took place on July 21,1941. Flying it off Saratoga he entered theWWII battles. In the beginning of 1942, theship patrolled between Midway Island andPearl Harbor where she was hit by a tor-pedo fired from the Japanese submarineI-6. She had to return for repairs and VF-3transferred to Lexington. And that is whereButch’s star rose. Lexington was a core unitof the Task Force 11 under the command ofRear Admiral Wilson Brown. On January 31,1942, she set sail together with two heavycruisers and seven destroyers. Her own fi-ghter unit, VF-2 was left behind to convertto Wildcats. Besides 18 fighters from VF-3there were 37 Douglass SBD Dauntlessdive bombers and 13 Douglas TBD Devasta-tor torpedo bombers aboard Lexington.Later two more heavy cruisers and fourdestroyers joined TF 11. This formation wasgetting ready to attack Rabaul. The Ameri-can ships were located 450 miles north--east of the target when on February 20,1942, they were spotted by Japanese Ka-wanishi H6K Mavis flying boat. It was pro-mptly shot down by Jimmy Thach and hiswingman Ens. Edward Sellstrom. Laterthe Lexington fighter pilots added anotherH6K to their score. The formation’s positionhowever was discovered and all available17 Mitsubishi G4M1 Betty bombers from4. Kōkūtai were dispatched against it fromRabaul. Each aircraft was armed with two250 kg bombs since the air torpedoes werenot available in Rabaul at that time.The Japanese split into two formations toincrease the chance of finding the Ameri-cans. At 16:25 Lexington’s radar detectedthe first group of nine G4M1 47 miles away.16 out of 18 Wildcats were sent to combat.O’Hare and his wingman Lt.(jg) Marion Du-filho were also airborne. This pair howeverwas ordered to circle around the ship. Fistnine Bettys were annihilated. Only fourmade it to Lexington but failed to score anybomb hit on the wildly maneuvering shipand were shot down on their return flight– two of them even by Dauntlesses. Nota single crew member from this G4M1group survived. The American losses weretwo Wildcats and a pilot. They were shotdown by Bettys’ rear gunners with their 20mm cannons when they approached strai-ght from behind without any maneuvering.Alone against eightWhile most VF-3 fighters battled the firstgroup of the enemy bombers, at 16:49 ano-ther one appeared on Lexington’s radar.This time eight G4M1 approached from theopposite side, 30 miles away but coming infast. Butch and Dufilho were sent againstthem-no one else was available at that mo-ment. Soon it turned out that O’Hare wouldremain alone. Dufilho’s guns jammed, andhe could not fire a single shot. O’Hare didnot attack fast flying bombers from rearbut from above and astern. His four 12.7mm caliber machine guns had 450 roundseach. He performed deflection shootingand took full advantage of his thorough airgunnery training. His bursts hit the Japa-nese bombers with such accuracy that heshot off the engine out of one of them! Heattacked the Japanese formation four timesuntil he ran out of the ammunition. Thanksto his actions only four bombers made it toLexington. One of them, heavily damaged,attempted a suicidal attack. It did not hit theship however, neither did the bombs fromthe other Bettys.O’Hare was convinced that he had hit sevenbombers, six of them shot down. Officiallyhe was credited with five kills which corre-sponds to the actual records. Four aircraftwere destroyed immediately, fifth one madeemergency landing on the water on its re-turn flight. Butch damaged another two -there were the only two out of 17 dispatchedthat made it home. The Japanese reportedone cruiser or destroyer sunk and settingthe aircraft carrier on fire. They claimedeight Wildcats shot down. Gunners of thesecond group of bombers for example re-ported several kills during the repeatedButch’s attacks-even though he attackedalone. His Wildcat was hit by a single Ja-panese bullet in the fuselage-another one,into the port wing came from his own AAdefense. O’Hare piloted F4F-3 BuNo. 4031marked F-15. After the return to the portthis aircraft was transferred to VF-2 andremained on board of Lexington. During theBattle of the Coral Sea, it landed on USSHISTORYPhoto: Naval History and Heritage CommandPhoto: Naval History and Heritage CommandPhoto: Naval History and Heritage CommandDuring the photo shoot in Hawaii in April 1942 killmarkings were painted on both sides of the fuselage.Butch O’Hare at the Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat’s tail.Butch wears non-standard cowboy leather belt in thiscolor photograph.Butch O’Hare and Jimmy Thach at Kaneohe base,April 10, 1942. Note details of the propeller in thebackground.INFO Eduard7December 2022Page 8
HISTORYYorktown (CV-5) deck, so it survived thatbattle as well. Then it flew with VF-42 andlater in US Marines MAG-23. It was struckof charge in July 1944.The airport bears his nameThe successful aircraft survived its pilot.Butch O’Hare became a fighter ace in a dayand on April 21, 1942, he was awarded Me-dal of Honor. Later he assumed commandof VF-3 which after an extended time spenton training new pilots was renamed VF-6and equipped with new Grumman F6F Hell-cat fighters. Flying Hellcat O’Hare addedanother two kills to his score. On November26, 1943, he perished during the first evernight interception mission off an Americanaircraft carrier. The circumstances of hisdeath have not been clarified up until thesedays. Probably he became a victim of a Ja-panese Betty’s gunner during this night mi-ssion. Neither his Hellcat nor his body wereever found. Gearing class destroyer USSO’Hare (DD-889) which entered service inNovember 1945 was named after him. But-ch’s mother Selma was at the ceremony.This ship took part in the Vietnam War andin 1978 was sold to Spain where it servedunder the name Mendez Nunez. It was de-commissioned and sent to the scrap yardsin 1992. In September 1949 the Chicago ai-rport was named after him, O’Hare Inter-national Airport, ORD. Wildcat marked F-15is exhibited in Terminal 2 at this airport.It is an aircraft which had been recovered ingood condition from Lake Michigan whereit crashed in 1943 off the training aircraftcarrier USS Wolverine. In 2001 it was res-tored to represent Butch’s F4F-3.Raid on Lae and SalamauaLexington was not to survive for too longneither. After the battle with the Japane-se bombers TF 11 retreated from Rabaulbut after joining forces with TF 17 gatheredaround Yorktown aircraft carrier the for-mation wanted to return and attack again.On March 8 the plans changed having foundout that Rabaul port is empty. The Japane-se invaded New Guinea and all ships sai-led to the ports of Lae and Salamaua onthe north-east coast of this island. In themorning of March 10, Lexington launchedthe first attack-eight Wildcats, 31 Dauntle-sses and 13 Devastators armed with torpe-does. 15 minutes later Yorktown launchedanother 10 Wildcats, 30 SBDs and 12 TBDs,armed with bombs this time.Sixteen Japanese ships were near the co-ast in the vicinity of Lae and Salamaua-lightcruiser Yubari, 6 destroyers, 5 large cargoships, a minelayer, two small minelayersand a float plane carrier. The Americanpilots claimed ten ships sunk includingthree cruisers and another five ships da-maged. Three cargo ships were sunk andfourth one was seriously damaged. Mostof the ships were claimed by Lexington avi-ators. One of the VF-3 Wildcats shot downa Nakajima E8N Dave biplane floatplanewhich aggressively tried to attack the Ame-rican carrier-borne bombers. The Japane-se AA defense shot down a Dauntless fromLexington, the only American loss.On March 26, after this raid, Lexing-ton returned to Pearl Harbor where sheunderwent a quick rebuild. Four turretswith eight useless 203 mm caliber anti--ship cannons were removed and repla-ced with 28 mm caliber AA quad cannons.22 single barrel 20 mm caliber cannonswere added as well. The ship armament thenconsisted of 12 single barrel 127 mm calibercannons, 12 28 mm caliber quad cannonsand 22 Oerlikon 20 mm caliber cannons.So equipped Lexington set sail for her lastbattle. Initially nothing indicated a fatal en-counter. Ship set sail from Pearl Harbor onApril 15, 1942, to deliver 14 Buffalo fightersfrom VMF-211 to Palmyra atoll located inthe middle of the Pacific Ocean betweenHawaiian Islands and American Samoa. Af-ter this task, in relatively peaceful waters,the ship was to conduct the exercises to-gether with a battleship formation. On Ap-A pair of VF-3 fighters in flight on April 10, 1942. Wildcat F-1 (BuNo 3976) in the front is flown by Jimmy Thach.The second aircraft F-13 (BuNo 3986) is flown by Butch O’Hare.Lexington in San Diego on October 14, 1941. Buffalo fighters can be seen in the front, Dauntless bombersin the background.Photo: Naval History and Heritage CommandPhoto: Naval History and Heritage CommandINFO Eduard8December 2022Page 9
ril 18 however the training was cancelled.The American and British code breakersconcluded that the Japanese were pre-paring the landing at Port Moresby on thesouth-eastern side of New Guinea. There-fore, on May 1, 1942, Lexington again joinedforces with Yorktown and her formationTF 17. Together they set sail for the CoralSea with the intention to halt the Japaneseplans. For this mission Lexington carried 21Wildcats, 37 Dauntlesses and 12 Devasta-tors.First battle of aircraft carriersSimultaneously with dispatching the in-vasion fleet to Port Moresby, the Japanesehit Tulagi in Solomon Islands. This missionwas supported by the light aircraft carrierShōhō. The main forces were supported theveterans of the Pearl Harbor attack-air-craft carriers Shōkaku and Zuikaku. Thestage was being set up for the very firsthistoric battle of the aircraft carriers. It wasa first naval battle ever in which the opposingships did not see each other and attackedeach other with carrier-borne aircraft only.It is necessary to add though that manymistakes were made on both sides resul-ting in chaos and the outcome was more--less hap-hazard. Both sides were awareof the opponent ships presence and triedhard to find them. Both incorrectly iden-tified the support force as the main oneand launched against them attack groupsof their aircraft. On May 7, 1942, in themorning, the Japanese scout discovered alone tanker Neosho escorted by destroy-er Sims. It reported though, incorrectly, anaircraft carrier and a cruiser. The Japaneselaunched 78 aircraft from Shōkaku and Zui-kaku against them: 18 Mitsubishi A6M Zero,36 Aichi D3A Val dive bombers and 24 Na-kajima B5N Kate torpedo bombers.Right after an American scout discoveredthe invasion fleet of the cargo ships butreported two aircraft carriers and fourcruisers. The Americans too launched 93aircraft from Lexington and Yorktown-18Wildcats, 53 Dauntlesses and 22 Devasta-tors. Both sides almost instantly realizedtheir error. Japanese aircraft for some timefruitlessly searched for some more valua-ble targets and in the end decided to attackHISTORYLexington under attack of the Japanese aircraft, May 8, 1942. Picture was taken fromthe deck of one of the attackers.Ship’s demise was caused by the explosions of the fumes leaking from the damagedaviation fuel tanks.After the Japanese attacks Lexington was damaged however received her aircraft back on the deck. Picture was taken from the cruiser USS Portland shortlybefore the fatal explosions.Lexington in the original outfit featuring 203 mm caliber cannons in the gun turrets.Photo: Naval History and Heritage CommandPhoto: Naval History and Heritage CommandPhoto: Naval History and Heritage CommandPhoto: Naval History and Heritage CommandINFO Eduard9December 2022Page 10
HISTORYNeosho and Sims at least. The ships had nochance. After three bomb hits the destroyerbroke in halves and sank immediately. Outof 192 crew members only 14 sailors survi-ved. Neosho was hit by seven bombs anda Val which, hit by a defense AA fire,crashed on her as well. Seriously damagedtanker drifted for several days until she fi-nally sank.The Americans at last discovered the li-ght aircraft carrier Shōhō attached to theinvasion fleet and dived on her. Only twoMitsubishi A5M Claude and a Zero providedthe air cover for her and another three Ze-ros took off at the beginning of the attack.They could not however stop the Ameri-can onslaught. The Lexington aircraft hitthe Japanese ship with two 450 kg bombsand five torpedoes. Shortly afterwards theYorktown aircraft showed up and finishedthe burning wreck with 11 more bombs and2 torpedoes. Shōhō sank 45 minutes af-ter the attack was launched on her. All 18aircraft she carried were lost as well. TheAmericans lost a Dauntless from Lexing-ton. In the evening the Japanese attemptedto find the American main force again butto no avail. Therefore, the aviators releasedtheir bombs and torpedoes and turned ontheir return flight. After the sunset they didfind the American carriers-but they werewithout ordnance and misidentified theships as their own. They started to circleand prepare for landing. After a while whenthe American destroyers started to fire atthem the Japanese realized their mistakeand flew away.Decisive second dayThe first day ended with serious aircraftlosses on the Japanese side and resultedin a small American victory in the form ofJapanese decision to postpone the invasionof Port Moresby for several days. On May8, 1942, morning the decisive battle wasstaged. The Japanese launched an attackwith concentrated force of 18 fighters, 33Val bombers and 18 Kate bombers. TheAmericans sent out two separate groups.Yorktown launched 6 Wildcats, 24 Dau-ntlesses and 9 Devastators. A while laterLexington launched 9 fighters, 15 dive bom-bers and 12 torpedo bombers. Yorktownaviators hit Shōkaku with two bombs, a bitlater Lexington pilots scored another hitand the damaged Japanese carrier had towithdraw. The Lexington attack formationlost three Wildcats.By a coordinated attack from both sides theJapanese managed to hit Lexington’s portside with two torpedoes. Val dive bomberscontributed with two bomb hits. BesidesWildcats Dauntlesses were also deployedto the ships’ defenses. 15 took off from Le-The aircraft on Lexington’s stern, May 8, 1942, around 15:00. There are Wildcats in the front, Dauntlesses andDevastators behind them. Fire is raging in the hangar and the smoke is rising around the rear lift.Burning, abandoned and listing Lexington, May 8, 1942 evening. There are still aircraft on the rear deck.F4F-3 Wildcat sporting Butch’s markings is displayed in Terminal 2 of the O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.Photo: Naval History and Heritage CommandPhoto: Naval History and Heritage CommandPhoto: RaysonhoINFO Eduard10December 2022Page 11
xington on a fighter mission. They managedto destroy three Kate torpedo bombers,another was destroyed by Wildcat fighterand four by AA defense. Two Vals were shotdown during the attack on Yorktown but re-gardless, she suffered a bomb hit. On thereturn flight the American and Japaneseformations engaged resulting in further aircombat and losses. Both sides lost manyaircraft, their ships were damaged andwere running out of fuel therefore they wi-thdrew from the battle. The American sco-red a victory because the Japanese had topostpone the landing at Port Moresby fortwo months worried about the Allied cru-isers’ presence in the area and in the endthe invasion never materialized.The Japanese were convinced that they hadsunk two American aircraft carriers, tho-se however were sailing under their ownpower and receiving the returning aircraft.Nothing indicated that the damages Le-xington sustained could not be handled. Noone realized though that the first torpedohit had damaged the aviation fuel tanks onthe port side. The fumes were escaping andconcentrating in other areas of the ship.At 12:47 the sparks from the electrical mo-tors caused the explosion and fierce fire.The flight operations were still not impairedand by 14:14 the last aircraft returned to thecarrier. In addition to three Wildcats shotdown, three Dauntlesses, one Devasta-tor and one Wildcat, which had to makeemergency landing on the water, were lost.At 14:42 another explosion followed anda fierce fire in the hangar interrupted theelectric power supply to the ship’s frontsection. Any hopes for saving the vesselwere marred by the third explosion at 15:25which demanded the full evacuation of thequarters bellow the waterline. At 16:00 Le-xington came to full stop and at 17:07 cap-tain Frederick Sherman gave the order toabandon ship. 2735 crew members weresaved, 216 people perished. Captain Sher-man remained on board until 18:30 to makesure nobody was left behind and left theship as the last. Between 19:15 and 19:52 de-stroyer Phelps fired five torpedoes at Le-xington and sank the ship.3,000 meters deepOn March 4, 2018, Paul Allen and his re-search ship RV Petrel discovered the wreckof USS Lexington more than 800 km eastoff the coast of the Australian Queensland.The ship is broken into several sections.The largest part of the hull is upright at thebottom 3,000 meters deep. The bow and thestern are detached and found almost 2 kmwest from the main hull part. The bridgeHISTORYSmoke is rising from the aircraft carrier Shokaku after she was hit by American bombs, May 8, 1942. Flames onthe bow can be recognized.The flight deck edge of the sunken Lexington.Japanese light aircraft carrier Shoho under the attack of the American planes, May 7, 1942.Photo: Naval History and Heritage CommandPhoto: Naval History and Heritage CommandPhoto: PaulAllen.comINFO Eduard11December 2022Page 12
was also torn away and is located appro-ximately in the middle of the wreckage de-bris. The underwater robot RV Petrel alsolocated a Japanese torpedo which sank tothe bottom after it had missed its target.An interesting discovery was made westof the shipwreck. There is a group of 11aircraft which slipped off Lexington’s deckwhen she was sinking-seven Devastators,three Dauntlesses and a Wildcat. The pla-nes are in very good condition with well--preserved paint work. Besides the nati-onal markings the kill markings and unitinsignia are still visible under a Wildcatcanopy.Sources:Lundstrom, J. - The First Team,Naval Institute Press, 1990Hrbek, I., Hrbek, J. - Krvavé oceány,Naše vojsko, 2002Hubáček, M. - Pacifik v plamenech,Mladá Fronta, 2001www.warfarehistorynetwork.comwww.history.navy.milwww.wings-aviation.chwwww.maritime.orgeu.jacksonville.comHISTORYOne of twelve 127 mm caliber cannons after 80 years on the sea bottom.Besides the unit insignia four kills and one bombing mission markings are still visibleunder a Wildcat canopy.A group of Devastator torpedo bombers rests at the bottom of the ocean.Photo: PaulAllen.comPhoto: PaulAllen.comPhoto: PaulAllen.comPhoto: PaulAllen.comPhoto: PaulAllen.comINFO Eduard12December 2022Page 13
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HISTORYPAPPY OF THE STRAFERS IIITHE PAIN AND THE DETERMINATIONIn March 1943, shortly after the first testsof B-25s modified according to Pappy’sdirectives, twelve of these aircraft tookpart in the Battle of Bismarck Sea du-ring which they practically destroyed thewhole Japanese convoy with supplies.During the first fifteen minutes they de-stroyed four cargo ships, two destroyersand all returned unscathed to the base.3rd AG pilots were so excited by the newairplanes that they did not let Pappy inany of them and only co-pilot’s seat in aB-17, which also took part in the missi-on (in total 130 aircraft participated in it),was left for him to at least watch how his“children‘‘ fared in combat. He continuedcomplaining about this unfair treatmentlong after the mission.Success of the modified Mitchells caughtthe eye of the top brass in the USA andGeneral Kenney was responsible for thisas well since he did not forget to men-tion Pappy’s share in his communicationwith the USAAF Commander, General Ar-nold. He sent him technical drawings andasked him to lobby for the manufacturingof such modified aircraft directly by theNorth American Aviation factories. Alittle later, while already in Dayton USA,Kenney met with a group of engineersand designers from the Air Force Mate-riel Division who explained to him that allwas wrong, the aircraft had an upset cen-ter of gravity, it was too heavy and in factcould not even fly …” I listened to them aspatiently as I could and then explainedto them that we had modified a dozenB-25s in this manner and they played afairly important part in the Battle of Bis-marck Sea. And that in the same manneranother 60 aircraft were being rebuilt inAustralia. Arnold looked at his expertsand then kicked them all out of his office”recalls General Kenney in his book.photo: John F. Heyn CollectionThe second part of this mini-series ended with the successfultrials of the first Mitchell modified with the supplemental 0.5inch machine guns which led to the intense work on rebuildingmore aircraft. They were shortly to be in the action to fully provetheir advantages.Text: Richard PlosINFO Eduard14December 2022Page 15
