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The word "Finnish" caught my eye Wonderful write-up and paintings of tiny planes! I've had the 1:72 Revell kit of the Brewster Buffalo, with Finnish decals, untouched for years. Really should get to it, I'm just not sure what paints I should use, as I'm not going back to Revell's enamels!

I used citadel foundation Knarloc Green for my Finnish greens with a blast of green ink on top but in some cases I think the green came out too vivid and should be more olive green.

Also I think the general rule is that smaller scale needs lighter colours or it looks too dark. A 1:72 scale kit with Knarloc green might look too pale, especially if you're going for a white snow camo scheme. I don't work at that scale myself so I'm not really the one to ask.

Vallejo Model Colour has a good range of more realistic colours which are intented for historical/military modelling.

 theCrowe wrote:
I often have to make choices about planes to paint up and how I'll do them but I always try to represent a range of typical schemes as well as the odd stand-alone example that tells a good story. It's never quite exhaustive though as there's always more to discover in the crazy history of the war.

If you're looking for a storied Finnish aircraft, have a look at the DC-2 "Hanssin Jukka" http://www.ilmasotakoulunkilta.fi/IlmaSK/ilmaskmma.nsf/sp?Open&cid=ContentE9451

Suomi mainittu, torilla tavataan! ("Finland mentioned, party at the market square", a national meme over here when someone else talks about us )

That's a nice looking patchwork quilt of planes you've got there, have you had the opportunity to fly them in a game yet?

theCrowe wrote:I used citadel foundation Knarloc Green for my Finnish greens with a blast of green ink on top but in some cases I think the green came out too vivid and should be more olive green.

Also I think the general rule is that smaller scale needs lighter colours or it looks too dark. A 1:72 scale kit with Knarloc green might look too pale, especially if you're going for a white snow camo scheme. I don't work at that scale myself so I'm not really the one to ask.

Turaxa wrote:Vallejo Model Colour has a good range of more realistic colours which are intented for historical/military modelling.

Thanks for the tips, I'll keep these in mind and do some research. I currently only have Citadel paints, but buying a couple of bottles from other manufacturers is not totally out of the question.

 Sherrypie wrote:
Suomi mainittu, torilla tavataan! ("Finland mentioned, party at the market square", a national meme over here when someone else talks about us )

That's a nice looking patchwork quilt of planes you've got there, have you had the opportunity to fly them in a game yet?

Thanks for taking a look. Really nice to have an authentic Finnish nod of approval. And do let me know if my research has produced anything inaccurate.

As far as gaming with them goes, the sad answer is no. In fact I so rarely get a chance to game these days I may as well start collecting Red Cross vehicles.

Hi folks, long time no planes! Super glad to be back at long last with this batch all ready to show. This time around I'm not looking at a National Air Force or even a specific front. This time around I'm looking at V.I.P.'s in the air!

In a war where for the first time people could be transported through the skies to almost anywhere in the world the various aircraft that made that possible through either choice or necessity make for an interesting study. Well I think so at least.

NOTE: Some of the planes so used were cutting edge prototypes or specially modified to purpose and wouldn't have had all the turrets and other fixtures of later regular service aircraft. I've chosen not to file these off or dramatically alter window layouts on these miniatures so please forgive such inaccuracies as we go along. So with that said lets look at the planes.

The first V.I.P. I wanted to look at had to be Churchill, who as you can imagine had much cause to travel around the world. I couldn't get miniatures for his earlier flights but I could get one for this.

In August 1942 American pilot Captain Vanderkloot ,the best in the business flew Churchill and his staff in a specially converted Long range B-24 Liberator cargo transporter -AL504 named "Commando". They went first to Cairo to put Monty in charge in North Africa and then on to Moscow to meet with Stalin.

It wasn't exactly a comfortable ride. The bomb bay was sealed shut and the interior fitted with a makeshift cabin of seats and a bed for the main man. The whole thing was painted black (proper stealth technology that) for the overnight flights and any info on the flight plan was strictly top secret.


Churchill's second and last trip on "Commando" was to the 1943 Casablanca Conference. (A little more on what he saw when he got there later)


In May 1943, seeing the need for a permanent (and altogether more suitable, altogether more British) dedicated VIP transport aircraft the air ministry commissioned Avro York C Mark I LV633 for use by King George VI and the Prime Minister. Named "Ascalon" by 24 Squadron's Commanding Officer, LV633 joined the King's Flight, operating from Hendon Middlesex.

In August 1944, with Vanderkroot again at the controls Ascalon bore the travelling PM in some greater amount of comfort this time (he did turn 70 in this year after all) to Algiers, Naples, Moscow, Cairo, Turkey and the Black Sea, cigar in hand all the way there and back, no doubt.

Ascalon also conveyed King George VI on some of his longest Royal flights visiting Tripoli in June 1943 and Naples in July-August 1944.


Douglas VC-54C Skymaster Aka “Sacred Cow” President Roosevelt.

The first purpose-built presidential air transport the forerunner to the modern day "Airforce One" was this Douglas Skymaster, officially the "Flying Whitehouse" but more commonly referred to as "the Sacred Cow", a nod to the high security and special status surrounding the plane.


Presidential luxuries on board included an executive conference room with a large desk and a rectangular bulletproof window. A private presidential privy and a fold down bed concealed behind the sofa. And even a galley kitchen with an electric fridge! A battery-powered wheelchair lift was installed at the rear to allow the President to board the aircraft more easily.

The Sacred Cow represented the very bleeding edge of modernity in the air. When Churchill first encountered the C-54 of the American delegation in Casablanca he was green with envy. (He was still flying Commando!)

Of course he had to have one too, in the interest of maintaining the dignity and prestige of Britain you understand. In November 1944 he got his wish and for the Yalta conference in Feb 45 both Skymasters were parked up side by side at Saki airport and guarded by the Red Army.

But what about Uncle Joe, I hear you cry.

Well he didn't fly so that's that.

Ok only joking, I'll drop another picture of my Soviet Pe-8 (that ain't no bourgeois party wagon)

It is painted up as the aircraft that carried Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov and his delegation from Moscow to London and then to Washington, D.C. and back, for negotiations to open a second front against Nazi Germany (19 May–13 June 1942). The flight crossed German-controlled airspace on the return trip without incident.

Stalin evidently didn't mind sending his underlings on dangerous air journeys. Stalin himself preferred to stay on the ground inside 83tons of armoured rail carriage.


Ok, so on to some Axis VIP's.

Ju52 Lufthansa airliner Immelmann D-2600

This is possibly the most Nazi-lookin' plane in my collection, it's Hitler's own personal ride courtesy of Germany's premier airline Deutsche Lufthansa, who in 1933 gave him this classic three engined Junkers Ju52 by the name of Immelmann II (after WW1 ace Max Immelmann)
As Chancellor of Germany Hitler travelled extensively by air and had his own fleet of aircraft based in Berlin many of them Ju52s.


