Here
are most of the Australian aircraft in my collection that I’ve built
since getting back into the hobby about 5 years ago. The Spitfire (Airfix), Boomerang (High Planes) and Buffalo (Tamyia) are in 1/48 scale. The Mustang (Academy), Wackett (High
Planes), Wirraway (High Planes), Kittyhawk (Heller), Vengeance (SMER) and
Mitchell (Airfix) are in 1/72 scale.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The
Mustang was built for the pilots’ son who flew this aircraft during the
Korean War. A very similar version of the real aircraft resides in
the
Australian War Museum
in Canberra. The Wirraway and Wackett were both training aircraft and are built
from the limited run High Planes kits, which require quite a bit of
scratch building, in particular the construction of the complete cockpit
tubs which in 1/72 scale is an interesting exercise. The Boomerang
was the first Aussie-made WW2 fighter aircraft, based on the Wirraway
design, but it was mostly used to assist ground troops and artillery.
The
Mitchell was operated by RAAF 2 Squadron based in northern Australia
in 1944. The
Buffalo
operated near
Perth
in
Western Australia
with RAAF 25 Squadron in 1942. The Spitfire was flown by 79 Squadron in Papua
New Guinea (PNG) in 1944. The Kittyhawk was based in PNG with 75 Squadron in
1942. The Vultee Vengeance was also based in PNG with 24 Squadron in 1942.
The Boomerang was with 5 Squadron in Mareeba
Queensland
in 1945 and was written-off in a ground loop accident. The Mustang was flown by
77 Squadron, based in Japan
in 1951. I’m not sure where the Wackett or Wirraway were based, but the
Wackett crashed near
Hervey
Bay
in
Queensland
in Feb 1943.
David
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