HISTORYAfter that Arnold practically orderedPappy to show up in Dayton as soon aspossible to teach his experts something.Roughly a week afterwards Gunn flewto the USA and reported directly to theboss of North American Aviation, “Dutch”Kindelberger. The following three weeksPappy literally lived in the Los Angelesfactory and day and night worked withthe designers on further improvements.When they were finished Mitchell featu-red not four but six machine guns in thenose and the whole airplane was betterbalanced.Easy come easy goIronically, Pappy in fact was not autho-rized to fly Army airplanes since he didnot possess USAAF pilot license. In thathectic wartime no one questioned himbut one day Gunn approached GeneralKenney and asked: “General, where canI get those wings you have pinned on?”General answered that he could go to theofficers’ mess and buy them but Pappyexplained to him what he meant, that infact he had been flying the Army airpla-nes “illegally”. Up until then Kenney wasnot perhaps fully aware who he had dealtwith and only now found out that Pappywas a former Navy pilot flying since 1925.So, he immediately dispatched a requestto General Arnold’s office that Major PaulIrvin Gunn was to be issued the USAAFpilot’s license retroactively as of Decem-ber 7, 1941.However, the message reached somebureaucrat in Arnold’s staff and so twodays later Kenney, to his great surprise,read a message stating that Major Gunnwas to return to the USA where he will beadmitted to seven months long pilot trai-ning and if successfully completed willbe dispatched back unless he requestedanother assignment.“As soon as I had calmed down, I senta personal wire to Arnold marked EyesOnly, which told Hap the story of Pappy-’s life, suggesting a suitable dispositionof the staff officer who had sent me theanswer to my original wire, and inasmuchas I believed that Major Gunn knew moreabout flying than any instructor he had inthe United States, I was again asking thatPappy be rated an Air Force pilot.”recalled General Kenney. Arnold imme-diately entertained his request and sosoon enough, in his office Kenney couldpin the pilot‘s insignia on Pappy’s uni-form. Pappy wasted no time, rushed tothe financial department and claimedaround four thousand dollars as a backpay for the pilot‘s position…Then he requested time off and decidedto fly to New Guinea where, as he belie-ved, could become a millionaire in thelocal casinos. He sat on the right seatof a B-25 headed there, all that moneystuck in buttoned pockets of his shirt.During the flight the sun was hitting thecockpit hard, so Pappy tucked away hisshirt on the back of his seat. He lit a ci-garette and decided to let some fresh airin. In one move he jerked the side windowopen and an immediate pressure dropsucked the shirt out. It disappeared in theblue of the sky and ocean … Pappy lookedout hoping that it at least got caught onthe tail surfaces, but no luck. So he tookover the controls, turned Mitchell aroundand searched for the shirt on the watersurface. Nothing again … He dragged fromhis cigarette a couple of times, closed thewindow and after a moment of silence hestated: “Well then. Easy come, easy go…” Shortly after, on May 10, 1943, GeneralKenney signed the paperwork for Pappy’spromotion to a Lieutenant Colonel whichcould have been for him at least a smallcompensation for this loss.The Philippines on fireIn the middle of September 1944, theAmerican Strategic Command of the USforces in the Pacific decided to reclaimthe Philippines. The landing was to takeplace on October 20 on Leyte Island nearTacloban port on the eastern coast. In themeantime, the USAAF focused on the oilrefineries and fuel dumps in Balikpapanon Borneo where the Japanese sourcedmost of their aircraft fuel for their Phi-lippine bases with approximately threethousand airplanes located there.As soon as Pappy learned about theplanned landing, he started to devise hisown plans. His first thought was to fly oneof B-25s rebuilt to version with twelvemachine guns to Manila and shoot to pie-ces hundreds of Japanese aircraft linedup on both sides of two miles long TaftBoulevard Street. The Japanese used itfor both the take offs and landings as wellas the storage. It was not a bad idea withone problem though, the Americans didnot control any base from which a Mit-chell could reach Manila. Pappy, who waseager to liberate the Philippines as soonas possible and rejoin his family, washowever willing to fly despite the risk ofrunning out of fuel on the return journey.A little later, while already in Dayton USA, Kenney met with a groupof engineers and designers from the Air Force Materiel Division whoexplained to him that all was wrong, the aircraft had an upset centerof gravity, it was too heavy and in fact could not even fly …A dramatic view of para-bombs drop.photo: Bill SwainINFO Eduard15December 2022Page 16
HISTORYHe calculated that point and requestedthe flying boat pickup. General Kenneyof course disproved such an antic. Pappydid not give up and proposed to fly aloneafter removing both the dorsal and reargun turrets and instead of the bomb loadkeeping only the full incendiary ammuni-tion load for the gun machines.Thanks to saved weight he would attachtwo three hundred gallon drop tanksunder the wings so he would have su-fficient fuel for the return flight as well.“He almost cried when I refused this planas well. I tried to explain to him that forthese planned operations I could notafford to spare a single B-25 for the timenecessary for all these modifications”recalled General Kenney. Ultimately, hehad to reject Pappy’s third idea in whichhe counted on a clandestine landing in thePhilippines, organizing a small army withwhich, thanks to his terrain knowledge,would give the Japanese hell by attackingfrom the rear during the landing. Gunn’seffort to return to the Philippines as soonas possible was understood and at theend General had to assign him to anothertask in Australia just to get rid of him.“Pappy, from the maintenance unit inAustralia I want you to recruit a specialdetachment of some fifty men who cando anything. They had to be able to shoot,dig the trenches, build improvised shel-ters, install steel plates for runways, re-pair aircraft, engines, live in the wild andfight even with fists or stones.” On the12th, eight days before the landings, twoC-47 landed at Hollandia where Kenney’sheadquarters was, and fifty armed roughmen disembarked with backpacks full oftools and spare parts. “These are the menyou wanted, General. What now?” askedGunn. Their task was to start establishingthe airbase right after the landing. Andso Pappy and his men were transferredunder the command of Col. David Hut-chinson, the Air Task Force commander.On October 20, after a thorough shellingand bombing, four American divisionslanded near Tacloban and in Dulag twentymiles further south. There were airfieldsused by the Japanese in both areas butheavily damaged by bombing and toosmall for the number of aircraft Kenneywished to allocate there. Pappy’s lan-ding craft was rocking on the mild waves.Hundreds of ships, boats and vessels ofall sizes around him. It was a force ne-ver seen before, a mind-boggling effortof the massive war economy of a countrywith such industrial might which man-kind has not experienced before. Insteadof thousands of kilometers he was sepa-rated from Polly and kids just by several90th Squadron’s Mitchell after the emergency landing at Dobodura base in New Guinea.General George Churchill Kenney, one of the archi-tects of the “Skip Bombing” method.photo: John F. Heyn Collectionphoto: USAFPappy proposed to fly alone after removing both the dorsal and reargun turrets and instead of the bomb load keeping only the full incen-diary ammunition load for the gun machines. Thanks to saved weighthe would attach two three hundred gallon drop tanks under the wingsso he would have sufficient fuel for the return flight as well.INFO Eduard16December 2022Page 17
HISTORYhundred kilometers. Immediately afterthe landing he started to build a runwaywith his construction crew on a san-dy perimeter. The heavy equipment hasnot arrived yet, but Pappy discovered anold bulldozer behind the Japanese lines.At the beginning it would not start butPappy talked it into that and so the con-struction crew could start leveling thesurface and reinforce it with piled upcorral. Gunn’s group also repaired seve-ral shelters located nearby and started tobuild a control tower.In the anticipation of Japanese bombing,they also dug a lot of trenches in the ai-rfield vicinity. Strafing and bombing ma-terialized soon, in addition the peninsu-la was only 300 meters wide and therewas not enough space. Chaos occurred,disembarked material was nowhere tobe placed. This was followed by a heroiceffort to build the wider beachhead andput the Tacloban base to the operation inwhich no other was put in charge thanPappy who managed to organize the helpof several hundred Filipinos. Skills of hismen came handy in the situation when itturned out that in even after three yearsof combat the bomb hangers on the Armyand Navy bombers were not unified andtherefore the bombs from the USAAFsupplies could not be used on the Navyaircraft that landed. Pappy however pro-mptly proposed the modifications of thehangers, his men rushed to work on theaircraft with welding machines and she-et metal cutters and soon enough seve-ral aircraft were ready for action. In sixand half days Tacloban was operationalbut nevertheless, it was a dangerousplace which was constantly bombed andstrafed by the Japanese. On October 30,during the bombing raid, Pappy was dri-ving his Jeep in the open area and be-came a target of one of the attackers.He tried to take cover behind the car butit was not sufficient. The phosphorusbomb explosion threw Pappy away and afragment penetrated his left hand. He gotup, made a couple of steps in great painand then, moaning, fell and passed out.On the following day he was airlifted toBrisbane, where the best Army hospitalwas located.The liberationOn January 9, 1945, four divisions of Ma-cArthur‘s Sixth Army landed in Linga-yen Bay on the main Philippines islandof Luzon to launch the final campaign ofliberating the island including Manila, 150km away. The units kept advancing despi-te the fierce resistance until January 31when the headquarters received the me-ssage that Japanese let 3700 prisoners,held in Manila’s University of Santo To-mas campus, to starve in addition to se-veral hundreds of POWs held in the oldBilibid jail. Considering their poor phys-ical condition after three years of survi-ving on minimal food rations it was notclear how much longer they can carry on.Therefore, MacArthur dispatched the 1stMotorized Cavalry Division to march onManila as soon as possible and liberatethe prisoners. Under the command of Ge-neral Major Vern Mudge the division, afterseveral isolated battles, broke through toManila where it swiftly attacked Univer-sity of Santo Tomas area and rescued allprisoners. Among them Polly Gunn withher four children. Col. Hutchinson soughtthem out as he had promised Pappy befo-re his dispatch to Australia that he wouldtake care of them. He told Polly aboutPappy’s wounds and that their transportto Brisbane was being arranged so theycould re-unite. It was the first informa-tion Polly received that her husband wasdirectly involved in the fighting. She wasin rather poor condition; her weight was38 kilos instead of usual 51. On Februa-ry 19 she was flown with her children toBrisbane where the whole family reuni-ted after more than three years.The war woundsPappy’s wounds were more serious thatit could have seemed. The whole handnervous system was damaged. The jointswere swollen and fingers insensitive.Therefore, in the middle of April he wastransferred to the USA to undertake neu-rosurgery at the military clinic in Auburn.This partially helped but Pappy continuedto suffer from severe pain and had to car-ry his half-disabled hand in the support.However, the inactivity was even worsefor him so in September 1945 he returnedto Manila and initiated the resurrectionfor the Philippine Air Lines.At that time, he was already dischargedto reserve and could fully return to hiscivilian life.Together with Dan Stickle, with whom hehad started at the airline, they acquireda couple of surplus Army airplanes whichthey rebuilt for civilian use. In Decemberthe ceremonial re-opening of the opera-Family together again.Pappy, Polly, and Dutch. Three nicknames, three ex-ceptional people.photo: family archivesphoto: family archivesINFO Eduard17December 2022Page 18
HISTORYPAPPY AND A WHALEtions took place launching the scheduledservice to Hong-Kong and Saigon. Pappydid take part in these moderate festivi-ties but then he returned to the hospitalin Fort McKinley where he was almosta resident due to the permanent severepain and need for doctor’s care. In thespring of 1947, he still carried the supportfor his hand but every now and then heremoved it and squeezed the rubber ballin order to stimulate the blood vessels inhis hand and invigorate it. He always triedto occupy himself, he scouted for airpla-nes with sufficient range so as PAL couldstart flying to the USA and in many waystried to utilize the benefits of purchasingthe cheap military surplus material in thePhilippines. In the spring of 1948 while hewas again in the USA with his family, hesuffered from such pain that he reachedthe decision to have his hand amputatedunless the doctors found out how to con-trol the pain. In the end the amputationwas not necessary since Doctor Livings-ton from Lahey clinic in Boston was ableto restore his hands’ blood vessels andalso repair some damages of the nervoussystem.Life was coming back to his hand andGunn used every opportunity to squeezehis rubber ball to strengthen his hand. Hestarted to fly again, his energy came backand PAL were successful. And then Oc-tober 11, 1957, came. Over the PhilippinesPappy tried to avoid a severe storm andcrashed. There were no survivors …His former superior, and friend as well,General Kenney, arranged for his last fli-ght home, to the USA, where he was bu-ried. During the wartime Paul Irvin Gunnwas decorated with several awards: DFC,Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Air Medal,Purple Heart nine times and WWII Vic-tory Medal. His skills and decisivenesshelped develop a new category of combataircraft and he also contributed to manyother areas of the war efforts. In 2008the Arkansas Aviation Historical Societyincluded him into their Hall of Fame.SourcesThe Saga of Pappy Gunn, George Chur-chill Kenney; Kismet Publishing, 2018(first issue 1958)Indestructible, John, N Bruning, Hachet-te Books, 2016North American B-25 Mitchell, KeyPublishingFlying Buccaneers, Steve Birdsall, Dou-bleday & Co. Inc., 1977General Kenney Reports, George Chur-chill Kenney, Sloan & Pearce 1949warfarehistorynetwork.comwww.3rdattackgroup.comthejavagoldblog.wordpress.comFor the whole week Lt. Col. Gunn wai-ted in Port Moresby at Three Mile, oneof its airbases, in order to persona-lly test the newest B-25 version withbuilt-in 75 mm cannon. Pappy fell inlove with this version and as soon as hehad an opportunity to inspect it with theintention to test it on the first Japanesevessel that appeared in its operationalrange, General Kenney authorized histemporary reassignment to his formerunit. “Men in 3rd Attack Group calledhim engineer without borders but wereproud of his unorthodox approach tohis achievements. After all, they wereunorthodox themselves.Gunn did not have to wait too long forthe opportunity. Shortly after midday ascout airplane sent a message every-body was waiting for so in fifteen minu-tes 72 Twin Cyclone engines were roa-ring and 36 airplanes, one after anothergot airborne led by Pappy. Bad weatherforced the formation to split into threesections, twelve airplanes each, in or-der to cover the largest area possibleand not to let the pair of discoveredJapanese ships to escape. The aircraftproceeded above the ocean waves, is-lets and coral reefs at an altitude of nomore than 30 meters. These crews ne-ver carried the oxygen masks as theywere useless and proudly claimed thatif a cow stood in their way, they wouldhave to fly around her … Shortly after2:30 the formation led by Gunn emer-ged from behind a rain curtain and pi-lots spotted the pair of Japanese de-stroyers.Both headed toward the fogged areaand there was no time to seek the opti-mal position. Pappy signaled the attackand started firing from 1500 yards. Hehad six rounds for his 75 mm cannon.The first one hit one of the first de-stroyer’s superstructures, the secondbounced off the deck and destroyed theAA gun post, the third missed and thefourth got buried right in the center ofthe hull. At that moment Pappy was soclose that he had to pitch up sharplyand literally jump over the destroy-er and turn around for another attack.Problem was that the last hit did notslow the destroyer down. Both Pappy’swingmen evaluated the situation. The-re was time left only for a single attackuntil the destroyer will disappear in thefog so there was a radio message: “Pa-ppy, will you please get the hell out ofthe way and let us show you how a de-stroyer ought to be sunk.” Pappy’s re-sponse, properly censored and abbre-viated was like this: “OK, you knuckleheads, I wish this obscene crock ca-rried a few more rounds of ammuniti-on. I’d show you.”A pair then showered the vessel withbullets from their 24 0.5 inch machineguns and after that both Mitchells re-leased their 500 lb bombs. After theybounced off the water surface, they“bit” into the hull and the Japanese de-stroyer broke into halves. The secondship was destroyed by another for-mation and since there were no othertargets left Mitchells set on the returnjourney. Both wingmen again made for-mation with Pappy’s aircraft and whenthe dozen of them approached CapeGloucester with a small Japanese air-field Pappy spotted a transportation ai-rplane which had just landed. That wasan opportunity to restore his tarnishedreputation! Mitchell, which appearedright above the treetops, was a totalsurprise to the Japanese. The first ofthe two remaining 75 mm rounds hit thestarboard engine of the Japanese air-craft, the second one the cockpit. Thewhole flight continued along the wes-tern coast of New Britain, flew over aherd of whales in Solomon Sea, copiedthe eastern coast of New Guinea andlanded at Three Mile home base. Thecrews gathered with their reports inthe operations room, but no one daredto say a word about Pappy’s misfortunewhile attacking a Japanese ship. TheyINFO Eduard18December 2022Page 19
HISTORYknew too well that his response wouldbe so toxic it could destroy the grassin the vicinity, even the whole jungle.Only one was brave enough to breakthe silence and carefully asked: “Lis-ten Pappy, did you see those whales inSolomon Sea which we flew over?”“Yeah, I did” countered Pappy. All ofsudden his eyes lit, and he cleared histhroat. The men already knew that hewas getting ready to narrate one ofhis legendary stories and they circledaround him.“You may not know but the whale isthe most intelligent of all animals. Notonly is she smart, but she is also frien-dly. She likes people and likes to helpthem out. Had not she been so hugeshe would have been an ideal homepet. Those whales today reminded meof the year 1930 when I flew with theNavy. It happened during the exercisesnear the northern coast of Haiti. I flewthe catapult launches off the cruiserOmaha and conducted anti-submarinereconnaissance. One day at the altitu-de of five thousand feet and hundredmiles from the aircraft carrier my en-gine suddenly seized. I was sure aboutthe cause of the failure. You know, atthat time the rubber hose connectorswere used in the fuel system piping.Those old engines used to vibrate a lotand the engineers were afraid that thepiping without such flexibility wouldbreak. Sometimes however the gascorroded the rubber and its pieces gotinto the piping or carburetor and clo-gged it. I knew what to do if I could landbut when I looked at the roaring Atlan-tic it struck me that when I descended,I would be really lucky if after my lan-ding anything remains on which I couldsit until they pick me up.I spiraled down and searched for awave which would be smaller thanthe others when all of sudden I noti-ced the calm ridge between the waves.So, I touched down on that spot, nice-ly skidded on the surface and then amild bump stopped me. Then I lookedover the side what I bumped into andlearned that I ended up on the whale’sback! I sat there for a while, but thewhale did not move. So I asked myself:What is this supposed to mean? But Idisembarked, stepped on the whale’sback, opened the engine hood, cle-aned the carburetor and fuel piping,installed new hose connectors which Icarried in my pocket and closed every-thing. Then I pulled out the crank han-dle for an inertia starter, put one footon the whale and another on the floatand cranked the engine until the iner-tia starter gained enough RPMs.Then I quickly jumped into the cockpit,turned on the ignition and engagedthe inertia starter clutch. The pro-peller turned, the engine started andthat was it! Now the whale… Remem-ber what I said about how smart theywere? She knew I was ready to takeoff! So, she carefully submerged andrefrained from flapping the tail so asnot to hit the airplane. Some hundredfeet in front of me she emerged again,turned against the wind, and created asmooth wave on which I could take offand return to Omaha.”Pappy stopped talking, looked around,grinned, and waited for the applausewhich followed of course.Then he turned around and said: “Ithink I should check out if Sgt. Evanshave prepared my plane for anothermission”. Having said that he left theoperations room…The whole paragraph was shortenedand adopted from the book The Saga ofPappy Gunn written by General GeorgeC. Kenney.Photo: US NavyPage 20
