August 2024 Aircraft Releases (1 Viewer)

[Gunn Miniatures]

​ WOW556 Heinkel He 111 with V1 Flying Bomb The Heinkel He 111 was designed by Siegfried and Walter Gunter in 1934 ostensibly as a civilian passenger liner, but in reality, the aircraft was intended to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium bomber. The mainly glazed Plexiglas nose of the He 111 gave it a very distinctive and easily recognisable look, almost akin to a giant wasp or bee. During the early stages of the war the He 111 performed well but like many German aircraft its weak defensive armament was exploited by the RAF during the Battle of Britain. Casualties amongst bomber crews were particularly high but with no replacement available the He 111 soldiered on until the end of the war as a strategic bomber, transport aircraft, glider tug and was even used to launch the V1 flying bomb whilst airborne. Various Airforce’s operated the He 111 including the Spanish, Romania, Turkey and China amongst others. The last ones were retired by the Spanish in the 1970’s who made a licence built variant, with some of these featuring in the 1969 film ‘The Battle of Britain’ directed by Guy Hamilton. The He 111 was over 59ft in length with a wingspan of 74ft, this makes for a very impressive looking model in 1/32 scale Armament consisted of 7 x 7.92mm machine guns with a 2000 Kilo bomb load carried internally, further ordnance could be carried externally. Last gasp of the V1 Missiles​ Even though their launch sites were overrun, flying bombs continued to hit England, if in reduced numbers. Back in early July, 44 a small number of flying bombs attacks were performed on Manchester and Gloucester. Allied leadership was baffled as to where these attacks were coming from, since the range of the V-1 was roughly known, and there was no place near enough for the Germans to set up launch sites that could reach these targets. The Germans were launching the flying bombs from specially modified Heinkel He-111 bombers, operating from airfields in the Netherlands. Work on this scheme predated the beginning of the flying bomb blitz, and involved removing the He-111's bomb racks and a fuel tank, and installing launching gear and provisions for carrying a V-1 nestled under the left wing. The modified bombers were given the designation "He-111H-22". This proved to be a risky business, since the flying bomb was very heavy and could be lethally tricky to launch. 1,200 V-1s were launched in this fashion, with the loss of 77 bombers. Twelve bombers were lost on two missions alone simply due to the premature detonation of the V-1's warhead after the He-111 left the runway. Air launch was abandoned in mid-January 1945, due to the high attrition and the advance of Allied forces. However, the Germans were not quite done with this game, having developed a new version of the V-1 with a range of 400 kilometres (250 miles) by reducing the size of the warhead and increasing the size of the fuel tank. They launched about 275 of these long-range flying bombs against Britain from the Netherlands in March 1945. British defences were able to adjust to these last-gasp attacks, and the looming defeat of the Reich ended the campaign for good at the end of March. V-2 rocket attacks against England, which had begun the previous September, also slowly fizzled out.​ Our model features one of the aircraft that took part in the V1 raids against England and comes in typical 2 tone green with blue underside.​

These models are priced $1499 each plus shipping.

All the figures and accessories shown are not included and are shown for scale comparison purposes only.
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That's all for this month for our aircraft, we sincerely hope you enjoy the pictures and would love to hear from you if any of these magnificent models appeal to you.

Best wishes The Gunn Team

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

WOW555 Junkers 290 The Junkers 290 was developed directly from the Ju 90 airliner, versions of which had been evaluated for military purposes, and was intended to replace the relatively slow Focke- Wulf FW 200 Condor in the maritime reconnaissance and anti-shipping role, which by 1942 was proving increasingly vulnerable when confronted with RAF aircraft. The FW 200's airframe lacked sufficient strength for the role in any case. The Ju 290 was also intended to meet the need for large transport aircraft. A special long-range reconnaissance group, FAGr 5 (Fernaufklärungsgruppe 5), had been formed on 1 July 1943 and during the late summer of 1943 three of the new Ju 290A-2s were delivered to its 1 Staffel, which became operational at Mon Marsan near Bordeaux on 15 October of that year. They flew their first operational missions in November 1943, shadowing Allied convoys in cooperation with U-boats, often remaining airborne for up to 18 hours. Five Ju 290A-3 aircraft with more powerful BMW 801D engines followed as did five Ju 290A-4 aircraft with improved dorsal turrets mounting 20 mm MG 151/20s. The Ju 290s were well suited to their patrol role and began replacing the FW 200 Condors. An A-4, Werk Nummer. 0165, was equipped with attachments for Fritz X and either the Henschel Hs 293 or Hs -294 anti-ship weapons, it was surrendered to the US after the war and flown across the Atlantic to the USA. In November 1943, a second Staffel was activated and, with a range of over 6,100 km (3,790 mi) the Ju 290s ranged far out over the Atlantic, relaying sightings of Allied convoys to U-boats. 11 Ju 290A-5s with increased armour, heavier armament and self-sealing fuel tanks were delivered to FAGr 5 early in 1944, as were around 12 of the Ju 290A-7 version; the A-7 could carry three Hs 293 glide bombs or Fritz X armoured, anti-warship remote controlled guided bombs. As the Battle of the Atlantic swung irrevocably in favour of the Allies with the loss by the Germans of French bases in August 1944, FAGr 5 withdrew eastwards and the remaining Ju 290s were reassigned to transport duties, including service with KG 200, where they were used to drop agents behind enemy lines and other special missions, one of which included dropping 5 Iraqi agents into Mosul during the latter stages of the war. We have a total of four x 1/32 scale hand carved Mahogany Ju 290's models with anti-shipping missiles fitted priced at $2000 plus postage. All figures and accessories are shown for scale reference purposes only and are not included.