The Ju52, known as 'Tante Ju' (Aunt Ju) or 'Iron Annie' was a mainstay of the Lufwaffe. A rugged and reliable trimotor medium bomber from the Spanish Civil War the old Ju52 remained in service throughout the Second World War as one of the Luftwaffe's most common transport aircraft for both personnel and cargo as well as mine-sweeping, glider towing and paratroop drops, though it was horribly vulnerable to more modern fighters and anti-aircraft fire. (I didn't file the defensive weapons off as I intend to repaint this miniature some day for another project but Immelmann II was a civilian airliner and so wouldn't have had them) (I might add that Chiang Kai-shek's personal transport was also a Ju52 commandeered from Eurasia Airlines)

Hitler's personal pilot was a man named Hans Baur. Baur had been his pilot during his election campaign and continued to be on into the war. He was given a high ranking SS commission and tasked with building and maintaining Hitlers personal air fleet. In 1939 he suggested an upgrade, switching the old Iron Annie for a shinny new four engines Focke-Wulf FW200C Condor, imaginatively named Immelmann III.

It was kited out with an armoured seat for der Fuhrer and his own automatic parachute. (Which Baur said was never armed) It was faster and had a much longer range than his old ride, unsurprising as the Fw 200 was originally designed as a transatlantic airliner.

The Condor was pressed into military service as a maritime patrol aircraft and fitted out with defensive weapons, radios and radar equipment. All the extra weight was a bit much for the slim sleek airliner and they were fitted with a heavier undercarriage to take the load but the overloaded Condors had a bad tendency to break their backs on heavy landings.

German Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop also flew by Condor to Moscow in 1939 to negotiate the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union. That was another civilian marked airliner though (silver and black like the Ju52) and again I intend to re-do this Fw200 as a standard maritime patrol plane, so I didn't file off any weapon turrets that neither Hitler's nor Ribbentrop's rides would have toted.

Mitsubishi G4M 'Betty' Admiral Yamamoto

When U.S. Naval Intelligence intercepted the travel plans of Imperial Japanese Navy Admiral Isokoru Yamamoto the chance to "Get Yamamoto" was too good to miss. He was planning an inspection visit of Japanese bases in the upper Solomon Islands to boost morale but when his plane arrived at Balalae Airfield, on an island near Bougainville a squadron of Army Airforce P-38 Lightning's were ready to pounce.

Having flown a 600 mile approach at wave top level avoiding radar and Japanese controlled airspace the attack had been maticulously planned and executed with exacting navigational skill by the pilots of Squadron 339 who arrived bang on time just as the Admiral's convoy were coming in to land.

Lt. Rex T. Barber peeled off and engaged the first "Betty" taking out an engine and the smoking bomber plunged into the jungle below. 'Operation Vengeance' had beaten astonishing odds to come out a success, Admiral Yamamoto, the architect of the attack on Pearl Harbour was dead. See, this is why Stalin didn't fly!

Well that's world leaders, royals and politicians and the like for a little bit, but I'm not done yet, lets take a look at some royalty of a different sort, Hollywood royalty!

B-17E Flying Fortress "The Duchess" Air gunner Clark Gable

When Hollywood superstar Carole Lombard died in a tragic plane crash following her hugely successful war-bonds drive her husband, Clark Gable was devastated.

To honour her memory Gable enlisted in the airforce graduated OCS receiving a commission as a Second Lieutenant and was immediately given a special assignment by Henry H "Hap" Arnold. Gable would head a film crew, filming in combat with the Eighth Air Force then operating out of England to make a recruitment film about aerial gunners.

Gable's fifth and final combat mission flown out of RAF Polebrooke was aboard "The Duchess" leading the 351st in a raid on the Nantes port area in France in September 1943. Gable manned the nose gun during the raid where despite a lot of damage from enemy fighters and flack all the bombers managed to return to England. Gable and his film crew returned to Hollywood and completed the production of "Combat America" as a tribute to the airforce who by that time had plenty of gunners already.


and Gable wasn't the only Hollywood star to swap the big screen for a big plane.


B-24D Liberator (Jimmy Stewart) Nine Yanks and a Jerk

Jimmy Stewart, although a big name in the movies was already an accomplished commercial pilot when the war began. His family having a proud military heritage, naturally Stewart's first instinct was to sigh up with the USAAF.

Hap Arnold wanted to keep the movie star stateside as a training instructor to be available for public appearances and recruitment drives but Stewart was keen to avoid that particular dead end and wanted to serve in a real combat role. He eventually got his chance and shipped out to command 445th Bombardment Group in action over Germany.

This B-24 Liberator "Nine Yanks and a Jerk" (if you don't know why that's funny I'll explain when you're old enough) was one of those flown by Commander Stewart leading 703rd BS. He would fly 20 credited combat sorties and many more uncredited as his distinguished career saw him progress from private to colonel in only four years with numerous medals. His airforce service continued long after the Second World War ended retiring as a Brigadier General in 1968.

Now, on to those perhaps more strategically important people.

BOAC Mosquito

When you absolutely positively have to evacuate the world's leading Nuclear-Physicist out of Stockholm there's really only one option. Enter B.O.A.C. whose private airline ran all sorts of commercial and occasionally clandestine flights into Britain out of neutral Sweden.

Niels Bohr was stowed aboard this modified B.O.A.C. Mosquito in an improvised cabin in the bomb bay where a single passenger could lie prone for the duration of the flight over the North Sea.

Bohr was provided with an Oxygen mask but when pilot Gilbert Rae and radio operator James Payne couldn't get a response from him they surmised that Bohr had passed out from lack of Oxygen and so dropped to a lower altitude. When asked about his flight Bohr said he'd slept like a baby. Bohr joined the Manhattan Project and as they say, the rest is history.

Westland Lysander pilot Peter Vaughan-Fowler

That was sneaking the VIP out but what about getting one in? Well, when you've got a special agent who needs to get into enemy occupied France in the dead of night the man you want on the job is the undisputed king of the midnight Spy-Taxi run, Peter Vaughn-Fowler.
The Westland Lysander was originally intended as a STOL (Short Take Off & Landing) capable supply mule for the army but during early operations in France it was found to be far too slow and vulnerable to enemy fighters to operate anywhere near the front lines in that role. It was however the perfect plane for insertion and extraction of special agents behind enemy lines at night, a spy taxi.

Flying at treetop level with a map on his lap and only the moonlit shadows to navigate by Vaughn-Fowler could put his Lysander down on a field that most other pilots would consider not much bigger than a postage stamp.
This kind of risky solo flying mission required needle-in-a-haystack navigation skills, some serious piloting chops and nerves of steel. Not only was a huge proportion of the mission flown over enemy lines but every mission was flying right into the teeth of the potentially lethal world of espionage and resistance movements where the standing order was execution for anyone caught in the act or suspected of spying.


If however your deep extraction just happens to include a deposed dictator in a mountaintop hotel your best bet (along with some fairly shady political dealing) might be this nippy little number. The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch.

The "daring rescue" of Benito Mussolini was made possible by the extreme STOL characteristics of the Feiseler Storch. With some serious hydraulic suspension the lanky landing gear took on about 350ft of boulder strewn Gran Sasso mountainside which was all it required to set down, collect Il ex-Duce and whisk him away.

Plenty of footage of the raid was shot for posterity, and the Axis newsreels of course. In fact that was about all that was shot, as the whole thing was a done deal before the armed paratroopers even arrived and ordered the Italian guards to surrender. Still, it's one thing to make a shady political deal and quite another to put together the skills, resources and specialist aircraft to pull it off.


Well that's all for now folks. What a mission that was! Took a bit longer than anticipated but I had a blast researching and painting this lot. Hope you all enjoyed them and do chime in with your thoughts, but for now as always, thanks for visiting the gallery.

Good stuff as always, nice to see you back. Surprised at the lack of Stalin jr.

I reckon any Soviet fighter on a wonky stand can be Stalin Jr.

