Has the mystery of the holes on the bottom of the wings on the new WWII minis ever been resolved? Will there be rockets, guns or ? coming? Just wondering . . . I may have to do something, my elves are restless these days . . .
Has the mystery of the holes on the bottom of the wings on the new WWII minis ever been resolved? Will there be rockets, guns or ? coming? Just wondering . . . I may have to do something, my elves are restless these days . . .
There shouldn't be anything coming for the P-47s, Dave, and I'd keep the elves away from them--the holes on the Thunderbolts' wings are in the area occupied by the landing gear. May be a different story on the 109Ks, but I haven't checked the miniatures or heard anything from anyone here about that yet.
Dave--I have some 1/144 scale bombs and fuel tanks from some F-Toys kits I built and am not using. Let me know if this would help you out.
I also have many extras from the F-Toys I build. Anything need let me know.
Thanks guys, will look into it . . . i bought extra P-47's for repaints but haven't gone there yet . . .
Dave
This is a 3-view of a P-47D-25.
As you can see, its two underwing pylons are outboard of the landing gear and the .50 caliber machine guns. For a D-25, the max loadout was a center line drop tank and a pair of bombs, drop tanks, or triple bazooka tubes on the underwing pylons (and to carry all that, some of the .50 cal ammo had to be removed). The holes on the underside of the wings of the Ares miniatures are too far inboard, blocking the landing gear, and would not accurately represent what a Thunderbolt could carry in any case. Those on the BF-109Ks, on the other hand, are properly positioned for underwing ordnance, and are used for just that on at least one--rocket tubes, rather than gun pods, but at least the holes have a purpose on the Messerschmitts. This all feels very much like an error by the factory making the minis, but you could scratchbuild rocket tubes or gun pods for any extra 109Ks you have. As for the Jugs...well, the British did build a few floatplane Spitfires, and Grumman did propose a Wildcat equivalent to the A6M2N, so a 'Thunderboltfish' or two isn't really all that far-fetched .
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
That's a later Thunderbolt than the Ares razorback D-25, Mike, and if you'll look closely, the rockets are underneath the machine guns and outboard of the landing gear, which isn't the case with the holes on the Ares mini--they'd put the tubes slightly inside the main gear legs. Believe it or not, I'm not trying to be a spoil sport; however, it looks like Ares didn't have ordnance made to fit these holes because they shouldn't be there.
I wasn't worried so much about the holes in the Ares models' wings, as the mounting of ordnance. This was the best view of the mounting, as most of the black and white period images were pretty bad at showing what I wanted to see. I don't know if the razorbacks could do the same, but this shows both bombs and rockets.
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
It's entirely possible that Ares is thinking about doing a bubbletop or two with bombs and rockets down the road--they terrorized the Wehrmacht almost as much as the RAF's Typhoons in late '44/early '45--and that's why the razorbacks have these holes, but when Andrzej (Nightbomber) first pointed them out and questioned their purpose, we didn't hear anything from anyone 'in the know,' and haven't since. I know I'd be happy if that was the plan, although I'd be even happier if the underwing stores end up mounted in the right place .
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
And the P-47H Seabolt?
Source: Modeling Madness.com - Thunderbolt Floatplane
Sorry, this won't make use of the holes, either...
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
Read the link, Dave. It was a kit bash, never really flew. The XP-47H was flight tested, but was too late in the war, and the engine never delivered on the promised horsepower, so it was two prototypes and shelved. Certainly never made it to the seaplane trials.
Great kit bash, though.
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
The three acft. types The Losers Of WW2 Put Into Service which The Winners Didn't:
-- Floatplane fighters
-- Three-engined transports and bombers
-- Rocket-propelled airplanes
I suppose there's a message in there.... :)
Hate me if you have to, Dave...
Fw-190W 'Wasserflugzeug'
Equipped with a torpedo and rockets?
Source: Modeling Madness - Bogu's Resin's 1/72 Fw-190W
Warning: Another Kit Bash
or the equally 'famous' Bf-109W...
Link: eBay.com - AMR7275 Messerschmitt BF-109W-1 Fighter w/ Floats 1/72 Amodel.
An actual kit?
Last edited by OldGuy59; 09-02-2016 at 16:20.
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
Love it! Thanks Mike, just remember if you lure me into one of these strange birds you might have to make me cards . . . just a friendly reminder : )
The elves just found a set of pontoons . . . : )
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