Thursday, December 29, 2016

1/144 Bristol Freighter MK 31 Ozmods



1/144 Bristol Freighter MK 31 - Ozmods
Injected plastic kit, with detailed flight deck, vac-form canopies, decals.

OMKIT14418 with SAFE Air (New Zealand) and British United decals.
OMKIT14419 with RNZAF and RAF decals.


The Bristol Type 170 was designed as a stop-gap project to provide work for the Bristol company while the Bristol Brabazon was under development. Subsequently, the Air Ministry expressed interest in the project, believing that it would provide a rugged transport aircraft capable of using unimproved airstrips, and two prototypes were ordered on the condition that the design was modified so that the aircraft could carry a British Army 3-ton truck, and Air Ministry specification 22/44 (later revised as C.9/45) was drawn up around the design.[1]

In military service, Bristol Freighters were operated by the air forces of Argentina, Australia, Burma, Canada, Iraq, Pakistan and New Zealand. Bristol Freighters were operated briefly by the Pakistan Air Force. After withdrawal, some of the Pakistan aircraft were bought by SAFE Air and used in New Zealand. The Royal Canadian Air Force used five Freighters to carry spares and supplies between the UK and their bases in France and West Germany.

The Royal New Zealand Air Force ordered 12 Mk 31M Freighters in the late 1940s. RNZAF Freighters ranged as far as supplying the New Zealand Army in Malaya, the British High Commissions (and other support staff) in the Maldives, Ceylon, India and Nepal, performing Far East Air Force tasks in Malaya (often when other aircraft types were unserviceable owing to maintenance problems) and Hong Kong. They ran a highly reliable military shuttle service for allies in Thailand during the Vietnam War and served several other roles, being adapted for—amongst other things—aerial top dressing experiments, although to avoid competition with private enterprise, the New Zealand government did not use them in that role.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Freighter



Available: 2016 December
Source: http://www.ozmods-kits.com/aircraft-kits-1144

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Merry Christmas


Merry Christmas
Gesëende Kersfees
Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Glædelig Jul
Gajan Kristnaskon
Hyvää Joulua
Joyeux Noël
Froehliche Weihnachten
Kala Christouyenna
Mele Kalikimaka
Bada Din Mubarak Ho
Gledileg Jol
Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Buon Natale 
Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Natale hilare
Linksmu Kaledu
Meri Kirihimete
God Jul
Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia
Feliz Natal
rozhdestovm Kristovim
Feliz Navidad
Suksun Wan Christmas
Chuc Mung Giang Sinh
Nadolig Llawen


source: https://www.rubylane.com/item/429-col9020/Merry-Christmas-Vintage-Postcard-1915-Military

Sunday, December 11, 2016

1/144 Douglas DC-5 in IJA/IJN Service - F-RSIN




The Douglas DC-5, probably the least known of the famous DC airliner series, was a 16-to-22-seat, twin-engine propeller aircraft intended for shorter routes than the Douglas DC-3 or Douglas DC-4. However, by the time it entered commercial service in 1940, many airlines were canceling orders for aircraft. Consequently, only five civilian DC-5s were built. With the Douglas Aircraft Company already converting to World War II military production, the DC-5 was soon overtaken by world events, although a limited number of military variants were produced.

The prototype DC-5, Douglas serial 411, was built at El Segundo, California with Wright Cyclone 1,000 hp R-1820-44 engines. The aircraft made its first flight on February 20, 1939 with Carl A. Cover at the controls. This sole prototype (originally configured with just eight seats) became the personal aircraft of William Boeing which he named "Rover". It was later impressed into the US Navy and converted for military use as an R3D-3 variant in February 1942.[5]

The first customer for the DC-5 was KLM (Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij) of The Netherlands. A US domestic carrier, Pennsylvania Central (later renamed Capital Airlines), ordered six and SCADTA, (Sociedad Colomba-Alemana de Transportes Aéreos), ancestor of today's Avianca in Colombia, another two. The four aircraft sold to KLM were used by their colonial subsidiaries. When Douglas factories went into war production, DC-5 production was curtailed to build additional SBD Dauntless dive bombers for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps and only KLM received the high-winged airliner.

