WGS Spanish Civil War 1/200 Boeing 281 (P-26 Peashooter)
I had planned to do my 1/200 AIM B-24's tonight, but my silver spray can ran dry after the first pass! Instead I finished off my first Shapeways 1/200 miniature, a Boeing 281 better known as the Boeing P-26 Peashooter. I chose to finish this little inter-war fighter in the colours of the single aircraft used by the Spanish Republican Air Force during the Spanish Civil War.
One Boeing Model 281 was sold to Spain in March 1935 for evaluation and delivered to Barajas, in Madrid, without armament. The Boeing fighter was test-flown by Boeing and Spanish military pilots. Boeing's asking price of 500,000 pesetas per plane ultimately resulted in the Spanish government's decision to reject the 281 and instead obtain a license from the British Hawker Aircraft Company for Hispano Suiza to produce 50 Hawker Spanish Fury biplane fighters.
The Boeing 281 was still at Barajas when the Spanish Civil War broke out on July 18, 1936, and was hastily armed with two .303 Vickers machine guns under the wings for front-line service with the Republican forces. Operating from Getafe airfield, it saw considerable action against the fascist rebels, on one occasion flying in formation with a Spanish Fury, four Dewoitine D.372s, two Loire 46s and two Nieuport-Delage NiD-52s.
Republican air strength at Getafe was down to one Fury, one Dewoitine and the Boeing 281 by mid-October 1936. Then, on October 21, Ramón Puparelli, one of the Boeing fighter's original test pilots, took it up to defend the airfield against three enemy Fiat CR.32s, only to be shot down. Puparelli managed to bail out. Some time later, the Spanish Republican government, which had never actually bought the prototype, finally paid $20,000 to Boeing representative Wilbur Johnson, through its embassy in Paris, for the 281's use in combat.
The paint job for this one is flat aluminium with red wing bands, red fuselage band and the red, yellow, purple rudder insignia of the Spanish Republican Air Force. The WSF is not the greatest surface but I found it holds paint really well. Finished it off with a spray of Dullcote.
My statistics for this aircraft will be as follows:
Damage Points: 14 (similar to the Gladiator and early I-16).
Manouver Deck: I (no dive bomb cards - the I deck is a little quick for the Boeing's 370kmh top speed, but it is the closest one we have).
Armament: Short A, Long A (Boeing 281 was fitted with two .303in Vickers machine guns in underwing pods).
Climb Rate: 4 (12 m/s)
Top Altitude: 10 (ceiling 8350 metres)
I especially want to thank Zoe Brain who passed this miniature on to me at Cancon back in January, I'm pretty happy with the finished product.
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Originally Posted by Zoe Brain
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