Photo: Maxar TechnologiesWe left operations in Ukraine in the pre-vious part of this series when the ArmedForces of Ukraine entered Lyman in thenortheast of the country on October 1.After several successful operations in theKharkiv region, Ukrainian troops pausedfor a while to replenish forces, resupplyand, last but not least, to collect capturedequipment left behind by fleeing enemies.This allowed the Russian side time to con-solidate as well and fighting in the regionthus continued with alternating successthroughout November along the road be-tween Svatove and Kreminna.Stiff fighting also took place over Bakhmutin the Donetsk region, which the Russianshave been trying in vain to capture sinceAugust. A Wagner’s mercenary group isvery active there. The Russian advance hasbeen extremely slow, despite great efforts.On Monday October 24, the Ukrainianseven launched a successful local coun-ter-attack and temporarily pushed theRussians out of the factories on the easternoutskirts of the city. Most of this, however,took place in the south of Ukraine. On thevery next day after the liberation of Ly-man, on the opposite side of the front line,Ukrainian troops also moved in KhersonOblast. They attacked from two directionson October 2, and along the Dnieper Riverthey managed to break through the frontlines. In two days, they advanced about 40km and liberated dozens of villages. Fromseveral of them Russians preferred to wi-thdraw as they were in danger of beingsurrounded.Putin’s pride downThe Kerch Bridge explosion early on Thur-sday morning, October 6, posed majorproblems for supplies to Russian troopsin southern Ukraine. This bridge from Ru-ssia to occupied Crimea was under con-struction between 2016 and 2019 and wasopened personally by Russian PresidentPutin. The road section is 16.9 km long andthe railway section is 18.1 km long. To thisday, it is unclear what exactly happened tothe bridge. According to the Russian side,a truck that was crossing towards Crimeaexploded. They documented this with bothvideo and X-ray footage showing a semi--trailer loaded with explosives. However,two things do not fit in the Russian version– the different number of axles of the truckon the video and on the X-ray image, plusthe logic does not fit, either – why wouldanyone let onto a bridge a truck in whichthey see explosives when they check forit? And then the Kremlin is surprised thatnobody believes their fairy tales ...According to another version, a naval dro-ne exploded under the bridge. Ukraine,however, does not claim responsibilityfor the attack. Anyway, the huge explos-ion caused two spans of the road bridgeat the site of the blast to collapse into thesea, and a little further on, tremors causeda third span to fall as well. At the time ofthe explosion, on the adjacent railroadbridgethere was a train of tankers, whichbegan to burn. It took several hours to ex-tinguish the ensuing fire. The rails meltedin the process and the bridge structurewas also severely affected by the fire.Although Russia claimed that the bridgewas only lightly damaged and traffic wasimmediately restored, the opposite is true.Half of the road bridge in one directionstayed intact, but only cars were allowedHISTORYIn the previous section, we dealt mainly with the Ukrainian offen-sives in Kherson and Kharkiv regions. Furthermore, in the periodfrom October 1 to November 1, a great deal happened in Ukraine.In addition to the ongoing ground counter-offensive, there havebeen attacks on the Kerch bridge linking occupied Crimea withRussia and on the naval base at Sevastopol. Russia, for its part,is attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure from afar, but is pu-lling up short on the front.Text: Miro BaričAir warover UkraineThe hot autumnINFO Eduard20December 2022Page 21
Photo: Maxar TechnologiesPhoto: Ukrainian military's StrategicCommunications DirectoratePhoto: Maxar TechnologiesPhoto: TwitterSatellite images of the damaged bridge taken by Maxar Technologies.HISTORYon it, while trucks had to use the ferries.This caused major congestion and supplyproblems for Crimea and, consequently,for the Kherson region. Trains are also ru-nning in a restricted mode.The severe damage to the bridge is mostevidenced by the terms of repair, whichwere later made public by the Russian side.After replacing the collapsed spans of theroad bridge in one direction, they will alsoreplace the opposite direction spans thatwere left standing. This suggests that thetremors of the explosion affected them aswell. Then the repair of the burnt railwaybridge will begin, which will last until atleast September 2023.Russian revengeRussia’s reaction was not long in coming.On Sunday, October 9, Putin accusedUkraine of terrorism in connection withthe bridge explosion. It was Russia, ho-wever, which had set a precedent with itsattacks on bridges – in April and May itrepeatedly shelled with missiles the stra-tegic Zatoka bridge, which runs over themouth of the Dniester and connects Ode-ssa with the Romanian border. Moreover,the bridge to Crimea is a legitimate mili-tary target according to the Ukrainians, al-though they have not yet claimed respon-sibility for damaging it. All the troops thatinvaded southern Ukraine on February 24passed over it, and reinforcements, fueland ammunition for the Russian troopsThe Kerch bridge leading to Crimea burns after an explosion on the morning of October 6.The wreckage of an Iranian Shahed-136 drone shotdown by Ukrainian air defenses.INFO Eduard21December 2022Page 22
Photo: Russian Defense Ministry Press ServicePhoto: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service Photo: Russian Defense Ministry Press Serviceoccupying the Kherson and Zaporozhyeregions were also supplied this way. Thesubsequent Russian attacks on Ukrainiantowns and cities could more accurately bedescribed as terrorism. On Monday, Octo-ber 10, during the morning rush hour, Kievand other major cities across the country,from Kharkiv to Lviv, were the target ofa massive attack. The Russians used crui-se missiles, but mainly Iranian Shahed-136kamikaze drones. In total, they fired about90 of them. More than half of them weredefused by Ukrainian air defenses. A vi-deo has even emerged in which one Sha-hed-136 was shot down by a police unitwith Kalashnikovs.The first attacks came during the mor-ning rush hour, when people were goingto work and children were going to school.Power stations and electricity substationswere mainly hit, causing power outages inseveral cities. Water also stopped flowingas pumps were left without electricity. Inaddition, 'strategic' targets such as theplayground, the crossroads in front of theuniversity, the pedestrian bridge and theGerman consulate building were also hit.At least three cruise missiles fired fromships in the Black Sea flew over the terri-tory of Moldova, which therefore summo-ned the Russian ambassador.Boosting the air defenseSuch attacks continued throughout the restof the month. If by chance there was a lullfor a few days, another large wave of ka-mikaze drones and cruise missiles wouldsoon arrive. Despite the partial successesof the air defense, some of the projectilesalways get through, and Ukraine’s energyinfrastructure is being systematically de-structed. The result is widespread power,water and heating cuts.However, one of the consequences of themassive Russian attacks is the accelera-tion of the delivery of air defense systemsfrom the West. Germany announced earlydeliveries immediately after the first ma-jor airstrike on October 10 and by SaturdayOctober 15 the first of the four promisedIRIS-T systems was already in Ukraine.The IRIS-T missiles were developed bya German-led group of NATO states asa replacement for the Sidewinder missi-les. First appearing as an air-to-air mi-ssile in 2005, they developed a surface-to--air version in 2015. Ukraine received theIRIS-T SLM version with a range of 40 kmand altitude reach up to 20 km. In additionto aircraft, it can destroy cruise missiles,ground target missiles and has a high su-ccess rate against maneuvering drones.The system was immediately deployed insouthern Ukraine, making it the first coun-try in the world to use it operationally.Deliveries of the new NASAMS anti-air-craft systems have also been accelera-ted by the United States. Two of the eightRussian 9K33 Osa (SA-8 Gecko) system.Russian ships launch cruise missiles at Ukrainian cities.HISTORYINFO Eduard22December 2022Page 23
Photo: Twitter Photo: Twitterpromised systems were on their way toUkraine during October. Britain has pro-mised to supply Ukraine with additionalmissiles for NASAMS. France, Italy, Spain,Canada and the Netherlands have alsopromised to supply surface-to-air missi-les or radars.Attacks in the rearWhile Russia shelled civilian infrastructu-re all month long, at the end of the repor-ting period the Ukrainians managed twohussar stunts in the form of attacks on mi-litary bases deep in the Russian rear. Firstwas a combined naval and aerial droneattack on the port of Sevastopol in occu-pied Crimea in the early hours of SaturdayOctober 29.According to an official Russian statement,nine drones and seven remotely controlledboats loaded with explosives attacked Se-vastopol. All the flying drones were to beshot down and the kamikaze craft light-ly damaged one minesweeper. However,several large columns of black smokewere rising from the harbor. These wereexplained by the Russian side as part ofa “planned exercise”. Ukraine has not offi-cially claimed responsibility for the attack,but local media reported two to four shipswere hit. Videos from the cameras of theattacking kamikaze boats have also beenreleased, according to which at least twoships were hit – in addition to the mine-sweeper Ivan Golubets, whose damagewas also admitted by the Russians, it wassupposed to be the frigate Admiral Maka-rov. The latter became the new flagshipUkrainian Mi-24P helicopter with two 30 mm caliber cannons. Similar eyes appeared painted on the Mi-8.Footage of columns of smoke over the port of Sevastopol after a drone strike on Oct. 29 has emerged on social media.HISTORYINFO Eduard23December 2022Page 24
Photo: Russian Defense Ministry Press ServicePhoto: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service Photo: Ukrainian Defense Ministry Press ServicePhoto: Russian Defense Ministry Press Serviceof the Black Sea Fleet after the sinking ofthe cruiser Moskva. The 125 m long vessel,with a full displacement of 4,000 tons, hasa crew of 200 and carries a 100 mm calibergun, eight launchers for Kalibr, Oniks orZirkon missiles and 24 launchers for anti--aircraft missiles.Subsequent satellite imagery revealed da-mage to three ships. The third one wouldbe Makarov’s sister ship, the frigate Ad-miral Essen. One of the damaged frigates,supposedly the Admiral Makarov, had tobe towed by tugboats from the open sea infront of the harbor to the pier. The situationwas also captured by satellite imagery.Whatever the outcome of the attack, itshowed that the Russian fleet is vulnerab-le. After all, bases should be heavily de-fended, especially in wartime, and just ge-tting inside is a feat. Russia has obliginglybranded it an act of terrorism. However,the targets of the attack were warships,which routinely shell Ukrainian cities withKalibr missiles. Which of these is closer tothe definition of terrorism?The second Ukrainian action, althoughsignificantly smaller in scale, was all themore audacious. It did not involve anyremotely piloted unmanned vehicles. Al-though Ukraine again has not officiallyclaimed responsibility, it was most likelycarried out by its special forces. The dayafter the attack on Sevastopol, on Sun-day October 30, they infiltrated the Russi-an military airfield at Veritye in the Pskovregion. The base is located 500 km northof the Ukrainian border and 110 km eastof Latvia. It is home to the 15th Briga-de of the Army Air Force, which is equi-pped with a wide range of helicopters – ithas 16 Mi-8 MTV-5 transport helicopters,12 Ka-52 attack helicopters, as well as 12Mi-28N attack helicopters. It also uses ol-der Mi-35M, Mi-8 MTPR-1s for electronicwarfare, and giant Mi-26 transports. TheUkrainian commandos infiltrated there inbroad daylight without anyone trying tostop them. Its members calmly plantedcharges and even videotaped themselveswhile doing so. Subsequent explosionsdestroyed two Ka-52s and one Mi-28N.This was confirmed by satellite images.Two other helicopters wereto be damaged.Russian media reported that one helico-pter was subsequently found to containa 400 gram TNT charge which, for an unk-nown reason, did not explode.Ukrainian lossesFollowing intensive ground operations, airpower was similarly heavily deployed onboth sides. Thus, losses of aviation equip-ment did not occur only as a result of com-mando raids on airbases in the enemy rear.A Ukrainian Su-27 from the 39th TacticalAir Force Brigade was shot down near thevillage of Shishaki in the Poltava region onOctober 10. Its pilot, Colonel Oleg Shupik,was killed at the age of 56. He had left theUkrainian Air Force in 2006 and worked atthe Ministry of Transportation but returnedto the Armed Forces on the day of theRussian invasion on February 24.Two days later, on Wednesday October10, another Ukrainian aircraft was shotdown in the same area near the village ofShishaki. This time it was supposed to bea Sukhoi Su-24MR with the designation“yellow 59”. It was attacking enemy forti-fied targets and after dropping bombs washit by a Russian fighter on its return. Thepilots tried to bring the damaged aircraftto the nearest airfield but failed. One ofthem survived the crash, but the other pi-lot was killed. Later, information appearedin the Russian media that this Su-24 hadbeen shot down by a MiG-31 fighter jet.These are increasingly being used by theRussian air force to launch long-rangeattacks using R-37 missiles against Ukrai-nian aircraft.On the same day, October 12, the Ukrai-nian Air Force also lost one MiG-29 nearthe town of Vinnytsia in central Ukraine.Its pilot shot down a Shahed-136 kamikazedrone, but after its explosion a fragmentThe Russian side has released footage of its Su-25s during combat flights.The wreckage of a Russian Kh-101 missile that was shot down nearChernihiv on October 19.HISTORYINFO Eduard24December 2022Page 25
Photo: Twitter Photo: Kooperativ Telegram ChannelPhoto: Twitterof the drone hit the cockpit of the fighter.The pilot had to eject. The last confirmedUkrainian loss in the reporting period wasan Mi-8 helicopter that crashed on October31 near the Ukrainian-controlled village ofKonstantinovka in the Donetsk region. Thewreckage on the ground was completelyburnt up, but the crew escaped, accordingto Ukrainian sources.Russian losses and accidentsLess fortunate was the crew of a Russi-an Mi-8MTKO helicopter that crashed onthe same day, Monday October 31, near thevillage of Spirne in the Donetsk region. Itwas a machine that had been deliveredfrom Belarus and was to be used by themercenary Group Wagner. Shortly aftertake-off, the helicopter was hit by a MAN-PADS rocket, caught fire and flipped afterit hit the ground.At least two Ka-52 helicopters were alsolost during the reporting period, and thewreckage of one Mi-24 was found in theKharkiv region. The Ukrainians have alsoclaimed the downing of several other he-licopters and Su-25s, but this has not yetbeen confirmed.However, the number of Russian aircraftlost in accidents continued to rise. The in-tensive combat deployment is reflected inthe lack of maintenance and subsequenttechnical failures that have caused at leasttwo of the four recorded crashes.First, on October 9, an unarmed Su-24,which was on a training flight, made anemergency landing in a field near thesettlement of Sibirki in Russia’s RostovRegion. The aircraft caught fire, but bothcrew members escaped. The cause of theaccident is believed to be a technical fai-lure.On the same day, a Su-25 crashed in theRostov Region. It happened near the villageof Rogalik, 30 km from the Millerovo mili-tary airport. In this case, the pilot did notmanage to eject and was killed. Accordingto Russian media, he was trying to pull theaircraft as far as possible from the housesof the settlement near which it crashed.A major tragedy occurred on MondayOctober 17 in the Russian town of Yeysk onthe coast of the Sea of Azov. Just 70 km asthe crow flies on the opposite shore of thesea lies Mariupol, which was razed to theground by Russian troops in the first mon-ths of the war. A Su-34 bomber crashedinto a block of flats in Yeiisk shortly aftertake-off. It was supposed to fly a trainingflight. Both pilots ejected just before im-pact. One of them testified that one of thetwin engines started to burn during take--off. Russian investigators consider themost likely theory to be that it collided withbirds during take-off. The impact of thefuel-laden machine sparked a huge firein the nine-storey apartment building. Atleast three people died after jumping outof a window rather than stay in the flames.A total of 15 people died, including threechildren.A similar accident was repeated six dayslater in Irkutsk, Siberia. There, a SukhoiSu-30 fighter jet crashed on houses onOctober 23. According to official state-ments of the Russian authorities, the air-craft was on a test flight after being re-paired. Su-30 fighter jets are produced inIrkutsk. The aircraft crashed to the groundalmost perpendicularly and both pilots pe-rished. Although several houses were hit,no one on the ground was killed this time.It is speculated that this time the causeof the accident was a malfunction on theoxygen system, which caused both pilotsto lose consciousness.A video of the crash of the Su-25, whichoccurred back in June, also emerged du-ring the reporting period. However, the vi-deo footage from the pilot’s helmet camerahas become very popular because it is re-ally action-packed. Only 15 seconds passfrom the start of the ejection to the pilot’sparachute hitting the ground. The accidenthappened on June 17 near Belgorod. Thepilot caught a power line during a low fli-ght and cut off half of the vertical fin. Thecrashed aircraft bore the designation “Red09” and the registration number RF-91965.It also had the letter V on its tail.In October, a video surfaced showing the crash of a Russian Su-25 "Red 09" near Belgorod back on June 17.The moment a Su-34 crashes into a residential building in the Russian city of Yeysk. The parachute of one of the pilotscan be seen on the right.HISTORYINFO Eduard25December 2022Page 26
