Finished Entries

[RAFF-35]

FFN Surcouf

Here's the build thread; https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=54932.new#new

Operation Downfall
The culmination of Surcouf's wartime career came during preparations for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese Home Islands.
Before the projected landings, the submarine operated continuously off the coasts of Kyushu and Shikoku.
Night after night she slipped through Japanese patrol lines and launched reconnaissance teams from her motor-launch boats. These commandos surveyed beaches, measured tides, sampled sand for vehicle trafficability, mapped obstacles, and monitored Japanese troop movements.
Many of these missions took place within sight of Japanese positions.
On several occasions the commandos narrowly avoided capture, returning to the submarine with invaluable intelligence that later shaped Allied invasion planning.
Simultaneously, Surcouf conducted an aggressive campaign of deception.
Appearing unexpectedly along different stretches of coastline, she would surface briefly and bombard selected targets. Sometimes she attacked military facilities; at other times she deliberately struck secondary positions to create confusion.
A few rapid salvos would crash ashore before disappearing beneath the waves.
The unpredictable bombardments forced defenders to disperse troops and artillery along vast stretches of coastline, complicating their preparations against the anticipated invasion.
American planners later credited these operations with creating significant uncertainty within Japanese regional commands and helping to ensure the successful landings of Operation Downfall.

[nönöbär]

Bell P-262 – America's Captured Jet

After capturing German Me 262 jets in 1945, the USAAF rebuilt them as Bell P-262 fighters for Operation Downfall. Deployed over Kyushu, they unexpectedly encountered Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-202 jets—virtually identical aircraft. The resulting high-speed "Mirror War" marked one of history's first jet-versus-jet campaigns and foreshadowed the future of aerial combat.

Full story here

[nönöbär]

Mitsubishi Ki-202 "Kanji - Japan's Last Hope

Using Me 262 plans delivered by submarine from Germany, Japan developed the Mitsubishi Ki-202 "Kanji," a near-identical jet fighter. Entering limited service during Operation Downfall, Ki-202s defended Kyushu against American Bell P-262s. The resulting "Mirror War" saw identical German-derived jets clash, symbolizing Japan's final technologically advanced resistance.

Full stroy here

[Rick Lowe]

 

[McColm]

The Douglas Gremlin GRA.1 call sign Delta Bravo aka Douglas Barder with some nose art. After a crash the rear end of the Lisunov Li-2 licensed built Douglas DC-3 bodged with the front end of a C-47 Skytrain. The bush-mechanics tried their best to hide the gap but the floor was uneven and this example is a bit quirky in it's stance.


http://flic.kr/p/2smLK2J


http://flic.kr/p/2smTEc7


http://flic.kr/p/2smRzPQ

[McColm]

The Douglas Skyliner GR.1 based on several designs for a light bomber.



http://flic.kr/p/2smRPsB


http://flic.kr/p/2smSxdH

[McColm]

Boeing Silvertown ACI, with the FASS  layout using the AN/APS-20C radar sets in the nose, belly, upper fuselage and the forth which was located at the rear but replaced with an ECM device.


http://flic.kr/p/2smSyne


http://flic.kr/p/2smTgAD


http://flic.kr/p/2smMGuh

[McColm]

The collaboration between Lockheed and Boeing produced the Lockheed B-30 Excalibur II by stretching the C-69 fuselage to accommodate the two bomb bays and the tail fin  plus the remote controlled guns from the B-29 Superfortress. They shared the same engines but not the propellers as these were from the Douglas DC-4.
The landing gear was specified by the Royal Air Force, this example has the long-range fuel tank fitted to the rear bomb bay.. The Excalibur II was flown by the RAF in the bomber and used in anti-submarine warfare roles.


http://flic.kr/p/2smUR5T


http://flic.kr/p/2smSLLH


http://flic.kr/p/2smTNcQ