On November 1st, Doogs’ Models kicks off its first ever kit giveaway. Two lucky winners will receive two fantastic kits, voted on by you, the readers!

In the lead up to the giveaway, I’m going to be announcing the kits every few days. Two at a time. One aircraft, and one armor.

Part 1 – Cyber-Hobby Bf 109E-4 / Dragon Panzer IV Ausf.J Last Production

Part 2 – Hasegawa P-47D-30 Thunderbolt / Tasca M4A3E2 Sherman “Jumbo”

Up next…

Aircraft #3 – 1/32 Hobby Boss Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb

The development history of the Spitfire is one of stop-gaps and emergency measures that just happened to work. The Spitfire Mk.VIII, for example, was designed to succeed the Mk.V with a new Merlin 60-series engine and a number of airframe improvements. As a stop-gap to counter the German’s new Fw 190, the Brits shoved the Merlin 60 onto the front of a Spitfire Mk.V, creating the Mk.IX, which performed quite well and totally overshadowed the Mk.VIII, which didn’t show up for another year.

The Spitfire Mk.V was a similar stop-gap, a Spitfire Mk.I with a Merlin 45-series engine. It was intended to hold the line until the pressurized Spitfire Mk.VI could go into production to counter a feared German high-altitude bombing campaign. When the campaign never appeared, the Mk.VI became an afterthought, and the Mk.V became the main frontline Spitfire until the Mk.IX appeared on the scene.

Until the arrival of the new Hobby Boss kit, the only 1/32 Spitfire Vb was the old Hasegawa kit. Not a bad kit, but also not really worth the asking price from what I’ve read. Apparently the new Hobby Boss kit pushes the Hasegawa aside with some pretty outstanding detail, including a Merlin 45 and something not even Tamiya’s superlative kits offered – a full suite of wing guns.

Armor #3 – 1/35 AFV Club T-34/85 Mod. 1944, 1945

Often overlooked here in the West, I think there’s a pretty solid case to be made that the Soviet T-34 was the defining tank of World War II – and a perfect summation of Soviet industry and design philosophy. Simple, tough, crudely-made but incorporating revolutionary features such as the aggressively sloped armor that afforded the same protection as vertical armor twice as thick, the T-34 was an epitome of function over form.

Having recently built up Dragon’s T-34/85, I found my interest piqued over AFV Club’s rather intensive kit. This sucker includes not only a turned barrel, but a full interior, complete with engine, and a working Christie suspension supported by actual metal springs.

It looks like an absolute blast of a build, and I figured the Soviets deserved some representation in this giveaway, so there you have it.

Stay tuned for Part 4 in a few days!