Hi folks. Long time no planes. Sorry for the long break, I got very distracted with ground based things, (gasp!) bounce over to my 6mm WW2 Red Cross round up if you want to see those.

Carrying on the theme though I've got some Air Ambulance and rescue planes for you all this time around.


Not too many, just the five this time around, as I'm still not quite done with my ground based ideas yet. So anyway, on with the aircraft!

He 59- German Seenotdienst Air Sea Rescue service.

Seenotdienst Air Sea Rescue planes like these and many other types were operating in the North Sea and over the channel and many airmen of both sides had been saved from certain drowning by their efforts.


Unfortunately however it turned out they weren't just rescuing downed airmen. They were also noting the location of Allied naval convoys. This was considered an illegal activity while flying under the protection of the Red Cross and Churchill was having none of it. So he ordered they be engaged and shot down as active combatants regardless of their markings (a somewhat controversial order) and despite the fact that Britain did not operate her own Air Sea Rescue at the time.


The Seenotdienst were rolled up into the Luftwaffe and soon dropped their Red Cross and civilian markings but none the less continued to operate in the roll of Air Sea Rescue throughout the war.

Across the world air ambulance services were operated by dedicated units ferrying wounded men back from the front lines.

The Bristol Bombay was an ageing troop transport, turned light bomber, that had served admirably in the Middle East until the availability of Wellingtons allowed the old Bombays to be used in a more suitable role. They went from bombing duties with 216sqd RAF to transport and air ambulance duties with the No.1 Air Ambulance Unit, RAAF in Feb 1943 serving in the Tunisia campaign.


1AAU continued to provide vital support to infantry forces during the invasion of Sicily and on into Italy. As newer and more reliable types came online with the RAF and USAAF the 1AAU with their venerable Bombays were disbanded flying their last air evacuation in November of 1943.

Piper Cub HE-1 US Navy air ambulance evacuation.
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The Piper Cub was a perfect little civilian two seater used across the American military services as a transport and recon platform, designated the L-4 Grasshopper.


It was the US Navy however who commissioned this variant, the HE-1, (later AE-1) a dedicated air ambulance with a hinged upper rear fuselage to allow the loading of a single wounded passenger on a stretcher.


These aircraft were located at small remote Naval Auxiliary Air Stations which were often some distance from major medical facilities. The development and introduction of helicopters for air evacuation made small ambulance planes like these all but obsolete.

Another Air Sea Rescue plane, this time I'm looking to the coast of Spain.

Like many officially neutral nations Spain operated patrols over its airspace and coastlines. In the summer of 1944 twelve Dornier 24T flying boats (Dutch-built machines originally serving with the Luftwaffe) were delivered to Spain on the understanding that they would be used to rescue downed airmen off the Spanish coasts.


Do-24s like these were also used by the Seenotdienst Air Sea Rescue service. According to Dornier's records the Do 24 was credited with the rescue of some 12,000 people over the course of its service, which with the Spanish airforce lasted until 1967.


And last of my air ambulance and rescue set is the Douglas C-47 Dakota.

Not all aircraft carrying wounded had the benefit of Red Cross markings. (Indeed not all those that were so marked received the courtesy that the law required) In the earliest days of the Normandy landings the first airfields secured allowed these transports to land carrying vital ammunition, food and supplies to the allied armies in France but the return leg to England was an air evacuation of the wounded.

As the Dakotas were carrying war supplies to the front they could not be marked with the Red Cross so the return to England though laden with wounded was entirely at their own risk if under the cover of allied fighters.


Well that's all for now. Still working on a couple more 6m ground based bits and bobs (nothing normal I assure you) but I'll be back with more aircraft in the future and as ever you'll see them on here. Thanks for visiting the gallery and do let me know what you think.

Hi folks, thanks for visiting the gallery again. This time around I've been looking at anything that floats. That's right folks Float Planes and Flying Boats are the order of the day. And since I've gathered up quite a collection I'm breaking them up starting with all the Allies this time. And the Axis ones will follow next time. So on with the show.


Short Sunderland DD867 2-G, of No. 423 Squadron RCAF.
Always important to cheer on the home team, and what could be better than this Northern Irish local legend. Built in Belfast and based at Castle Archdale, County Fermanagh. The Short Sunderland had to be the one to kick things off this time around.

The good Canadian lads of No. 423 would fly these big four engined patrol boats out of Lough Erne on long-range patrol/reconnaissance and submarine hunting missions over the Atlantic. For such a task it could be equipped equipped with bombs, aerial mines or depth charges and toted up to sixteen defensive machine guns, which earned it the nickname Das Fliegendes Stachelschwein ("The Flying Porcupine"). Very catchy.

Sunderlands flew with many other allied air forces across the world and played an important part in the Mediterranean theatre in the evacuation of Crete and the reconnaissance of the Italian fleet at Taranto.

And of course the Canadians provided more than manpower to the air war.

The Noorduyn Norseman was a Canadian-built bush plane. Designed to be fitted with floats, skis or wheels it was a versatile little utility craft.

The RCAF used them for radio and navigational training as part of the Commonwealth Air Training Programme as well as for general utility and patrol in the remote and arctic conditions the Norseman was designed for. Orders were also furnished for the RAF and the USAAF and the Norseman saw service anywhere that a rugged and dependable bush plane was needed from Alaska to the UK.

It was aboard one such UK based Norseman (though not one equipped with floats) that Major Glenn Miller, director of the famous United States Army Air Forces Band disappeared crossing the English Channel. He was on his way to Paris to prepare for a big Christmas show. It is suspected that an iced up carburettor may have caused the crash. TIGHAR (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery) have taken an interest in the incident and have been investigating the case since January 2019.

And here's both along with the RAF Walrus being the only other commonwealth flying boat in my collection. Nice bit of variety there.

On to the Americans then.

Vought OS2U Kingfisher
The US Navy's own modest little observation floatplane the Kingfisher could be catapult launched from a battleship or cruiser and used to spot for naval gunnery or to rescue men in the water. It wasn't fast and it wasn't well armed making it easy prey for any opportunistic Japanese fighter that happened upon one. Nevertheless Kingfisher pilots and radio men put it all on the line to get the job done.

One such pilot was Lt. John Burns of the Observation Squadron (VO) 6 from the battleship North Carolina (BB 55) who together with his Radioman Aubrey J. Gill was flying in support of an American air raid on the Japanese port on the Island of Truk, 1st May 1944. Reports of downed airmen in the bay saw them dare a rescue under fire while the attack continued overhead.

As more American airmen splashed down the little Kingfisher taxied around the bay from life raft to life raft eventually collecting up seven stranded men. With the aircraft heavily overloaded and the men carefully balanced along the wings they were struggling to remain afloat never mind any hope of getting airborne.

None the less Burns resolved to taxi the craft out of the bay and into deeper waters where after a pretty hairy five hour wait with the waves beating the little plane apart all nine men were picked up by the American Submarine Tang . With the rescued Zoomies safely below deck the Tang's gunners sank the Kingfisher (they couldn't leave it for the enemy to recover) before the Tang continued her patrol.


Grumman J2F Duck
One of the unsung heroes of the American war effort. Maybe not as modern, fast or glamorous as some of the other planes in the US Armed forces inventory but Grumman's old single engine amphibious bi-plane was the definitive utility plane.