Among the promising young NCOs whoserved in Jagdgeschwader 2 “Richthofen” in1940 was Feldwebel Erich Rudorffer. At theend of 1939 he was assigned to 2./JG 2 andduring the campaign in France he achievednine victories. He added more in the Battleof Britain and the highlight of this period wasthree kills scored in one combat sortie onSeptember 7, 1940.The number of his victories stopped ateighteen, just two bars away from the dre-am number of twenty that for Bf 109 pilotsin 1940 meant the award of the Knight'sCross. This award awaited Rudorffer on May1, 1941, after he had shot down a Blenheim 30km north of the island of Jersey on 21 April.Let’s go back to the Battle of Britain and theboxart of Rudorffer’s “Black Nine” by MarekRyś. It depicts Rudorffer’s plane during adogfight that took place on September 30,1940, off the English coast. This was theLuftwaffe’s last major air raid against Gre-at Britain. It deployed 163 day bombers and1015 sorties by single and two-seat fighters.This number of fighter sorties was the sixthhighest on the German side during the Battleof Britain.The last day of September brought Rudorfferthree flights, the highest number he flew ina single day during the Battle of Britain.In the morning, he took off with part ofI/JG 2 for a free hunt over the coast of sou-thern England. The same task was also givento the 109s from parts of JG 53 and the 110sfrom ZG 26. Against this free hunting group,which was heading for the area betweenSt. Alban's Head and the Isle of Portland,RAF despatched seven Hurricanes fromNo. 56 Sqn and thirteen Spitfires fromNo. 609 (West Riding) Sqn.The Hurricanes clashed with the 110s andboth sides lost one machine. Then JG 2 gotin troubles, its pilots encountering No. 609Sqn, whose A Flight was led by L/Lt F. J.Howell and B Flight was under command ofP/O M. J. Appleby. The Germans claimed fourvictories. Kommandeur of I./JG 2 Hptm. Wickclaimed one Hurricane and one Spitfire nearPortland, his wingman Oblt. Rudolf Pflanzclaimed one Spitfire and Uffz. Kurt Bühlin-gen of 6./JG 2 claimed another one northof Portland. However, the British did not loseany machines. The pilots of JG 2, who wereby this point (approximately 12.30 Germantime) beginning to run out of fuel and couldnot engage in a long air battle.Howell's formation was at 23,000ft to Apple-by's right at the start of the engagement, butin a fierce encounter they recorded no victo-ries or losses. The first success was recor-ded by P/O D. M. Crook of B Flight. Several109's passed directly in front of him, therewas a brief manoeuvre fight, and then theGermans went into a dive. Crook was flyingbehind one at 600 mph when the German le-velled off, Crook scored hits and the smokeemitting Bf 109 crashed into the sea.Appleby attacked three Bf 109s that passedin a descent in the opposite direction on hisleft. He chased one, which went into a dive,and Appleby hit it in the cockpit with a two--second burst. At that moment P/O Crookwas flying behind Appleby and observedhis victory. Crook then saw another Bf 109to his right, hit it too, the German jettisonedthe canopy but did not bail out and beganto dive into the sea. But to Crook’s surpri-se, his opponent levelled the flight. Crookhit him again, the glycol came out of themachine and the German crashed into thesea. Another airman from No. 609 Sqn clai-med one Bf 109 damaged and one of the twoPolish members of that unit, F/O TadeuszNowierski, reported a probable kill.On the German side, Rudorffer’s colleagueFw. Wilhelm Hermes, an ace with ten kills,was missing. In the same battle (?), Gefr.Fritz Schuhmacher of 5./JG 2, went alsomissing. The following flight of I./JG 2 im-mediately headed for the area in a fruitlesseffort to find Hermes. In the afternoon Ru-dorffer took off once more. JG 2 again cameinto combat with No. 609 Sqn, which againemerged victorious. Nowierski apparentlyshot down Uffz. Alois Dollinger of 5./JG 2 andseveral other pilots scored too.Rudorffer was lucky to survive both encoun-ters with the elite pilots of the West RidingSpitfires. By the end of the war, he had clai-med a total of 224 aerial victories and wasawarded the Knight's Cross with Oak LeafCluster and Swords. However, there werealready serious doubts about his victories,which he achieved in command positionswith several units during the war.BOXART STORY #7032Text: Jan BobekIllustration: Marek RyśAgainst the West Riding SpitfiresINFO Eduard26December 2022Page 27
#84184BOXART STORYThe raid on Berlin on February 3, 1945, wasthe largest ever carried out by the 8th AirForce on the German capital during WorldWar II. Some 1,500 bombers participated,their target were trains moving the Wehr-macht’s 6 Panzer Army to the EasternFront. Among the bomber escorts were fi-ghters from the “Double Nickel”, as was the55th FG nicknamed, under the commandof Lt. Col. Elwyn Righetti. On the return,Righetti left some of the fighters with thebombers, while the others were given per-mission to disembark and look for targetson the ground. The weather, however, wasunfavorable, low clouds and ground hazemaking it difficult to search for these. “NearBoizenburg on the Elbe River, I locateda small, clear hole in the otherwise unbro-ken undercast. In this hole there were twolocomotives. I called them in and starteddown, needing only one ninety-degree turnto starboard to set me up in firing positi-on,” Righetti said later. Visibility under thelow cloud layer was poor, and in places thebase dropped below 500 ft. As Righetti wasgiving instructions to three other pilots toattack the locomotives, he saw strange ob-jects passing below him on the left. A trio ofMistel “flying bombs” were trying to slip ata low-level! The machines that met the fourAmerican fighters that day were trainingversions of this strange bombing “creatu-re”: one Mistel S1, combining a Ju 88A anda Bf 109F, and two Mistels S2, combininga Ju 88 and an Fw 190A. Righetti, flyinghis famous “Katydid” (CL-M; 44-14223),attacked the Mistel S1 with his wingman2/Lt. Richard Gibbs in a Mustang named“Cherry” (CY-Q; 44-14175). The leader of thesecond pair was 1/Lt Bernard Howes, whowas backed up by 1/Lt. Patrick Moore onP-51D “Lil Jan” (CY-Y; 44-14235). Theyswooped down on one of the Mistels S2.“I broke rapidly left and up in a 200-degreechandelle, positioning myself on the tail ofthe middle one. I started firing at 500 to 600yards, 30 degrees angle off, and missed twoshort bursts. As I swung into trail and clo-sed to point-blank range firing a long burst,I saw many excellent strikes on the fuse-lage and empennage of the large aircraftand scattered strikes and a small fire onthe fighter.” The two-aircraft combinationwent into a steep dive and Righetti overrunit, losing it from sight. “I did not actually seethem crash, but five or ten seconds laterI observed a large explosion and spottedconsiderable burning wreckage. Still notrealizing just what we were attacking, butfeeling that I had destroyed one completeunit, I turned slightly port for another,” hesaid.The comparison of the reports shows thatRighetti’s second target was the Mistel,which at that moment had already beenattacked by Howes. The latter stated thatafter several hits the Fw 190 broke awayfrom the bomber, it went into climb andthen crashed. Howes lost sight of Ju 88 butit was hit by Moore. “As I was closing to fire,the heavy aircraft seemed to be jettisoned,went into a shallow diving turn to the left,and crashed and burned in a small hamlet,”reported Righetti and testified more or lessHowes’ words. Righetti then focused on thedetached Fw 190, which he fired at from therear. “Jerry went out of control and crashedstraight ahead. At this point I noticed a fewtracers too close and coming from behind.”The shots were likely fired by Howes, whowas targeting the same Focke-Wulf asRighetti. Not surprisingly, after the action,American fighters claimed a total of fourJu 88s and even five Fw 190s! In any case,Howes also pounced on the last Mistel.After two attacks, he set the Fw 190 on fire,then the Ju 88, and both exploded on im-pact.As these were training Mistels, therewere pilots on board the Ju 88s. Accor-ding to German records, these wereFw. Willi Kollhoff, Ofhr. Franz Pietschmann andFw. Fritz Lorbach. All from the 6th/KG 200.Pietschmann was shot down and died, Lor-bach managed to land the burning aircraftin the woods and miraculously survived, theemergency landing saved Kollhoff’s life aswell. On the other hand, all three fighter pi-lots perished. Elwyn Righetti was hit by flakon April 17 while strafing the Riesa-Canitzairfield south of Dresden. After an emer-gency landing, he reported that he was fineexcept for a broken nose. And that wasthe last news of him. What happened thenremains a mystery to this day...Text: Richard PlosIllustration: Piotr ForkasiewiczStrange targetsINFO Eduard27December 2022Page 28
On June 4, 1944, ground personnel fromall three Czechoslovak squadrons ofNo. 134 (Czechoslovak) Wing applied whiteand black invasion stripes to the wings andfuselages of their Spitfires. With only twodays to go until one of the biggest eventsof World War II, the Allied landing inNormandy, the paint job was to ensure theaircraft were quickly identified to avoid be-ing shot by stressed Allied ground troopsor their own aircraft.The flying commander of No. 134 (Czecho-slovak) Wing during Operation Overlordwas Wing Commander Tomáš Vybíral whilethe ground operations and administrativecommander of the unit was Wing Com-mander Jan Čermák. Although he had notflown operationally regular missions for ei-ghteen months and was not obliged by hisposition to conduct operational flights, asa former commander of No. 312 Squadronhe still occasionally led the unit into severalactions himself. One of these was the actionof June 8, 1944, portrayed by Antonis Kari-dis on a boxart of the kit of a Spitfire Mk.IXc.On that day, No.134 (Czechoslovak) Wingwas patrolling over the eastern beachat Caen as a part of operation Neptune.No. 312 Squadron was on the east flankof the patrol when it received a report ofenemy aircraft in the vicinity. At that mo-ment, a routine Czechoslovak fighter missi-on over Sword Beach turned into a majorair battle. In the process, the pilots sca-ttered a formation of a dozen Focke-WulfsFw 190A tasked with bombing a beachcrowded with Allied troops and equipment.The result was three destroyed and fivedamaged German fighters with no Spitfirelost. The personal report of W/Cdr Čer-mák recounts the course of the battle itself:“I was flying BLUE 1 in 312 squadron onpatrol on the east flank of the beaches at3000 ft. At 1330 we were turning 10 mi-les N.E. of Caen when I saw black smokefrom bomb bursts on the beach. About sixFw 190 then flew south from this position at2,000 feet climbing to cloud. I dived downon one of them coming astern at 500 yards.As I closed to 350 I gave a very short burst.He at once climbed more steeply and at3,000 bailed out near Mezidon. I now turnedon a second giving a short burst from 400yards decreasing. Black smoke came underthe fuselage from the engine. The E/A thendisappeared into cloud. I claim one Fw 190destroyed and 1 Fw 190 damaged.”The scene on the boxart thus depicts theSpitfire breaking away from the secondstricken Fw 190A, which, according to Čer-mák’s report, was on fire and found sal-vation in the clouds. In addition to the twosuccesses mentioned above, F/O Otto Smik(No. 310 Sqn) and Sgt. Vítězslav Angetter(No. 312 Sqn) each recorded one enemydestroyed. Two damaged were attributedto F/O Vladimír Kopeček, and one eachto W/O Antonín Škach and F/O FrantišekMlejnecký. The Spitfire MK244 with fuse-lage code DU-Z, which W/Cdr Čermák flewduring this action, was the personal air-craft of F/O Jaroslav Šodek, who was flyingit regularly from February to June 1944.Jaroslav Šodek, a native of Silesian Ostra-va, had already fought in France in CG III/9and CG III/7, then with the CzechoslovakGCI/6 group. He became a member of theRAF on July 27, 1940, with the rank of Air-man 2nd Class. He was than promoted tothe rank of Sergeant on September 1 andstarted conversion on British aircraft. Hisroute to No. 312 Squadron was via Nos.32 and 258 Squadron. He served with No.312 Squadron until February 1945, when hewas reassigned to No. 410 OTU with therank of Flight Lieutenant. There he beca-me Squadron Leader and then served asa flight instructor at No. 57 and No. 58 OTU.He achieved one kill during the war and af-ter return home he served in the restoredCzechoslovak Air Force. Political develo-pments forced him to emigrate to the UKfor a second time and he spent the rest ofhis life there, passing away in 2002. After1989 he was promoted to the rank of MajorGeneral retired.His Spitfire MK244 was taken over byNo. 602 Squadron “City of Glasgow” on July6, and on August 15, 1944, the MK244 washit by the ubiquitous flak near Bernay. Itspilot, F/Lt A. R. Stewart, bailed out andwas rescued by parachute. However, somesources state that he was accidentally shotdown by an Allied P-51 Mustang.BOXART STORYText: Michal KrechowskiIllustration: Antonis KarydisLandings protection#7466INFO Eduard28December 2022Page 29
BOXART STORYThe legendary JV 44 under the commandof Adolf Galland flew most of its operationsin the south of Germany from the base atMunich-Riem. Through April 1945, the unit’spilots racked up some sixty kills. The role ofthe unit in terms of results is negligible butis significant in terms of illustrating the in-credible conditions that existed in the ThirdReich at the end of the war.The jet powered Me 262 were most vulne-rable during take-off and landing. Aircraftof JV 44 were no different, because duringlow speeds, the Me 262 was more difficultto control, and the throttle had to be trea-ted with a gentle respect, or the result couldbe a stalled engine or a fire. During the finalphases of the war, it was standard practicefor jet aircraft to be covered by piston engi-ned planes during these critical flight pha-ses. As a result, JV 44 organized a protectiveflight using Fw 190 Ds under the leadershipof Heino Sachsenberg, an ace with 104 kills.Sachsenberg was a logical choice. He cer-tainly didn’t lack bold nerve, and he hadseveral year-long experience fighting fastflying enemy fighters at low altitudes. His pi-lots also had to contend with another danger- friendly ground fire. According to the me-moirs of Johannes Steinhoff, a good chunkof crews of the anti-aircraft artillery at Riemwere women. There was no real effort todistinguish between friendly and enemy air-craft. The Me 262 did enjoy relative securityin this respect due to its distinctive silhouet-te and engine noise. Perhaps this was whythe bottom surfaces of the Doras of JV 44were painted red on the bottom, with whitestripes.The duties of Sachsenberg’s protective flightwere largely improvised. His pilots could-n’t communicate directly with the Me 262pilots. They simply took off and circled thefield at low altitudes until the jets were sa-fely on their way. Usually, there were twoFw 190 Ds in the air, but, as an exception,Riem was circled by four.Problems began when the jets returned. Forthem to set down as quickly as possible, the-re must not have been anything in their way.The Focke-Wulfs always had to land beforethe Me 262s. This left their jet colleagues toland without the protective cover and depen-dant on their skill, luck and field AAA.Sachsenberg’s -190s were covered in theirshelters at the northern edge of the air-field, and his pilots weren’t too close to theremaining JV 44 pilots. Up to now, thereare five known Fw 190 Ds that served withJV 44. This is the case with Red ‘3’, whichwas assigned to Hptm. Waldemar Wübke.Apparently, this notorious prankster andSachsenberg understood each other quitewell, and on his aircraft, he reiterated theinscription from his previous aircraft as farback as 1940. The motto was "Im Auftra-ge der Reichsbahn", which translates as"on behalf…" or "by order of the Reichsbahn".This inscription, sometimes with a wingedwheel, appeared on several Wübke´s air-craft. After an emergency landing in 1940,Wübke had to return to his unit by train, whichcaused his colleagues considerable amuse-ment. So, he made fun of himself with the in-scription. The design of the text on his Fw 190D-9 was not known for a long time. The firstto publish conclusive photographs of Wüb-ke's Dora with the motto was the recentlydeceased American author, Jerry Crandall.In his last publication, Fighters of the IronCross, this author published a unique JV44document with a list of aircrew and theirfunctions, identifying the fifth member of thePlatzschutz flight. He was Major WilhelmSteinmann, an ace with 44 victories and hol-der of the Knight's Cross. The inscription onhis Fw 190 D-11 “Red 2” is not yet known. ButI believe it will turn up in some collection orarchive in years to come. Additional airmenwho served in this protection flight wereLt. Karl-Heinz Hoffmann and Oblt. Klaus Fa-ber. Interestingly airman Bodo Dirschauer,who was speculated to have also servedwith the Sachsenberg flight, isn’t menti-oned at all in this document. The first timeI wrote about JV 44 in Eduard INFO was inissue 06/2010 and the second time in issue11/2010. There is hardly anything to correctin the texts, but it is interesting to see howEduard INFO magazine has changed in these12 years.I would like to take this opportunity to thankJerry Crandall once again for his life's work,and I wish his wife Judy all the best in hercontinued editorship of Eagle Editions.Text: Jan BobekIllustration: Antonis Karydis#8188By order of the ReichsbahnINFO Eduard29December 2022Page 30
Luftwaffe command assessed in 1944 thatit could no longer deploy twin-engine bom-bers for day operations, it wondered how todeal with the surplus crews. Several bom-ber units, including KG 6, were selected tohave their pilots retrained on the Bf 109sand Fw 190s. From the end of the year theythus bore modified designations, in the caseof the unit mentioned above it was KG(J) 6,the “J” standing for Jagd, a fighter unit. Oneof the Luftwaffe priorities was to use theexperience of bomber pilots to fly in poorweather conditions. Their experience inoperating twin-engine machines was alsoto serve as a good basis for eventually swit-ching KG(J) units to the Me 262 jets. At thesame time, their aircraft received elementsof the Luftwaffe rapid identification system,which was introduced in the second half ofthe war. In the case of KG(J) 6, these wereblack and red squares.The three KG(J) 6 Gruppen were conver-ted to single-engine fighters from the endof 1944 at Ruzyně (German: Prag-Rusin)and Kbely (Prag-Gbell) airfields in Prague.They also used the Klecany (Groß Kletzan)airfield north of Prague. The Kommodoreof this Geschwader was Obstlt. HermannHogeback, who was a veteran of the Spa-nish Civil War and spent most of his warcareer with KG 6. He was shot down twiceby a night fighter and became a recipientof the Knight's Cross with oak leave andswords.The I. and II. Gruppe of his unit wereequipped with Messerschmitt Bf 109 G andK. The CO of I./KG(J) 6 was Major Ernst Ha-ller, a veteran of KG 26 “Löwen”. For mostof the time II./KG(J) 6 was undergoing re-training for fighters, its CO was Hptm. Hans--Joachim Faulhaber, who had previouslyserved with KG 77 and was awarded theKnight's Cross. In 1942 he escaped night fi-ghter over England and returned with a da-maged plane. Faulhaber was replaced at theend of March 1945 by Hptm. Wilhelm Kun-ze, who had seen combat on the WesternFront with KG 2 and was also shot down bya British fighter.For the boxart of this kit Piotr Forkasiewiczdepicted the encounter that occurred northof Prague on 31 March 1945 between seven-teen airmen of KG(J) 6 and the same num-ber of pilots on P-51Ds from the 309th FS,31st FG. The American formation, led by theexecutive officer of the 31st Fighter GroupLt.Col. Fred C. Stoffel, spotted the 109s at2.00 pm over the Klecany airfield while fly-ing among the clouds at 6000 feet. Only twoof the American airmen had downed aircraftin previous combats. There was confusionon the German side because after announ-cing visual contact with the Americans, theGermans were given a nonsensical orderto land! The Mustangs pounced on the Me-sserschmitts flying below and a manoeuvrefight ensued from which the more experi-enced American pilots emerged victorious.They reported 18 kills, the Germans actu-ally lost nine machines. Four pilots werekilled and three were wounded, belongingto the 2. and 4. Staffel of KG(J) 6. Comman-der of 4./KG(J) 6 Hptm. Erwin Zöllner wasamong those killed.Germans reported only one seriously da-maged Mustang, which is consistent withthe fact that the 309th FS commander Maj.Simon H. Johnson Jr had to make an emer-gency landing with the damaged machine ata British-controlled airfield in Croatia. Therest of the unit returned safely to MondolfoAir Base in Italy.A week after this encounter, the Luftwaffecommand decided to disband Stab, I. andII./KG(J) 6, representing approximately 1,000Luftwaffe personnel. Some of the airmenwere transferred to III./KG(J) 6, which wasrearming with the Me 262 at Prague-Ruzyněand reached operational status in mid-April.However, its pilots had made limited combatengagements with the Me 262s in the prece-ding weeks. The number of jet aircraft of thisunit hardly exceeded ten. Its mission was tointercept Allied four-engine bombers. In thelast weeks of the war its airmen achieveda few more aerial victories. The unit conti-nued to operate almost until the last day ofthe war. It was involved in attacks on RedArmy ground forces advancing from thenorthwest towards Prague and also in thefighting against the Prague Uprising. Oneof its last tasks was the defence of RuzyněAirport against the units of General Vlasov'sRussian Liberation Army (ROA), which hadoriginally fought on the side of the Germansand briefly joined the Prague Uprising.BOXART STORYText: Jan BobekIllustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz#82119Squares against stripesINFO Eduard30December 2022Page 31
