WW2 Imperial Japanese Navy MXY-7 Ohka

The Ohka, meaning “cherry blossom” in Japanese, was a rocket propelled suicide machine deployed by Japan against allied shipping in World War 2. Introduced in 1945, it was fitted with a 2,000 pound explosive charge in front of the pilot. The suicide pilot (kamikaze) would detach from the mother plane (Model 24J “Betty”) and fire up the three rear rockets (Type 4 Mark 1 Model 20) either one at a time or in unison. It had a short range of only 23 miles but could reach speeds of 400mph in level flight or up to 680mph in a dive on the target ship. They were used in the Okinawa campaign in which 74 saw operation, of which 56 were either destroyed with their parent aircraft or in making attacks. Then allied nickname for the Ohka was “Baka” which in Japanese means “foolish” or “idiotic”. A total of 852 Ohkas were built. Approximately 13 survive today in museums around the world. The one shown here was captured on Okinawa Island in April of 1945. It’s shown as it appeared without its warhead being armed and resting unstrapped on its transport cradle and rear storage support.

WW2 German Me262 HGIII

Me262 variant done in acrylics and Alclad II. Oils and pigments used for weathering. Seatbelts, brake lines and engine line details added. Brass tubing for pitot tube used. Tires weighted and all marking were airbrushed.

WW2 German Heinkel He219 A-7 Uhu

The He219 was a twin engine WW2 night fighter featuring various radar arrays. Advanced features included cannons mounted to fire at an oblique angle, the first steerable nose-wheel on an operational German aircraft, and the world's first ejection seats on an operational aircraft. Armament consisted of two MG 151/20 cannons mounted in a detachable fairing under the fuselage, two 20mm 151/20 cannons in the wing roots and two 30mm MK 108 cannons in the upper fuselage mounted at 65° for attacking aircraft from beneath. It had a crew of two and was powered by two Daimler-Benz V-12 engines each producing 1,776 horsepower giving it a top speed of 420mph at 23,000 feet.

WW2 Era German Focke-Wulf Triebflügel

One of the more bizarre “wonder weapons” to come off the German blueprint boards during WW2 was the Triebflügel by Focke-Wulf. It was to be powered by 3 Pabst ramjet engines developing 2,000 pounds of thrust each. When taking off, the rotors would be angled to give lift in a similar manner to a helicopter. Once the aircraft had attained sufficient altitude the pilot would tilt it over into level flight. The rotors continued spinning in level flight, maintaining 220 rpm at the aircraft's maximum forward speed. To land, the craft had to slow its speed and pitch the fuselage until the craft was vertical. Power could then be reduced and it would descend until the landing gear rested on the ground. The Triebflügel made it to wind tunnel testing but that’s as far as it got. It was calculated out to have a forward speed of 621 mph and a service ceiling of 50,000 feet. I decided to have some fun and think “outside the box” and make mine appear as though it’s a war weary Triebflügel featuring the Luftwaffe light blue RLM76 as a base for the splinter camouflage.