Curtiss P-40B Warhawk

On 7th December 1941 the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service launched a surprise attack on the then neutral United States. At just before 08:00 am, over 350 Japanese fighters, dive bombers and torpedo carrying aircraft launched from six aircraft carries in two waves against the Pearl Harbor naval base in Honolulu,  Hawaii. The intent being to prevent the US Pacific Fleet from interfering with Japanese planned military action against British and US South East Asian territories. Close to 200 U.S. aircraft were destroyed, every ship damaged or sunk and over 2,400 Americans were killed. This unprovoked attack led to the US finally entering WW2. 

In memory of this 80th Anniversary I have built 2 of the attacking Japanese aircraft: the Nakajima B5N2 'Kate' torpedo bomber and the Mitsubishi A6M2b Zero fighter; and the defending US fighter: the Curtiss P-40B Warhawk. 

These are all from the current and excellent Airfix range of 1:72 scale kits. 

Nakajima B5N2 'Kate'

On 7th December 1941 the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service launched a surprise attack on the then neutral United States. At just before 08:00 am, over 350 Japanese fighters, dive bombers and torpedo carrying aircraft launched from six aircraft carries in two waves against the Pearl Harbor naval base in Honolul,  Hawaii. The intent being to prevent the US Pacific Fleet from interfering with Japanese planned military action against British and US South East Asian territories. Close to 200 U.S. aircraft were destroyed, every ship damaged or sunk and over 2,400 Americans were killed. This unprovoked attack led to the US finally entering WW2. 

In memory of this 80th Anniversary I have built 2 of the attacking Japanese aircraft: the Nakajima B5N2 'Kate' torpedo bomber and the Mitsubishi A6M2b Zero fighter; and the defending US fighter: the Curtiss P-40B Warhawk. 

These are all from the current and excellent Airfix range of 1:72 scale kits. 

F-14A Tomcat

I feel the need, the need for speed! Maverick and Goose ready to launch in their F-14A Tomcat, their target being the Top Gun trophy. 

 

Spoiler alert 🚨 … it doesn’t end well! 

I found this mid 1970s Airfix kit - re-released to cash in on the Top Gun franchise (they saw me coming 🤣) - very dated. Raised panel lines, poor fit and plenty of flash led to a challenging build. Nice however to finally make use of my Italeri carrier deck!

Seafire Mk.XV

I made something a little different from this rapid build of Xtrakit’s Supermarine Spitfire Mk.22. This is my take on its cousin, the Seafire variant running the Griffin Mk 46 engine just before they added the dual propeller. 

Markings are of a Seafire Mk.XV 804 NAS HMS Theseus February 1947, so contemporary if not 100% accurate