January 2020 Warbirds (1 Viewer)

[Gunn Miniatures]

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.
All these aircraft are ready for dispatch as of today.


Best wishes The Gunn Team

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

WOW279 Grumman Mohawk


The Grumman OV-1 Mohawk was an armed military observation and attack aircraft, designed for battlefield surveillance and light strike capabilities. It had a twin turboprop configuration and carried two crew members in side-by-side seating.
Grumman were marketing the Mohawk as a light attack platform with a low operating cost compared to combat jets, which would be easy to fly and maintain and able to operate from areas with unimproved runways and with limited support capabilities. These are still the main selling points of light attack aircraft to this very day. Entering production in 1959 for the US Army, the army took delivery of a total of 380 models.


The Mohawk had a unique and instantly recognizable shape with a distinctive triple tail,the original design actually had a T-shaped tail,turboprop engines mounted over its wings, and a bug-eyed cockpit. The latter design element provided the crew of two with excellent visibility to spot targets of interest on the ground.
In mid-1961 the first Mohawks to serve with U.S. forces overseas were delivered to the 7th Army near Mannheim Germany.


The U.S. Army flew the OV-1 operationally in the Vietnam War where it saw extensive front line service on a daily basis, with sixty-five lost to accidents, ground fire and one shot down by a North Vietnamese fighter. The Mohawk could be armed with a variety of ordnance including missiles, bombs, rockets, machine guns and even Napalm.


The Army also used the aircraft during Operation Desert Storm in the first Gulf War. The Mohawk was finally retired from US service in 1996.


We have only 2 Mohawks available in the markings of a US army aircraft as it would have appeared during the Vietnam war. Our 1:30 scale model measures approximately 42cm x 48cm (17in x 19in) and is priced at $799/£699 plus shipping. The Mohawk also comes with a free figure as per the attached photos.

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

WOW290 Handley Page Halifax Bomber


The Halifax was a four engine heavy bomber that saw considerable service during WW2 and beyond. The bomber first flew on 25 October 1939 and entered service with the RAF on 13 November 1940. It quickly became a major component of Bomber Command, performing routine strategic bombing missions against Germany, many of them at night. Production of the Halifax continued until April 1945 and during their service with Bomber Command flew a total of 82,773 sorties and dropped 224,207 tons of bombs, whilst 1,833 aircraft were lost. The Halifax was also flown in large numbers by other Allied nations including France, Poland, Australia and New Zealand who all operated their own independent squadrons in the fight against Nazi Germany.


We have only 1 Halifax available in the Markings of 'Vicky' and she is priced at $1500/£1200 plus shipping. This 1/32 scale model measures approximately 70cm x 94cm (28in x 37in).

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

WOW289 Focke Wulf 189 'Flying Eye'


The Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu was a German twin-engine, twin-boom, three-seat tactical reconnaissance and army co-operational aircraft. It first flew in 1938 and entered service in 1940, production ran until mid-1944. In addition Focke-Wulf used this airframe in response to a tender request by the RLM for a dedicated ground-attack airplane and later submitted an armoured version for trials. However the Henschel Hs 129 was selected instead.


In 1937 the German Ministry of Aviation issued a specification for a short-range, three-seat reconnaissance aircraft with a good all round view to support the German army in the field, replacing the Henschel HS 126, which had just entered service. A power of about 850–900 hp (630–670 kW) was specified. The specification was issued to Arado and Focke-Wulf. Arado’s design, the AR 198, which was initially the preferred option, was a relatively conventional single-engined high-wing monoplane with a glazed gondola under the fuselage. Focke-Wulf’s chief designer Kurt Tank’s design, the FW 189, was a twin-boom design, powered by two Argus As 410 engines instead of the expected single engine. As a “twin-boom” design like the earlier Dutch Fokker G.I, the FW 189 used a central crew gondola for its crew accommodation, which for the FW 189 would be designed with a heavily glazed and framed “stepless” cockpit forward section, which used no separate windscreen panels for the pilot (as with many German medium bombers from 1938 onwards).


