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Found 16 results

  1. Sometime ago I received a built kit of an Airfix 1/72 Boomerang in bad condition to refurbish I've already built this in several regular schemes so I thought I'd Whif it I finally finished it yesterday evening As a ground attack aeroplane used by the AVG - American Volunteer Group, also known as the 'Flying Tigers'
  2. Commonwealth CA-13 Boomerang (A02099V) 1:72 Airfix "Vintage Classics" The Boomerang was a WWII fighter designed and made in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC). The design stemmed from the CAC Wirraway, this was a licence built North American NA-16 (more commonly known as the Harvard). Australia had realised in the 1930s that Japan had expansionist ideas and would need its own aircraft industry. this is one reason North American were approached to licence build the Wirraway. After WWII broke out and with the traditional supply of aircraft from the UK in short supply CAC looked at producing their own domestic fighter. Key to this was the recruitment of Fred David a Jewish refugee from Austria who was actually interned at the time. He had worked for Heinkel, and Mitsubishi on aircraft design. CAC had also negotiated that the licence for the NA-16 allowed for them to modify the design. The Boomerang would utilise the wing, tail, centre section and undercarriage of the Wirraway. A new forward fuselage was developed which was wider to accommodate the larger Twin Wasp engine along with a single cockpit. The armament for the new aircraft was to be two 20mm cannon and 4 .303 machine guns. Production was authorised almost immediately as it would provide insurance against a delay to an order of P-40 aircraft and it would keep the production lines open at CAC. The availability of Wirraway components would also speed up production. From design to first production was a staggering 3 months. The aircraft was tested initially against a Brewster Buffalo which was slightly modified to resemble a zero in performance, in addition to testing against a P-40. It was found to be faster though less manoeuvrable than the other aircraft, but it had far better armament, and Armor for protection of the pilot. Performance though rapidly dropped off over 15000 feet. However the maximum speed was only 265 knots well below that of Zero and Oscar. Deployment of American fighters to Australia lowered the need for the Boomerang, however due to the cancellation of the Woomera bomber the Government extend production of the Boomerang. The Kit This is a re-boxing of Airfix's kit from 1965 and as such is a tooling of its time. Construction starts in the cockpit, now there is no real cockpit just a seat for the pilot which fits onto a peg in the fuselage. Once the pilot is in then the main fuselage can be closed up. At the front the nose section and engine is fitted. There are tow banks of cylinders for the engine which fit inside the cowling, a pin then holds the propeller on at this point if you wish to fit it. The completed nose section can then be joined to the fuselage. To the right side of the fuselage the hedgehog style exhaust is fitted. Next up we move to the wings, there is a single lower wing with left and right uppers. Once complete the wing can be mated to the fuselage. The tail planes and canopy parts can now be added on. Turning to the underside the ventral fuel tank can be placed on if needed. The last items to complete the model is the fixed rear wheel and the retractable main undercarriage units complete with their doors. Markings There are the usual two decal options on the sheet. From the box you can build one of the following: No.4 Sqn Royal Australian Air Force, Gusap, New Guinea, Feb 1944 No.5 Sqn Royal Australian Air Force, 1944 (As per the box art, though the Blue fin tip could be wrong for that?) Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion Recommended bearing in mind its a classic. Review sample courtesy of
  3. A while ago, after discovering that Romania had an aircraft industry up to WW2 - and produced a respectable fighter, the IAR - 80, to my surprise I discovered the Aussies had had an aircraft industry before WW2 as well, producing two respectable, if not earth shattering planes - the Wirraway and Boomerang. The Boomerang itself looks vaguely like a Brewster Buffalo and though respectable enough, was not in the same league as the Zeroes it came up against. Odd really as it was well armed, with 2 20mm cannon and 4 .303 machine guns, but other factors prevailed to make it less than equal to the opposition. Though nominally a fighter, it ended up as a light ground attack type, coming into service in 1942, retired in 1945. Special Hobby do both Wirraway and Boomerang in 1/72, and I picked up one of the 1/72 Boomerangs a while ago, and after seeing a build of a Wirraway here after Christmas I decided to start my Boomerang once I had finished the two Austrian Air Force F-5e planes I was making. I should point out this is the