Airfix Curtiss P-40B & Mitsubishi Zero W/ Glue, Paints, & Brushes 1:72 Models A50127

On 7th December 1941 the Japanese air assault on Pearl Harbor plunged the United States of America into a war it sought to avoid since in began in September 1939.  At 7:48am Japanese aircraft struck, carrier bombers and torpedo planes attacking ships moored at Battleship Row, with fighters attacking airfields, targets of opportunity and any American fighters who dared to rise to oppose them. 

The surprise was total, damage to the American fleet extensive, with numerous ships being sunk or damaged.  Hundreds of American aircraft were destroyed.  The few fighters that took off to counter the attack were mainly Curtiss P40B fighters, which soon engaged in a vicious and deadly dogfight.  George S Welch, racing to the field where his fighter was based, only had time to arm the .30-caliber guns on his P40.  Nonetheless, he rose to defend his base and the island.  Flying above Wheeler Field, Welch claimed a number of Japanese machines, including a Zero fighter.

Overall, the day belonged to the Japanese with only a handful of the attacking force lost, but they failed in their primary objective.  The American aircraft carriers survived because they were at sea.  As Admiral Yamamoto feared, Japan awoke a sleeping giant, one that would bring about their total defeat in 1945.

Paint Schemes - Curtiss P-40B Warhawk, USAAF, Hawaii, December 1941 and Mitsubishi Zero, Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941

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 * All measurements in mm.