Text: Josef BlažekThe first volume of this series is dedica-ted to adhesives.The question of with what and exactly howto glue plastic models together is as oldas the hobby itself. The answers changewith the passage of time as technologiesdevelop and along with them, trends. Cu-rrently, we find four types of adhesivesthat are front and centre in plastic modelrelevance:• Solvent based adhesives• Instant glues• Dispersion adhesives• Epoxy cementsThe method and range of use varies andit can generally be said that each of thesetypes has their usefulness. It is essentialto use the right adhesive for the right job.Here, we’ll focus on Solvent based adhe-sives, and so that the situationisn’t too simple, even they havetheir specific differences frombrand to brand, despite our ge-neral focus on Mr. Hobby pro-ducts. Solvent based adhesiveshave no minimum film-formingtemperature (as do dispersiontypes) and so no coalescen-ce process will be observed.After the application of the solvent, andits subsequent evaporation, signs of itspresence will be left behind in the formof the polymer film. It is this polymer filmthat, thanks to its adhesive properties,is responsible for the bonding of partstogether. Another type-specific effectof solvents on plastic is the etchingof its surface. After the solvent compo-nent evaporates, we are left with a verysolid and stable bond. The chemical pro-cess at work here leads to a cold weld,and it is necessary to use these adhesi-ves on materials that the adhesive is ableto etch. In other words, they are able tochemically etch the material being glued.Solvent type adhesives are not effectiveon materials such as resins (polyuretha-I am christening a new series focusing on modelling che-mistry and tips associated therewith for both beginnersand advanced modellers. We will guide you through theworld of chemistry as it pertains to model technologyfrom basic construction to surface treatment all the waythrough to finishing and weathering. We will assume theuse of readily available materials with a certain amountof emphasis on Mr. Hobby (Gunze) products.Winner of international IPMS competitions inMaster categories and multiple Czech Repub-lic IPMS champion. Author of articles in in-ternational magazines with worldwide reach(Military Illustrated Modeller, Cocardes In-ternational, ModellFan, Modelář). Co-authorof modeling startup Plastic Invasion.JOSEF BLAŽEKCHEMISTRYINFO Eduard31December 2022Page 32
nes) from cast or 3D printed items, me-tals, wood or paper. So now we’ll takea closer look at specific products and thedifferences between them. Solvent typeadhesives can be categorized into twogroups, universal and weld type.All of the solvent based adhesives descri-bed in this article come in sturdy glasscontainers with a screw type lid with anintegrated brush applicator.UNIVERSAL ADHESIVES(BASIC)MC127 – Mr. Cement DeluxeMr Cement Deluxe (or Mr. Cement,the same product in a smaller packaging)hails from the Mr. Hobby product line andis their best for gluing together large sur-faces but is still useful for small detailitems, too. It is a low viscosity liquid, me-aning it flows easily and the time the sol-vent takes to evaporate is a little longerthan that of Extra Thin types. Mr. Cementand Mr. Cement Deluxe (MC124/MC127)are applied to the contact surfaces of thecomponents to be joined. The longer eva-poration time of the solvent allows thelarger components being joined to be can-tered properly. For the joining of smallerparts, the same quality allows us to applysmall quantities of the cement to the con-tact surface in preparation for placing thepart in its final spot. This operation nevertakes more than a couple of seconds andthe glue is ready to be applied throughout.WELDING SOLVENTS(BRUSH ON)MC129 – Mr. Cement SMr. Cement S is an extra thin ‘Brush On’type material which obviously refers toits method of application. This involvesthe joining of the two components toge-ther and running along the joint with thesolvent using the brush applicator. Thesolvent evaporates very quickly from thesurface (the speed of which is comparab-le to acetone), but it remains within thejoint long enough to optimally act ont thesurfaces of contact to form a solid bond.Personally, I think that Mr. Cement Sas the premiere extra thin product, whichI would recommend among these types ofproducts.MC131 – Mr. Cement SPAnother member of the extra thin familyof cements from Mr. Hobby is Mr. CementSP. The SP stands for ‘Super Power’. Thisis a product that has the same roots asMr. Cement S, but with a new recipe whichyields a higher rate of drying and a corre-spondingly increased bond strength. It iswell suited for stressed joints where wemay want a faster bonding between partsand a higher strength to reduce the pro-bability of a failure. This product is idealfor wing to fuselage joints or for leadingedges of the wings. The quicker evapora-tion time, though, requires the modellerto be efficient in the process as a whole,more so than with the use of MC129 – Mr.Cement S.MC 132 – Mr. Cement SP BThe last type of Mr. Hobby extra thin ce-ment is Mr. Cement SP Black that direct-ly comes from Mr. Cement SP. It is cha-racterized by a very rapid drying timeand high strength between joined parts.On top of that, it contains a black pigmentwhich serves as a consistency indicatorfor greater application control. In rece-ssed panel lines and joints, it can map outcrevices and scratches and provides anexcellent opportunity to assess the sur-face quality of the model, indispensible forthe fixup of details. I do not recommendthe use of this product on white, or light,coloured surfaces because the adhesivemay remain visible on the surface.Source: here.TECHNICAL ASPECTS OFSOLVENT BASED ADHESIVEAPPLICATIONThe technical aspects of these typesof glues are pretty simple in and of them-selves, with respect to their application.They can be separated into two methods,based on the type used.Thin glues (slightly higher viscosity,or thicker, than the extra thin variety witha longer solvent evaporation time) requi-re glue application to the join surface andthen attach the parts together and, if ne-cessary, press the parts together.Extra thin glues differ in that the partsare first attached and the join is thenglue applied. If we aim to seal the jointbetween the parts with the use of ourextra thin (such as fuselage half joining,leading edges of wings, etc.) then the-re should be a small gap left betweenCHEMISTRYINFO Eduard32December 2022Page 33
the parts. The glue is then applied andafter about five seconds, the parts arepressed together. The pressing togetherwill squeeze out redundant plastic whichis then allowed to harden for 24 hours un-til it can be sanded smooth. This createsan excellent connection of the parts andthe join line will be invisible on the kit.The biggest advantage to using solventbased glues is the strength of the jointand the neat join line that they providewith proper use. They are great for mo-dern kits with a high level of precisionof molding, where the fit of parts is toa very high tolerance. Use of any othertypes of glues, notably cyanoacrylate types,could lead to problematic misalignmentof parts, even if to a small degree.Solvent type adhesives are irreplace-able in the role that they fulfill in plasticmodelling and should be at the disposalof every modeller, at least in the thin vari-ety as well as the extra thin, or ‘basic’ and‘brush on’, and in greater versions as wehave discussed here.Main Advantages to Mr. Hobby SolventBased Adhesives• Bond strength• Clean joints• Application brush generally included• Speed of bonding• Use repetition• Low volume usage per application• Easy and precise application• Economical• Sturdy packaging• Long shelf life• Easy storage with no specialrequirementsMain Disadvantages and Risksof Mr Hobby Solvent based Adhesives• Significant odor• Longer through and throughcuring time• Risk of failure of joint if too muchis applied• Risk of surface etching where noadhesive is desired as a resultof poor applicationCHEMISTRYPage 34
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WNr. 1079, Ofw. Erich Rudorffer, 2./JG 2, Baumont-le-Roger, France, September 1940Oblt. August-Wilhelm Schumann, 5./JG 52, Mannheim-Sandhofen, Germany,November-December 1939WNr. 1380, Obstlt. Carl-Alfred Schumacher, CO of JG 1, Jever, Germany, early 1940Erich Rudorffer was assigned on November 1, 1939 to2./JG 2. He scored his first victory, a French CurtissHawk 75 fighter, on May 14, 1940 and added eightmore victories during the Battle of France. By May 1,1941, Leutnant Rudorffer had achieved 19 victories, forwhich he was awarded the Knight’s Cross. In Novem-ber 1941 he was appointed commander of 6./JG 2 andin April 1943, during the fighting in Africa, he becamecommander of the entire II./JG 2. In the summer hebriefly commanded IV./JG 54 on the Eastern Frontand then until early 1945 he led II./JG 54. In January1945 Rudorffer became commander of I./JG 7 equi-pped with Me 262 jets. He was credited with a totalof 222 victories and awarded the Knight's Cross withOak leave and Swords. During the war he flew about1,000 combat sorties and is reported to have beenshot down sixteen times. After the war, he flew DC-2and DC-3 transport aircraft in Australia, then workedfor Pan Am and later was employed in Germany bythe Lufthart Bundesamt.“Rabatz” Schumann was born in March 1915 in Berlinand after his pilot and fighter training served fromOctober 1938 to July 1939 with the Legion Condorin Spain. Following brief service with I./JG 52 andII./JG 72, he was appointed commander of 5./JG 52in September 1939. His aircraft bore a non-stan-dard camouflage on upper surfaces. It was with thisaircraft that Schumann probably achieved his firstaerial victory in World War II. He shot down an ob-servation balloon at Weissenburg on November 8,1939. Schumann achieved a total of twenty victories,four of them in Spain. He was killed on the EasternFront on September 6, 1941, south of Leningradin a collision with another Bf 109.Carl-Alfred Schumacher was born in February 1896 inRheine and fought as an artilleryman and later as anaval aviator during World War I. He attained the rankof Leutnant zur See and served aboard the floatplanecarrier SMH Answald. In 1933 he joined the Luftwaffe andcommanded several naval aviation units. In March 1939,Carl-Alfred Schumacher was promoted to Oberstleut-nant, at which time he commanded II./JG 77. After theGerman invasion of Poland in October 1939, he was appo-inted commander of the Jafü Deutsche Bucht to direct allfighter units stationed on the northern coast of Germany.On November 30, 1939, he was appointed the first com-mander of JG 1, stationed at Jever. Carl-Alfred Schuma-cher scored his first victory on December18, when heshot down one Wellington. His second victory came onDecember 27, that time a Blenheim was his victim. Hisaircraft sported the JG 1 emblem on the left side of thefuselage below the windshield, as well as the Kommo-dore marking consisting of chevron and two horizontalbars. In September 1941 Schumacher was appointedJagdfliegerführer Norwegen, but on November 8 he acci-dentally shot down a Finnish de Havilland Dragon andwas relieved of command consequently and served invarious administrative positions until the end of the war.KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard35December 2022Page 36
Obstlt. Max Ibel, CO of JG 27, Guines, France, September-October 1940WNr. 1271, Oblt. Helmut Henz, CO of 4./JG 77, Kristiandsand-Kjevik, Norway, September 1940This aircraft probably belonged to Kommodoreof JG 27 and as a quick identification marking hada yellow engine cowling, following the rule introdu-ced on September 9, 1940. The pilot of the aircraftwas probably Max Ibel. He was born in Munich in Ja-nuary 1896 and served in the Army Engineers and AirService during the First World War. He did not retireafter World War I and from August 1928 underwentextensive training at a secret military base in Lipet-sk, Russia. In the 1930s he commanded several flightschools and worked for RLM as well. From 1936 hechanged several fighter units and starting from May1939 he was Kommodore of JG 3. In October 1939 hewas appointed Kommodore of JG 27. He led the unitfor one year including the Western Campaign and theBattle of Britain. In October 1940 he took commandof Jagdfliegerschule 4, but in July 1941 he was appo-inted Jagdfliegerführer 3. In February 1942, duringOperations Cerberus and Donnerkeil, he was a figh-ter liaison officer aboard the battleship Scharnhorst.In 1943 and 1944 he was commander of the Jagddi-vision 2. At the end of the war, he was captured atTegernsee and subjected to extensive interrogationsat Island Farm Camp. He was released in March 1948and joined the Bundesluftwaffe in October 1957, be-coming commander of the Luftverteidigungsdivision1. He retired in September 1964 and died in 1981.Helmut Henz was born in January 1911 in Berlin.After completing his pilot training and transferring toI./JG 136, Helmut Henz was sent to the Legion Condorto gain pilot experience in the fighting of the SpanishCivil War. The beginning of World War II found Oblt.Henz in command of 4. Staffel of JG 77, achieving hisfirst victory on December 14, 1939, by shooting downa British Wellington. JG 77 was part of the invasionforce in the attack on Norway, its 4. Staffel underOblt. Henz moved to Kristiandsand-Kjevik airfield onApril 11, 1940. The II. Gruppe JG 77 remained in Nor-way until November 1940, when it moved to the frontat the Channel. This aircraft sported camouflagein RLM 70/71/65 colors with a high transition be-tween upper and lower colors on the fuselage sides(so called 40-er Anstrich). On the left side of thefuselage in front of the windshield was the II. Gruppeemblem and under the cockpit a black reaper withan umbrella flying on a scythe was painted as theemblem of the 4. Staffel. The initials LF belonged tothe pilot’s girlfriend. In April 1941 Henz became com-mander of II./JG 77, but on May 25 he was shot downin a dogfight with the crew of Blenheim near Creteand is still missing. In total he achieved six victories.WNr. 5058, Fw. Arthur Haase, 6./JG 51, Marquise-West, France, August 1940The serial number 8508 is sometimes mistakenlygiven for this aircraft. In fact, the serial was pro-bably 5058 and the aircraft was produced by Wie-ner Neustädter Flugzeugwerke GmbH in late 1939.Its pilot was Arthur Haase, who had a personal sym-bol inspired by his surname (der Hase, in English:hare) painted on the side of the aircraft. The pain-ting was done by mechanician Hoffmann. On theside of the fuselage, there was also the emblem ofII./JG 51, depicting a raven with the inscription “Gottstrafe England!” (May God punish England!). The ye-llow color of part of the rudders, wing tips and hori-zontal tail surfaces was introduced in early August1940. The commander of 6./JG 51 was the legendaryJosef “Pips” Priller. During the fighting over Francein May and June 1940, Haase shot down two Hurrica-nes and added one Spitfire in late July. His fourth andfinal victory came on August 15, 1940, when he foughtHurricanes from No. 1 Squadron RAF off Clacton-on--Sea. However, he was wounded in the battle andcrash-landed his aircraft at Wissant, France. Photo-graphs from the preparation of the transport of thedamaged aircraft show Haase’s machine with threekills marked on the tail. Haase was killed on January29, 1944, in aerial combat. At the time he was servingas a flight instructor with the rank of Oberfeldwebelwith 1./JG 107 in France.KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard36December 2022Page 37
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#11168SAMURAI1/48Limited edition kit of Japanese WWII naval fighteraircraft A6M3 Zero in 1/48 scale. Kit presents variantsA6M3 Zero Type 22, 22a and 32.plastic parts: Eduardmarking options: 12decals: EduardPE parts: yes, pre-paintedpainting mask: yesresin parts: noProduct pageDual ComboKITS 12/2022INFO Eduard38December 2022Page 39
c/n 3032, Lt. Kiku-ichi Inano, Tainan Kōkūtai, Buna airfield, New Guinea, August 1942PO1c Kyoshi Itō, 3. Kōkūtai, Koepang airfield, Timor Island, September 1942Kōkūtai 204, Vunakanau airfield, Rabaul, New Britain, April 1943This aircraft, released by Mitsubishi on July 3, 1942was assigned to Lt. Inano, commander of Buna deta-chment of Tainan Kōkūtai. It was donated by citizensof Chongpyong County in North Korea. At some pointbetween the mid August 1942 and early September1943 this Zero sustained damage that tore off partof the right wing, possibly from a landing error.This Zero was captured by Allied units at Buna onDecember 27, 1942 and selected for further evalua-tion and a rebuild. Allied personnel at Eagle FarmField built a flyable A6M3 Zero using parts of threeZeros transported from Buna Airfield, including thisaircraft. Inano´s surname was originally Takabaya-shi, but he changed that before mid 1941. In late No-vember 1941 smaller part of Tainan Kōkūtai under thehis command was transferred to French Indochinaand temporarily became part of 22. Kōkū Sentai HQfighter squadron. Lt. Inano returned to Tainan Kōkūtaiin July 1942, participated in combat over New Guineaand Guadalcanal. From January 1943 he was involvedin evaluation of weapons used for new naval aircraft.From October 1944 served as Hikōtaichō of TainanKōkūtai (II) in Taiwan.This aircraft was purchased by Electric Perm Machineco., whose name (Daiichi Fuyo Dengami) is listed on thepatriotic donation inscription (Hōkoku) No. 984, usuallyidentified wrongly as 994. It was flown by Kyoshi Itō,who used also Zero X-152 with Hōkoku No. 1000. Itō wasborn in November 1921 in Murakami, Niigata Prefecture.He served on the torpedo boat Ōtori in 1939, in late 1940got flight training at Tsuchiura Kōkūtai and in November1941 was assigned for combat duty to 3rd Kōkūtai. Withthis unit he fought in the Philippines and Indonesia andtook part in raids on Australia. In September and Octo-ber 1942, with most of the 3rd Kōkūtai, he was involvedin the fighting over Guadalcanal. In November his unitwas redesignated Kōkūtai 202 and returned to Koepang.From the spring until September 1943, unit conductedcombat flights over Australia, also with Zero Type 32fighters. In November 1943, Itō received a written com-mand commendation stating that he had shot down 23aircraft and destroyed 9 on the ground. He then servedas an instructor in Japan with the Ôita and Tsukuba Kō-kūtai and joined the air combat in February 1945. Afterthe war, he married the eldest daughter of the owner ofthe family construction company Katō in Murakami andadopted the family name Katō. Under his leadership, thecompany rose to the top position in Murakami, and hereceived the Medal with Purple Ribbon and the Ministerof Construction Award. Kyoshi Katō retired in 1992 anddied in July 2012.This machine wears green camouflage appliedin field conditions and has radio equipment removedto reduce weight. Kōkūtai 204 appears to have beenthe only unit in the area to apply with green field ca-moluflage also white outline of hinomaru on fuselageand upper wing surface. This unit was formed in April1942 and was designated the 6th Kōkūtai. It was to bebased at Midway Atoll after its capture. During theattack on Midway and the Aleutians, its airmen par-ticipated in both combat operations. The unit madeits first combat flight on June 4, 1942 under the com-mand of Lieutenant Zenjirō Miyano during the attackon Dutch Harbor. In August, it moved with the ZerosType 32 to the Solomon Islands area, but its operati-onal deployment was limited by the available basesand the smaller range of this version of the Zero.In early October, the unit moved to a new airfield atBuin and was able to deploy in combat over Guadal-canal. In early November it was renamed Kōkūtai204. It was the only unit to be deployed continuouslyin the South Pacific for 16 months from August 1942.During this period unit gained approximately 1,000air victories.KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard39December 2022Page 40