Blohm & Voss, however, proposed as a private venture something even more radical: chief designer Dr Richard Vogt’s unique asymmetric BV 141. Orders were placed for three prototypes, each of the Arado and Focke-Wulf designs, in April 1937. The FW 189 was produced in large numbers, at the Focke-Wulf factory in Bremen, at the Bordeaux-Merignac aircraft factory (Avions Marcel Bloch’s factory, which became Dassault Aviation after the war) in occupied France, then in the Aero Vodochody aircraft factory in Prague, occupied Czechoslovakia. Total production was 864 aircraft of all variants. Called the Fliegende Auge (“Flying Eye”) of the German Army, the FW 189 was used extensively on the Eastern Front with great success. It was nicknamed “Rama” (“frame” in the Russian, Ukrainian and Polish languages) by Soviet forces, referring to its distinctive tailboom and stabilizer shapes, giving it the characteristic quadrangular appearance. Despite its low speed and fragile looks, the FW 189’s manoeuvrability made it a difficult target for attacking Soviet fighters. When attacked the FW 189 was often able to out-turn attacking fighters by simply flying in a tight circle into which enemy fighters could not follow.


This new variant comes in a 2 tone late war grey night fighter camouflage pattern.
This was a difficult project to complete due to the complex glass canopy but I am sure you will agree the finished result is well worth the effort. Fw 189's were also used on night harassment duties against Soviet ground forces and our 'Flying Eye' is loaded up with a couple of bombs under each wing just for this very purpose.


This 1/30 scale hand carved Mahogany model measures approximately 37.5cm x 61cm (15in x 24in) and is limited to 3 pieces worldwide. The price is £699/$799 plus shipping, there is no free shipping on warbirds please note. The figures and vehicles are shown for scale purposes only and are not included.


We also have had a restock of 2 previous versions which are shown below, the Russian Front 'Summer' variant and Russian Front 'Winter Night Fighter' variant in a stunning camouflage scheme. For more details please take a look at our website www.tomgunn.co.uk at your earliest convenience.

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

WOW055 Boulton Paul Defiant


We have one Boulton Paul Defiant available whilst stocks last, until then here is a brief synopsis of this iconic WW2 aircraft;
The Bolton Paul Defiant was a two seat interceptor that served with the RAF during WW2. It was unique for its time in that it had a rear turret containing the aircraft’s armament of 4 x .303 Browning machine guns. Unfortunately it had no forward firing armament which proved to be its Achilles heel once the Luftwaffe found this flaw. However during its early career it scored notable successes against the Luftwaffe who often mistook it for a Hurricane and attacked it from the rear, often with fatal consequences for themselves.


Withdrawn from front line day time duties, the Defiant found its forte employed as a night fighter, where in the right hands it was a formidable opponent as German bomber crews found out to their cost.


Our 1/30 scale Defiant measures approximately 35cm x 42.5cm (14in x 17in) and is one flown by Ace Ted Thorn and his gunner Fred Barker, who notched up 12 plus Luftwaffe kills during the Battle of Britain and were the most successful Defiant crew of the war, both survived the war although Thorn was killed in 1946 in a flying accident.


The retail price for this model is £699/$799 plus shipping. RAF 005 seated officer is included free with this model, the rest of the rather excellent figures shown are for scale purposes only.

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

Dear all welcome to our January 2020 Aircraft newsletter featuring some exciting new products. All our hand carved Mahogany aircraft take in the region of 60 hours 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.


Firstly a big thank you to all of those who supported us with our latest Panzer IV release this month, now all sold out and a promising start for our return to armoured vehicles. Please note our shipment out of China has been delayed by a couple of days due to Chinese NY, we should be able to start sending goods out around the 19th January, hopefully nobody will die in the meantime from a lack of toy soldiers!


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.