It first flew in the early 30s but by the time The War was on it was a mainstay workhorse of the US Navy, Marine Corps and Coast guard, with dedicated versions produced for each. It could do mapping and Photo reconnaissance, scouting and observation, anti-submarine patrol and Air Sea Rescue. Ducks transported the wounded and the VIPs alike, towed targets and dropped bombs and depth charges.

As Grumman switched production to other more important projects the old Ducks muddled through in service all throughout the war and beyond all over the world and in as many different roles as could be found. Some remained airborne as late as the mid 50s.



Martin PBM Mariner
An often overlooked hero of the Pacific this big bruiser of a Patrol Bomber became one of the most commonly used flying boats of the US Navy. The Mariner had a much bigger capacity and a longer operational range than the (more glamorous and more celebrated) PBY Catalina which it replaced squadron by squadron as soon as numbers could be built.
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Trouble was, and it seems obvious looking at this thing, that it was a four-engine sized airframe with only two engines albeit two massive Wright R-2600 radials. Successive versions were upgraded and up-powered time and again but often additional radar and landing gear would offset the improvements leaving them woefully underpowered and accident prone.

Fully laden and fully fuelled for a 2,000 mile maritime patrol these ungainly whales required a huge length of water to get their hulls into the air. So much so that later versions would require rocket or jet assisted take off.


And here's all the Americans together joined by my PBY Catalina. Another nice selection of very individual designs in use by US forces.


Conwing L-16 Seaduck
The once iconic Conwing L-16 was, by 1938 a bit long in the tooth but some veteran pilots still swore by them and maintained these highly versatile cargo and transport seaplanes despite the appearance of faster and more specialised aircraft on the market.

The Seaduck was owned by a commercial freight company called "Higher for Hire" operating out of Cape Suzette on the coast of Usland. Her veteran pilot Baloo the Bear (call-sign Papa Bear) and navigator, a young former pirate called Kit Cloudkicker operated a particularly hazardous route often at risk of air pirates and raiders. But the trusty old Seaduck was a rugged and capable machine that never let them down.


Never quite sure where to put a French aircraft when it's an Allies/Axis split so seeing as I've got two floating Frenchies I'm throwing one in here and the other in with the Axis later.

The Latécoère 298 was designed for the French Navy for maritime patrol and torpedoing German Submarines. In the early months of the war, the Phoney War they did plenty of patrolling but didn't manage to sink anything.

It wasn't until May 1940 when equipped for dive bombing against the invading armoured columns that the Navy's Laté 298's had much more success. In fact their losses on such missions were fewer than those of French squadrons equipped with other types.

The Laté 298 was one of France's more successful designs. Weather captured by the Luftwaffe, flying under Vichy colours or defecting to the Allies in North Africa thy were a welcome addition to any squadron they equipped.

So that's the Allies new additions. Adding to my old Supermarine Walruss and Consolidated PBY Catalina (still a firm favourite) it's a fairly wide overview of some of the water-based machines in use by the Allies throughout the war.


And of course the Seaduck is really from the Disney Saturday morning cartoon Talespin! But you all knew that, right?

Lovely collection, I can practically hear the propellers humming.

When I was in Trinidad I learned about the flying boats the US Navy had there for sub hunting (the German U Boat war in the Caribbean has to be the most obscure theater of war). Can't remember what they flew though.

Amazingly lovely work as always. This batch brings back some nostalgia for me.

 theCrowe wrote:


Short Sunderland DD867 2-G, of No. 423 Squadron RCAF.
Always important to cheer on the home team, and what could be better than this Northern Irish local legend. Built in Belfast and based at Castle Archdale, County Fermanagh. The Short Sunderland had to be the one to kick things off this time around.

There was a TV show in the 80s, and I can never remember the name of it. Along with this seaplane, it had a one-eyed dog as the characters. Since I can't remember the names, I've never been able to look it up.

 theCrowe wrote:

Conwing L-16 Seaduck
The once iconic Conwing L-16 was, by 1938 a bit long in the tooth but some veteran pilots still swore by them and maintained these highly versatile cargo and transport seaplanes despite the appearance of faster and more specialised aircraft on the market.

The Seaduck was owned by a commercial freight company called "Higher for Hire" operating out of Cape Suzette on the coast of Usland. Her veteran pilot Baloo the Bear (call-sign Papa Bear) and navigator, a young former pirate called Kit Cloudkicker operated a particularly hazardous route often at risk of air pirates and raiders. But the trusty old Seaduck was a rugged and capable machine that never let them down.

I loved Tale Spin, even if I was a little too old to be its target audience. Jungle Book is one of my favorite Disney movies, though, and bringing those characters along with Don Carnage's pirates in to play was always a joy.

@Charistoph, you might be thinking of Tales of the Gold Monkey.

Tales of the Gold Monkey looks like a lot of fun. But before my time maybe or it was never shown in the UK. I've never heard of it before anyway though I'm sure I'd enjoy it. Looks like they used a Gruman Goose though. I looked for one of those but neither Scotia nor H&R do them.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
@Charistoph, you might be thinking of Tales of the Gold Monkey.

That is it, sir! Thank you so much! I loved it at the time, but unless one knows the name, one can't track it down without running in to it.

I took some WIP shots of the process of making the Seaduck because it was a bit of a faff and involved a bit more cutting and filing and greenstuffing than I had originally imagined. Not complaining, I love it really.

So I started out with a Fairchild C-119 Packet from Scotia Grendel. I got 2 of them so I could use one for the Seaduck and add the other one to my WW2 planes collection. But then there was a problem. The C-119 isn't a Packet at all (that's a C-82) but a post-war era Flying Boxcar! The C-119 also saw some success in Vietnam as a ground support gunship. But obviously I couldn't have that (I could, let's be real here it would've been fine and I know, I can have a fictional Disney Seaduck in my WW2 planes but not a 1947 version of a late war obscurity?) but I wanted the proper 1945 WW2 era Fairchild C-82 Packet. So I got to work retrofitting the Flying Boxcar back to the earlier model.


The C-82 had the cockpit up high and further back. So that meant a lot of filing and a good bit of greenstuff remodelling on the front end. The nose is a bit on the long side I think but it's close enough.


And then the tail end got a bit of a retrofit too adding back the outboard fins and removing some dorsal reinforcements.


Until here we have it at last. A proper crap-like-it-used-to-be Fairchild C-82 Packet.

The Fairchild C-82 Packet was a late war cargo and troop transport rushed into production in 1945 in anticipation of the airlift requirements for the invasion of Japan. In the end only a handful were built and in service when the surrender of Japan was achieved making them a little surplus to requirements. They were also used for paratroop training and as glider tugs and had various civilian cargo and transport operators.

But as expected with a big airframe rushed into production in wartime conditions the old Packet had plenty of problems including poor forward visibility from the cockpit, underpowered engines which when fully loaded could not maintain a level flight if one engine failed, as well as numerable deficiencies in the air frame all of which was addressed in the C-119 redesign which ultimately produced a much more effective aircraft.

So confusion from SG aside the C-119 was none the less a perfectly suitable airframe to form the basis for my Seaduck.

So first off I got the saw out and chopped the wings off the engine nacelles and mounted them a little lower down.

I also began a seemingly endless task of filing the front of the fuselage down to something resembling the right shape and size.

Once the wings were back on and the whole lots secured and smoothed out with plenty of greenstuff I got to work on the underside. That required a full flying boat hull modification and more greenstuff on wire armatures for floats under the wings.

