November 7, 2025

Product Spotlight: Commerce Destroyers

Hobby Master’s US Army Air Force Douglas A-20G Havoc Medium Bomber – “The Hell’n Pelican II”, 90th Bombardment Squadron “Pair-O-Dice”, 3rd Bombardment Group, Gusap Airfield, Papua, New Guinea, 1944 (1:72 Scale)

Ordinarily, commerce raiding is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than engaging its combatants or enforcing a blockade against them. Privateering,, on the other hand, is a form of commerce raiding conducted by independent operators.

During World War II, elements of the United States Navy based in Brazil conducted operations in the Atlantic against German commerce raiders and blockade runners. In the Pacific, the U.S. Navy operated against Japanese merchant shipping, as well as engaging in offensive operations against ships of the Japanese Imperial Navy. The bulk of the Japanese merchant marine was sunk by American submarines. By the end of the war, only 12% of Japan’s pre-war merchant tonnage was still afloat.

The Indian Ocean raid was a naval sortie by the Carrier Striking Task Force of the Japanese Navy from March 31st to April 10th, 1942, against Allied shipping and bases in the Indian Ocean. It was an early engagement of the Pacific campaign of World War II.

The staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy decided to send some raiders to Indian Ocean waters from December 12th, 1941 to July 12th, 1942. The Germans had already been operating in the area and conducted mutual aid with Japanese submarines, in the form of re-supply and military intelligence. The Indian Ocean was the largest operating area involving direct contact between the two Axis partners, in which their primary objective was to keep pressure on the shipping lanes. The Japanese Navy participated in some commerce raiding, but concentrated its efforts toward a “decisive battle” in the Pacific, which never took place.

While naval assets continued to play a pivotal role in World War II, commerce destroyers took on an added dimension with the introduction of military aircraft. One such aircraft that took on this task was the inimitable Douglas A-20 Havoc, an American light bomber, attack aircraft, night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. The A-20G, as it came to be known, filled the role perfectly. Delivered from February 1943, would be the most produced A-20 variant, with 2,850 built. The glazed nose was replaced by a solid nose containing four 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano cannon and two .50 in M2 Browning machine guns. After the first batch of 250, the less-accurate cannon were replaced by more machine guns. After 750 aircraft had been built, a power-driven gun turret fitted with two .50 in machine guns was fitted, with the fuselage 6 inches (15 cm) wider as a result, and the ventral tunnel gun changed from a .30 in to another .50 in Browning. The powerplants were two 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) R-2600-23. Many A-20Gs were delivered to the Soviet Union. Notably, U.S. A-20Gs were used on low-level sorties in the New Guinea campaign.

During World War II, the 90th Bombardment Squadron operated in the South Pacific, flying A-20 Havoc and B-25 Mitchell aircraft. Their main mission involved highly-dangerous skip bombings. In an effort to improve the effectiveness and protection of the 3rd Bombardment Group’s pilots, Major Paul ‘Pappy’ Gunn, 3rd Bombardment Group engineering officer, devised a modification to the B-25C. The modification replaced the forward bombardier with four forwards firing .50 caliber machine guns, supplemented with two twin .50 caliber gun packages side mounted on the fuselage. The lower turret was discarded. The A-20s received similar modifications. The modified aircraft were first employed by the 90th and proved exceptionally effective, receiving the nickname ‘commerce destroyers.’ During the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, every aircraft in the 90th scored a hit on the Japanese convoy of 18 ships. It was the first sea-level attack by B-25 strafers in World War II and demonstrated that this tactic was extremely effective. The squadron also participated in the raids on Wewak, New Guinea, which were preemptive strikes that virtually ended the threat of enemy offensive air capabilities.

Expect Hobby Master’s newest A-20G to strafe the competition in late November.

Product Spotlight: Home on His Shield

The town of Velikye Luki in Russia was captured by German forces during July 1941. From the view of Heeresgruppe Mitte which was responsible for this sector, Velikye Luki was very important for several reasons. First, it formed a bridgehead across the Lowat River. Second, it was a major railroad junction, and third, it screened the vital Vitebsk-Leningrad railroad. The Red Army launched several attacks and partisan actions against Velikye Luki during the following 15 months, but failed to seize the town. By November 1942, Velikye Luki and the surrounding area was still in German hands, awaiting yet another storm of armor. While Velikye Luki would capture the attention of many on the eastern front, it was perhaps on the western front where it took on added meaning.