second Special Hobby kit I have made where I spent excessive time filling, sanding, priming and muttering strong imprecations at it. The reason? Serious shortcomings in the fit department. Wings and fuselage and cockpit and canopy, mainly. Yes, almost all of the kit didn't fit properly. As I said, copious sanding, filling, cutting and general cursing accompanied more cursing, sanding and filling until I had what looked like an aeroplane model in the hand. And the sprue gates were very, very thick and attached often in awkward places, so some steady cutting and hoping was done. (Which by and large worked). Painting was interesting, Foliage green, the colour recommended for the main camouflage colour seemed difficult to match up. Then in the February 2022 issue of SAM I found a build article of this very kit! Which confirmed the fit issues, and the need for copious filling, sanding, priming, filling, sanding and I expect the author wanted to say cursing too, but thought he might not get it published if he did. But he didn't say what he used for foliage green, so I used tamiya NATO Green (XF-67 which weirdly, doesn't look that far away from the paint used by the magazine contributor. I don't think it's right, but - well, it doesn't look that bad to me. The build was mostly OOB, with peewit canopy masks, some British sutton seatbelts from the spares box, a yahu instrument panel and a bit of albion alloys tube for the radio aerial, and modelling tools' little lenses for the underwing identification lights and the wingtip navigation lights.. After glossing with extracrylix gloss varnish, the decals weren't too bad, but after trying to put some of the stencils on the green sections, decided not to bother with any more; you can't see them, so it was just a few on the white tail. An unexpected problem I came up with was I dipped the canopy in Gauzy glass coat agent, which did impart a decent shine to the canopy; however, when trying to adjust the mask segments into position, the mask took the gauzy layer off. I have since decided to leave the canopy as is. I finished the kit in Extracrylix flat varnish. I am now a little wary of Special hobby kits; previous builds of Tamiya, Revell, Italeri, Brengun, Eduard and Kinetic have had none of the fit issues the two Special hobby kits I've now made have. So it's on to a Tamiya model next, I have one in mind but can't quite make my mind up for certain yet. Music listened to during this build included Welcome to the Planet by Big Big Train, The Zealot Code by Jethro Tull, The Art of Losing by the Anchoress, Powr up by AC/DC and the Wisdom of Crowds by Bruse Soord.
  4. Hi If North American would not designed Mustang, the Harvard/Texan family will be perhaps the best achievements of this company from WWII. OK, perhaps Mitchell - but forgot for moment about this . The story starts with fixed u/c NA 57 . My is done from Azur kit, drawer decals represents markings from French Ecole de Pilotage (Flying School) No 1 at Etampes in April 1940.. Profile and photo of this machine was published in book by B.Belcarz - "Polskie lotnictwo we Francji" ("Polish aviation in France"), Stratus publisher, 2002. Next in my incomplete set of the whole family is Harvard Mk II b, FX 215, in markings of No 16 (Polish) FTS RAF, Newton UK. Kit by Academy, decals by Techmod. Australian company Commonwealth based on Harvard Mk I the CA-1 Wirraway - multi purpose machine which served also as "emergency fighter". On 12 December 1941, Pilot Officer J. S. Archer of 24 Squadron RAAF shot down a Zero/Zeka fighter flying Wirraway. This is my attempt of construction this machine (kit by MPM): Wirraway was then developed to CA 13 Boomerang - mine is made 30 years ago from Airfix kit: For the end the whole family: Comments welcome Regards Jerzy-Wojtek P>S> from 2021 My Harvard family increased by NA 50 I converted her from new Special Hobby Harvard in RAF kit. The longer canopy for RAF Harvard left after this build so I corrected mine old RAF Harvard installing extended canpy: And the extended family Regards J-W
  5. Hello everybody! Some weeks ago I started building it few weeks ago. This is the CA-12 boomerang and I will try to make the aircraft number A46-95, registration ZA-O. This model is slightly valorised. I made some extra parts in the cockpit and replaced the engine with a quickboost. Also I made some additional elements in gear wells. I would like to do some nice weathering, I have some photos as reference, but they are in black and white. Looking at the photos, I came to the conclusion that the plane had worn pavements on the wings along the fuselage, a bruised leading edge, and some patches on the engine cowling. Also, clearly visible in the photos, especially the brown color, it is more faded than on the metal covers. I have only one photo with my model, but I can see a brown stain painted over the top of the fuselage behind the cabin. Could it be painted a fresh brown, or could it be green? Anyone have some information?
