June 2019 Warbird Release (1 Viewer)

[Gunn Miniatures]

Dear all welcome to our June 2019 Aircraft newsletter featuring some exciting new products. All our hand carved Mahogany aircraft take in the region of 60 hours to manufacture plus many hours of drying time. Some of the aircraft you see in our newsletters can take 3 years from start of project to completion! 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 todays newsletter please email us on welcome@gunnclub.co.uk.

WOW063 Grumman Avenger

The Grumman Avenger was a Naval and Marine torpedo bomber developed by Grumman, first entering service in 1942. Whilst the Douglas Devastator had been the main torpedo bomber for the US Navy in the 1930's, the Navy decided it needed a more potent bomber with a greater range and larger payload.
By late 1941 Grumman had developed the Avenger into a production type and unveiled it to the public on December 7th 1941, the same day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour.
The Avenger carried a crew of three, had a revolving rear gunners turret and folding wings to facilitate ease of storage aboard carriers. The Avenger first saw combat at Midway and although it did not fare well initially, went onto become one of the most potent torpedo bombers of WW2. It was also supplied to several other air forces around the world, with production reaching 9800 units in total. Our 1/32 scale version of the Avenger carries the markings of one operated aboard USS Bunker hill and is actually still flying today with the Cactus air force.
This model is supplied with USA013 pilot figure as per the photos and is priced at $799 plus postage.

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

We have also made a British Fleet Air Arm version for a private customer, if you are interested in a custom made version of any of our aircraft please let us know. Please note new orders are taking 9-12 months these days, but it does give you plenty of time to save up!

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

WOW248 P-38 Lightning


The P-38 was Lockheed’s first combat airplane, first flown January 27, 1938. It was designed as a high-altitude interceptor in response to an Army specification issued in 1937. It was an elegant and exceptionally clean aircraft of radical twin-fuselage (or twin “boom”) design with turbosupercharged engines and Lockheed’s now-standard twin elliptical tails. P-38s were built at Lockheed’s Burbank plant, except for 113 built by Vultee at a plant in Nashville, Tennessee, that had been set up to produce at least 2,000 planes but had barely gotten started when the war ended and the order was cancelled.

The name “Lightning” was bestowed by the British. You can tell it wasn’t Lockheed’s idea because it has nothing to do with stars or constellations, but Lockheed and the Army soon adopted it.

Unfortunately, the British Lightnings failed to live up to their name. The British unwisely ordered a version of the Lightning with the turbos and other important equipment removed. They were so disappointed with their Lightnings that they returned them to the U.S., where they were used as trainers, and never bought another Lightning.

In U.S. service the Lightning was an important and successful fighter. It was hardly ever used in its originally intended role as an interceptor, but handled the full range of fighter duties including escort, air superiority, ground attack and radar-equipped night fighting. It was the only U.S. fighter in production from the first to the last day of the U.S.’s participation in the war; the first Allied fighter to escort bombers from England to Berlin and back; the aircraft in which Americas all-time number 1 and 2 scoring aces, Richard Bong and Thomas McGuire, claimed all of their kills (40 and 38 respectively); and was credited with destroying more Japanese aircraft in the Pacific theatre than any other Army aircraft.

Despite these achievements, the P-38 was not regarded as a great success in Europe and was progressively replaced in the bomber escort role by the P-51 Mustang.

Our 1/32 scale model 'California Cutie' is one of a limited edition of 5 models worldwide and is priced at $650 plus shipping, also included is the pilot figure USA013.

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

WOW249 B-29 Superfortress

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a four engine propeller driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the USA during WW2 and the Korean war. The Superfortress was designed for high altitude bombing but also excelled in low altitude incendiary bombing and is of course best remembered for dropping the Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft of WW2 and had a unique analogue computer controlled firing system that allowed one gunner and a fire control officer to direct four remote gun turrets.

The $3 billion development cost of design and production ($41,750,462,107 in today's money) far exceeded the $1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan project and made the B-29 programme the most expensive of the war. The B-29's advanced design allowed it to remain in service in various roles throughout the 1950s. The type was retired in the early 1960s, after 3,970 had been built. This 1/32 scale model will be available next month with a total of 5 being produced.
Fu-Kemal-Tu was based with the 444th Bomber Group

Please note this model of the B-29 comes with detachable wings to save on shipping costs and is priced at $1750 plus shipping.

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

WOW176 B-25 Mitchell Bomber

The North American B-25 Mitchell was introduced in 1941 and named in honour of Major General William Mitchell. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in every theatre of WW2 and also after the war ended where many remained in service operating across four decades. Produced in numerous variants, nearly 10,000 B-25's were built during the course of the war.

This 1/32 scale B-25 pictured below is the one flown by Jimmy Doolittle on his famous bombing raid over Japan in 1942. We have produced a total of 6 aircraft for Aikens planes (www.aikensplanes.com) and if you wish to purchase please contact the lovely Laura at Aikens for a quote.

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

We had to disappoint quite a few people last time we released our 'Rudels' Stuka's and due to popular demand we have made 3 more of each version which are now available on our website, www.tomgunn.co.uk. Please note these will be the last versions of this famous aircraft and if you would like one please email or purchase direct through our website at your earliest convenience. Both versions are priced at $750 plus postage which will vary depending on your loctation.

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

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. 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 will be at the London show on 29th June, please feel free to pop by and see our latest figures and of course our aircraft!

Best wishes The Gunn Team

 

[egonzinc]

Very nice releases this month! That B-29 must be massive! Wow!

 

[lancer]

Wow! What an incredibly impressive and beautiful group of releases this month. The B-29 is just awe-inspiring in that large scale. What an achievement. Love the Doolittle B-25, the ETO P-38, and the TBF, as well. Bravo, TGM, you've outdone yourselves. :salute:: -- Al

 

[Panzer ace]

That B-29 is pretty spectacular.