A dozen DC-5s were completed. The first two initially flew the Paramaribo-Curaçao route, and the other two operated from Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia). Three aircraft were used for the 1942 evacuation of civilians from Java to Australia, during which PK-ADA was damaged in an air strike by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force at Batavia Kemajoran Airport on February 9, 1942 and it was abandoned. Japanese forces captured PK-ADA, subsequently repaired and tested it at Tachikawa Airfield and Haneda Airport during 1943. This DC-5, painted in camouflage with Japanese Imperial Army Air Force markings, was later used as a transport in the Japanese Home Islands.[5]


The captured KLM DC-5 (PK-ADA) in service with the Japanese Imperial Army Air Force
The three remaining aircraft, PK-ADB, PK-ADC and PK-ADD made their way safely to Australia where the aircraft were interned by the Allied Directorate of Air Transport and operated by the United States Army Air Forces as the C-110. The wartime history of PK-ADC was brief, because it was destroyed in a landing accident shortly after its arrival in Australia. PK-ADD flew for the balance of the war under the aegis of Australian National Airways, on support missions inside the country with the temporary license VH-CXC.

In 1939, the US Navy ordered seven aircraft. Three were delivered as R3D-1s, the first of which crashed before delivery. The remaining four were R3D-2s for the U.S. Marine Corps and were equipped with 1,015 HP R-1820-44 engines, a large cargo hold and 22 seats for paratroopers.[5]

After World War II, production of the DC-5 was not resumed because of the abundance of surplus C-47 aircraft released into civil service. In 1948, the last surviving DC-5 (c/n 426) VH-ARD of Australian National Airways was sold and smuggled to Israel for military use. The aircraft arrived at Haifa in May 1948, and from there it went to Sde Dov, where its markings were removed and the name "Yankee Pasha - The Bagel Lancer" was crudely painted on the nose by hand. The aircraft joined 103 Squadron (Israel) at Ramat David Airbase. Because Israel was in the midst of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, it was occasionally used as a bomber as well as flying transport missions. On bomber missions the aft loading door was removed and bombs were rolled out of the opening "by a judicious shove from a crewman's foot."[6] The operational record of the aircraft is in dispute as authoritative sources do not verify its combat service.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-5

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/FR4495

http://www.f-rsin.com/index.html
http://www.f-rsin.com/pages/collection/14092.html

Release: Coming Soon

Wednesday, December 07, 2016

1/144 Vickers Type C Giant Bomber Project (1942) - Fantastic Plastic



1/144 Vickers Type C Giant Bomber Project (1942) - Fantastic Plastic
 
In 1942, Britain's Vickers company began developing plans for a giant heavy bomber with which to carry large bomb loads into the heart of Nazi Germany. Several variations of this six-engine behemoth were developed, the "Type C" perhaps being the most radical.

 It was distinguished by its massively long wings, each tipped with its own tail/rudder. It also featured a large foreplane that provided frontal lift and allowed for low landing speeds. Because it had no tailplane, the wings were shifted back towards the aircraft's center-of-gravity, which would have made the installation of jet engines extremely easy.

Development of the Vickers Type C would have no doubt taken years, meaning the plane would likely not have seen service before the war's end in May 1945.

http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/vickers-type-c-giant-bomber-project-by-fantastic-plastic.html
https://www.facebook.com/FantasticPlasticModels/posts/10154017728680936
While this is great that it is being produced (by Anigrand on behalf of Fantastic Plastic) it does mean there will be no bonus kits :(

Price: TBD
STATUS: COMING SOON

Sunday, December 04, 2016

1/144 Mil Mi-10 Military Transport Helicoptor - by Eastern Express



1/144 Mil Mi-10 Military Transport Helicoptor - by Eastern Express

The first prototype V-10 was completed in 1959 and was soon officially allocated the service designation Mi-10. The first flight took place on 15 June 1960 and flight testing continued successfully until in May 1960 the first prototype crashed during a precautionary landing resulting from loss of gearbox oil pressure, only the Navigator/ radio operator surviving. After joining the flight test programme the second prototype began a series of world record breaking altitude/payload flights for turbine powered helicopters. State acceptance trials were passed successfully in 1961, but production did not commence until 5 March 1964 at the Rostov-on-Don factory, with first flight of a production aircraft on 10 September 1964, leading to a total of forty of the long-legged Mi-10 helicopters built, from 1964 to 1969.

Mi-10 Initial standard long-legged production helicopter

Mi-10K (K - korotkonogiy - short legged) (NATO - Harke-B) Flying crane helicopter with short-legged narrow-track undercarriage and a ventral gondola for a second pilot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mil_Mi-10


Mil Mi-10 Military transport helicopter (EA144509)
https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/EA144509

Mil Mi-10K transport helicopter (EA144510)
https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/EA144510


Sprue Shots: http://pas-decals.ru/forum/18--/6827-mi-10-10k-vostochnyj-ekspress-1-144

Available: December 2016
Price: £30 GBP