Warbirds october 2017 release (1 Viewer)

[Gunn Miniatures]

Dear All
Welcome to our October wooden warbirds release which features 2 aircraft from WW1 and another 2 from WW2. All these aircraft will appear on our website www.tomgunn.co.uk and are available for immediate dispatch. We have also listed an ex display C-47 Skytrain at a bargain price which has undergone a minor repair and is now for sale as well as 1 of each of our old Roland C2 reconnaissance aircraft which have been sent over from the factory. If you missed these the first time I would strongly urge you snap them up now whilst they are available. All our aircraft are hand carved Mahogany and take around 60 hours to manufacture, hence the price and the limited availability.

Our first new aircraft WOW149 is the iconic Fokker Dr.1 Triplane in the very distinct colours of the Manfred Von Richoften, the top scoring ace of WW1 with 80 kills to his credit. The Fokker Dr.1 was built by Fokker- Flugzeuwerke and entered service in the spring of 1918. It was inspired by Anthony Fokker viewing a captured Sopwith Triplane in April 1917. Upon his return to the Schwerin factory Fokker instructed Reinhold Platz to design a German version of the Triplane. Platz responded with an initial design called the V.4 which was deemed initially unsuitable but from this design the V.5 was developed. The first 2 of 3 initial prototypes were sent to Belgium to be combat evaluated, with Richoften scoring 2 victories in one of these before Kurt Wolff took over the evaluation process. Wolff was killed whilst flying his on 15th September with Werner Voss also killed a few days later flying his Triplane prototype. However Richoften declared the Fokker Triplane superior to the British variant and it was put into immediate production. The Dr.1 was popular with its pilots but it was prone to tipping over whilst landing, had a cramped cockpit and was slower than some Allied aircraft. The top wing also had a tendency to shed itself at high speeds, this was later found out to be due to poor materials and workmanship, it was also found that the upper wing carried a higher lift coefficient than the lower wing, at high speeds, this could be as much as 2.5 times the lower wing. Because of these failures only 320 Triplane were built before being replaced by the Fokker D. V11, arguably one of the best fighters of WW1. We have made a limited run of 15 of these 1/30 scale models, price is $399 plus $100 postage, if UK or EU then postage will be less but does depend on where you reside, please contact us for a quote. The pilot climbing the ladder is also included free with this model please note.

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

Our second 1/30 scale WW1 aircraft WOW150 is another iconic aircraft the SE 5A Fighter. Built by the Royal Aircraft Factory the SE 5 was one of the fastest aircraft of WW1, whilst being stable and very manoeuvrable. It has been described by some as the ‘Spitfire’ of WW1. In many respects the SE 5 outperformed the Sopwith Camel, however problems with its Hispano-Suiza engine meant there was always a chronic shortage of these aircraft. Together with the Camel the SE 5 was instrumental in regaining air superiority from mid-1917 onwards. Ensuring there was no repetition of Bloody April 1917 when Allied losses were particularly heavy compared to the Luftstreitkfafte.
Our aircraft is one flown by Major Roderick Dallas DSO, DSC & Bar, an Australian who served with British Naval squadrons up until his death in 1918. An outstanding fighter pilot, Dallas is regarded as the second highest scoring Australian ace after Robert Little with a commonly accepted score of 39 kills, although this has been disputed with claims ranging from 32 to 50 depending on who you believe! Dallas travelled at his own expense to the UK following the outbreak of WW1, and joined the RNAS as a pilot. He flew various aircraft including the Sopwith Triplane and a two tone camouflaged SE 5 which we have portrayed in this release. On 1st June Dallas was promoted to Lt-Colonel which would have taken him away from flying duties, unfortunately he was shot down on this very day whilst on a lone patrol, his assailant is unknown. His death came as a shock to his fellow pilots, many of whom thought him immortal. We do not have a pilot figure of Dallas available yet so this model does come with free figure of Australian footballer Dan Minogue as per the pictures. We have 10 of these models available and the price is $399 plus $100 postage, if UK or EU then postage will be less but does depend on where you reside, please contact us for a quote.