Tainan Kōkūtai (II), Tainan airbase, Taiwan, summer 1944Tsukuba Kōkūtai, Tsukuba airbase, Japan, 1944The designation of this training unit is the Katakanacharacters "Ta" and "I". The dark green paint on theupper surfaces indicates that the aircraft has beenoverhauled. The machine was acquired from a fundsraised by the Tokyo Fruit and Vegetable CommercialAssociation. The second Tainan Kōkūtai was esta-blished in April 1943 as an operational training unit.Its home base was again Tainan, as with the previousunit of that name, which became Kōkūtai 251 in late1942. When Allied air raids on Taiwan began in thesecond half of the war, the airmen of Tainan Kōkūtai(II) joined in its defense. They fought both four-engi-ne bombers and escort fighters based in China andUS Navy aircraft. Its first commander was Capt.Shigematsu Ichimura, who was commander of the14th Kōkūtai in China in 1940. The most famous instruc-tor who served with the unit was CPO Takeo Tanimi-zu, an ace with 18 kills to his credit. In January 1945,a special attack unit was organized from part of theKōkūtai and participated in Kamikaze missions.The marking of this training unit is the Katakanacharacter "Tsu". The dark green paint on the uppersurfaces indicates that the aircraft has been over-hauled. The horizontal white markings on the fuse-lage were probably to facilitate formation flight trai-ning. Originally a purely training Tsukuba Kōkūtai,which was established in 1938, became part of theJapanese air defence system from 1944. It engagedin combat against B-29 bombers, US Navy aircraftand long-range P-51 escorts. At the end of the war,unit was involved in the Kamikaze missions duringthe fighting for Okinawa as part of Operation Kikusui.Pilots who served as instructors with the unit inclu-ded Ensign Kazu-o Sugino, who had 32 victories tohis credit and had previously served on the aircraftcarrier Zuikaku and with Kōkūtai 253. Among the air-men who joined the unit at the very end of the warwas Lt.(jg) Shigeo Sugi-o. He had more than 20 victo-ries to his credit and had also fought over Australiawith the 3rd Kōkūtai.Kōkūtai 204, Rabaul, New Britain, April 1943This machine wears green camouflage appliedin field conditions and has radio equipment remo-ved to reduce weight. It is also equipped with long--barrelled guns and a newer rudder trim that couldbe operated from the cockpit. Known aircraft of thisunit that have yellow fuselage markings have iden-tification numbers below 148. In March 1943, Lieute-nant Zenjirō Miyano took over position of Hikōtaichōof this unit. He sought to modernize combat tacticsand therefore introduced four-man formations tothe unit instead of three-plane formations, He alsoconsidered deploying Zeros in the role of fighter--bomber with 30kg bombs under the wing. The unitwas in heavy combat during the first half of 1943.In the last raid on Guadalcanal, on 16 June 1943, thir-teen Val bombers were shot down and the fighterescort from Kōkūtai 204 lost four pilots and threeothers were wounded. Among the dead were Lieute-nant Miyano and his deputy. This left the unit withoutflying officers. Miyano had a total of 16 victories tohis credit, was posthumously promoted to Comman-der, and his name was cited in the All Units Bulletin.Miyano's position was taken over the following monthby Lt. Cdr. Saburō Shindō of Kōkūtai 582.KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard40December 2022Page 41
Iwakuni Kōkūtai, Iwakuni airbase, Japan, 1944Lt.(jg) Takeyoshi Ôno, Kōkūtai 251, Rabaul airbase, New Britain, May 1943Kōkūtai 251, Rabaul airbase, New Britain, May 1943The markings of this training unit are the Kataka-na characters "I" and "Ha". The Iwakuni Kōkūtai wasestablished in July 1940 and was used to train pi-lots for naval units operating from land bases untilAugust 1944. It was then disbanded and re-esta-blished in March 1945. Fighter aces Akio Matsuba(18 victories), Momoto Matsumura (13 v.) or veteranof the aircraft carrier veteran Sōryū Ki-ichi Oda(9 v.) passed through its ranks as instructors. HiroshiShibagaki came through the unit as a student pilot,achieving thirteen victories in Rabaul with Kōkūtai201 and 204. Another successful graduate becamea Lt.(jg) Kagemitsu Matsu-o. In August 1943, hewas assigned to Rabaul to Kōkūtai 253 and, withmore than ten kills to his credit, became the onlyNaval Reserve officer to achieve ace status.Originally manufactured with grey paint on all surfaces,the machine carries a specific design of green camouf-lage applied in field conditions. The green paint wasprobably applied with a mop or broom. Kōkūtai 251 wasrenamed in November 1942 from the legendary TainanKōkūtai fighter unit. However, due to heavy losses, it hadto be withdrawn to Japan at the end of the year. Whenit prepared for another combat deployment to Rabaulin the spring of 1943, only 11 of its original pilots re-mained. However, the Allied airmen were an eventougher opponent than in 1942, and Kōkūtai 251 lost 17aircraft during its first three combat sorties in May andJune. The commander of the 1st Chūtai was Lt.(jg) Ôno.He was born in 1921 in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefectu-re. He graduated from the 68th Naval Academy Classin 1940 and after pilot training was assigned to TainanKōkūtai. He achieved his first victory on 27 August 1942at Buna in combat with a P-39 and added four morevictories by the end of 1942. By the time he returnedto Rabaul in May 1943, he had already been appointedas Buntaichō and often led the entire unit in combat.He achieved a total of eight victories, but was killedin aerial combat at Rendova on June 30, 1943.For most naval fighter units that applied green paintin field conditions, the method of painting was si-milar within the unit. The exception is Kōkūtai 251,which used very varied patterns of green paint. Theunit designation code was U1, but this was repaintedon the machines at the time of deployment to Rabaul.U1-109 was photographed on May 23, 1943 flying ina formation of six Zeros during a patrol over New Bri-tain. The photographs were taken by war correspon-dent Hajime Yoshida. The U1-109 flew as the wingmanof the first Shōtai leader, who was the controls ofU1-105, which is incorrectly attributed to Nishizawa.Kōkūtai 251 lost a total of 34 pilots during its deploy-ment to the Rabaul and Solomon Islands area fromMay to the end of August 1943. In September 1943, itsstatus was therefore changed to a night fighter withtwin-engine Irving aircraft, and its remaining Zerpilots were assigned to other units in Rabaul.KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard41December 2022Page 42
Rabauru Kōkūbuntai, Lakunai airfield, Rabaul, New Britain, second half 1943Ensign Tetsuzō Iwamoto, probably Kōkūtai 253, Rabaul, New Britain, late 1943/early 1944This aircraft was finalized with grey paint on all sur-faces. On the combat unit level, it was supplementedwith dark green paint, which had peeled off in manyplaces during operational service. When green paintwas applied in field conditions, it may not have been theonly paint used for Japanese aircraft. At Rabaul it mayhave been paint from captured RAAF stocks, or paintintended for Japanese warships. In the second half of1943, the markings of fighter units at Rabaul changed,and numerals ranging from 1 to 9 began to be used,the assignment of which to individual units has not yetbeen reliably determined. Aircraft with these markingsare unofficially assigned to a combat group calledRabauru Kōkūbuntai (Rabaul Air Force). There are seve-ral theories to explain the meaning of these numericaldesignations. One is the assignment of numerical codesto the parts of the fighter units operating in Rabaul atthe time. These were Kōkūtai 201 (code designations1 to 3), Kōkūtai 204 (4 to 6) and Kōkūtai 253 (7 to 9).According to this theory, machine 6-171 would thereforebelong to the third Buntai within Kōkūtai 204. But otherexplanations are also possible. There is an indicationthat the Zeroes filmed in January 1944 at Rabaul withcode 9 on the tail surfaces belonged to Kōkūtai 204.This aircraft has repainted white trim of hinomaruon the fuselage and upper surfaces. Tetsuzō Iwamo-to was the most successful naval fighter ace with 14victories from combats over China with 12th Kōkūtai.As a member of fighter unit of HIJMS Zuikaku duringthe Pearl Harbor attack he took part patrol the vicinityof the carriers during first wave. In 1942, he took partin battles in the Indian Ocean and Coral Sea with hisplane EII-102. From the summer of 1942 he served asan instructor in Japan. From March 1943, he participa-ted in patrolling in the Kuril Islands with Kōkūtai 281.In November he was transferred to Rabaul to Kōkūtai204 and later to Kōkūtai 253. At that time he used ma-chines number 102 and 104. It is possible that machinenumber 7-104 is his personal mount. In February 1944he participated from Truk Atoll in the interceptionsof B-24 bombers. In June 1944 he was transferred toJapan and from the autumn of that year as memberof Kōkūtai 252 he he took part in battles from basesin Taiwan and the Philippines. By the end of the war,he was serving with Kōkūtai 203 and participated inthe battle for Okinawa. He achieved rank Lieutenant(junior grade) and passed away in 1955. Iwamotois credited with 80 victories, but in his war diary,there were 202 successful attacks on enemy aircraftrecorded by him.Lt. Cdr. Saburō Shindō, Kōkūtai 582, Buin airfield, Bougainville Island, June 1943This plane with factory applied green camouflage andlong cannon barrels was personal mount of Lt. Cdr. Shin-dō. He was born in 1911 and graduated from the NavalAcademy in 1929. He was assigned to the Ômura Kōkūtaiin 1935 and a year later went to the aircraft carrier Kaga.In 1940, he served in China with the 12th Kōkūtai duringcombat trials of the A6M2 fighter. Under his command,the first combat engagement occurred on September 13,resulting in 27 victories without loss. In November 1940,Shindō was transferred to the 14th Kōkūtai in Hanoi.From April to December 1941 he was the Buntaichō ofthe Akagi fighters, but had to be hospitalized after theattack on Pearl Harbor. During the Pearl Harbor attackShindō led fighter escort of thirty-six Zeros in the secondwave. After recovering, he was appointed commander ofTokushima Kōkūtai in April 1942. From November 1942,as Hikōtaichō at Kōkūtai 582, he was involved in thefighting over Guadalcanal. From July 1943, he wasHikōtaichō with the Kōkūtai 204 in the same area. In late1943 and early 1944, he led fighters of the aircraft ca-rrier Ryūhō and later served with Kōkūtai 653 and 203in the defense of Taiwan, the Philippines, and Japan.At the end of the war, he was Hikōtaichō at TsukubaKōkūtai. Shindó-san passed away in 2000.KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard42December 2022Page 43
OVERTREESOVERTREESOVERLEPT#82113XA6M3 Zero Type 321/48#82114XA6M3 Zero Type 221/48Product pageProduct pageProduct pageRecommended:for SAMURAI 1/48481091 A6M3 Zero landing flaps (PE-Set)481092 A6M3 Zero (PE-Set)644185 A6M3 LööK (Brassin)644189 A6M3 Zero LööKplus (Brassin)648695 A6M undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)648786 A6M3 seat PRINT (Brassin)648787 A6M3 tailwheel PRINT (Brassin)648788 A6M3 cannon barrels & cockpit guns PRINT (Brassin)648799 A6M3 wheels (Brassin)648800 A6M3 cockpit PRINT (Brassin)648801 A6M3 exhausts PRINT (Brassin)648802 A6M3 Type 32 landing flaps PRINT (Brassin)648806 A6M3 Type 22 folding wingtips PRINT (Brassin)648807 A6M3 Type 22 landing flaps PRINT (Brassin)648808 A6M wheels w/smooth tire (Brassin)3DL48088 A6M3 SPACE (3D Decal Set)EX899 A6M3 Zero TFace (Mask)#11168-LEPTSAMURAI1/48Cat. No. 648800KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard43December 2022Page 44
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s/n 44-14223, Lt. Col. Elwyn G. Righetti, CO of 55th FG, 8th AF, Wormingford, United Kingdom,December 1944–March 1945s/n 44-14292, Col. Claiborne H. Kinnard, CO of 4th FG, 8th AF, Debden, United Kingdom, November 1944s/n 44-14237, Capt. William T. Whisner, 487th FS, 352nd FG, 8th AF, Bodney, Great Britain, November 1944Elwyn Guido Righetti, also known as “Eager El”, wasnot only the 55th FG top fighter ace but also the mostsuccessful strafing ace in the whole ETO. Righettijoined the 338th FS, 55th FG in October 1944. At theage of 29, he was already a matured pilot, howeverhe lacked the combat experience. Despite his age hewas eager and aggressive, so he was able to boostmorale of his rather tired group. One of Righetti’s“hobbies” was destroying the locomotives. He alsomanaged to shoot down two Mistels and destroyedseveral Me 262 jets on the ground. Unfortunately,Righetti’s outstanding achievements were cut shortright before the end of war. On April 17, 1945, exactlyon his 30th birthday, Righetti was shot down by flakwhile raiding the airfield near Dresden. He success-fully performed the emergency landing and advisedhis friends over the radio “Tell the family I’m okay.Broke my nose on landing. It’s been a hell of a lotof fun working with you, gang. Be seeing you a littlelater.”Since then no one ever heard about Righettiagain. Supposedly he was murdered by the enragedGerman civilians. During his short combat career, hescored 7.5 kills and destroyed 35 enemy aircraft onthe ground. He flew two personal Mustangs (44-14223and 44-47222), both of them were decorated with theinscription KATYDID and grasshopper artwork on theport side of the fuselage.Clairborne Holmes Kinnard was one the most success-ful pilots in the combat against the ground targets. Hewas born on October 29, 1912, in Franklin, Tennessee.After he obtained his pilot’s certification in 1944, he ledthe 354th FS from November 27 until June. On June 12,1944, he assumed command of the 355th FG which heled until the end of August. In September he was orde-red to 4th FG which he also briefly commanded fromNovember 3 until November 29, 1944. Then he returnedto 355th FG where he flew until May 1945. During hiscombat career he scored eight aerial kills and destro-yed further seventeen enemy aircraft on the ground.Kinnard flew the depicted, unusually painted Mustangfrom October to November 1944 as a commander of the4th FG. His aircraft was decorated with the inscriptionMan O’War painted red on the nose’s port side and theupper surfaces were painted with green camouflagebands, possibly in the Olive Drab shade. The kill mar-king were painted on the port side of the canopy frame.The invasion stripes appearance corresponds to themodification after the beginning of September 1944when only the part of the markings remained at thebottom of the fuselage. From November 3 till November29, 1944, Kinnard commanded the 4th FG, then he re-turned to the 355th FG where he served until May 1945.William Thomas Whisner was born in 1923 in Lou-isiana and on March 16, 1942, enlisted in the Army.On April 10, 1942, he started his pilot training and re-ceived his wings on February 15, 1943, at Napier Fieldin Alabama. On February 23, 1943, he was assigned to487th FS. During 1944 and 1945 he was credited with15.5 kills and awarded Distinguished Service Crosstwice. He finished the war as Captain and left Armyon August 23, 1945. On October 17, 1947, he returnedto the active duty and on September 1, 1951, he waspromoted to Major. In September 1951 he was orde-red to 334th FIS in Korea, part of 4th FIW. BetweenSeptember and November 1951, he shot down twoMiG-15s and damaged further five aircraft of the sametype. In December he was ordered to the 25th FIS, 51stFIW and scored another four victories including onein the cooperation which made him the seventh figh-ter ace of the Korean War in the chronological order.In March 1952 he left Korea with the status of the dou-ble ace of two different conflicts and became one ofseven American pilots who achieved such success.Whisner’s Mustang’s nose was painted in the new, dar-ker shade of blue which 352nd FG started to use in thefall of 1944 due to its better contrast.KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard45December 2022Page 46
s/n 44-14789, Capt. John B. England, 362nd FS, 357th FG, 8th AF, Leiston, United Kingdom, December 1944John Brooke England was born on January 15, 1923,in Caruthersville, Missouri. In April 1942 he enlistedin the Army Volunteer Reserves and after completingthe pilot training in March 1943 he was assigned to the362nd FS whose command he assumed on August 25,1944. He served two tours of duty with 357th FG duringwhich time he flew 108 combat missions representing460 hours of the operational flying. He was the secondbest marksman of the 357th FG scoring in total 17.5kills. In the end of January 1945 England finished hissecond tour of duty and returned home. After the warhe continued serving with USAAF. On February 20, 1951,he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and brieflyserved in Korea where he flew in total six combat mi-ssions during which he managed to damage MiG-15.In October 1953 he assumed command of the 389thFBS. On November 17, 1954, he was killed during theaccident at the Toul airport (France) when under theinclement weather and low visibility he tried severaltimes to land his F-86F. During the last approach heran out of fuel but regardless he avoided the airbasebuilding. Thanks to his sacrifice the Alexandria airbasewas renamed to the England Air Force Bakse.Recommended:for P-51D-10 1/48FE1021 P-51D seatbelts STEEL (PE-Set)644030 P-51D-10 LööK (Brassin)644052 P-51D-10 LööKplus (Brassin)648485 P-51D exhaust stacks (Brassin)648486 P-51D exhaust stacks w/ fairing (Brassin)648487 P-51D Hamilton Standard propeller (Brassin)648494 P-51D wheels diamond tread (Brassin)648495 P-51D undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)648503 P-51D wheels oval tread (Brassin)648504 P-51D wheels cross tread (Brassin)648505 P-51D wheels block tread (Brassin)648511 P-51D wheels diamond tread 2 (Brassin)648512 P-51D wheels rhomboid treat (Brassin)648513 P-51D wheels pointed cross tread (Brassin)648514 P-51D wheels grooved (Brassin)648517 P-51D gun bays (Brassin)648522 P-51D cockpit (Brassin)648555 P-51D engine (Brassin)648570 P-51D gun sights (Brassin)648571 P-51D 75gal drop tanks (Brassin)648572 P-51D 108gal drop tanks (Brassin)SIN64869 P-51D ADVANCED (Brassin)3DL48003 P-51D-10 SPACE (3D Decal Set)D48033 P-51D national insignia (Decal Set)D48034 P-51D stencils (Decal Set)EX663 P-51D TFace (Mask)Cat. No. 644030Cat. No. 648522Cat. No. 648517Cat. No. 648495 Cat. No. 648555KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard46December 2022Page 47
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MK244, W/Cdr Jan Čermák, No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron,No. 134 Wing, RAF Appledram,United Kingdom, June 1944MK144, S/Ldr Alan G. Page, No. 132 Squadron, RAF Ford,United Kingdom, February–May 1944MK832, S/Ldr Robert K. Hayward, No. 411 squadron,B.4 Beny-sur-Mer Airfield RAF, France,July–August 1944The former No. 312 Squadron commander, W/Cdr JanČermák was at the time of the Normandy landingthe ground and administrative commander of theNo. 134 Wing, but regardless he personally led theunit on several missions. One of those was a routi-ne patrol of the Czechoslovak fighters over Swordbeach which turned into the large scale air battle.Czechoslovak pilots broke up the formation of a do-zen of Focke Wulf Fw 190A whose goal was to bombthe beach crowded with troops and equipment. Three“onenineties” were destroyed and five damaged atno losses to Czechoslovaks. In this combat W/CdrČermák claimed one Fw 190 destroyed and onedamaged. On this mission he flew Spitfire s/n MK244which was the personal aircraft of F/O JaroslavŠodek who flew it in combat on the regular basisfrom February to June 1944.During the Battle of Britain Alan Geoffrey Page wasshot down and suffered serious burns. Followingtwo plus years he spent in the hospital recovering.He undertook the plastic surgery in Queen Victoria’sHospital in East Gringstead and became the foundingmember of the Guinea Pig Club. Ultimately, he ma-naged to return to the active duty and became oneof the most successful English fighter pilots. Duringthe spring months of 1944, as the commander ofNo. 132 Squadron he flew the depicted Spitfire onthe offensive bombing and fighter sweeps precedingthe invasion. On April 29, on one such mission, overthe Deelen airfield in the Netherlands he managed toshoot down a Bf 110G-4 flown by the elite night figh-ter ace Maj. Hans-Joachim Jabs. On July 7 Page waspromoted to command the elite No. 125 Wing. In theend of September, shortly after the conversion to thenew powerful Spitfires Mk.XVI, Page’s Spitfire wasdamaged by flak over Arnhem suburbs, and he crashlanded. He wounded his face on the gunsight andsuffered some other injuries. He was transported byair back to England and again admitted to the QueenVictoria’s Hospital in East Grinstead. After the warhe became an active member of the Battle of BritainAssociation of the Fighter Pilots and was a movingforce behind the creation of the Battle of BritainMemorial which was erected on the cliffs betweenDover and Folkestone in 1993. During his wartimecareer Alan Geoffrey Page shot down 15 enemy air-craft and damaged three of them. His autobiographyThe Guinea Pig Story was published in 1981.Robert Kitchener “Bob” Hayward comes from the poolof the former RCAF flight instructors who served withNo. 126 Wing. He was born on November 12, 1915, inSt. John’s, Newfoundland. After he completed his pi-lot training, he served at the main training base CFBTrenton. From February 1941 to October 1942, he flewas an instructor at No. 25 FTS. In March 1943 Haywardstated to fly combat missions with No. 401 Squadronwhere in the coming months he scored three ae-rial kills. In May 1944, after the rest, he was againattached to the No. 411 Squadron as a flight leader.On August 5, 1944, he was promoted to the squad-ron commander and until the end of September 1944he claimed another three confirmed kills and fourenemy aircraft damaged. After he finished his tourof duty he returned to Canada and until March 1945he again flew as an instructor with No. 25 FTS. FromMay to September 1945, he briefly served at No. 16FTS in Hagersville and in November 1945 he retiredto the civilian life.KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard48December 2022Page 49
