British Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter Night Interceptor WW1

Description

This is an injection-plastic aircraft model kit.

Starting in September 1917, the German bomber squadrons revised their air campaign plan against the British Isles. After eight daytime raids with significant strategic bomber losses, it was decided that all future raids would be conducted only at night. At that time, the newly created British Home Guard did not have a dedicated fighter interceptor aircraft. Most of the homeland defense aircraft were retired front-line fighters, including several two-seat Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter fighters. RFC Flight Commander Captain Honnett proposed to modify one of the 1 1/2 Strutters by moving the pilot’s seat and controls to the rear seat position, and he argued that normal maneuvers were not possible, as visibility was poor from the seat. The first three 1 1/2 Strutters converted at Southern Aircraft Repair Works joined No. 78 Squadron in September 1917. During raids over London on the nights of Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, they faced 22 Gotha bombers. The pilots of No. 78 Squadron dubbed this unusual plane the “Comic Fighter.” Initially, the aircraft was armed with a single tuned Vickers machine gun. Another of the Comics features a Lewis gun in the Foster gun rack. At least one, HE B762, had two Lewis machine guns in special fixed mounts, capable of firing at 70-degree angles. The 1 1/2 Strutter Comic was intensively used by the No. 78 Squadron until February 1918, performing night interceptions against Gotha and R-class heavy bombers. Due to the low performance of this type, it was never mass-produced. Beginning in 1918, the night fighter version of the famous Sopwith Camel (ironically, its official name was the Sopwith Comic) was used by many home defense units as it replaced the 1 1/2 Strutter Comic and other obsolete versions.

This model kit from Roden can be built with either the synchronized Vickers machine gun type, or the B762 unit with a Foster gun mount and a special gun mount. Place your order today!

• [Size]: Approximately 24cm long, 32cm wingspan when completed
• [Includes]: Decals for 2 versions