  6. Special Hobby is to release a new variant from it's 1/72nd Boomerang kit as CAC CA-19 Boomerang under - ref. SH72426 Source: https://www.specialhobby.net/2020/08/sh72426-cac-ca-19-boomerang-172-boxart.html box art V.P.
  7. CAC CA-19 Boomerang 'Jungle Scouts' 1:72 Special Hobby (72426) The Boomerang was a WWII fighter designed and made in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC). The design stemmed from the CAC Wirraway, this was a licence built North American NA-16 (more commonly known as the Harvard). Australia had realised in the 1930s that Japan had expansionist ideas and would need its own aircraft industry. this is one reason North American were approached to licence build the Wirraway. After WWII broke out and with the traditional supply of aircraft from the UK in short supply CAC looked at producing their own domestic fighter. Key to this was the recruitment of Fred David a Jewish refugee from Austria who was actually interned at the time. He had worked for Heinkel, and Mitsubishi on aircraft design. CAC had also negotiated that the licence for the NA-16 allowed for them to modify the design. The Boomerang would utilise the wing, tail, centre section and undercarriage of the Wirraway. A new forward fuselage was developed which was wider to accommodate the larger Twin Wasp engine along with a single cockpit. The armament for the new aircraft was to be two 20mm cannon and 4 .303 machine guns. Production was authorised almost immediately as it would provide insurance against a delay to an order of P-40 aircraft and it would keep the production lines open at CAC. The availability of Wirraway components would also speed up production. From design to first production was a staggering 3 months. The aircraft was tested initially against a Brewster Buffalo which was slightly modified to resemble a zero in performance, in addition to testing against a P-40. It was found to be faster though less manoeuvrable than the other aircraft, but it had far better armament, and Armor for protection of the pilot. Performance though rapidly dropped off over 15000 feet. However the maximum speed was only 265 knots well below that of Zero and Oscar. Deployment of American fighters to Australia lowered the need for the Boomerang, however due to the cancellation of the Woomera bomber the Government extend production of the Boomerang. In total 250 aircraft were built and operated by 7 Squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force. The Boomerang would see combat initially in the air defence role. There are no records of any Boomerang air-2-air kills. Later in the war the aircraft was used in the ground attack role. Properties such as the manoeuvrability, low speed, and toughness made it suitable to this role. Extensive armour plating was fitted to the airframe to protect it in this role. In what we would now recognise as the FAC role Boomerangs would often mark targets low down with smoke bombs in order that larger aircraft could attack from a safer distance. After the war some aircraft operated in the Air Sea Rescue role. Three aircraft survive today in flying condition with others in museums and one on exhibition at the Australian War Memorial. The Kit The kit is a re-issue from Special Hobby and dates back to 2011, with a re-issue on 2012. The kit is on a single sprue of grey plastic, a clear sprue, a set resin wheels, an a resin exhaust. The parts are typical of the shorter run ejection kits. Construction starts where else but in the cockpit. First up the cockpit can then be assembled. This is a steel framed affair. There are two side frames which attach to the floor, a forward bulkhead is attached along with the rear one containing the armour. The instrument panel is then added. The seat is next along with the rudder pedals. The last item to be added in is the control column and linkages. The engine is nest with the rear bank of cylinders being moulded to the bulkhead and the front set going on. The complete cockpit/engine section is then placed into the fuselage and it can be closed up. Next up the wings are assembled with the rear well bulkhead going in before they are closed up. The main wing and tailplanes are added, the landing with it's resin wheels can then go in. The gear doors are added along with the belly tank and tail wheel. To finish off the canopy and aerial are added along with the gun barrels, exhaust and pitot tube. The last item to be assembled and added is the propeller. Decals Decals are from Eduard and include an amendment with correct colour codes. and should pose no issues, markings are provided for 3 examples; A46-217 / QE-G “Hep Cat” Flt Lt Burghard, RAAF No.4 Sqn Cape Hoskins 1945 A46-222 / BF-K “Glamour Flt Lt Curtis Girl” RAAF No.5 Sqn, Bougainville 1945 A46-209 / QE-J “Bachelor's Son” RAAF No.4 Sqn Labuan, 1945 Conclusion This is a welcome re-release from Special Hobby of an important aircraft for the RAAF. It is not a shake and bake kit however I would recommend it. Review sample courtesy of
  8. Managed to get my hands on a really really old kit. This kit is over 30 years old. All the parts are still there and the decals still work but has some issues like silvering. As per kits that old, parts are a rough and not very detailed. Had to spend a lot of time sanding join lines and filling in gaps. Printed decals for the cockpit but realized that the cockpits will mostly be closed anyway, oh well.
