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Ship killer: a Convoy Peewit Stuka


MattG

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Hi All,

 

For this group build (my first!), I'll be building a Ju87B from the Airfix kit. Still a month left for the GB and from memory this kit should fall together nicely. I have a few goodies to go with it:

 

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My plan is to represent a Battle of Britain aircraft, and to narrow down a subject I couldn't resist summarising what the Stukas achieved. The charts below show information compiled from my references. Hopefully this comes out OK for everyone.

 

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I'm planning to build one of the aircraft that flew on one of the major Convoy Peewit raids (8th August), but if possible I'll try and find one that is likely to have also participated in other major Battle of Britain raids such as the Tangmere Raid (16th August) or the "Hardest Day" raids (18th August). We'll see what I come up with as I go!

 

Thanks for looking - and I'll be back with progress soon!

 

Matt

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Hi all,

 

First, a bit more information about the Channel convoys, then I'll show some progress on the Stuka! 

 

Supplies of coal were vital for factories, railways and power stations and provided heating.  The capacity of road and rail for carrying the coal would not have been able to handle wartime levels of cargo and so there was no choice but to use shipping, despite the danger of air attack.  The risks were alleviated slightly by grouping ships into convoys where they could be protected more easily by the RAF and Royal Navy.

 

In July and early August 1940, before the German High Command had decided to lure the RAF into battle, the Luftwaffe's primary goal was at this stage to strangle Britain's supplies by attacking this shipping.

 

Convoy C.W.8, otherwise known as Peewit, was one such convoy.  The 24 ships sailed from Southend in the early morning of 7th August 1940 and were first spotted by the Germans off Wissant that afternoon.  Convoy Peewit was subjected to persistent and determined attacks, first by E-boats early in the morning of 8th August (in which three merchant ships were sunk), and then by Stukas throughout the day (which sank three more merchant ships and one Royal Navy escort).  Many more ships were damaged by the time the convoy dispersed west of the Isle of Wight in the evening of 8th August.

 

The battle for Convoy Peewit marked the beginning of the end for the Stuka in the Battle of Britain.  Eight were shot down, along with eight Bf109s and one Bf110.  The RAF lost twelve Hurricanes and a Spitfire.  It was also for some time recognised as the official start of the Battle of Britain.

 

OK, time to start building! I've made a good start, this kit practically falls together.  Others have already commented on the ejector pin marks, but most of these are hidden by the sidewalls once they are fitted.  Besides the Humbrol paint, I've added some Vallejo "mud and grass" and "oil stain" weathering. Enjoy the pictures!

 

All the best, 

 

Matt

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi all,

 

Sadly the kit is still on my workbench in this state and there's no chance of me getting it done any time soon - work has been crazy these past few weeks with all sorts of extra work from the whole COVID-19 situation.  I promise to post pics when it's done!

 

Matt

 

 

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