Special Hobby News Oct 2025

Fairey Battle Mk.I ‘Bloodbath over France’ 1/72

The Fairey Battle was ordered by the British Air Ministry to replace the Hawker Hart biplanes. It was one of the first modern low-wing aircraft to enter service with the RAF that began receiving the Battle in 1937. The Battle was elegant and pleasant to fly, but it was underpowered. One Merlin  engine alone was simply lacking power for such a large aircraft. This was clear even before the start of World War II. But Battles were assigned to more than 40 RAF squadrons. 10 of them were moved to France as part of the AASF and were used against the German attack in 1940. The superiority of the Bf 109E and the high vulnerability of the Battles to anti-aircraft fire took a bloody toll. The Battles were withdrawn from the front line. However, they became an important element of the Commonwealth training system. They were used for training in many roles, in Great Britain, Canada, Australia and Africa until the end of the war.
Three sprues of plastic parts are joined with a sprue of clear parts and decals. The decal sheet offers four RAF aircraft that were lost in Western Europe in May 1940 with interesting and colourful history of their crews.

– detailed model kit
– camouflage schemes of the aircraft with interesting stories
– we also offer resin wheels and masks for the Battle kit

Mirage IIIC ‘Armée de l’Air’ 1/72
The Mirage IIIC was the first jet produced in Western Europe to break the double speed of the sound in the level flight. The type was the very first of te whole family of Mirage fighters IIIC, IIIE and 5 some of which keep flying even until these days. The Mirage IIICJ was the epitome of the Israeli air supremacy in the wars with the neighbouring Arab countries during the War over Water, Six Day War, Attrition War and Yom Kipur War as well as many other more minor conflicts. A great number of Israeli fighter pilots became aces flying their Mirages. The Mirage IIIC saw service with the domestic Armée de l’Air, too, the first airframes being fitted with a unique belly mounted rocket booster motor to enhance the performance in the initial climb. The later machines though had this booster removed to enable them to carry more ordnance to more distant targets. The Mirage IIIC was also delivered to the SAAF and some of the ex-IAF machines found their way to Argentina. The type completely proved worthy in its role of air superiority jet.
As many as seven sprues of grey styrene plus one sprue with clear parts offer highly and finely detailed parts, the kits also has a sheet of decals with markings for four French machines, two of which flew in the natural colour of metal (one of them of the early booster-fitted variety), then also one machine in blue grey over aluminium and one in the later desert scheme.

– superbly detailed model
– atractive colour schemes and decals
– also available for this model: pre-cut paint masks M72041 and accessory sets Q72401Mirage IIIC Wheels, Q72402 Mirage IIIC Mirage IIIC Atar 9B Engine Nozzle and Q72403 Mirage IIIC Seat

DH.94 Moth Minor ‘Under the Southern Cross’ 1/72

In 1937, De Havilland designed the DH.94 Moth Minor as a modern replacement for the DH.82 Tiger Moth biplane. The DH.94 was produced for civilian customers until 1940, when the production was switched for the military. Civilian aircraft were confiscated for the needs of the RAF. They were used as couriers and liaison aircraft. One aircraft, delivered to Egypt, served with the USAAF during the war and flew with American markings. Five DH.94s flew with the RNZAF in New Zealand and two ex-civil aircraft were used to train SAAF pilots in South Africa. All production tools, unfinished aircraft and materials for the production of the DH.94 were shipped to Australia in 1940 to the subsidiary De Havilland Australia. There, DH.94 production was resumed, on order from the RAAF which eventually received forty DH.94 airframes. Then production was stopped in favour of the DH.82 Tiger Moth, which was chosen as the standard RAAF trainer. DH.94s were used to train RAAF pilots until the end of the war. The surviving machines were sold to civilian interested parties and were at the birth of sport aviation in Australia. Similarly, machines confiscated during the war for the RAF and FAA were returned to civilian users. At least two DH.94s were converted to Coupé versions after the war. Several machines still fly today, in Britain, Australia and the USA.
The Moth Minor model kit consists of two grey styrene sprues and a clear windshield parts sprue. Decals are offered for two RAAF machines, an RNZAF machine and a civilian machine from South Africa.

– nicely detailed kits
– we also offer masks for the kit

Renard R.31 ‘Belgian Recconaissance Plane’ 1/48
Belgian observation high-wing aircraft, whose service ended with the Wehrmacht attack on Belgium. It is the only type of aircraft of Belgian design that did fight in World War II. Virtually all the machines were destroyed in defensive battles.
The main parts are resin cast and come with a set of 3D printed parts. Decals are offered for machines of the 9th escadrille and the 11th escadrille. Both units used the Sioux head as their unit emblem, one against a blue background, while the other one had red background.

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