  9. While fossicking around in the garage, I found this old friend covered in muck and dust. This was built at least 15 years ago, if not more, when I first returned to the hobby. Brush painted in Humbrol enamels, made dirty with water colours and finished with a coat of Humbrol Matt Coat. Surprisingly all still in one piece.
  10. CAC Boomerang A-46-228 1/72 & 1/48 Red Roo Models A46-228, BF-M "Miss Albany" had a fairly short life with the RAAF. Through the factory via depots it arrived at 5 Sqn RAAF on 11th May 1945. It was then scheduled in November that year for limited spares removal, which became final with a full authorisation in January 1946. The aircraft was finished in overall Foliage Green with white tail surfaces, and leading edges. Conclusion This is a great little sheet for decals of a specific Boomerang in late war RAAF colours. Recommended. 1/48 1/72 Review sample courtesy of
  11. CAC-13 Boomerang 1:48 Special Hobby The Boomerang was a WWII fighter designed and made in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC). The design stemmed from the CAC Wirraway, this was a licence built North American NA-16 (more commonly known as the Harvard). Australia had realised in the 1930s that Japan had expansionist ideas and would need its own aircraft industry. this is one reason North American were approached to licence build the Wirraway. After WWII broke out and with the traditional supply of aircraft from the UK in short supply CAC looked at producing their own domestic fighter. Key to this was the recruitment of Fred David a Jewish refugee from Austria who was actually interned at the time. He had worked for Heinkel, and Mitsubishi on aircraft design. CAC had also negotiated that the licence for the NA-16 allowed for them to modify the design. The Boomerang would utilise the wing, tail, centre section and undercarriage of the Wirraway. A new forward fuselage was developed which was wider to accommodate the larger Twin Wasp engine along with a single cockpit. The armament for the new aircraft was to be two 20mm cannon and 4 .303 machine guns. Production was authorised almost immediately as it would provide insurance against a delay to an order of P-40 aircraft and it would keep the production lines open at CAC. The availability of Wirraway components would also speed up production. From design to first production was a staggering 3 months. The aircraft was tested initially against a Brewster Buffalo which was slightly modified to resemble a zero in performance, in addition to testing against a P-40. It was found to be faster though less manoeuvrable than the other aircraft, but it had far better armament, and Armor for protection of the pilot. Performance though rapidly dropped off over 15000 feet. However the maximum speed was only 265 knots well below that of Zero and Oscar. Deployment of American fighters to Australia lowered the need for the Boomerang, however due to the cancellation of the Woomera bomber the Government extend production of the Boomerang. The Kit In total 250 aircraft were built and operated by 7 Squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force. The Boomerang would see combat initially in the air defence role. There are no records of any Boomerang air-2-air kills. Later in the war the aircraft was used in the ground attack role. Properties such as the manoeuvrability, low speed, and toughness made it suitable to this role. Extensive armour plating was fitted to the airframe to protect it in this role. In what we would now recognise as the FAC role Boomerangs would often mark targets low down with smoke bombs in order that larger aircraft could attack from a safer distance. After the war some aircraft operated in the Air Sea Rescue role. Three aircraft survive today in flying condition with others in museums and one on exhibition at the Australian War Memorial. The kit is a re-issue from Special Hobby and dates back to 2008, with a re-issue on 2012. The kit is on 4 sprues of grey plastic, a clear sprue, a bag of resin parts and a small photo etched fret. The parts are typical of the shorter run ejection kits. Construction starts where else but in the cockpit. The first item to be constructed is the left hand panel which contains the undercarriage lever, trim wheel