Then finally it was a greenstuff job on the top side, all around the cockpit and the wide flat nose with big headlights (really Disney?) and a rope point too.

Then the tail got the same treatment as the C-82 though really it should've had a more rounded tail fin but I was losing the plot by now and just decided enough was enough. It was time to slap a big yellow paint job on it.


So there it is. Pretty happy with the end result on both of these although the Seaduck is maybe a bit bigger than a 1:300 scale Seaduck should be. Doesn't matter though, it's not like I'm about to start modelling a little Don Karnage and the Sky Pirates to match... Unless...

Back once again with my latest collection of 1:300 offerings. This time as promised it's flying boats and floatplanes of the Axis.

I have a few of these in my collection already which you may already have seen.


Here we have the German aircraft Arado 196, Dornier Do 24, Heinkel He 59 and the Italians, CANT Z506 Airone and CANT Z.501 Gabbiano. Details for all those will be back in previous posts.

So of course we're obviously short a good few Japanese ones there so unsurprisingly the vast majority of this new batch of Axis float planes and flying boats are of course Japanese.


So let's get into these. The first of my Japanese seaplanes is the Kawanishi H6K Type 97 (allied codename"Mavis")

When I first saw a picture of this flying boat I just knew I had to have one and was delighted to find one in the always excellent Scotia Grendel Collectair range.

A great big high wing flying boat in a similar vein to the German Do 24, but scaled up to a four engine design for maximum Pacific patrol range. A crew of 9 could take this baby out on a 24hr patrol covering over 2500 nautical miles of range. They served all throughout the war as front line bombers, transports and reconnaissance patrol planes.


As allied fighters began to get the better of the old Mavis its front line duties were taken over by a newer and more modern design, the Kawanishi H8K known to the allies as "Emily"

Emily was a big girl, another great four engined flying boat, this time more like the Short Sunderland, and as with the Sunderland enemy fighters had a healthy respect for its defensive capabilities. The Emily is often consider the very best of the big maritime patrol planes of the era.

On 4 March 1942, two Emily flying boats each carrying four 250Kg bombs conducted the longest ever two-plane bombing mission ever flown to date. Departing from the Marshal Islands they flew a round trip of over 7000km in an attempt to conduct reconnaissance over Pear Harbour and disrupt ongoing salvage and clean up operations following the infamous raid of Dec 7th.

They were ultimately unsuccessful in their navigation, their bombs falling well off the mark and causing no casualties. They did however highlight the need for increased defences. A second attempt a week later resulted in one Emily being intercepted and shot down by Brewster Buffaloes near Midway Atoll.

Sticking with Imperial Japan but looking to the smaller end of the spectrum I've got the Nakajima A6M2-N (Navy Type 2 Interceptor/Fighter-Bomber) Allied codename "Rufe".

The concept was something of a rarity in that no other nation opted for a dedicated floatplane fighter/interceptor, but it's hardly surprising given the realities of prosecuting a war in the Pacific.

Based on the Mitsubishi A6M Zero the floatplane version had a large central float with outboard stabilisers under each wing. They were mainly used in a defensive interceptor role protecting remote island bases but also saw action with seaplane carriers in the Indian Ocean acting as fighter-bombers and short reconnaissance support for amphibious landings.

As allied fighter cover increased throughout the Pacific campaign the Rufe, encumbered with the extra drag of its floats just couldn't stand the pace and those that weren't destroyed outright fell back to the defence of the home islands.


This is the Aichi E13A, code named "Jake" the most numerous of Japan's long-range reconnaissance seaplanes.

The Jake was the Imperial Japanese Navy's multi purpose workhorse used for all kinds of transport, sea rescue, scouting ahead of the fleet, general spotting and occasional combat duties.

They operated off seaplane tenders and battleships as well as island bases. They weren't particularly well armed with only a single defensive machine gun however some carried air-to-surface radar and had a downward pointing 20mm cannon to attack American PT boats. They could also carry bombs or depth charges and so were quite capable of ruining your day of encountered at sea.

Another small Japanese floatplane next. This is the Yokosuka E14Y (allied codename "Glen").

The Glen was designed to be carried aboard an I-15 series submarine. Once within range of they were assembled and catapult launched to be flown over enemy territory on photo reconnaissance. With the photos in the can the little float plane would come down beside the submarine, be winched aboard and stowed away or simply abandoned and sunk with the crew and valuable photos safely on board the submarine.


This "Glen" was flown by Nobuo Fujita who was the only enemy airman to bomb the US mainland. On September 9, 1942 Fujita dropped incendiary bombs over southern Oregon in an attempt to start forest fires. It wasn't a very effective attempt and the local fire brigade dealt with it quickly.

Later in life Fujita was invited to return to the little town of Brookings Oregon where he received a warm welcome. He planted a tree at the site where he had bombed and raised money for a library that now displays his family's 400 year old katana. He was made an honorary citizen of Brookings shortly before his death in 1998.

And the last of my Japanese floatplanes is the Aichi M6A Seiran attack floatplane.

This was an upscaled and altogether more lethal submarine launched concept along the same lines as the Glen, but intended to operate from the much larger I-400 class submarines. Their original mission was to conduct aerial attacks against the United States.

The story of the design and operation of the Seiran tracks the course of the war for the Japanese quite well. Initially designed with a fixed float undercarriage these attack planes would be able to land beside their submarine carriers once their mission was complete to be re-stowed aboard. However as defences mounted around their intended targets it was deemed prudent that the pilots should have the option to jettison the floats if they encountered enemy fighters, their unhampered performance helping their chances of reaching and bombing their target.
In fact, they soon concluded, why launch with floats at all if they would only be a hinderance? They would of course have to ditch in the sea on their return to the submarine but the pilots could be recovered. The aircraft would be sacrificed for the sake of the mission.

Soon however the situation became desperate and the pilots noted the modifications now taking place on their machines. Now, not only were the floats detached but the bombs were to be permanently fixed in place. Evidently the top brass estimated their best chance of achieving mission success was by sacrificing both man and machine. In the end however their training was for naught as the Japanese surrender came before the submarine launched aerial attack could go ahead. The Seirans were decommissioned, launched into the sea unassembled, before the three huge I-400 submarines were surrendered to the US Navy.

Next up its a classic of German seaplane design the tri-motor Blohm & Voss Bv 138 Seedrache.

Not content with a cool name like SeaDragon the Germans always known for their comedy wit named it "die fliegende Holzschuh"
(The Flying Cog) because of the shape of the hull.

The Seedrache was Germany's primary maritime reconnaissance and patrol seaplane with 297 built. It was an unconventional design to say the least but as it turned out a very versatile one. It was big enough to carry up to ten passengers, very handy for sea rescue, but that weight capacity could also be used for bombs, depth charges or for anti-shipping patrols. Or for radar equipment to hunt in conjunction with submarine groups. Some were also fitted with degaussing rings for mine sweeping. (Like this one- that's what the big loop is.)

The man behind the design was evidently quite the unconventional thinker. But of course not everyone appreciated his particular taste in aeronautical design. A British journal by the name of Aeroplane printed this piece of poetic criticism beside a picture of a Bv 138.
Richard Vogt, that original man,

Turns out aeroplanes uglier than
Most any other designer can.
Here is shown on Baltic Sea
A typical Vogt monstrosity—
The One-Three-Eight by B. & V.


I'd have to say I heartily disagree, but haters gonna hate.


And a final entry bring up the rear it's a big French boat in Vichy striped pyjamas.

