“We who strike the enemy where his heart beats have been slandered as ‘baby killers’ … Nowadays, there is no such animal as a noncombatant. Modern warfare is total warfare.”
– Peter Strasser, chief commander of the German Imperial Navy Zeppelins during World War I

There are, without question, certain aircraft that have come to symbolize a conflict. The Harrier and Super Entendard are instantly recognizable as the instruments of war during the Falklands Conflict. The Spitfire, P-51 and Bf 109 are, of course, the tools of the Second World War. The B-52, F-4 Phantom II and MiG 21 are synonymous with the Vietnam War.

When it comes to the Great War, most associate the War to End All Wars with the biplane – the flimsy, open cockpit invention that took chivalry to new heights and created an added dimension to modern warfare. But, it was the Zeppelin that struck fear in the hearts of the civilian population, enabling Germany’s Imperial Air Service to bomb cities, docks and industrial targets with relative impunity – or so they thought.

Recognizing its significance on the battlefield of Central Europe, Wings of the Great War has decided to pay homage to this slow and ponderous behemoth by offering its first ever 1:700 scale replica of a Zeppelin (WW19901). The Zeppelin P Class was the first Zeppelin airship type to be produced in quantity after the outbreak of the First World War. Twenty-two of the type were built as well as 12 of a lengthened version, the Q Class. They were used for many of the airship bombing raids on the United Kingdom in 1915-16, for naval patrol work over the North Sea and Baltic and were also deployed on the eastern and south-eastern fronts. 

Look for the Zeppelin to take to the skies this August.