and other controls. Once this is made up it is fitted into the left fuselage half. The rudder pedal assembly and instrument panel are then built up and set aside, as is the head armour assembly for the pilot. The cockpit can then be assembled. This is a steel framed affair. There are two side frames which attach to the floor, a forward bulkhead is attached along with the rear one containing the armour. The instrument panel is then added. The seat is next along with a full set of PE belts. The last item to be added in is the control column and linkages. Next up the main landing gear is assembled and put to one side. The main legs are a single part to which the scissor links are added. The wheels are single part resin castings. Construction then moves onto the radial engine. This is a well moulded example being built up from resin and plastic parts. To the central resin hub are added the double bank of cylinders one at a time. Be sure to get them in the right order as the front and rear ones are different. Once complete the engine is attached to its mounts and then to the cockpit section. The complete cockpit/engine section is then placed into the fuselage and it can be closed up. Attention now moves to the main wing. This is of a conventional one part lower, with left/right upper wings. The interior of the main undercarriage bay is built up, and the landing lights added to both wings. The rudder and tailplanes are also built up at this time. The main wing, rudder, and tailplanes are then added to the main fuselage. To finish up the undercarriage is added along with its doors. An optional ventral fuel tank can be added at this stage if needed. Aerials, pitot tunes, exhausts and cowl flaps are added along with canon barrels. The spinner is added to the propeller, which is then added to the engine. Lastly the canopy, windscreen and aft glazing panels are added. Decals Decals are from Aviprint and should pose no issues, markings are provided for 4 examples; A46-199 / QE-Y “Home James” Flt Lt Jack Archer, RAAF No.4 Sqn New Guinea July 1944. A46-154 / MH-J “Wanda Lust” RAAF No.83 Sqn, Grove, Northern Teritory, July 1944. A46-193 / QE-H “Struthl” RAF No.4 Sqn Labuan, Sept 1944. A46-194 / QE-K “The Grim Reaper” Sqn Sqd Ldr Wallken RAAF No.4, Labuan Sept 1944. Conclusion This is a welcome re-release from Special Hobby of an important aircraft for the RAAF. It is not a shake and bake kit however I would recommend it. Review sample courtesy of
  12. Hi Britmodeller Mates, Another model started while waiting for the bits for the Vampire to arrive. Some parts painted. It is now ready for the fuselage halves to be joined. Closeup of cockpit. It looks pretty good considering I have had the instrument panel in and out many times the control column is now not sitting in the right place and the seat is too high. The instructions are not Airfix, I am pleased with it so far. Thanks for looking. Stephen
  13. Wow everyone is quick listing their builds! Ok for this GB I’m doubling up, not just the colour scheme is Australian but the aircraft was designed and built here as well! So here she is Not the prettiest aircraft ever build but it was Australia’s first combat aircraft to be designed and built here. Initially it was designed as a fighter but it lacked speed and high altitude performance to take on the Japanese fighters. But it was easy to fly and quite agile along with its heavy armament meant it was a good light ground attack aircraft. It featured extensive armour plating over an airframe of wood and aluminium which meant it could sustain heavy battle damage and still return to base...though it was a bit prone to ground looping. I had wanted to build the Alley Cat 1/32 version but it was a wee bit expensive....so I settled for the Special Hobby version. It looks to be a nice model with a resin engine and details. Ok I said it looks to be a nice model but a really close examination reveals that it will need quite a bit of work to get in right.........I should have bought the Alley Cat one! The extras will be Eduard’s PE set and Montex masks, though I thought I had a set of aftermarket decals for it.......will have to have a look. Now just need to get the 110 finished by next break......plus find time for the SciFi build as well!!!