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

Moving onto WW2 we have a rare bird indeed, the Me 410 Hornisse! The Me 410 was a follow on design from the unsuccessful Me 210, but the design changes were significant enough for it to be given a new serial number. Its predecessor the Me 210 story reads like a Greek tragedy, with the flawed main character contributing to the suicide of Ernst Udet and the wasted lives of many German airmen. It was the subject of ongoing bureaucratic interference and clashes between high profile political, military and political personalities. Perhaps most importantly, this flying cul-de-sac diverted limited production resources away from proven defensive aircraft in the critical mid and late-war years. However the Me 410 was a much more successful breed and was initially used in a photo reconnaissance role over the UK. Seeing its load carrying potential the Luftwaffe converted the Me 410 to a bomber destroyer and used it with some success against the USAAF daylight bomber formations. It could be fitted with several variations in armament, including a pair of 30mm calibre MK 103 cannon, 2 x 20mm cannon or the very sizeable BK 5 50mm cannon, of which our version portrays. Our model WOW151 is one operated by ZG 26 which is reputed to have downed 129 Flying Fortresses and Liberators during a series of 5 or 6 interceptions, whilst losing only 9 of their own aircraft. Initially as just described, the Me 410 was very successful against unescorted Allied bombers, which reputedly lead it to becoming one of Hitler’s favourite bomber interceptor aircraft. However with the introduction of the Mustang operating as a bomber escort, the Me 410 soon became a target itself sustaining losses equal to the number of bombers they downed. From mid-1944 the Me 410 was withdrawn from the bomber interceptor role and used in the night-time reconnaissance role only. The Me 410 had a wing span of 53ft making it equal in size to the Me 110, it also makes it a large 1/30 scale model! Because of the complex glass canopy and frontal observation port this model took something approaching 2 years to manufacture, as some collectors who were aware of its development can testify. It’s often joked that we could make the real thing quicker than some of these models! So with this complexity of design we have only made 10 models and I am not sure we will be making any more, but if you would like one at $799 plus shipping then please reserve early in order to avoid disappointment as I am sure this will be a popular item. A free figure of German pilot Aero 001 included with this model but alas is not shown in the pictures attached.

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

Our last item this month WOW152 is sometimes described as the greatest fighter of WW2 that never saw combat. The Dornier Do 335 was a heavy fighter built by the Dornier company and was called Pfeil or Arrow. There was a two seater trainer version developed called the Anteater, one of which we have made this time. The Arrows performance was much better than other twin engine designs due to its unique push pull layout and the lower aerodynamic drag of the in-line alignment of the two engines. Initially 120 preproduction aircraft were ordered to be manufactured by Dornier at Friedrichshafen with the completion date of March 1946. This number included a number of bomber destroyers, night fighters and two seat trainers. At the same time the Dornier works at Munchen were ordered to build a further 2000 models also with the same completion date. On 23rd May 1944 Hitler ordered that fighter production priority was to be given the Dornier 335, the main production line was intended to be at Manzell but a bombing raid destroyed the tooling which forced Dornier to set up production at Oberpfaffenhofen. At the same time production of the Heinkel He 219 Night Fighter was cancelled as this used the DB 603 engine, the same engine as the Dornier. However Ernst Heinkel managed to delay and eventually ignore this order and even continued to produce the Heinkel to the detriment of Dornier’s fighter. At least 16 Do 335’s prototypes were known to have flown before the end of the war including approximately 11 training versions. The Dornier Do 335 was Germanys fasters piston engined aircraft of WW2, it’s potential was clear to the Luftwaffe who desperately tried to get into operational service, but fortunately for the Allies it was never meant to be.
The Dornier was designated a heavy fighter with an overall wingspan of 45ft and a height of 15ft which meant it dwarfed late war fighters like the Messerschmitt Me 262. In 1/30 scale it makes an impressive model, we have made 15 models which are priced at $599 plus postage which also includes a free figure of Aero 001 Luftwaffe pilot.

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

All the above aircraft come with an aircraft stand which will hopefully save space for those of you running short! That’s all for this month folks, I sincerely hope you enjoyed our newsletter. If you did not then please reply typing ‘UNSUBSCRIBE’ in capital letters and we will remove you from our contact listing.
Best wishes The Gunn Team

 

[lancer]

