The commemorative events which marked the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day landings will live long in the memory of everyone who was lucky enough to take part in them, along with the millions who were glued to their TV screens during the summer. We are also marking the centenary of the Great War over the next few years, as the sacrifices of the two World Wars are rightly brought to the attention of those young and old. Wartime sacrifices are things that we all hope will never have to be endured again, but for British people, 2015 will see the anniversary of one of our most significant victories. This was their Finest Hour – The Battle of Britain. As the surviving heroes of WWII are becoming fewer in number, 2015 and the 75th Anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Britain may well be the final time that this monumental struggle will be marked in this way, which makes next year all the more poignant. Over the next twelve months, there will be many interesting articles and features on the Battle of Britain, as all media channels will look to mark the occasion in their own way, and the Flying Tigers Newsletter will be no different. We have some exciting plans in place for future Newsletters with a Battle of Britain theme, so I do not want to go down that route this week. Instead, I wanted to let you know about a development in our beloved hobby which has already been picked up on by collectors and looks set to mark the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain in a die-cast collectable way.
The Definitive Battle of Britain Spitfire Collection
As far as single engined, piston powered fighter aircraft go, the magnificent 1/48th scale range from Hobbymaster has really taken the collector market by storm and with each new release, the range just continues to go from strength to strength. Without doubt, their most successful casting is the Supermarine Spitfire and to date, they have brought us examples of the Merlin powered Mk.I – IIa, the ubiquitous Mk.IX and the Griffon engined Mk.XIV in the range so far. These magnificent machines were graceful and beautiful for sure, but they were also muscular war-planes and this larger scale really does help to convey some of their power and majesty – these models really do look fantastic.
Some exciting news regarding the Hobbymaster Spitfires was announced last week, but just too late to make our first web-page based Newsletter – this did not stop collectors from spotting the new models on our website and ordering activity has been brisk, to say the least. In support of the impending 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain, Hobbymaster have announced the future release of a trio of early mark Spitfires, which all took part in the battle and all flew in the colours of RAF No.19 Squadron. No.19 Squadron will always be inextricably linked with the Spitfire, as they were the first RAF squadron to receive the Spitfire in August 1938, whilst they were based at Duxford airfield – in the weeks following the arrival of this first Spitfire, more machines were delivered at a rate of one aircraft each week to both 19 Squadron and 66 Squadron, which was also resident at Duxford. From this date forward, the worlds love affair with the Spitfire began, but even though the beautiful shape of the aircraft still inspires to this day, it was a war machine first and foremost and it was soon to be thrust into battle.
The three aircraft that Hobbymaster have decided to produce are all 19 Squadron Spitfires, which took part in the Battle of Britain when it was at its most frenetic, with the outcome of the conflict very much in the balance. During September of 1940, RAF No.19 Squadron were operating out of the grass strip at Fowlmere, which was a satellite airfield for nearby Duxford, with operating condition much more basic than that of its close neighbour. The runways were simply mown grass strips, which allowed aircraft to take off into wind, but did not actually have any marked runways. Although there were a number of Nissen huts at Fowlmere, the majority of the accommodation for crews was tented and the station even had a mobile canteen. Add to this the fact that these young men were literally fighting for their lives and I have no idea if the pilots would have viewed these rather basic conditions at their home station as quaint, or horrendous. In the end, I suppose, they didn’t really have much option and simply had to get on with it. When you consider these facts, it is even more astonishing that these young men triumphed against the Luftwaffe during the Battle – they simply had no right to! The most feared fighting force in the world facing them, with numeric superiority and battle hardened crews, they would surely wear down the beleaguered Royal Air Force – it could only be a matter of time. These are the facts which make the Battle of Britain such an enthralling subject to study and why aircraft that took part in this struggle are always amongst the most popular subjects with the die-cast collector.
Let us take a look at why these newly announced models are already causing quite a stir with the collector. Hobbymaster wanted to bring the collector a ‘Vic’ of Battle of Britain Fowlmere Spitfires and although the three models are extremely closely linked, they are to be released as separate models. That being said, the ordering activity that we have seen so far has certainly seen collectors going for all three models – I don’t think that we have an order on our system for anything other than all 3 models! As far as I can tell, these models are very important to Hobbymaster and the final details of each model are still being finalized as I write, to ensure they are as accurate a representation as possible, but the information that we have available at the moment is this. HA7810 is Spitfire Mk.Ia X4179 / QV-H, flown by Flight Sergeant George ‘Grumpy’ Unwin – HA7811 is Spitfire Mk.I P9386 / QV-K, flown by Squadron Leader Brian Lane and HA7812 is Spitfire Mk.Ia P7423 / QV-Y, flown by Sub-Lieutenant Arthur G Blake ‘The Admiral’. These magnificent new models will be a superb way to mark the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain and look set to become some of the most sought after models of recent years. There will be just 500 of each model produced, with approximately 350 of each coming to the UK – as you can see from these numbers, we fully expect these models to be totally allocated on release and if the last week is anything to go by, probably even sooner than that. The only way to guarantee that you can add one, or all of these models to your collection, is to pre-order them by clicking on this BATTLE OF BRITAIN link – we will have much more on this exciting project as it progresses in the weeks to come.