The Bréguet 521 Bizerte was a big Tri-motor flying boat developed for the French Navy and initially deployed with five squadrons for all manner of long range maritime reconnaissance and submarine hunting. They sported five defensive machine guns including one in a tail gunner's position and could carry a bomb load of up to 300kg.

It continued in service under Vichy control with a dozen serving in the Mediterranean. They were useful and well designed machines and Luftwaffe also used some to supply Seenotdienst sea rescue units off the French Atlantic coast.

This miniature it has to be said was a bit of a nightmare to build. Its mostly made of wire and glue and in honesty the whole front end was a bit off and took some green stuff modification to bring it into shape. Not that I'm criticising the excellent sculpting and quality of the product, I'm honestly very impressed with the skill and workmanship and the huge range on offer. Some minis just take a bit more work than others and this was certainly one of those.

So that's it for the Axis floaty boaty planes. Here's a big shot of the whole lot all together.

It's been lots of fun taking to the maritime skies with both sides. There have been some excellent planes available at this scale to allow me to explore the subject quite expansively.

I'm going to take a break from 1:300 planes for a while. Got lots more still to do but I'll wait for the enthusiasm to resurface after a bit of something else for a while. Do let me know what you think as always, and thanks for visiting the gallery.

Wow, thanks for the great models and the even better history lesson!

You're very welcome as ever. Not sure where to take this next. I'm taking some time out from planes doing a bit more classic 28mm stuff but hopefully it'll not be too long getting the bug for these again. Still plenty of planes to paint and amazing stories to tell.

Bit of a necro/thread crash, but this is such a great resource I think it fits here best. This is the master template issued to manufacturers by the Ministry of Production for camouflage for all British WW2 aircraft - if you're painting tiny weeny scale planes, this covers you for everything from an Avro Anson to a Vickers Vildebeeste!

Later in life Fujita was invited to return to the little town of Brookings Oregon where he received a warm welcome. He planted a tree at the site where he had bombed and raised money for a library that now displays his family's 400 year old katana. He was made an honorary citizen of Brookings shortly before his death in 1998.

One of my favorite stories from the war.

eddieazrael wrote:Bit of a necro/thread crash, but this is such a great resource I think it fits here best. This is the master template issued to manufacturers by the Ministry of Production for camouflage for all British WW2 aircraft - if you're painting tiny weeny scale planes, this covers you for everything from an Avro Anson to a Vickers Vildebeeste!

Thanks ed, what a fantastic resource! And thanks for the necrobump.

Kid_Kyoto wrote:

Later in life Fujita was invited to return to the little town of Brookings Oregon where he received a warm welcome. He planted a tree at the site where he had bombed and raised money for a library that now displays his family's 400 year old katana. He was made an honorary citizen of Brookings shortly before his death in 1998.

One of my favorite stories from the war.

Yeah, it's a great story. I love discovering these great human stories through hobby interests.

Sadly no more planes yet. I've discovered a love of sculpting little furry critters for burrows and badgers. But now I'm moving house so that project in on hold now too. Plenty more planes still to paint some day when the notion strikes or situation best suits. Got some RAF heroes, Poles and PR planes lined up. (Read: in storage awaiting a move!)

This thread is amazing - incredibly modelled and painted aircraft, with a wonderful bonus history lesson for each. Bravo!

Back once again after a huge two + years hiatus. And bringing us back to the tiny planes big history scene it’s the round of the eye in the sky, often unarmed but never unimportant… It’s Aerial Reconnaissance planes.

We’ve met a few of these already in our previous mentions.


We’ve seen Imperial Japan’s little submarine-carried “Glens” and France’s Potez 63.11 of the Aèriens d'Observation, as well as numerous other planes like Mosquitos and P-38s whose contributions as photo reconnaissance platforms were every bit as vital to success as their bombing or attack roles.

But we’re here for the newly painted planes in the collection.


So let’s look at some of these new additions and as ever enjoy some great stories from the history of WW2 along the way.


Ki-46-High speed long range photo reconnaissance - Allied code name “Dinah”


In 1939 Imperial Japanese top brass ordered a fast reconnaissance platform with long range endurance of 6 hours. The Ki-46 was the result and at the time could outpace the fastest Japanese fighters but as faster American fighters like the P-38 came online it had to be upgraded supercharged and redesigned in an effort to keep up.


Earlier designs had one defensive machine gun which was soon eliminated to save weight and increase speed. When you’re faster than your pursuer you don’t stay around to fight over the photos you’ve just taken.


British planes in Burma had a hard time countering these fast, high altitude planes through there were some occasional interceptions. One notable example was by P-38 fighter ace Major Dick Bong over the coast of Papua New Guinea in late 1942.


Ju 86 P- Luftwaffe -High Altitude Photo Reconnaissance -Eastern front.


Many PR aircraft weren’t so straight forward in their genesis. The German Ju 86 began life as an airliner (though that’s maybe a somewhat dubious claim when the Nazi war machine was being prepared in the civilian sector with the “honestly that’s not bomb capacity that’s for mail bags” school of design.


Early field testing with the Condor Legion in the Spanish civil war proved the Ju 86 wasn’t the medium bomber they’d hoped for, the He 111 winning out on that front.
The Ju 86 was converted to transport duties but failed badly at that too and any survivors were relegated to training roles.


One variant that saw some success however was this Ju 86P- with longer wings and a pressurised cabin no guns and a crew of two these aircraft could reach an altitude of 49,000 ft where they were largely safe from enemy fighters.

This example is a paint scheme used when flying over Russia in July 1942. They operated successfully in both the photo reconnaissance and nuisance bombing role for some years over Britain, Russia and North Africa while Allied engineers developed high altitude interceptors to try to deal with them.


AR 707 of 431 Flight -Martin Maryland- Flight Officer Adrian Warburton


Once it was said that the RAF’s most valuable pilot was not some hotshot fighter ace or even the leader of a crack bomber squadron, but this guy, photo reconnaissance pilot Adrian Warburton. Based primarily in Malta during some of the hairiest times for the Mediterranean campaign this fearless and resourceful pilot would do absolutely anything to get the job done.


Early in his time at Malta Warburton flew this captured French Martin Maryland (an American plane sold to the French captured by the British and sent to Malta!) which, although designed as a light bomber, in the hands of the right pilot became an invaluable tool for aerial reconnaissance.


Warburton became something of a Malta legend through his unconventional and often highly aggressive methods. His planned photographic sweep of Taranto Harbour on 11 November 1040 was hampered by bad weather but unwilling to call it a bust he instead opted to fly in at mast-top level, ordering his crew to take notes with pencil and paper on the distribution of Italian ships, completing two passed the second (unsurprisingly) under heavy flack, in order to secure the vital intelligence needed for the subsequent raid.


So effective and indeed famous did his efforts become that he was even used as cover for other intelligence assets in the field in order to keep them secret.
“How did we come by these extremely close and detailed photographs of enemy installations? Do we have a man on the ground behind enemy lines?”
“Oh no old chap, it was our man Warby in his PR plane.” *Wink wink* *actually just plausible enough to be almost true*


B-17 E - Old 666 - The Eager Beavers- 43rd Bomb Group -New Guinea 1943


On the 16 June 1943 pilot Captain Jay Zeamer's aircrew “The Eager Beavers” flew a solo photo recon mission in B-17 #41-2666, known as “Old 666” to map the west coast of Bougainville Island in support of an invasion planned for later in the year.
The mission would earn pilot Cap Jay Zeamer and 2nd Lt. Joseph Sarnoski each a Medal of Honour (Sarnoski posthumously) and all other members of the aircrew the Distinguished Service Cross.