  14. Having been given inspiration by Noel with his excellent Spitfire VIII, here just for Australia Day a couple of foliage green RAAF machines. The first has been posted before, a LTD 1/48 CA-13 Boomerang .The markings are for an aircraft from No 4 Squadron RAAF based at Labuan, Borneo in 1945. The second was made back in 2005 from the 1/48 Tamiya Beaufighter TF-X kit, completed as a Beaufighter Mk 21 of 93 Squadron RAAF also at Labuan, Borneo in 1945 (markings sourced from Eagle Strike). Both brush painted with Tamiya Acrylics. Thanks for looking.
  15. The CAC Boomerang, a Detailed Guide Valiant Wings Airframe Album The CAC (Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation) Boomerang has the distinction of being the first combat aircraft designed and manufactured in Australia. Historically at the Start of WWII Australia relied on British manufactured Aircraft, and to a lesser degree some USAAF supplied aircraft. CAC examined the possibility of designing and manufacturing their own fighter, this was a fairly big challenge as only two aircraft were in production at the time locally, the Bristol Beaufort and the CAC Wirraway which was based on the North American Harvard. CAC recruited Fred David who had worked for Heinkel in pre war Germany as well as Mitsubishi & Aichi in Japan. Technically he was an interned enemy alien but this seems to have been overlooked due to his excellent technical knowledge. Authorisation to proceed was given in December 1941, and when presented to the Australian Government it was quickly accepted. Given the speed of manufacture no real prototypes were even produced. The first aircraft was flown in May 1942. The type went operational with the OTU in October 1942, and with the first operational squadron (no 84) in March 1943. This time frame may seem very quick but at this time there was a great threat of invasion looming from the Japanese, this must have given great impetus to all involved. Once the RAAF received faster types from the RAF & USAAF the Boomerang would go onto to become an excellent Army Co-operation aircraft, what we would now call ground attack. In all 250 aircraft were built. Written by Richard A. Franks, this book has been designed as a useful guide for all those modellers who have an interest in this fighter, aside from the modelleing information it provides a look at a period in the aviation history of Austrailia not widely mentioned. The clearly defined sections cover pretty much every aspect of the Boomerangs history. The sections include:- Chapters Technical Description -This is an extensive selection of images and diagrams, this section includes; Fuselage (Cockpit interior, canopy, Main & Aft fuselage, fuel, hydraulics, oil & oxygen systems. Undercarriage (Main, Tail Wheel & Brake system) Tail (Tailplanes, Vertical Fin & Rudder) Wings (Wings & Undercarriage Bays) Engine (Engine, Cowling, Exhaust & Propeller) Weapons & Drop Tanks (Armament, Ordnance & Sighting) Electrical Equipment (Radio & Misc Electrical) Misc (Access panels & Misc Equipment) Evolution - A full look at the evolution of the Boomerang. Camouflage and Markings - A comprensive look at this subject including colour profiles Survivors - A look at those aircraft still with us. The Alley Cat 1:32 Boomerang - a look at the the new 1:32 Kit from Alley Cat. Appendices Boomerang Kit List - All scales Boomerang Accessory List - All scales Boomerang Decal List - All scales Serial numbers - A list of ALL Boomerangs built Bibliography Conclusion There can be no doubt when reading this book that a lot of time and research has been done to provide such a detailed study of this aircraft, its design, building and use. Rarely for me have I read a title cover to cover instead of skimming through it like some reference books. Since researching for this review it has been brought to my attention that whilst Richard Hourigan is mentioned as a contributor, and actually provided a lot of information to the author, he wasnt able to proof read the final draft. Apparently there are a number of typos, factual errors and incorrect colour profiles, which have been pointed out by Mr Hourigan who actually owns a Boomerang, so should know what hes talking about. It has also been stated that the selection of photographs are excellent and most of the colour profiles are correct. Therefore, if you are interested in the Boomerang, Australian Aircraft History, Pacific Theatre Operations; or even just something different then I can happily recommend this book. Review sample courtesy of To purchase the Alley Cat Kit mentioned in book follow this link
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