That's all for this month, we sincerely hope you enjoy the pictures and would love to hear from you if any of these magnificent models appeal to you. They are all now on our website www.tomgunn.co.uk and can be paid for upfront or over an extended monthly period. All Gunn Club members qualify for a 10% discount on the website listed price, joining is free so well worth registering. We have a big batch of new aeroplane stock arriving mid February which will entail some very exciting releases later on in the year.
Our new figures should be available middle of the month, it will be a much smaller offering than normal due to Chinese NY and of course the Corona virus will no doubt have a knock on effect for the March production run. However fingers crossed we should see the Zulu war soldiers on display at London plus the new Persians available in the March release.
We had the opportunity to take 'Vicky' to the photographers this week for a re-shoot on one of our mats. As you can see it really brings the whole diorama to life. Comes with free figure of RAF005 as per the pictures attached. The rest of the vehicles and figures shown are for display purposes only and are not included please note.
Vicky is still available waiting to go to a good home, she is the last of our Halifax bombers and will not be around for long, so if you fancy her let us know!
The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is an American designed twin engined tandem rotor helicopter manufactured by Boeing. The CH-47 is among the heaviest lifting helicopters in the West. Its name derives from the native American Indian Chinook tribe. By February 1966 the US army had 161 of these aircraft in its inventory, just in time for the Vietnam conflict.
The most spectacular mission in Vietnam for the Chinook was the placing of artillery batteries in perilous mountain positions inaccessible by any other means, and then keeping them resupplied with large quantities of ammunition. The 1st Cavalry Division found that its CH-47s were limited to a 7,000-pound (3,200 kg) payload when operating in the mountains, but could carry an additional 1,000 pounds (450 kg) when operating near the coast. The early Chinook design was limited by its rotor system which did not permit full use of the installed power and users were anxious for an improved version which would upgrade this system. The Chinook still operates today in various upgraded formats and has been one of the most successful helicopter designs of all time.
Our US army version has now sold out but we do have 1 x RAF version available as per the Falklands war, where our model was the sole survivor of an Argentine Exocet missile attack on the 'Atlantic Conveyor' in 1982. Serial number 'BN' (Bravo November) was airborne at the time of the attack and managed to land on HMS Hermes where she was nicknamed 'The Survivor'. Bravo November was able to carry some 1,500 troops, 95 casualties, 650 POWs and 550 tons of cargo during the remainder of the conflict. She was the only heavy lift helicopter available to the British task force and was a life saver in every sense of the word to our boys on the ground.. Bravo November later saw active service in the Gulf War, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan. It still serves with the RAF today and is a testament to the enduring design of this aircraft.
Our 1/32 scale model is priced at £1200/$1500 plus shipping and is available now on our website. Only 1 available so grab it whilst you can.
First flown in March 1935 with two Jumo 5 diesel engines, the Do 18 was one of a kind for of its era. Its wide hull and sponsons made it extremely stable on the water, whilst internal watertight compartments meant that it was extremely seaworthy and unlikely to sink should it be forced to land on the water due to engine failure, a major concern for pilots in these early days of aviation history.
As well as operating its four DO 18Es on the southern Atlantic mail route, Lufthansa used the single DO 18F to set a new distance record for seaplanes in March 1938. The aircraft flew 8,390 km (5,213 miles) after being catapulted from the tender Westfalen.
The Luftwaffe's DO 18D entered service in 1936 and served with maritime reconnaissance units during the Polish and Norwegian campaigns before being used as an air-sea rescue aircraft during the Battle of Britain in 1940. With just two 7.9 mm (0.31 inch) machine guns, it proved to be too poorly armed for military service against the RAF. New engines and heavier armament were installed to produce the DO 18G.
During 1941 many DO 18Gs were converted to DO 18Ns for the air-sea rescue role. This was the DO 18's main task for the remainder of its career.
The DO 18 was developed to provide both a replacement for the DO 15 and a transatlantic mail carrier for the German airline Lufthansa. Using the new fuel efficient Junkers Jumo 205 diesel engine, the Do 18 proved to have superb range capability, but its main military use was for air-sea rescue. Although an outstanding design for its time it was superseded by more advanced enemy fighter designs that negated its full military potential.
Our 1/30 scale Dornier 18 comes with free water jetty mat as per the pictures and is available from the middle of February. We have 7 available priced at $1500 plus shipping. The figures shown in the photos are for display purposes only and are not included.
The Handley Page Type O was a biplane bomber used by Great Britain during WW1. When built the Type O was the largest aircraft that had been built in the UK and one of the largest in the world. There were two main variants, the HP 0/100 and the HP 0/400.
The aircraft were initially used in France for bombing of targets in France and Belgium and for other strategic bombing of industrial and transport targets in Germany. Some aircraft were temporarily diverted to anti submarine duty in the Tees estuary in 1917 and two aircraft also operated in the eastern Mediterranean theatre.
The first twenty O/100s deployed to France and were received by the RNAS at Dunkirk in 1916. At first O/100s were used for daylight attacks over the North Sea, damaging a German Destroyer on 23 April 1917. However the loss of an aircraft to fighter attack two days later resulted in a switch to night operations. These operations were usually by single aircraft against German-occupied Belgian ports, railway targets and airfields. On the night of 16/17 August 14 O/100s attacked Thourout railway station and dropped 9 long tons of bombs. Later on, O/100s from Coudekerque were diverted to anti- U- boat patrols off the mouth of the River Tees in September 1917. The Handley Page crews sighted eleven U-boats and attacked seven with bombs, but without sinking any, although the deterrent effect drastically reduced U-boat operations in the area.
Delivery of the improved 97 mph 0/400 variant began in early 1918 and of the 549 built, over 400 had been delivered to the Royal Air Force before the November 1918 Armistice. As a portent of Second World War operations, on the night of 14-15 September 1918 forty 0/400s attacked targets in the Saar region of Germany. The HP bomber could carry the 748kg (1,650lb) bomb, the heaviest used by British services during the First World War. It was also armed with 5 machine guns for defence. One HP bomber was forced in 1917 to land behind German lines, its crew were captured and it was then pressed into German service. The RAF and RNAS were the main users of this aircraft although the Australian FC made use of them in Palestine and a squadron was also operated by the Americans during WW1.
We have 3 x 1/30 scale versions with 2 available of each variant:
WOW184 RAF (All green colour scheme as per Airfix artwork depicted below) WOW257 German (All green with German markings) WOW291 RNAS (Green with red engine cowlings) Each aircraft is supplied with a free display mat as per the photos. The figures shown in the photos are for display purposes only and are not included.
All are priced at $1500 plus shipping. Please note delivery of this item is not expected until mid to late February, just in time for Valentines day!
Dear all welcome to our February 2020 Aircraft newsletter featuring some exciting new products. All our hand carved Mahogany aircraft take in the region of 180 days to manufacture plus many more hours of drying time. 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 when buying our aircraft, 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 welcome@gunnclub.co.uk and ask for a quote.
All our aircraft now come with their own stands and can be displayed in flying mode if required.
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