72623 Spitfire Mk.IX landing flaps (PE-Set)72624 Spitfire Mk.IX (PE-Set)SS597 Spitfire Mk.IX seatbelts STEEL (PE-Set)SS651 Spitfire Mk.IX radiator grilles (PE-Set)BIG72117 SPITFIRE Mk.IX (BIGED Set)672110 Spitfire exhaust stacks - fishtail (Brassin)672112 Spitfire Mk.IX cockpit (Brassin)672123 Spitfire Mk.IX top cowl early (Brassin)672126 Spitfire Mk.IX engine (Brassin)672134 Spitfire Mk.IX legs BRONZE (Brassin)672150 Spitfire Mk.IXc gun bays (Brassin)672173 Spitfire Mk. VIII / IX / XVI radiator fairings (Brassin)D72008 Spitfire Mk.IX stencils (Decal Set)D72010 Spitfire - British WWII roundels late (Decal Set)CX454 Spitfire Mk.IX (Mask)Lt. Robert J. Connors, 309th FS, 31st FG, 12th AF, Castel Volturno, Italy, February–March 1944Lt. Robert Connors’ Spitfire carried on the portsideof the fuselage the artwork depicting the Porky Pigcharacter which referred to his nickname “Porky”.After its arrival in Britain in June 1943 the 309th FSwas re-equipped with Spitfires Mk.V and flew them inEurope, North Africa, Sicily and Italy. In April 1943 theunit received its first Spitfires Mk.IX often flown asthe upper cover for the older Spitfires Mk.V. In March1944 the 309th FS traded their Spitfires for Mustangspossessing much longer range and therefore ableto escort the USAAF bombers as far as the SouthernGermany.Recommended:for Spitfire Mk.IXc 1/72Cat. No. 672112Cat. No. 672134Cat. No. 672126KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard49December 2022Page 50
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WNr. 600?69, Hptm. Waldemar Wübke, Sachsenberg Schwarm, Ainring, Austria, May 1945WNr. 500698, Lt. Günter Seyd, 7./JG 26, Uetersen, Germany, May 1945Waldemar Wübke was one of the few Luftwaffe fighterpilots to survive combat duty over the entire courseof the WWII. He started his fighter pilot career in May1940 as a Leutnant with I./JG 27. In July he was trans-ferred to 9. Staffel of III./JG 54, flying the Bf 109E-4 andwent through the Battle of Britain with this unit. Hewas credited with 15 victories plus one at night, first ofthis tally being Blenheim shot down over the Channelon September 9, 1940. Wübke was shot down six timesduring his spell with the JG 54 and twice wounded. Hiscareer ended with the JV 44, where he flew “Platz-schutz“ (airfield defense) missions with the so called“Papagaistaffel”, where he accompanied other experi-enced German fighter pilots. Their task was to providecover for Adolf Galland’s group of Me 262 jets duringtake-offs and landings. Due to the rather inexperien-ced women-crewed Flak defensive artillery of the Mu-nich-Riem airfield, the Fw 190D-9s of the JV 44 werepainted red on undersurfaces, highlighted by whitestripes to make the recognition of friendly fightersas easy as possible for them. According to the newestfindings these stripes were not reaching the tail on thefuselage bottom but ended at the front of the wheel-bays. Wübke’s Dora was an example from the Fieselerfactory with typical no-bulges three piece machineguns cover and with later production blown canopy.The inscription “Im Auftrage der Reichsbahn” had beenon various Wübke machines since the beginning of thewar. He started using it when he returned to his homebase several times by train after being shot down.JG 26 was established on November 1, 1938, (originallyas JG 132) with Eduard von Schleich, an ace with 35kills in WWI as its first Kommodore. JG 26 entered thewar under the command of Hans Hugo Witt but stayedin Germany during the invasion of Poland. It than ope-rated on the Western Front until 1943, with its most fa-mous Kommodore, Adolf Galland, taking command onAugust 22, 1940. Galland was leading JG 26 for the restof the Battle of Britain and well beyond until December5, 1941. In early 1943, JG 26 was to replace JG 54 in theLuftflotte 1 formation on the Eastern Front, but in theend, it was only a brief episode of I./JG 26. The groupcontinued to operate in France and then as a part ofthe defense of the Reich system. From late 1941 on-wards all Gruppe except III./JG 26 started their conver-sion to Fw 190As, the first to receive Fw 190D-9s wereI. Gruppe and II. Gruppe starting from mid-October 1944.Lt. Günter Seyd of 5./JG 26 took off with this aircraftfrom Uetersen on May 5, 1945, but due to an enginefailure he made an emergency landing in Schleswig.In the only known photograph, the lower engine cow-ling appears slightly darker and it is likely it waspainted RLM 76 early (probably taken from anotheraircraft), but a yellow color cannot be completelyruled out. The brown color of the fuselage numberswas unusual, with only a few Staffeln within the Luft-waffe using it. However, 7./JG 26 kept this habit throu-ghout the war. Günter Seyd scored a single kill duringthe 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 killof II./JG 26 after conversion to Fw 190D-9.KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard51December 2022Page 52
WNr. 210003, Oblt. Hans Dortenmann, 12./JG 26, Germany, 1945Stab I./JG 2, Frankfurt/Rhein-Mein, April 1945WNr. 210909, Maj. Gerhard Barkhorn, JG 6, Welzow, Germany, February 1945Oblt. Hans Dortenmann, an ace with 38 kills to hiscredit and holder of the Knight’s Cross, flew this Fw190D-9 WNr. 210003 from September 1944 until the endof the war, when he personally destroyed the aircraft.Dortenmann scored 18 kills with this Dora, makinghim the most successful fighter pilot on this type.The aircraft also became the longest-serving Dora incombat. It would begin its career as a “Red 1” whileDortenmann was a member of III./JG 54. At the end ofFebruary, III./JG 54 was redesignated IV./JG 26, whichalso brought a change in the markings of the aircraft.As Staffelkapitän of 12./JG 26, Dortenmann now hada black “1” on his Dora, with the typical white and blackstripe identifying JG 26 and a wave mark on the rear,indicating his affiliation with IV. Gruppe. At the sametime, the camouflage was modified, with the colors ofRLM 74/75 being replaced by the shades of RLM 81/82,and a later type of blown canopy was fitted in placeof the early straight one. The lower surfaces were tocarry a full coat of RLM 76. The keel and rudder werepainted yellow while still in the ranks of JG 54.Assignment to JG 2 is probable but not certain in the caseof this aircraft. It relies mainly on the appearance of theidentification markings. JG 2 was one of the oldest fighterunits of the Luftwaffe. It was formed as JagdgeschwaderRichthofen as early as 1934, from May 1, 1939, it was de-signated JG 2 Richthofen after the most successful WWIfighter. The first Kommodore was Oberst Gerd von Masowand during the Polish campaign JG 2 was assigned to thedefense of the Reich. It subsequently joined the fighting onthe Western Front and after the Battle of Britain remainedin France until September 1944. Shortly thereafter, I. Gruppeand III. Gruppe began taking over their first “Doras” in thesecond half of October. Hptm. Franz Hrdlicka, an ace with60 confirmed kills, took over the command of I. Gruppe fromDecember 18. He was a native of Dvorska, the suburb ofBrno city in than Czechoslovakia, but of German nationality.Hrdlicka (means dove in Czech) led the I. Gruppe until March25, 1945, when he was killed in combat with American figh-ters. According to some sources, his score may have beenas high as 96 victories. This aircraft sported the designationof the I. Gruppe Stab (staff) and was found in the middleof the runway at Frankfurt/Rhein-Main Airport. Apparent-ly, it had made an emergency landing, possibly due toengine failure, judging by the oiled lower engine cowling.The aircraft was not recovered and was found where it hadstopped by the Allies. There it remained until the spring of1946. Apparently, it was a second production run aircraftat Fieseler, the 600xxx series.Gerhard Barkhorn’s JG 6 personal aircraft was produced bythe Fiesler Kassel factory. The inscription “Christl” underthe cockpit is a diminutive of the name of Barkhorn’s wifeChristy. The marking on the fuselage identifies the aircraftas belonging to Geschwader Kommodore. During the war,Barkhorn achieved a total of 301 victories, which ranks himas the second most successful fighter ace of all time. Allof his kills were scored in the ranks of JG 52, with the firstone scored on July 2, 1941 and the last one on January 5,1945. He then commanded JG 6 and at the very end of thewar became a member of JV 44 armed with Me 262 jets.For his achievements in combat, he was awarded the Kni-ght’s Cross on August 23, 1942, with the Oak Leaf addedon January 11, 1943 and the Swords on March 2, 1944. Af-ter the war he continued to serve in the Bundesluftwaffe.The coloring of his Dora is a reconstruction, only photogra-phs of the central part of the fuselage are known. Theseshow, among other things, that the design of the Kommodo-re markings was smaller than was usual.KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard52December 2022Page 53
OVERTREESOVERLEPT#8184XFw 190D-91/48#8188-LEPTFw 190D-91/48Product pageProduct pageRecommended:for Fw 190D-9 1/4848651 Fw 190D-9 (PE-Set)FE1211 Fw 190D-9 seatbelts STEEL (PE-Set)644014 Fw 190D-9 LööK (Brassin)648150 Fw 190 wheels late (Brassin)648356 Fw 190A wingroot gun bays (Brassin)648439 Fw 190D fuselage guns (Brassin)648688 Fw 190D exhaust stacks (Brassin)648737 Fw 190D landing flaps PRINT (Brassin)648757 Fw 190D landing flaps wooden PRINT (Brassin)Cat. No. 648757Cat. No. 648439Cat. No. 644014KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard53December 2022Page 54
#82119Bf 109G-10 Mtt. Regensburg1/48ProfiPACK edition kit of German WWII fighteraircraft Bf 109G-10 in 1/48 scale. The kit is focusedon 109s produced by Messerschmitt factoryin Regensburg.plastic parts: Eduardmarking options: 5decals: EduardPE parts: yes, pre-paintedpainting mask: yesresin parts: noProduct pageRe-releaseKITS 12/2022INFO Eduard54December 2022Page 55
1./KG(J) 6, Prague-Kbely, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, March/April 1945WNr. 130342, 5./NJG 11, Fassberg, Germany 1945WNr. 130297, Fw. Horst Petzschler, 10./JG 51, Insterburg, East Prussia, May 1945The huge losses suffered by Luftwaffe fighter unitswere one of the reasons that led in October 1944to the decision to reduce the number of bomberassets and to distribute their personnel amongfighter squadrons following the necessary conver-sion training. One of the Geschwader units affectedby this change was KG 6. The unit was redesig-nated as KG(J) 6 and was re-equipped with theBf 109G-10s and K-4s. Training was undertaken atPrague-Kbely, Prague-Ruzyně and also at Klecanyairfields. On March 31, KG(J) 6 aircraft fought against309th FS/31st FG Mustangs over Prague. The resul-ting heavy losses led to the disbandment of the unita few days later, on April 9. This aircraft was aban-doned at Kbely, probably due to irreparable damagewhere it was photographed after the war. It's KG(J) 6ownership is indicated by the red and black squarefuselage band on the rear of the aircraftThe all-grey painting of 5./NJG 11 aircraft was usedon the so-called “Mosquito Hunters” at the beginningof 1945. The surface of the aircraft was polished formaximum aerodynamic effectiveness. The last combatagainst Mosquitos took place through March 1945, afterwhich these aircraft were pressed into service in nightattacks against Allied ground equipment.Horst Petzschler was born in Berlin on Septem-ber 1, 1921 and joined the Luftwaffe on April 1, 1941.After fighter pilot training, he was assigned to JG 51on August 23, 1943, and there he achieved his firstthree kills. On April 13, 1944, he was transferred to2./JG 3 which was a component of the Defense ofthe Reich structure, but by June 1944, he would re-turn to JG 51 on the Eastern Front. On May 4, 1945,III./JG 51 was relocated to Schleswig-Holstein fromeastern Prussia. Horst Petzschler did not reachthat location due to a navigation error and landedat Bulltofta in Sweden, where he was interned andin January 1946, the Swedes handed him over to theSoviets. He was released from captivity on Septem-ber 22, 1949. On his return, he worked for the Ber-lin Police Department and in 1953, he emigrated toCanada and then the United States, where he wor-ked in the aviation industry. He retired in 1988. Overthe course of the Second World War, Horst Petzschlerdowned 26 enemy aircraft. The number 0297, the lastfour digits of the serial number, was brush-paintedahead of the tail plane. The bottom of the wing waspainted in RLM 76, but due to the short supplies of thecolor some panels were left in natural metal.KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard55December 2022Page 56
13./JG 27, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, May 1945WNr. 130282, Hptm. Franz Wienhusen, CO of IV./JG 4,Frankfurt/Rhein-Main, Germany, November 1944After the Allied landings in Normandy in early June1944, IV. Gruppe JG 27 moved from Hungary to theFrench airfield of Champfleury-la-Perthe and begantheir participation in combat on the Western Front.After suffering heavy losses, the unit went to LowerSaxony for rest and replenishment. The unit was as-signed to the Defense of the Reich structure. The unitwas disbanded on March 31, 1945, and its pilots weredistributed among the other units of JG 27. The whi-te wave marking on the rear fuselage identified thisaircraft as being assigned to the IV. Gruppe, and thegreen band to the Defense of the Reich unit JG 27. Thenose carried the unit emblem.Franz Wienhusen joined the Kriegsmarine in 1934, butjust a year later began service with the Luftwaffe.After training, he was assigned to occupied Norway.There, he would serve with JG 77 and JG 5. up to Oc-tober 1944, when he was given command of IV./JG 4.He died on December 3, 1944 near Aachen, when,during an attack on an American convoy, he was hitfrom the ground. He claimed twelve kills over thecourse of WWII. The reconstruction of this aircraft isbased on a listing of losses from December 3, 1944,where the serial number and fuselage code of Wien-husen's aircraft are recorded. It is very likely that theaircraft was camouflaged the same way as othersmanufactured within an almost 130-aircraft produc-tion run at the Messerschmitt factory at Regensburg.KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard56December 2022Page 57
OVERTREESOVERLEPT#82119XBf 109G-10 Mtt. Regensburg1/48#82119-LEPTBf 109G-10 Mtt. Regensburg1/48Product pageProduct pageRecommended:for Bf 109G-10 Mtt. Regensburg 1/4848961 Bf 109G-10 Mtt Regensburg (PE-Set)FE910 Bf 109G seatbelts STEEL (PE-Set)644004 Bf 109G-10 LööK (Brassin)644045 Bf 109G-10 w/ early wheels LööKplus (Brassin)648247 Bf 109G exhaust stacks (Brassin)648239 Bf 109G-6 radio compartment (Brassin)648261 Bf 109G-6 wheels (Brassin)648265 Bf 109G external fuel tanks (Brassin)648309 Bf 109G undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)648310 Bf 109G control surfaces (Brassin)648422 Bf 109G-10 cockpit (Brassin)648441 Bf 109G-10 engine (Brassin)648672 Bf 109G-10 propeller (Brassin)D48025 Bf 109G stencils (Decal Set)D48027 Bf 109G Balkenkreuze (Decal Set)D48028 Bf 109G svastikas (Decal Set)D48035 Bf 109G-10 MTT / WNF national insignia (Decal Set)EX512 Bf 109G spinner spirals (Mask)EX608 Bf 109G-10 (Mask)EX609 Bf 109G-10 TFace (Mask)Cat. No. 648422Cat. No. 648441KITS 12/2022INFO Eduard57December 2022Page 58
BRASSINLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for Z-326 in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- resin: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for F-35B in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: ItaleriSet contains:- resin: 1 part- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no644186Z-326 LööK1/48 Eduard644187F-35B LööK1/48 ItaleriProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard58December 2022Page 59
LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for Mosquito B Mk.IV in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: TamiyaSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noCollection of 4 sets for A6M3 Zeroin 1/48 scale. Recommended kit: Eduard- LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)- TFace painting mask- seat- undercarriage wheels644188Mosquito B Mk.IV LööK1/48 Tamiya644189A6M3 Zero LööKplus1/48 EduardProduct pageProduct pageBRASSIN 02/2022BRASSININFO Eduard59December 2022Page 60
BRASSINCollection of 3 sets for Tornado IDS in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Revell- LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)- TFace painting mask- undercarriage wheelsBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for Bf 109G-4in 1/32 scale. The set consists of the main wheelsand a tailwheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: RevellSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yes644190Tornado IDS LööKplus1/48 Revell632183Bf 109G-4 wheels1/32 RevellProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard60December 2022Page 61
BRASSIN 02/2022BRASSINBrassin set - exhaust stacks for Bf 109G-4in 1/32 scale. Easy to assemble, replacesplastic parts. Recommended kit: RevellSet contains:- resin: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no632184Bf 109G-2/4 exhaust stacks1/32 RevellProduct pageBrassin set - the undercarriage legs for Bf 109G-2/4in 1/32 scale. The legs are made of bronze.Recommended kit: RevellSet contains:- resin: 2 parts- bronze: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no632185Bf 109G-2/4 undercarriage legs BRONZE1/32 RevellProduct pageINFO Eduard61December 2022Page 62
BRASSINBrassin set - clamps for German WWII AFVin 1/35 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 50 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no635017WWII German clamps Type 1 PRINT1/35635020MG 34 gun w/ammunition belt PRINT1/35Product pageProduct pageBrassin set - MG 34 German WWII machinegun in 1/35 scale. The set consists of 1 gun.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- resin: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noINFO Eduard62December 2022Page 63
BRASSIN 02/2022BRASSINBrassin set - oxygen tanks for US WII aicraftin 1/48 scale. The set consists of 6 tanks.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 6 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noProduct page648796WWII USAAF oxygen cylinder A-4 PRINT1/48Brassin set - wheel bays for F6F in 1/48 scale.Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no648798F6F wheel bays PRINT1/48 EduardProduct pageINFO Eduard63December 2022Page 64
BRASSINBrassin set - landing flaps for A6M3 Type 32in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the deployedflaps for both wings. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: noBrassin set - folding wingtips for A6M3 Type 22in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the wingtipsfor both wings. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no648802A6M3 Type 32 landing flaps PRINT1/48 Eduard648806A6M3 Type 22 folding wingtips PRINT1/48 EduardProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard64December 2022Page 65
Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels forA6M Zero in 1/48 scale. The set consists of themain wheels and a tailwheel. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yes648808A6M wheels w/smooth tire1/48 EduardProduct pageBRASSIN 02/2022BRASSINBrassin set - landing flaps for A6M3 Type 22in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the deployedflaps for both wings. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 6 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no648807A6M3 Type 22 landing flaps PRINT1/48 EduardProduct pageINFO Eduard65December 2022Page 66
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Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for BuccaneerS.2C/D in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheelsand a nose wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plasticparts. Recommended kit: AirfixSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yes648814Buccaneer S.2C/D wheels1/48 AirfixProduct pageBRASSIN 02/2022BRASSINBrassin set - the seat for P-38J in 1/48 scale.Made by direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: TamiyaSet contains:- 3D print: 1 part- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no648811P-38J seat PRINT1/48 TamiyaProduct pageINFO Eduard67December 2022Page 68
BRASSINBrassin set - Carley type lifeboats for 40 peoplein 1/350 scale. The set consists of 10 floats.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 10 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: noBrassin set - Carley type lifeboats for 40 peoplein 1/350 scale. The set consists of 10 floats.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 10 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no653013Carley float for 40 people – Type 1 PRINT1/350653014Carley float for 40 people – Type 2 PRINT1/350Product pageProduct pageINFO Eduard68December 2022Page 69