Air Force One Osprey swoops in
In last weeks Newsletter, we informed you about the impending arrival of a brand new tooling from Air Force One models in 1/72nd scale and included some exclusive images of the pre-production model. The Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey is one of the most unusual aircraft in service today, but it seems to have really captured the imagination of the collector and our initial allocation has now totally sold out. At a time when some models seem to be suffering from increasingly long gestation periods, this Osprey actually arrived yesterday and we are in the process of sending out all our pre-ordered models and I have to say that it is excellent. The picture above is one of our production models and as you can clearly see, it is a beautifully executed model and one which leaves us with great expectations for this new range. We have just arranged to take the last free supply of these models in the UK, before it is totally sold out – if you want one of these first Ospreys, you need to act now by clicking on this LATEST RELEASES link and reserving your model.
The recent arrival of the new Osprey coincided with the latest round of Hobbymaster releases and although we are going to feature some of these models this week, I will not have the opportunity to update the website with new product pictures until later in the weekend. There are some particularly popular models amongst this new group, so lets have a closer look. Some of the most popular models over recent times have been the airfield diorama accessory models in the Oxford Military range. These relatively inexpensive models do great things for our aviation displays and really do transform the look of any model display. The latest model to arrive is this Bofors 40mm Anti-Aircraft Gun, which is this time presented in this fetching Desert Air Force scheme and representing really superb value for money. Although they are quite delicate, due to the fine levels of detail and number of moving parts, these are superb models, which sell to die-cast aviation collectors in there hundreds. Available now, this latest Bofors Gun can be found in our NEW RELEASES section.
Last weeks Newsletter was a celebration of the magnificent Lockheed Super Constellation, which stole the show at the recent Flying Legends Airshow and this week, we welcome the latest release in the magnificent 1/200th scale Hobbymaster series. HL9014 presents the Connie in its military guise, as a VC-121E VIP transport aircraft – indeed 53-7885 was the Presidential transport aircraft of Dwight D Eisenhower and performed these duties with no little style. What a magnificent aircraft to be ferried around in – one of the perks of the job, I suppose. The aircraft was named ‘Columbine III’ and was based at Andrews AFB when not transporting the President around. With just 500 models produced worldwide, this is definitely destined to become one of the most collectable 1/200th scale models in the years to come and with just 6 models still available, we expect to be out of stock in the very near future.
Our final featured model for this week is the latest 1/48th scale Mustang release from Hobbymaster. You may recall that this particular model was deferred after its original release date, as Hobbymaster elected to make some alterations to the tooling before it was produced. Always a popular subject, this extra production period allowed many more people the opportunity to order the model and as a consequence, we are almost sold out on this beauty already. Presenting a Mustang III Razorback of the RAF, HA8502 looks absolutely superb in these grey/green camouflage colours. Operating from RAF Hunsdon in May 1945, this aircraft flew with No.441 ‘Silver Fox’ Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force and is a beautiful addition to our growing collection of 1/48th scale Mustangs. I don’t know what you think, but I really do prefer the look of these earlier Mustangs to the more familiar bubble-top canopy presentation of the later machines. I know that this is beginning to sound like a stuck record now, but we really do not have many of these models left available now and if you like what you see, then please order your Mustang now, before they become yet another sell through model.
Not to be outdone, our FUTURE RELEASES section has also been updated with a large number of new models over the past few days and even though we will not be looking at too many of them individually in this weeks Newsletter, there is certainly one model which definitely deserves closer examination. As far as jet aircraft go, the McDonnell Douglas Phantom II has a special place in the heart of many enthusiasts and die-cast aviation collectors. Despite the fact that Phantom models continue to be produced in some numbers, they continue to be amongst the most heavily collected models in our hobby and AC1004 looks set to continue this success story. I don’t know how they manage to do it, but give the Germans a military aircraft and they somehow manage to make it look better in their colours than in any other. German Phantoms are definitely some of my favourite aircraft and this future F-4F from the Air Commander Heavy Metal Collection is a definite addition to my collection. Presenting a Jagdgeschwader 71 ‘Richthofen’ machine from 2009, this specially presented aircraft was painted to mark the 50th Anniversary of the post war JG71 unit and benefits from spectacular tail artwork, which features Manfred von Richthofen and his feared Fokker Triplane. This one is a real beauty and this high-end range will definitely show off this magnificent scheme to perfection. Limited numbers of this model will be heading for the UK and we already know our allocation – it will not be anything like enough, so please get your pre-order in early for this stunner. For jet fans, this will definitely be one of the release highlights of the year – head straight for our FUTURE RELEASES section.
Finally for this week, we have a very special OFFER OF THE WEEK model for you, in the form of the first release from the new Corgi Westland Puma tooling. A recent warehouse sweep has produced a box of these beauties that had passed under our radar and we decided to make them available to our readers this weekend. Usually priced at £59.99 each, we are making our remaining models available for just £30.00 – a fantastic saving for what is a really superb model. As usual, we will have to allocate our remaining models on a first to order basis and I am afraid that when they are gone, they are gone. Good luck!