Our second 1/30 scale WW1 aircraft WOW150 is another iconic aircraft the SE 5A Fighter. Built by the Royal Aircraft Factory the SE 5 was one of the fastest aircraft of WW1, whilst being stable and very manoeuvrable. It has been described by some as the ‘Spitfire’ of WW1. In many respects the SE 5 outperformed the Sopwith Camel, however problems with its Hispano-Suiza engine meant there was always a chronic shortage of these aircraft. Together with the Camel the SE 5 was instrumental in regaining air superiority from mid-1917 onwards. Ensuring there was no repetition of Bloody April 1917 when Allied losses were particularly heavy compared to the Luftstreitkfafte.
Our aircraft is one flown by Major Roderick Dallas DSO, DSC & Bar, an Australian who served with British Naval squadrons up until his death in 1918. An outstanding fighter pilot, Dallas is regarded as the second highest scoring Australian ace after Robert Little with a commonly accepted score of 39 kills, although this has been disputed with claims ranging from 32 to 50 depending on who you believe! Dallas travelled at his own expense to the UK following the outbreak of WW1, and joined the RNAS as a pilot. He flew various aircraft including the Sopwith Triplane and a two tone camouflaged SE 5 which we have portrayed in this release. On 1st June Dallas was promoted to Lt-Colonel which would have taken him away from flying duties, unfortunately he was shot down on this very day whilst on a lone patrol, his assailant is unknown. His death came as a shock to his fellow pilots, many of whom thought him immortal. We do not have a pilot figure of Dallas available yet so this model does come with free figure of Australian footballer Dan Minogue as per the pictures. We have 10 of these models available and the price is $399 plus $100 postage, if UK or EU then postage will be less but does depend on where you reside, please contact us for a quote.

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For those interested, Shores, Franks, and Guest, in "Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces, 1915-1920", Dallas has 32 confirmed kills, 5 or 6 of them in SE-5A #D3511 as depicted by TGM. Dallas was KIA on June 1, 1918 after being jumped by 3 Fokker Triplanes of Jasta 14. His victor was Lt. Hans Werner, Jasta 14 CO. -- Al

 

[lancer]

Dear All
Welcome to our October wooden warbirds release which features 2 aircraft from WW1 and another 2 from WW2. All these aircraft will appear on our website www.tomgunn.co.uk and are available for immediate dispatch. We have also listed an ex display C-47 Skytrain at a bargain price which has undergone a minor repair and is now for sale as well as 1 of each of our old Roland C2 reconnaissance aircraft which have been sent over from the factory. If you missed these the first time I would strongly urge you snap them up now whilst they are available. All our aircraft are hand carved Mahogany and take around 60 hours to manufacture, hence the price and the limited availability.

Our first new aircraft WOW149 is the iconic Fokker Dr.1 Triplane in the very distinct colours of the Manfred Von Richoften, the top scoring ace of WW1 with 80 kills to his credit. The Fokker Dr.1 was built by Fokker- Flugzeuwerke and entered service in the spring of 1918. It was inspired by Anthony Fokker viewing a captured Sopwith Triplane in April 1917. Upon his return to the Schwerin factory Fokker instructed Reinhold Platz to design a German version of the Triplane. Platz responded with an initial design called the V.4 which was deemed initially unsuitable but from this design the V.5 was developed. The first 2 of 3 initial prototypes were sent to Belgium to be combat evaluated, with Richoften scoring 2 victories in one of these before Kurt Wolff took over the evaluation process. Wolff was killed whilst flying his on 15th September with Werner Voss also killed a few days later flying his Triplane prototype. However Richoften declared the Fokker Triplane superior to the British variant and it was put into immediate production. The Dr.1 was popular with its pilots but it was prone to tipping over whilst landing, had a cramped cockpit and was slower than some Allied aircraft. The top wing also had a tendency to shed itself at high speeds, this was later found out to be due to poor materials and workmanship, it was also found that the upper wing carried a higher lift coefficient than the lower wing, at high speeds, this could be as much as 2.5 times the lower wing. Because of these failures only 320 Triplane were built before being replaced by the Fokker D. V11, arguably one of the best fighters of WW1. We have made a limited run of 15 of these 1/30 scale models, price is $399 plus $100 postage, if UK or EU then postage will be less but does depend on where you reside, please contact us for a quote. The pilot climbing the ladder is also included free with this model please note.

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Have a few problems with this model. Going by the photos, it appears that this tripe has ailerons on all 3 wings. I can't be sure if the lines that appear on the 2 lower wings are supposed to be ailerons, but if they are, they are incorrect. Only the top wing of the Fokker Triplane had ailerons. There are other concerns with the cowling contours and the livery. Nice looking aircraft but not like TGM to make these kind of errors. -- Al