1/48 - Curtiss-Wright CW-21A/B Interceptor by Dora Wings - Special Dutch CW-21B edition released

[Homebee]

Dora Wings is to release a 1/48th Curtiss-Wright CW-21 Interceptor kits

- ref. DW48049 - Curtiss-Wright CW-21a Interceptor

- ref. DW48052 - Curtiss-Wright CW-21b Interceptor

Source: https://www.facebook.com/dorawingsofficial/posts/2942649705965587

3D renders

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

V.P.

 

Edited Thursday at 03:46 PM by Homebee

[Supersonic26]

Ooh, that is a brillant choice! Such a beautiful little airplane and pretty much no kit (in any scale) available.

 

No idea how well these Dora Wings kits build but their philosophy of tackling obscure WW2 stuff certainly makes them very attractive.

[SleeperService]

56 minutes ago, Supersonic26 said:

No idea how well these Dora Wings kits build but their philosophy of tackling obscure WW2 stuff certainly makes them very attractive.

I've only built two but they've both been OK with a little care in places especially where moulding stubs were removed. It's very easy to remove too much plastic. Welcome to BM BTW I hope you enjoy your time here.

[Mike Esposito]

Finally! In 1/48!

[Branky]

But from my point of view the wrong version. It should have been a CW21B. It saw slightly more action. Only 3 CW21's ever built and flown and they ended up against a mountain in China...   BTW only the CW21B's were called "Interceptor", the CW21 was called the "Demon". .. 

[occa]

Now excuse my obligatory question, will this come out in 1/72 also ?

[dora]

3 hours ago, occa said:

Now excuse my obligatory question, will this come out in 1/72 also ?

Yes.

[Mike Esposito]

7 hours ago, Branky said:

But from my point of view the wrong version. It should have been a CW21B. It saw slightly more action. Only 3 CW21's ever built and flown and they ended up against a mountain in China...   BTW only the CW21B's were called "Interceptor", the CW21 was called the "Demon". .. 

Incorrect. It was called; the C-21 Demon-interceptor fighter 

 

https://www.warbirdforum.com/cw21.htm

Edited January 25 by Mike Esposito

[Mike Esposito]

2 minutes ago, Mike Esposito said:

Incorrect. It was called; the C-21 Demon-interceptor fighter 

 

https://www.warbirdforum.com/cw21.htm

 

[Roger Holden]

3 hours ago, Mike Esposito said:

 

Wrong. It was never called 'Demon' . Historian Dan Hagedorn found from Curtiss records that 'demon' was just an abbreviation for 'demonstrator' in the paperwork. Books from the 60s-90s calling it 'Demon' are plain wrong....

[Supersonic26]

9 hours ago, Roger Holden said:

Wrong. It was never called 'Demon' . Historian Dan Hagedorn found from Curtiss records that 'demon' was just an abbreviation for 'demonstrator' in the paperwork. Books from the 60s-90s calling it 'Demon' are plain wrong....

I love how there's always more to learn on stuff like this! Turns out there's even a copy of said Curtiss paperwork online.

 

The word "Interceptor" can probably be used freely for either version as it's less of a given name and more of a job description - the concept of the plane was centered around the interceptor role, so putting "CW-21 Interceptor" on the box of a kit would be like putting "Ju 87 Dive Bomber"!

[Branky]

The name "Interceptor" was adopted in Dutch East Indies as the planes name. "Demon" would have frightened the local people too much. So we had Interceptors, Buffalo's and Hawk's. The Bombers were always just Martins with little differentiation between the WH1, WH2 and WH3 versions  

[Skawinski]

On 25/01/2021 at 13:06, Branky said:

But from my point of view the wrong version. It should have been a CW21B. It saw slightly more action. Only 3 CW21's ever built and flown and they ended up against a mountain in China...   BTW only the CW21B's were called "Interceptor", the CW21 was called the "Demon". .. 

 

Very good point. Different undercarriage etc. Do we know if they will be releasing the 'main' (CW-21B) version also?

[dragonlanceHR]

3 hours ago, Skawinski said:

 

Very good point. Different undercarriage etc. Do we know if they will be releasing the 'main' (CW-21B) version also?

When asked last year, the answer was no. But maybe they'll change their mind.

[dora]

1 hour ago, dragonlanceHR said:

When asked last year, the answer was no. But maybe they'll change their mind.

Maybe.
But there is no information at all on the wheel bay of the CW-21B

[Mike Esposito]

2 hours ago, dragonlanceHR said:

When asked last year, the answer was no. But maybe they'll change their mind.

The C-21 IS the definitive version. 30+ built vs 24 for the "B"

[kopperhed]

I'm pretty happy either way. I have an old Sierra Scale B that I can use to do some kitbashing with if need be.

[Branky]

On 1/27/2021 at 4:21 PM, Mike Esposito said:

The C-21 IS the definitive version. 30+ built vs 24 for the "B"

Ìndeed fully true, 30 planes or so were built and except 2-3 who flew into a Chinese mountain they all ended up in a warehouse in Rangoon. But "What if" those 100 for the AVG did materialise......"

[Skawinski]

46 minutes ago, Branky said:

except 2-3 who flew into a Chinese mountain they all ended up in a warehouse in Rangoon. But "What if" those 100 for the AVG did materialise....

Not sure if Dora will provide an aircraft in a crated version, though (that reportedly 27 were produced). Apart from that only aircraft with civilian and later Chinese markings were actually flying, I believe there were 4 of them in total. 

I guess we will see some what-ifs.

 

Edited January 28 by Skawinski

[Branky]

Numbers vary but indeed 3-4 making them the most profilic version  

[Mike Esposito]

4 hours ago, Branky said:

Ìndeed fully true, 30 planes or so were built and except 2-3 who flew into a Chinese mountain they all ended up in a warehouse in Rangoon. But "What if" those 100 for the AVG did materialise......"

Then, IT would be the definitive version. 

Edited January 28 by Mike Esposito

[jimmaas]

Just an additional note - the CW-21B had a sliding canopy where the top section was colored (green? yellow-orange? It's debatable). Not sure if this was applicable for the earlier version

 

[Skawinski]

3 minutes ago, jimmaas said:

Just an additional note - the CW-21B had a sliding canopy where the top section was colored (green? yellow-orange? It's debatable). Not sure if this was applicable for the earlier version

 

Well spotted! Indeed both CW-21 and CW-21B had top part of canopy plexi tinted. I don't know the colour, but maybe some clue would be the fact, that Polish PZL Los bomber had similar solution applied and plexi was tinted blue.

[WorstKaasScenario]

I've got this colour photograph lying around which clearly shows it orange. I remember it being an original colour picture, but I'm not 100% sure and I can't find out where I got it from.

[occa]

@WorstKaasScenario

Boom, that color photo comes as a full surprise, you can even make out the two topside colors even if there's a low contrast.
Do you have more of these gems around ?