Legion’s British Sherman Firefly Mk. Vc Medium Tank – “Velikye Luki”, 3 Troop, A Squadron, Northamptonshire Yeomanry, Normandy, France, 1944 (1:72 Scale)

After being promoted to the rank of SS-Haupsturmfuhrer, legendary panzer ace Michael Wittmann was offered but refused a position as an instructor at an armored training school, instead returning to Normandy and his men on July 6th, 1944. His unit, sSSPzAbt. 101, took part in the Battle for Caen, which raged from July 3rd to the 10th. In August, Wittmann and his crew received a new Tiger Ausf. E tank, which was assigned the command identification number 007. Thereafter, Wittmann, along with the rest of sSSPzAbt. 101, was transferred to a region just outside Cintheaux, France. At the time, strong German forces attempted to recapture the crucial city of Caen, which had become completely destroyed by weeks of incessant fighting. On August 8th, 1944, a new battle raged near Cintheaux, which would later become Wittmann’s final engagement.

According to SS-Hauptscharfuhrer Hoflinger commanding Tiger #213, whose tank was positioned in the same field as Wittmann’s tank but towards the rear and to the right of Wittmann’s mount, at 12:55 AM he saw Wittmann’s tank explode as it sat near the road to Caen-Cintheaux, at Gaumesnil, apparently struck by a long-range tank round fired by a Sherman Firefly from the Northampton Yeomanry. Afterwards, Wittmann and his crew were laid to rest beside what was left of their burned out Tiger, sadly without any graveyard markings. The War’s most famous tank ace had paid the ultimate price in blood and iron, a fate awaiting many more tankers in the months to come.

We are currently expecting this vehicle, along with several other Sherman Fireflies, towards the end of November.

Calibre et al Continues to Push Back

On Friday morning, Calibre Wings produced a YouTube video claiming their eagerly awaited B-58 Hustler strategic bomber has been delayed yet again and is now expected to ship out within the March/April 2026 time frame. Noel Lee, owner of Calibre Wings, claimed there were several quality control issues with the production run, more specifically paint spray problems and assembly misalignment, that plagued several of the models. He also pointed to the upcoming Chinese New Year, which typically slows things down even further as workers head home from the factories to see their loved ones and take a break from work.

We’re not certain why this problem is now bubbling to the surface, seeing as how they were probably halfway through the quality control process that was designed to ensure that the models were in top-notch condition prior to being shipped out. We recognize this is a major source of income for the diecast aircraft manufacturer so we hope that this delay will be the last and enable them to get back to business producing first class models. Needless to say if Calibre intends to produce a second B-58 Hustler, they will need to devote more time to inspecting each model before announcing a release date, particularly since these models are fetching what can best be described as a king’s ransom in today’s market.

Moving on to other matters, it appears as if 2025 will go down as the driest year for product releases on record, with many manufacturers either delaying the release of their merchandise or continuing to take a wait-and-see stance to gauge what happens with the Trump tariffs now being ruled on by the Supreme Court. Bear in mind that even if the Court strikes down the tariffs, it will be some time before manufacturers can ramp up production and tackle the new year. Workers were laid off or sought work elsewhere, meaning it will be awhile before they can ratchet up production and resume business as usual.

Earlier today, we learned that Corgi’s last set of 2025 releases are now slated to arrive in late December, barring any further delays. Likewise, the latest items from Hobby Master and Panzerkampf are supposed to arrive in late November, although nothing is set in stone. As we have indicated in our newsletters and web site posts, please do not hang your hat on the arrival of fourth quarter releases as gifts for the holidays. We don’t want to disappoint, but the fact of the matter is we are being as forthright as possible and aren’t going to field complaints when we have absolutely nothing to do with these endless push backs.

Takeaway: Manufacturers and distributors alike are feeling the impact of the Trump Administration tariffs. Product is being delayed and prices are being increased to reflect the additional import charges.