Jagdpanther

Posted on October 16, 2019 by

As the war between Germany and Russia continued into 1943 the Wehrmacht continued to seek more powerful, more capable weapons to deal with the Soviet masses.

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Join me for a look at one of the more successful such designs. Continue reading →

Posted in Armor, Germany | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Special Treat

Posted on September 30, 2019 by

I recently finished a different, rather exotic sort of project.  This is one I’ll remember for years, or well days anyway.

Join me after the jump for something well outside of my normal genre. Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous | 17 Comments

Boeing B-29 Superfortress

Posted on July 20, 2019 by

This large, strategic bomber is closely associated with the final phase of the defeat of Japan and the end of World War Two. Between its expense, troubled development and role in that apocalyptic end it manages to be controversial to this day.

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Join me for a look at the last of the great piston engine bombers to enter service. Continue reading →

Posted in Bomber - Strategic, USA | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

A Day at Pearl Harbor

Posted on May 4, 2019 by

There may be no one place more central to the American story of World War II than the naval base at Pearl Harbor.  The name alone means something to almost every American, it has to be spoken with a certain gravitas.

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Well, this is a scale modeling site of sorts! First thing on arriving at the memorial is two small museums, “The Road to War” and “Attack on Pearl Harbor”.  This model of the Arizona and it’s memorial is derived from extensive underwater surveys.

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I’m sure no reader of this site will be surprised to hear that’s made Hawaii a sort of dream vacation for me almost as long as I can remember.  The great thing is, once we felt  we could afford it (!), my wife raised no great objections to the idea! I suspect she was thinking of other things to do there?

Continue reading →

Posted in Museums | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Curtiss P-40K Warhawk

Posted on April 8, 2019 by

This American fighter was the workhorse of the early war years.  It served in every theater and generally acquitted itself well, if never quite being considered among the best.

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Join me for a look at an ubiquitous aircraft. Continue reading →

Posted in Fighter, USA | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

The Value of an Ace

Posted on March 26, 2019 by

Readers of this site may recall about three years ago (!) a discussion about what an ace is worth to an air force.  Some of this came about from my previous post “How Sure Are You?” which was mostly about the validity of combat claims and intelligence assessments.  At the time, I had suggested a quickly coming follow up post about aces; those pilots credited with five or more confirmed kills.  Well funny thing, at the time my intentions were good but after failing to find the statistical data I wanted I sort of forgot all about it. Continue reading →

Posted in Dave's Essays | Tagged | 4 Comments

Big Week by James Holland

Posted on February 8, 2019 by

Subtitled “The Biggest Air Battle of World War II” this book tells the story of the combined bomber campaign in the last week of February 1944.  That means Eighth Air
Force, Fifteenth Air Force and Bomber Command.  That was a week with several thousand bombers and almost as many fighters over Germany every day.
Of course the story starts much earlier. 2/3s of the book are about set up.  Everything from pre-war theory to aircraft and weapons development. Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , | 7 Comments