Having turned down the request to also photograph Buka Airdrome to the North of the Island they arrived on the west coast too early for light conditions to be any good for photos and so Zeamer and his crew decided to go kick the hornets nest and do the Buka Airdrome recon job anyway.


While the cameras rolled the newly arrived Zeros at Buka Airdrome scrambled into the air. But the crew of Old 666 were more than ready for them, having stripped the old B-17 of every scrap of dead weight they’d fitted no fewer than nineteen .50calibre machine guns! (A standard load out could be more like 13 .30 cals)


With the Buka Zeros climbing to meet them (mapping altitude at 25,000 feet) Zeamer had to fly the western coast line straight and level for 22 minutes to allow the cameras to record terrain. During this time the enemy planes made a series of attacks, their 20mm cannon shells wrecking terrible damage on the nose of Old 666 leaving both pilot Zeamer and bombardier Sarnoski badly injured as well as navigator, 1st Lt. Ruby Johnston and Sgt. Johnny Able in the top gun turret. The B-17’s nose was left in tatters the hydraulics were shot and the oxygen system was in flames.
But Zeamer held his course and once the vital shots were in the can it was time to drop to a breathable altitude and beat it for home. The dogfight continued with the crew of Old 666 giving as good as they got surviving an estimated 40 minutes before the remaining Japanese fighters, low on fuel turned back to base.


The crew nursed the battered plane back to a hairy no-flaps landing at Dobodura on the eastern coast of Papua, NewGuinea securing the vital reconnaissance and importantly ensuring no other aircrew would have to take another stab at it.


Focke Wulf Fw 189 and Blohm & Voss Bv 141


Next up it’s a story of two planes. 1937, the German Ministry of Aviation issued a specification for a new three-man, single-engine short-range reconnaissance aircraft. Arado and Focke-Wulf received official invitations to design for this contract but Dr Richard Vogt of Blohm & Voss crashed the party with a spectacularly unconventional design of his own. (But wait that’s three, well Arado’s Ar 198 was a conventional high-wing monoplane that fit the brief however, it was disappointingly underpowered but perhaps more significantly it was boring! So, like the Reichsluftfahrtministerium I’m leaving it out.)
On with interesting designs!



First up we have to talk about the weirdest silhouette to ever appear on a Friend or Foe identification chart, Blohm & Voss’ Bv 141.


You’d be forgiven for thinking that the engineering of powered aircraft was a rather symmetrical affair but Dr Vogt knew otherwise and, throwing his book of aeronautical conventions out the window he came up with this instead.


This three-man, one engine, greenhouse with wings followed the brief pretty well but it needed some creative refinement and a bigger engine to convince the top-Brass that “unconventional” didn’t always mean totally nuts.
In the end supply of the aircraft’s BMW 801 engine was a sticking point as they couldn’t be spared from Fw 190 production (oh really Focke-Wulf? Scared of a little healthy competition are we?) and perhaps unsurprisingly the contract went to the Fw 189 Uhu instead, (Nice try Dr Vogt, you’ll have to find some other way to bankroll the Nazi war machine with your private funds.) but not before production numbers were into double figures with an order of twenty of this strange new bird being placed ensuring that Allied plane-spotters knew for sure that if you saw this thing in the sky it shouldn’t be there.

So what of the Fw 189 Uhu?


It didn’t fit the spec, with its twin-engine design but it performed admirably and maybe more importantly looked like an airplane.

Not content with their sneaky tactics in securing the reccon plane contract Focke-Wulf entered their own flying greenhouse into the RLM tender for a Ground-Attack plane too. Unsurprisingly, plexiglass not offering much protection from ground fire the contract went elsewhere. (Interestingly the Henschel Hs 129 that won that contract used the same twin Argus As 410 engines as the Fw 189. I guess they didn’t get to pull that same trick twice.)


Not that it put much of a dampener on things for Fw, with over eight hundred Uhu’s produced they supplied the short range eye-in-the-sky needs of Germany and its allies, providing aerial reconnaissance for the airforces of Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania.

Piper L-4 Grasshopper - "Bazooka Charlie"
Lt. Col. Charles Carpenter was a United States Army observation pilot assigned an L-4 Grasshopper for artillery spotter role and reconnaissance missions in France 1944.

Not content to do the spotting and let the artillery do the shooting he hooked up three bazookas under each wing and delighted in shooting up German armoured cars and tanks. (He was officially credited with destroying 6 German tanks)


He noticed a marked increase in the amount of ground fire directed toward his Piper Cub as his reputation grew among the enemy armoured brigades. He took that to mean his Bazookas were causing them some concern, as they never used to bother spotter planes much before that.


Rosie The Rocketer as his aircraft was affectionately known was preserved in the Austrian Aviation Museum and is now on public display restored back to its WW2 appearance at the Collings Foundation's American Heritage Museum Massachusetts.

PR Spitfire - 16 Squadron -Low cloud-level reconnaissance -1944


One of the most successful PR platforms developed by the RAF was a modified Spitfire.
Removing all armament and fitting additional fuel tanks the Spitfire became a quick and nimble camera platform that could reach as far as Berlin if need be.


These nifty spies in the skies could operate at high medium or low altitudes and could be equipped with a variety of cameras depending on the types of images required including an oblique mounted camera on the port side for low level images such as the famous picture of the Würzburg radar at Bruneval or of the Tirpitz moored in Aasfjord, Norway.


This is a Spitfire of 16 Squadron, painted a very pale pink/white for low, cloud level reconnaissance. On 18 Sep 44 Wing Commander G.F.H. WEBB from HQ 34 Wing was flying Spitfire PL834 of 16 Squadron and captured the famous Aerial reconnaissance photo of the Armhem Road Bridge, showing signs of the British defence on the northern ramp and wrecked German vehicles from the previous day's fighting.


The photos could be an invaluable resource, however as the planning and execution of Market Garden might suggest you can take all the photos you want but it’s what you do with them that counts.

I cannot exalt this thread enough times.

Not just a gorgeous modelling showcase but a history lesson with every post.

This time you drilled down into some individual crews and that's amazing. A lot of courage in those stories.

Cheers Kid_K. It’s good to know I’m not just yelling into the void about stuff that happened 80 years ago.

Just about ready to drop my next post. Keep ‘em peeled for more folks.

Polish Airforce in WW2 - Part One.

This time we’re looking at some firsts. The first aerial combat of the war, the first aircraft shot down, the first Allied Ace pilot and the first bombing strike on German home territory. It can only be the first armed invasion of the war. Yes that’s right, like the Luftwaffe in September 1939 we’re turning our sights on the Polish Air Force.

Now I had heard, and perhaps you did too that the vast majority of the Polish Airforce was caught flat footed and destroyed on the ground as the Luftwaffe’s bombers made their lightning advance into Poland. Contrary to the Nazi propaganda the Polish Airforce had in fact dispersed a significant amount of its combat aircraft to secondary airfields and the remaining aircraft destroyed by German bombers on the old airfields were mostly trainers.

So what had the Polish Airforce got at their disposal? Lets look at these late 30’s lovelies.


PZL P.11, PZL.23B Karas, and PZL.37 Los

Now you would be forgiven for thinking the Polish airforce had been well behind the times fielding this lot against the German war machine but let’s not be too hasty.



