Special Hobby 1/72 November Releases

This month sees Special Hobby re-release a trio of WW2 favourites due to popular demand. In 1:72 there are the Wirraway and Soviet A-20G, while the record-breaking He 178 returns in 1:48.

SH72331 CAC CA-3/5 Wirraway “First Blood over Rabaul” 1/72
Even before the outbreak of World War 2, Australia had been looking for an aircraft suitable for advanced training and possible ground attack support. The solution was to build under licence the NA-16 aircraft, the predecessor of the famous Texan, which was modified by Australian designers and mass-produced in a newly-built state-owned factory. This aircraft was widely known as the Wirraway and was mainly used for ground attack support, spot bombing missions, patrolling, and even sometimes in a fighter role. But it mainly served as a training aircraft during WW2 and in the post war years as well. In the last months of 1941, some of the first batch machines were employed in combat areas, because of Japanese surprise attack against the USA and its allies. The Wirraways took part in the first fightings over Rabaul, Malaya and elsewhere.

The kit comes with two grey sprues accompanied by a clear injected canopy, detailed resin parts and a fret of PE parts. The decal set covers four early production machines one of which was specially modified to a single-seater dive bomber.

The original SH72194 CAC CA-9 Wirraway model kit is also coming back and will be available in limited quantity.

72556 A-20G Havoc “Russian Bomber Version” 1/72 – limited quantity re-release
The American A-20s attack aircraft were delivered also to the Soviet Union during World War II under the Lend-Lease program. In the Soviet Union, these aircraft were operated by army and naval aviation units alike. Specifically for sea attacks, the A-20G versions were adapted to carry a crew of three, with a bombardier (or so-called “shturman”) compartment in the nose section. Modifications were non-standard and the converted machines differed from each other.

Two of the machines are also offered in our kit. One of them is the well-known machine decorated with “Tallinskij AP” inscription and with decorations and profiles of destroyed ships on its nose. The second machine, “White 2”, has a different type of its glassed nose section – originally taken from an II-4 aircraft. The kit contains resin parts for torpedo racks, torpedoes, and the modified bombardier compartment.

SH48093 Heinkel He 178 V-2 1/48
The Heinkel He 178 with E. Warsitz at the controls hopped shortly above the runway for the first time on 24 August, 1939 and the real first flight took place only three days later. These were the very first flights of a jet aircraft in the world. On 1 November, while the test flights were being still in progress, the aircraft was displayed to RLM officials. Later on, the aircraft received more powerful HeS 6 engine, wing with longer span and retractable undercarriage. This version is by some sources designated as the He 178V-2.

The He 178 with retractable undercarriage and longer wing is a subject of our kit. It contains two sprues with plastic parts, injected canopy, resin and photo-etched parts and decal set for the prototype.