New Ray fighter planes in 1:48 scale

[ea0863]

Every time I'm at Hobby Lobby, I see the quick-builder fighter planes from New Ray, like the one below.

Recently, I decided to give them a try since they were on sale for under ten bucks each. I found them fun to build, and acceptably realistic - especially once I threw on some detail paint and nose art. All in all, I got ten of them together, and found them under various brand names - mostly New Ray, Testors, and Smithsonian. If you're looking for some quick slump-busters for static display, to hang from the ceiling, or even for gaming - these might do the trick for you. Here are mine from WWII for your perusal:

P51 Mustang

P40 Warhawk

F4U Corsair (also sold as the "Scout")

Spitfire

D520 Dewoitine

MIG 3

BF109 Messerschmitt

Japanese Zero

And from WWI, a couple more. This one, the Sopwith Camel:

And finally, the Fokker Dr. 1

I'm sure you have noted my puerile attempt at erasing the stands these airplanes were resting on. But, rest assured - as far as the planes themselves, what you see is how they look. Have fun!

 

Edited October 1, 2023 by ea0863

[shoopdog]

Very cool, I’ll have to check these out next time. Unfortunately since I retired and moved my closest store is an hour away instead of 5 minutes.

[TonyK]

Those are really nice and I like your "trick" photography.

[Snake45]

I bought several of these about 20 years ago at a local toy close-out place. They came with a stand where you could pull a cord or something and the prop would turn. I think I paid $5 apiece for them, or some cheap price like that. 

I always thought the landing gear were screwy on all of them, but thought some of them were good enough to make into gear-up, on-the-stand "desk models." 

I gave the P-51 to my kid, who took it to work, where somebody stole it. 

The P-40 ended up in my grandkids' "toy box," where it lives to this day. At some point, the propeller disappeared. 

My Corsair came in the silver/yellow prototype colors. My plan was to repaint it as a regular F4U-1 "Birdcage," but I haven't gotten around to it yet. 

I don't remember if I have the Zero or not. I think I do but not 100% sure. 

The Spitfire XIV doesn't look half bad. I might see if I can get some dihedral in the too-flat wings, and then look for some kind of simple paint job for it--overall silver or PRU Blue or light gray or something like that. 

Your photography is great, BTW. Well done and model on! 

[ea0863]

7 hours ago, Snake45 said:

I bought several of these about 20 years ago at a local toy close-out place. They came with a stand where you could pull a cord or something and the prop would turn. I think I paid $5 apiece for them, or some cheap price like that. 

I always thought the landing gear were screwy on all of them, but thought some of them were good enough to make into gear-up, on-the-stand "desk models." 

I gave the P-51 to my kid, who took it to work, where somebody stole it. 

The P-40 ended up in my grandkids' "toy box," where it lives to this day. At some point, the propeller disappeared. 

My Corsair came in the silver/yellow prototype colors. My plan was to repaint it as a regular F4U-1 "Birdcage," but I haven't gotten around to it yet. 

I don't remember if I have the Zero or not. I think I do but not 100% sure. 

The Spitfire XIV doesn't look half bad. I might see if I can get some dihedral in the too-flat wings, and then look for some kind of simple paint job for it--overall silver or PRU Blue or light gray or something like that. 

Your photography is great, BTW. Well done and model on! 

Yup, I still see the pull-string versions of these from time to time. Nothing too intricate with these, and they can barely be called models, but still fun nevertheless.

[Hard_2_Handle_454]

Got a few myself.  I didn't know they did the French, British, and Soviet fighters though.  I've never seen them at HL or anywhere else.

[BlackSheep214]

Not bad for a toy look snap kit. The P-51 Mustang is of the 352nd Fighter Group; aka: The Blue Nosed B*****ds of Bodney. A shame they didn’t bother to research the correct nose markings. There are a few famous Mustangs of the 352nd Fighter Group: Cripes A’Mighty, The West by Gawd Virginian, Stardust, Moonbeam McSwine, Hell-Er Bust, Slender,Tender, and Tall, Petie 2nd to name a few

[ea0863]

On 11/15/2023 at 5:38 PM, BlackSheep214 said:

Not bad for a toy look snap kit. The P-51 Mustang is of the 352nd Fighter Group; aka: The Blue Nosed B*****ds of Bodney. A shame they didn’t bother to research the correct nose markings. There are a few famous Mustangs of the 352nd Fighter Group: Cripes A’Mighty, The West by Gawd Virginian, Stardust, Moonbeam McSwine, Hell-Er Bust, Slender,Tender, and Tall, Petie 2nd to name a few