In the mid 30s the Polish Air ministry could read the writing on the wall and were already shifting from French designed aircraft to those designed and built by their own Zygmunt Pulawski. First the PZL P.7 and soon after the upgraded and improved PZL P.11 introduced in 1934.



It was an advanced fighter for its time with its all-metal construction, four 7.7 mm machine guns, and gull-winged design. In fact the new “Polish Wing” drew considerable international attention and enjoyed some export success.



This however came at a time when advancements in aircraft design were moving forward at a blistering pace and by 1939 the PZLP.11 although rugged and dependable was already horribly obsolete.



Facing off against the more numerous, more modern and already battle-tested pilots and machines of the Luftwaffe it can hardly be a surprise that a PZL P.11 was the first casualty of the air war when Capt. Mieczyslaw Medwecki’s fighter was shot down while scrambling from the airfield to challenge dive-bombing Stukas on the 1st of September 1939.



However, shortly after this his wingman 2nd Lieutenant Wladek Gnys managed a brilliant solo victory over a pair of Dornier Do-17E bombers of III./KG 77 and thus gained the distinction of obtaining the first two confirmed victories over the Luftwaffe in World War II.



The following day, nine P-11s of 142 Squadron, led by Major Lesnievski, intercepted two formations of Dornier Do 217 following the River Vistula. Attacking head on, the Polish pilots managed to shoot down seven twin-engined bombers, two of them credited to Skalski. By 16 September Skalski reached Flying Ace status, claiming a total of six German aircraft and making him the first Allied air ace of the Second World War.



PZL.23 Karaś
The experience of the Polish-Soviet War 1919-1921 had led the Polish Air Ministry to place a very high emphasis on Aerial Reconnaissance. (They must have read my last post!) As early as 1931 development of this ultra-modern, all-metal construction, cantilevered wing, enclosed cockpit, light bomber and observation aircraft began to take form.



In fact as the drawing board got over-cluttered with so much expectation the poor Karaś was some 5 years in the design and production and only in late 1936 were they rolling out the first production batch. These were to equip the Polish Line Squadrons as their new main light bomber and reconnaissance mount replacing the older French-built fleet. However yet again, in only three short years they were already approaching obsolescence.



None the less, though slower and less manoeuvrable than they might have hoped for the Polish Bomber Escadrilles used their PZL.23s to good effect against the invading columns of German armoured vehicles, delivering upon them an estimated 70 tonnes of explosives though not without heavy losses.


On 2 September 1939, a single PZL.23B of the 21st Escadrille was responsible for the bombing of a German factory in Ohlau, the first bombing raid to be conducted against a target within the Third Reich.

But the Polish Air ministry hadn’t been resting on its laurels holding these old planes would see them through another decade, they had another bomber in development, one that was displayed in Paris in November 1938 that generated huge international interest as one of the most advanced aircraft of its kind.



The PZL.37 Los ("Moose")
These bombers were designed by Poland’s own Jerzy Dąbrowski and when the first prototype flew in 1936 it was among the world's more advanced medium bombers, compared to say the French Bloch MB 210 introduced to active duty in the same year. When the first 10 production aircraft were produced in 1938 they were shown off in Paris and generated huge international interest. It could carry a heavier bomb load than the British Vickers Wellington, and thanks to its wide-spaced heavy duty undercarriage it was able to operate from rough grass airfields (although not with a full bomb load) which as it turned out proved essential.



At the outbreak of the war only 90 were in service with another 30 on the production line. But as they had only recently been introduced many were still in training units or still to be fully equipped for the long-range deployment.

The Polish bomber squadrons had some success in slowing the advance of the German armoured columns however this was not what the role these bombers were designed for, and with the typical 30s defensive compliment of only 3 machine guns they were easy prey for Luftwaffe interceptors.



After two weeks of fighting and heavy losses less than thirty PZL.37s survived to be evacuated to Romania where they remained for the rest of the war being used by the Romanian airforce on behalf of both the Axis and then the Allies as the Romanian situation developed.


FRANCE

After the fall of Poland, the Polish Air Force started to regroup in France but the only complete unit created before the German attack on France was 145 Fighter Squadron which became known as the 'Warsaw Group'. They were given Caudron C.714 light fighters, the only unit in France operating the C.714 at the time.



Perhaps this was because the Caudron C.714 had proved an absolute lemon, considered only really fit for an advanced trainer or perhaps to equip a reserve unit. However let’s not forget that Germany wasn’t the only potential enemy that France might have had to contend with. Had Franco sent the Spanish Air Force into France or had the Poles been pitted against the Italian Regia Aeronautica their Caudrons might have been able to handle their retrograde CR.42 or I-16 fighters. Against the Luftwaffe however 145 Squadron reported the C.714 was horribly underpowered and faired very badly against the Bf 109E.



On 25 May, only a week after it was introduced, French Minister of War ordered all C.714s to be withdrawn from active service. However as he didn’t provide the Polish pilots with anything else to fly they refused the order and battled on regardless.



In early June some of the pilots were detached from the squadron and pressed into a newly formed fighter unit created to defend the seat of the Polish Government in Exile in Angers. For this task the unit was re-equipped with Bloch MB.152 fighters.



The Bloch MB.152 had been the loser in the French Air Ministry’s 1934 competition for a new fighter. (That went to the MS-406) but the French were desperate for anything that could fly and the type showed just enough promise to warrant a production order.



The MB.152 turned out to be a good stable gun platform and was a rugged and dependable machine. It could really take a beating and still fly which was just as well because the MB.152 also lacked pace and manoeuvrability and was sadly overmatched even by the oft-derided Bf 110.



In fact due to its numerous shortcomings all French units equipped with this type suffered heavy losses in the Battle of France and by the third week had to be pulled back from the front to reform.



The air figures for the Battle of France indicate that despite this retrograde equipment the Polish Air Force accounted for 53 allied victories for a loss of 44 machines and 13 pilots. But considering that there were plenty of perfectly serviceable MS-406 fighters already available in reserve, it is strange that French authorities obliged the highly skilled and committed Poles of 145 Squadron to make do with the Caudron and the Bloch.



But as the German war machine pressed inexorably forward and the French air groups ran out of secondary airfields to fall back to the Polish Air Force soon realised that it was time to evacuate once again to the next Allied front, to continue their long war as best they could.

Next time we’ll follow the Polish Air Force over the Channel to the shores of old Blighty and we’ll see how they found life in the RAF and what a legacy they forged in the Battle of Britain and beyond.

This thread is formidably impressive. Modelling and painting at such a scale, and with such skill, has blown my mind. The history and humour included in your story telling us the icing on the cake, do awesome to see these models! Brilliant stuff!

Ah the Luftwaffe, the Washington Generals of the History Channel - Homer Simpson

In the mid 30s the Polish Air ministry could read the writing on the wall and were already shifting from French designed aircraft to those designed and built by their own Zygmunt Pulawski.

This is interesting to hear about the 1930s. I know that for India developing ingenious planes and other weapons systems is a priority as is buying from several countries. The Indian Air Force is probably the only place you'll see American, EU and Russian planes all flying together.

The reason is fear of sanctions in case of a war with Pakistan or even worse, China. They figure if the Americans cut them off they'll be able to buy from Russia or Europe. I imagine the Ukraine War has only raised those fears to a new level.

Was that Poland's fear in 1934?