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

WOW557 Felixstowe Flying Boat The Felixstowe F.2 was a 1917 British flying boat designed and developed by Lt Commander John Porte RN whilst serving at the naval air station Felixstowe during WW1. Porte adapted a Felixstowe F.1 and married it to a larger Curtiss H-12 flying boat. The Felixstowe hull had superior water contacting attributes and became a key base technology for most seaplane designs thereafter. The Felixstowe F.2A was used as a patrol aircraft over the North Sea until the end of the war. Its excellent performance and manoeuvrability made it an effective and popular type, often fighting enemy patrol and fighter aircraft, as well as hunting U-boats and Zeppelin airships. Our 1/32 scale wood model comes in a late war two tone 'dazzle' camouflage pattern and is available in a limited number of 2 models worldwide. The retail price is $1499 plus shipping. The figures and equipment shown are not included, they are shown for scale purposes only.

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[Gunn Miniatures]

Dear All

Welcome to our August 2024 Aircraft newsletter featuring some exciting new products.

All our hand carved Mahogany aircraft take in the region of 60 man hours to manufacture plus many hours of drying time which usually equates to a 9 month build time frame. For this reason we only make small numbers of each model and every aircraft is a unique piece. For those of you who wish to spread your budget, please note we do accept stage payments where you can spread the cost over several months. If you require further details of any of the aircraft in today’s newsletter, please email us on welcome@gunnclub.co.uk.

A big thank you to Mark Dyer who assisted us as always with the finer details.

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WOW559. Airco D.H.4

In 1916 the British aircraft manufacturer Airco produced a single-engine two-seat multipurpose airplane, which gained its place in the history of aviation as the D.H.4. Its design was so successful, that machines of this type were used right up until the end of WWI. The main weakness of the D.H.4 was the power installation several different types of engines were fitted to the airplane during its time in production, and even more were tested in experimental developments. The type had great potential for further perfection, and soon after the beginning of series production the designers led by Geoffrey de Havilland set to work on a new version of the D.H.4.
The DH.4 first flew in August 1916 and it entered operational service in France on 6 March 1917 less than a year later. The majority were manufactured as general purpose two-seaters in the USA for the American expeditionary forces in France, becoming the only American made plane to see combat in WW1.
During late 1917, the uptake of the type by the RFC was accelerated due to a desire to launch retaliatory bombing raids upon Germany following such attacks having been conducted against the British mainland. While Russia had been an early customer for the DH.4, having ordered 50 of the type in September 1917, the Russian and British governments subsequently agreed to delay the former's deliveries, instead diverting those aircraft to RFC squadrons in France.
As well as the RFC, the RNAS also used the DH.4. During the spring of 1917 Number 2 Sqn became the first unit of the service to receive examples of the type. The RNAS flew their DH.4s over both France and over Italy and was typically used to conduct coastal patrols by them.
The DH.4 proved a huge success and was often considered the best single-engined bomber of World War I, even when fully loaded with bombs, with its reliability and impressive performance, the type proved highly popular with its crews. The Airco DH.4 was easy to fly, and especially when fitted with the Rolls-Royce Eagle engine, its speed and altitude performance gave it a good deal of invulnerability to German fighter interception, so that the DH.4 often did not require a fighter escort on missions.

Our 1/30 scale hand carved Mahogany model is one flown by the RNAS during 1917 on a reconnaissance mission to try and spot the German fleet and comes in a unique camouflage scheme for that period.



Priced at $750 plus postage with only 2 available.

The figures and accessories shown are for scale purposes only and are not included.
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