Such cool history! I looked these up, and the markings are very interesting, as are the stories behind them  

[BlackSheep214]

5 hours ago, ea0863 said:

Such cool history! I looked these up, and the markings are very interesting, as are the stories behind them  

I acquired a book called Bluenoser Tales that is invaluable. It’s very rare and VERY hard to find.  You wont find it at Barnes and Nobles or Amazon. I got lucky on eBay several years ago after an email inquiry of possibly ordering this book on a correspondence with one “Punchy” Powell (his P-51 was The West by Gawd Virginian). He told me only very limited copies we’re available - mostly to families of the pilots that flew the Blue-nosed Mustangs. 

This book is a must have for any aviation fanatic of WW2 - especially those who build aircrafts…. IF you can find a copy..

[ea0863]

2 hours ago, BlackSheep214 said:

I acquired a book called Bluenoser Tales that is invaluable. It’s very rare and VERY hard to find.  You wont find it at Barnes and Nobles or Amazon. I got lucky on eBay several years ago after an email inquiry of possibly ordering this book on a correspondence with one “Punchy” Powell (his P-51 was The West by Gawd Virginian). He told me only very limited copies we’re available - mostly to families of the pilots that flew the Blue-nosed Mustangs. 

This book is a must have for any aviation fanatic of WW2 - especially those who build aircrafts…. IF you can find a copy..

Just WOW! What an heirloom that is! 

[Snake45]

On 11/17/2023 at 10:03 PM, BlackSheep214 said:

I acquired a book called Bluenoser Tales that is invaluable. It’s very rare and VERY hard to find.  You wont find it at Barnes and Nobles or Amazon. I got lucky on eBay several years ago after an email inquiry of possibly ordering this book on a correspondence with one “Punchy” Powell (his P-51 was The West by Gawd Virginian). He told me only very limited copies we’re available - mostly to families of the pilots that flew the Blue-nosed Mustangs. 

This book is a must have for any aviation fanatic of WW2 - especially those who build aircrafts…. IF you can find a copy..

BlackSheep, thought you might like seeing this model of John C. Meyer's Petie 2nd I built in the late '70s, shortly after the Monogram 1/48 P-51D kit came out. I still have it. Thought I had some better pics on the computer, but of course I can't find 'em at the moment. 

[BlackSheep214]

On 11/24/2023 at 8:08 AM, Snake45 said:

BlackSheep, thought you might like seeing this model of John C. Meyer's Petie 2nd I built in the late '70s, shortly after the Monogram 1/48 P-51D kit came out. I still have it. Thought I had some better pics on the computer, but of course I can't find 'em at the moment. 

That looks really nice!!

[Snake45]

5 hours ago, BlackSheep214 said:

That looks really nice!!

Thanks! I thought so too, for a while. It looks like a POS to me now, but it was about as good as I could do in the late '70s. 

That airplane is a special favorite of mine because the very first day of Basic Training in the USAF--June 19, 1972, to be exact--upon exiting the building where we picked up our brand-new uniforms, I was SHOCKED to see this airplane right in front of me. I knew immediately that it was a P-51H and knew that it was incorrectly painted in John C. Meyer's P-51D's markings. They also had a P-47N incorrectly (but very neatly) painted as Francis Gabreski's famous P-47D. I was AWED. Many weeks later, in tech school, I returned to take complete walkaround photos of both of them. I was going to build models of them using the ancient Aurora and Lindberg P-51H and P-47N kits, but still haven't gotten around to it. Both airplanes are still at Lackland but I understand they've been repainted and are now displayed on the parade grounds, which, in 1972, had only a B-17 and a B-24. 

These pics were taken in 1978. The canopy has been replaced with solid fiberglass, or maybe just painted over. In my 1972 pics, the canopy is still clear, but very, very yellowed. 

 

Here's the "Gabreski" P-47N:

 

[BlackSheep214]

Nice! I'm very familiar with Gabreski's Thunderbolt. He most likely flew the P-47N during the Korea conflict

[Snake45]

3 hours ago, BlackSheep214 said:

Nice! I'm very familiar with Gabreski's Thunderbolt. He most likely flew the P-47N during the Korea conflict

Dunno for a fact, I could check it out, but if he DID fly a P-47N during the Korean conflict, it would have been stateside and it sure wouldn't have been painted like that (his WWII ETO scheme). I'm pretty sure he flew F-86s of some sort IN the Korean conflict. That would be easy to find.