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BRASSINSIN64895A6M2 Zero Model 21 ADVANCED1/48 EduardProduct pageCollection of 5 sets for A6M2 Zero Type 21 in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Eduard- engine PRINT- gun bays PRINT- tailwheel PRINT- landing flaps PRINT- folding wigtips PRINTAll sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.A6M2 tailwheel PRINTA6M2 engine complete PRINTA6M2 landingflaps PRINTA6M2 gun bays PRINTA6M2 Zero Model 21 folding wingtips PRINTINFO Eduard70December 2022Page 71
BRASSINCollection of 4 sets for F4F-3 in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Eduard- cockpit PRINT- wheels- exhausts PRINT- undercarriage legs BRONZEAll sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.SIN64896F4F-3 w/ telescopic gunsight ESSENTIAL1/48 EduardProduct pageexhausts PRINTF4F-3 cockpitw/ telescopic gunsight PRINTundercarriage legs BRONZEwheels earlyINFO Eduard71December 2022Page 72
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BIG EDAll sets included in this BIG ED are available separately,but with every BIG ED set you save up to 30%.BIG33144 Yak-9T 1/32 ICMBIG33145Bf 109G-6 1/35 Border ModelBIG49348Spitfire F Mk.XVIII 1/48 Airfix32478 Yak-9T landing flaps 1/3232998 Yak-9T 1/3233300 Yak-9T seatbelts STEEL 1/32JX293 Yak-9T 1/3232999 Bf 109G-6 1/3533332 Bf 109G-6 seatbelts STEEL 1/35JX291 Bf 109G-6 1/35481087 Spitfire F Mk.XVIII landing flaps 1/48491296 Spitfire F Mk.XVIII 1/48FE1297 Spitfire F Mk.XVIII seatbelts STEEL 1/48EX885 Spitfire F Mk.XVIII 1/48Product pageProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard80December 2022Page 81
BIG49350 F-86F-40 1/48 AirfixBIG49351Yak-9D 1/48 Zvezda491298 F-86F-40 1/48FE1299 F-86F-40 seatbelts STEEL 1/48EX887 F-86F-40 1/48491300 Yak-9D 1/48FE1301 Yak-9D seatbelts STEEL 1/48EX889 Yak-9D 1/48Product pageProduct pageAll sets included in this BIG ED are available separately,but with every BIG ED set you save up to 30%.BIG EDBIG49349 P-38J 1/48 Tamiya491294 P-38J 1/48FE1295 P-38J seatbelts STEEL 1/48EX883 P-38J 1/48Product pageINFO Eduard81December 2022Page 82
MASKSIT FITS!JX301 Yak-9K1/32 ICMJX302 Yak-9K TFace1/32 ICMEX908 Beaufort Mk.I1/48 ICMEX909 Beaufort Mk.I TFace1/48 ICMEX910 Mi-41/48 TrumpeterEX911 Mi-4 TFace1/48 TrumpeterCX634 Yak-9D1/72 ZvezdaCX635 A-1H1/72 Hasegawa/Hobby 2000CX636 A-1J1/72 Hasegawa/Hobby 2000EX911 Mi-4 TFaceEX911 Mi-4 TFaceEX908 Beaufort Mk.IEX908 Beaufort Mk.IEX908 Beaufort Mk.IEX909 Beaufort Mk.I TFaceEX909 Beaufort Mk.I TFaceEX909 Beaufort Mk.I TFace EX909 Beaufort Mk.I TFaceEX909 Beaufort Mk.I TFaceEX909 Beaufort Mk.I TFaceEX911 Mi-4 TFaceEX911 Mi-4 TFaceEX911 Mi-4 TFaceEX911 Mi-4 TFaceEX910 Mi-4EX910 Mi-4EX910 Mi-4INFO Eduard82December 2022Page 83
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RELEASESDECEMBER 2022KITSPE-SETSZOOMSMASKS7032 Bf 109E-3 1/72 ProfiPACK11168 SAMURAI Dual Combo 1/48 Limited84184 P-51D-10 1/48 Weekend edition7466 Spitfire Mk.IXc 1/72 Weekend edition8188 Fw 190D-9 1/48 ProfiPACK82119 Bf 109G-10 Mtt. RegensburgRe-release 1/48 ProfiPACK53288 USS DDG-1000 Zumwalt 1/350 Snowman Models/Takom32479 Yak-9K landing flaps 1/32 ICM321003 Yak-9K 1/32 ICM36492 WC-51 1/35 Zvezda481094 Beaufort Mk.I bomb bay 1/48 ICM481095 Beaufort Mk.I landing flaps 1/48 ICM491318 Beaufort Mk.I 1/48 ICM491320 Mi-4 1/48 Trumpeter72726 B-26B/C Marauder exterior 1/72 Hasegawa/Hobby 200073783 A-1H 1/72 Hasegawa/Hobby 200073784 A-1J 1/72 Hasegawa/Hobby 200073785 P-39Q 1/72 Arma Hobby73786 B-26B/C Marauder interior 1/72 Hasegawa/Hobby 200073787 Yak-9D 1/72 Zvezda33339 Yak-9K 1/32 ICM33340 Yak-9K seatbelts STEEL 1/32 ICMFE1318 Beaufort Mk.I 1/48 ICMFE1319 Beaufort Mk.I seatbelts STEEL 1/48 ICMFE1320 Mi-4 1/48 TrumpeterFE1321 Mi-4 seatbelts STEEL 1/48 TrumpeterSS785 P-39Q 1/72 Arma HobbySS786 B-26B/C Marauder 1/72 Hasegawa/Hobby 2000SS787 Yak-9D 1/72 ZvezdaJX301 Yak-9K 1/32 ICMJX302 Yak-9K TFace 1/32 ICMEX908 Beaufort Mk.I 1/48 ICMEX909 Beaufort Mk.I TFace 1/48 ICMEX910 Mi-4 1/48 TrumpeterEX911 Mi-4 TFace 1/48 TrumpeterCX634 Yak-9D 1/72 ZvezdaCX635 A-1H 1/72 Hasegawa/Hobby 2000CX636 A-1J 1/72 Hasegawa/Hobby 2000INFO Eduard84December 2022Page 85
RELEASESBIG-EDBIG-EDBIG EDBRASSINLöökPLUSBIG SINSPACEDECAL SETBIG33144 Yak-9T 1/32 ICMBIG33145 Bf 109G-6 1/35 Border ModelBIG49348 Spitfire F Mk.XVIII 1/48 AirfixBIG49349 P-38J 1/48 TamiyaBIG49350 F-86F-40 1/48 AirfixBIG49351 Yak-9D 1/48 Zvezda644186 Z-326 LööK 1/48 Eduard644187 F-35B LööK 1/48 Italeri644188 Mosquito B Mk.IV LööK 1/48 Tamiya632183 Bf 109G-4 wheels 1/32 Revell632184 Bf 109G-2/4 exhaust stacks 1/32 Revell632185 Bf 109G-2/4 undercarriage legs BRONZE 1/32 Revell635017 WWII German clamps Type 1 PRINT 1/35635020 MG 34 gun w/ammunition belt PRINT 1/35648796 WWII USAAF oxygen cylinder A-4 PRINT 1/48648798 F6F wheel bays PRINT 1/48 Eduard648802 A6M3 Type 32 landing flaps PRINT 1/48 Eduard648806 A6M3 Type 22 folding wingtips PRINT 1/48 Eduard648807 A6M3 Type 22 landing flaps PRINT 1/48 Eduard648808 A6M wheels w/smooth tire 1/48 Eduard648811 P-38J seat PRINT 1/48 Tamiya648812 P-38J cockpit PRINT 1/48 Tamiya648814 Buccaneer S.2C/D wheels 1/48 Airfix653013 Carley float for 40 people –Type 1 PRINT 1/350653014 Carley float for 40 people –Type 2 PRINT 1/350644189 A6M3 Zero LööKplus 1/48 Eduard644190 Tornado IDS LööKplus 1/48 RevellSIN64895 A6M2 Zero Model 21 ADVANCED 1/48 EduardSIN64896 F4F-3w/ telescopic gunsight ESSENTIAL 1/48 Eduard3DL32009 Yak-9K SPACE 1/32 ICM3DL48094 Beaufort Mk.I SPACE 1/48 ICM3DL48095 Mi-4 SPACE 1/48 Trumpeter3DL48096 Z-326 SPACE 1/48 Eduard3DL72005 Ki-84 Hayate SPACE 1/72 Arma Hobby3DL72006 P-51B SPACE 1/72 Arma HobbyD32019 Ju 87 stencils 1/32Hasegawa/Trumpeter/RevellDECEMBER 2022INFO Eduard85December 2022Page 86
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BUILTLdg. Sea. Kenji Yanagiya, Kōkūtai 204, Rabaul base, New Britain, April 1943This aircraft is reconstructed with the field appliedgreen paint typical for aircraft of this unit in early1943. It has a dismantled radio station and ante-nna column to reduce weight. Leading SeamanYanagiya made several operational flights withthis plane during April 1943. He also flew with it onApril 18, 1943, while escorting Admiral Yamamototo Ballale on Bougainville Island. The formation oftwo G4M Betty bombers and six Zeros was surpri-singly attacked by P-38 fighters, both Bettys wereshot down and Admiral Yamamoto was killed. Fiveof the six accompanying Japanese fighters weresuccessively killed in action during the war, one ofthem being the second ranking naval ace, Shō-ichiSugita (80 v.). The only survivor of the war wouldbe Yanagiya. Born in March 1919, after completingflight training in March 1942 he was assigned to the6th Kōkūtai, which was to be based at the capturedMidway Atoll. From October 1942 he was deployedto Rabaul and in November his unit was redesig-nated Kōkūtai 204. In May 1943 he was promotedto Petty Officer 2nd Class, but on June 7 he wasseverely wounded in aerial combat off RussellIsland and had to have his right arm amputated.After hospitalization and rehabilitation, he was ableto continue flying with a prosthesis and served asan instructor until the end of the war. He achieveda total of eight individual victories and participa-ted on eighteen shared kills. Kenji Yanagiya diedin February 2008.INFO Eduard87December 2022Page 88
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BUILTOK-MPA, No. 246, Aero Club Frýdlant nad Ostravicí, Czech Republic, 2019Trenér No. 246 was manufactured in 1958 andwas registered in December the same year as theZ-226B towing special with rear controls only.It flies with the Frýdlant nad Ostravicí Aero Clubfrom 2009, when it was brought from HavlíčkůvBrod Aero Club. During overhaul in 1989 the M-137engine was installed and the V-503A automaticpitch-control propeller as well. Thus, togetherwith other necessary changes it was brought tothe standard of Z-226MS. The aircraft was used invarious gliding contests as the tow, two of them,the Euroglide 2008 and 2012 are commemoratedby stickers on the left side of the vertical fin. Theexhaust silencer was installed by Frýdlant AeroClub to keep the noise levels low.INFO Eduard89December 2022Page 90
BUILT1/48Fw 190A-8/R2 a Bf 109G-6/14DUAL COMBOCat. No. 11119marking Gbuilt by Robert SzwarcReichsverteidigungReichsverteidigungINFO Eduard90December 2022Page 91
BUILTBf 109G-6/R6, W. Nr. 20272, flown by Oblt. Heinrich Klöpper, CO of 7./ JG 1, Leeuwarden,the Netherlands, November 1943A native of Lower Saxony´s Peine, futureKnight's Cross recipient Heinrich Klöpper took partin the Battle of France and the Battle of Britainas a member of JG 77. He would claim one killin each of these campaigns. He would get anothereighty after the initiation of Operation Barbaros-sa on June 22nd, 1941 through to November 1943,this time with 11th Staffel of JG 51. At the beginningof November 1943, he took command of the 7thStaffel JG 1, a unit that was incorporated in the theDefence of the Reich (Reichsverteidigung). Servingwith this unit, he downed five four engined B-17s,a B-24 and two P-38s. He was killed on November29th, 1943, in combat with a couple of P-38s in thecockpit of his Bf 109 over Vollenhove in the Nether-lands. Some commanders of tactical units had thefin and rudders of their aircraft painted white forquick identification of the leader's aircraft in com-bat. The rudder also bears Klöpper's victory tally.INFO Eduard91December 2022Page 92
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HOuse of Phantoms DecalsOur new line of decals for Phantomiacs!Each decal contains a plethora of different markingoptions and stencils for two aircraft!Wetterkreuz 13, 91058 Erlangen, GermanyPhone: +49-9131-52828 / Office Hours: Tue + Thu 09:00 to 16:30 Hrswww.houseofphantoms.com / www.shopofphantoms.comcontact@shopofphantoms.comHo use of P han toms, We tterkreuz 13, 91058 ErlangenGe rmany – www .houseof phantoms.c omPrin ted i n It aly b yAll right s re serve d!© 20 22 Ho use of Ph antom sOve r 15 d iffere nt mar king o ptions ,wi th stenci ls for two a ircraf t!Ho PD 480031/48ScaleUSAFE phantoms PART 1Ramstein based F-4E of the 86thTFW and 26thTRWDes ign ed for Zou kei -Mu ra kits !DANGERARRESTING HOOKPrice: Euro 25,17*HoPD 48003USAFE Phantoms Part 1:Ramstein based F-4Es of the 26thTRW and 86thTFW.Over 15 different marking options,three of which are early hardwing” F-4Es with short gunmuzzle. Aircraft with standardSEA, SEA-wraparound and Euro 1camouflages included.Decal designed for the Zoukei-Murarange of F-4 kits, but can be usedon any other 1/48 scale F-4E modelkit with a bit of tweaking.Ho use of P han toms, We tterkreuz 13, 91058 ErlangenGe rmany – www .houseof phantoms.c omPrin ted i n It aly b yAll right s re serve d!© 20 22 Ho use of Ph antom sOve r 30 d iffere nt mar king o ptions ,wi th stenci ls for two a ircraf t!Ove r 30 d iffere nt mar king o ptions ,wi th stenci ls for two a ircraf t!Ho PD 480021/48ScaleLuftwaffe phantomsF-4F in Norm 81A /1B CamouflageDes ign ed for Zou kei -Mu ra kits !HoPD 48002Luftwaffe Phantoms:F-4F in Norm 81A/B Camouflages.This sheet features over 30marking options, including “sharkmouth” aircraft, “TAM” exercisemarkings, fancy colourful tails aswell as special nose art. All wingsincluded. Features stencils for twoPhantoms.Decal designed for the Zoukei-Murarange of F-4 kits, but can be usedon any other 1/48 scale F-4E/Fmodel kit with a bit of tweaking.Price: Euro 25,17** All prices excluding VAT andshipping costs, which will be addedduring checkout!Ho use of P han toms, We tterkreuz 13, 91058 ErlangenGe rmany – www .houseof phantoms.c omPrin ted i n It aly b yAll right s re serve d!© 20 19 Ho use of Ph antom s18 diffe ren t mark ing options ,wi th ste nci ls for tw o aircra ft!Ho PD 480011/48ScaleUSAF phantomsF-4Csand Candy Canes of the 58thTFTW at Luke AFBPrice: Euro 21,01*HoPD 48001USAF Phantoms:F-4C Candy Canes of the 58thTFTW at Luke AFB.Over 15 different marking options,including all of the striped ‘CandyCane’ high-viz aircraft, the 1976Bi-centennial aircraft as well asF-4C MiG-killers. Stencils for twoaircraft are provided.Decal designed for the Zoukei-Murarange of F-4 kits, but can be usedon any other 1/48 scale F-4C modelkit with a bit of tweaking.Page 96
ON APPROACHJANUARY 2023634029Bf 109G-2 LööK1/32 Revell644192SE.5a LööK1/48 Eduard644194Beaufort Mk.I LööK1/48 ICM644193Mosquito FB Mk.II LööK1/48 TamiyaBIG33146 Ju 87G-1/2 1/35 Border ModelBIG49352 F3F-2 1/48 AcademyBIG49353 Spitfire Mk.XII 1/48 AirfixBIG49354 P-47N 1/48 AcademyBIG49355 Mi-35M 1/48 Zvezda634029 Bf 109G-2 LööK 1/32 Revell644192 SE.5a LööK 1/48 Eduard644193 Mosquito FB Mk.II LööK 1/48 Tamiya644194 Beaufort Mk.I LööK 1/48 ICM635018 WWII German hammer PRINT 1/35635019 WWII German axe PRINT 1/35635021 WWII German clamps Type 2 PRINT 1/35648785 Fw 190A-8 cockpit PRINT 1/48 Eduard648809 WWII USAAF oxygen cylinder A-6 PRINT 1/48648810 WWII USAAF oxygen tank G-1 PRINT 1/48648815 F4F-4 wheels early 1/48 Eduard648816 F4F-4 wheels late 1/48 Eduard648817 F4F-4 landing flaps PRINT 1/48 Eduard648818 F4F-4 folding wings PRINT 1/48 Eduard648819 F-35B wheels 1/48 Italeri648820 F4F-4 exhausts PRINT 1/48 Eduard648821 Yak-9D wheels 1/48 Zvezda648822 F-16A MLU wheels 1/48 Kinetic653015 Carley float for 60 people – Type 1 PRINT 1/350653016 Carley float for 60 people – Type 2 PRINT 1/350644191 F4F-3 early LööKplus 1/48 EduardSIN64897 A6M3 Zero ESSENTIAL 1/48 EduardSIN64898 P-38J ADVANCED 1/48 TamiyaBIG ED (January)BRASSIN (January)LöökPlus (January)BIGSIN (January)LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for Bf 109G-2 in 1/32 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: RevellSet contains:- resin: 1 part- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for SE.5a in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- resin: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for Beaufort Mk.I in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: ICMSet contains:- resin: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for Mosquito FB Mk.II in 1/48scale. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: TamiyaSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noPRELIMINARY IMAGESPRELIMINARY IMAGESPRELIMINARY IMAGESPRELIMINARY IMAGESINFO Eduard96December 2022Page 97
635018WWII German hammer PRINT1/35ON APPROACHBrassin set - hammer for German WWII AFV in 1/35 scale.The set consists of 4 hammers. Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no635019WWII German axe PRINT1/35635021WWII German clamps Type 2 PRINT1/35Brassin set - axe for German WWII AFV in 1/35 scale.The set consists of 4 axes. Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: noBrassin set - clamps for German WWII AFVin 1/35 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 50 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noINFO Eduard97December 2022Page 98
ON APPROACHJANUARY 2023648785Fw 190A-8 cockpit PRINT1/48 Eduard648809WWII USAAF oxygen cylinder A-6 PRINT1/48648810WWII USAAF oxygen tank G-1 PRINT1/48Brassin set - the cockpit for Fw 190A-8 in 1/48 scale.Made by direct 3D printing. Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 19 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noBrassin set - oxygen tanks for US WII aicraft in 1/48 scale.The set consists of 6 tanks. Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 6 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noBrassin set - oxygen tanks for US WII aicraftin 1/48 scale. The set consists of 6 tanks.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 6 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noINFO Eduard98December 2022Page 99
ON APPROACHJANUARY 2023648815F4F-4 wheels early1/48 Eduard648816F4F-4 wheels late1/48 Eduard648817F4F-4 landing flaps PRINT1/48 EduardBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels forF4F-4 in 1/48 scale. The set consists of themain wheels and a tailwheel. Easy toassemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- resin: 5 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yesBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for F4F-4in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheelsand a tailwheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- resin: 6 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: yesBrassin set - landing flaps for F4F-4 in 1/48 scale.The set consists of the deployed flaps for both wings.Made by direct 3D printing. Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 8 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: noINFO Eduard99December 2022Page 100
ON APPROACH648818F4F-4 folding wings PRINT1/48 Eduard648819F-35B wheels1/48 Italeri648820F4F-4 exhausts PRINT1/48 TamiyaBrassin set - folding wings for F4F-4 in 1/48 scale.The set consists of parts for both wings. Made bydirect 3D printing. Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 10 parts- plastic: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: noBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for F-35Bin 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheelsand a nose wheel. Easy to assemble, replacesplastic parts. Recommended kit: ItaleriSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yesBrassin set - the exhausts for F4F-4in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noJANUARY 2023INFO Eduard100December 2022Page 101
ON APPROACH648821Yak-9D wheels1/48 Zvezda648822F-16A MLU wheels1/48 KineticBrassin set - the undercarriage wheelsfor Yak-9D in 1/48 scale. The set consistsof the main wheels and a tailwheel.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: ZvezdaSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yesBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for F-16A MLUin 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheelsand a nose wheel. Easy to assemble, replacesplastic parts. Recommended kit: KineticSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yesJANUARY 2023INFO Eduard101December 2022Page 102
ON APPROACH653015Carley float for 60 people – Type 1 PRINT1/350Brassin set - Carley type lifeboats for 60 peoplein 1/350 scale. The set consists of 10 floats.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 10 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no653016Carley float for 60 people – Type 2 PRINT1/350Brassin set - Carley type lifeboats for 60 peoplein 1/350 scale. The set consists of 10 floats.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 10 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: noJANUARY 2023INFO Eduard102December 2022Page 103
BRASSIN 02/2022BRASSIN 02/2022ON APPROACH644191F4F-3 early LööKplus1/48 EduardCollection of 4 sets for F4F-3 in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Eduard- LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)- TFace painting mask- seat- undercarriage wheelsJANUARY 2023INFO Eduard103December 2022Page 104
ON APPROACHSIN64897A6M3 Zero ESSENTIAL1/48 EduardCollection of 4 sets for A6M3 Zero in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Eduard- cockpit PRINT- wheels- exhausts PRINT- undercarriage legs BRONZEAll sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.JANUARY 2023INFO Eduard104December 2022Page 105
SIN64898P-38J ADVANCED1/48 TamiyaCollection of 3 sets for P-38J in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Tamiya- nose guns PRINT- superchargers PRINT- landing flaps PRINTAll sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.BRASSIN 02/2022BRASSIN 02/2022ON APPROACHJANUARY 2023INFO Eduard105December 2022Page 106
PE-SETS53289 USS Alaska CB-1 part 1 1/350 Hobby Boss32480 Tornado IDS exterior 1/32 Italeri321004 Tornado IDS interior 1/32 Italeri321005 Tornado IDS undercarriage 1/32 Italeri36493 Austin K2/Y ambulance 1/35 Airfix36494 Jagdpanzer IV 1/35 Border Model481096 Beaufort Mk.I undercarriage 1/48 ICM481097 A-10C exterior 1/48 Hobby Boss481098 A-10C armament 1/48 Hobby Boss491324 A-10C 1/48 Hobby Boss73788 AJ-1 1/72 Roden73789 Ki-21-Ib 1/72 ICM73790 Do 335A 1/72 Hobby 2000/RodenZOOMS33341 Tornado IDS 1/32 Italeri33342 Tornado IDS seatbelts STEEL 1/32 ItaleriFE1322 Spitfire Mk.Vb Weekend 1/48 EduardFE1323 Sopwith F.1 Camel (Clerget) Weekend 1/48 EduardFE1324 A-10C 1/48 Hobby BossFE1325 A-10C seatbelts STEEL 1/48 Hobby BossSS788 AJ-1 1/72 RodenSS789 Ki-21-Ib 1/72 ICMSS790 Do 335A 1/72 Hobby 2000/RodenMASKSJX303 Tornado IDS 1/32 ItaleriJX304 Tornado IDS TFace 1/32 ItaleriEX912 Z-326 TFace 1/48 EduardEX913 Mosquito B Mk.IV TFace 1/48 TamiyaEX914 Spitfire Mk.V TFace 1/48 EduardEX915 A-10C 1/48 Hobby BossEX916 A-10C TFace 1/48 Hobby BossEX917 Anson Mk.I 1/48 AirfixEX918 Anson Mk.I TFace 1/48 AirfixCX637 AJ-1 1/72 RodenCX638 Ki-21-Ib 1/72 ICMCX639 Ki-46-III Interceptor 1/72 HasegawaCX640 Do 335A 1/72 Hobby 2000/RodenCX641 Meteor F.8 1/72 AirfixSPACE3DL32010 Bf 109G-2/4 SPACE 1/32 Revell3DL48097 Mosquito B Mk.IV SPACE 1/48 Tamiya3DL48098 A-10C SPACE 1/48 Hobby Boss3DL48099 Spitfire Mk.V SPACE 1/48 Airfix3DL48100 Bf 109G-6 SPACE 1/48 Tamiya3DL48101 P-51D-5 SPACE 1/48 Airfix3DL48102 Spitfire Mk.I SPACE 1/48 Tamiya3DL72007