BIG Dak
HPH
T
his month after the
announcements of the huge
1/48 scale B-36 Peacemakers
and B-52 Stratofortress , HpH have
announced the release of the far more
manageable sized 1/32 scale DC-3/C-47!
The detail, from what we have seen,
looks absolutely fantastic with raised
rivets and overlapping panels. The kit
will be mixed media, with fibreglass,
resin and photo-etch brass parts. This
will not be a kit for the beginner but
will look stunning and the markings
options are pretty much limitless!Vampires
SPECIAL HOBBY
T
he 1/72 scale Fairey
Barracuda Mk II is
being re-released in
two versions Home Fleet and
the Pacific Fleet, but the real
1/72 scale news this month
is the forthcoming release
of the DH.100 Vampire Mk.I
DH.100 Vampire Mk. I
‘The First Jet Guardians
of Neutrality’ 1/72
Development of a jet fighter
later to be named the Vampire
began in 1941 and related
closely with the development of
the H-1 jet engine, for which the
engine section of de Havilland
company was responsible. The
engine was later to be known
under its new name Goblin and
its development turned out to
be very successful. The Vampire
was therefore ordered under Air
Ministry specification E.6/41
calling for an experimental
machine able to be converted
to a fighter plane. The
design of the plane was fully
adjusted to the new engine,
which resulted in overall tiny
dimensions of the plane, very
low undercarriage and the
tailplanes being carried by two
slim tail booms. Unlike the
later marks of the aircraft, the
plane’s wing featured rounded
tips. The first prototype,
unofficially named the Spider
Crab, flew for the first time onSeptember 20, 1943 with G. de
Havilland Jr at the controls.
The trials were a success and
an order for first 120 planes
was placed in May 1944 and
was continuously increased.
The production planes were
also licence-built by English
Electric because de Havilland
was much too busy producing
the Mosquito. The original
name Spider Crab, however,
was rejected by the RAF and
changed to the Vampire Mk.I.
First operational squadrons
got their Vampires in May
1945, but not early enough
to take part in the war. The
development continued with
further versions, besides those
with the DH Goblin engine,
there were also versions
with the Nene power-plant
(airframes built in Australia),
two-seat night fighter versions,
two-seater training versions
or even naval fighter versions
(Special Hobby produce the
Mk.3 Vampire, model #SH72279
and the Mk.5 Armée de l ́Air
& Aéronavale, #A117).
The Vampire Mk.I
also became the first jet
aircraft to be used by two
neutral countries, Sweden
and Switzerland.
The new kit will have four
marking options for these two
neutral countries. Two of the
featured airframes bear coloursof the Swiss Flugwaffe, white
crosses on red background.
Machine J-1002 flew in Medium
Sea Grey over PRU Blue whilst
machine J-1003 was silver
dope overall. In Sweden, the
Vampire was known as the
J-28A and got green camouflage
above and grey below. The two
Swedish machines were used by
different units, the first options
carries Red E tail code of No.1
squadron / Wing F13, the other
has Yellow L of No.3 Sqn/Wing
F3. The plastic parts come on
three sprues of grey injection
styrene and one frame of clear
canopy and wingtip parts.
Other models we can look
forward to seeing soon include:
the 1/72 scale Dornier Do 27
“Civilian Service”, This aircraft
has markings for the famous
Zebra scheme, and would look
rather striking as part of a
diorama. Also coming soon
in 1/72 scale we have the FH-1
Phantom “Demonstration
Teams and Trainers” and last
but b no means least in 1/32
scale the IAR-81 BoPi
“Dive Bomber”.
As ever there is a
wealth of sets from
CMK, for both Special
Hobby and other
manufactures kits, the
one that is particularly
impressive for me
is the 1/32 scale
Bristol Centaurus
engine for the Special
Hobby Tempest.WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • JUNE 2018 • 37
034-39-News-0618.indd 37 11/05/2018 15:59