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British Boston Mk.III (DB-7B) - This is a model of a ground attack bomber that fought against Axis forces in North Africa in 1942. The Boston was derived from the DB-7, a new attack bomber that Douglas showed the U.S. Army in the fall of 1938. Despite the plane's good performance, the Army initially decline to buy any. The French, however, were in the market for military planes and they placed orders for DB-7s in early 1939. The French had received only a few of the planes before the German invasion of 1940, and just 64 of them saw action against the Panzers. After the French surrendered in June, the remainder of their orders were diverted to the British. Most of the DB-7s the French had already received went on to serve with the Vichy French air force in North Africa. The British gave the nickname of Boston to the French versions they received, but they considered the planes unsuitable for use as bombers and converted most of them into night intruders and night fighters and renamed them Havocs. Meanwhile, in early 1940 the British had placed an order with Douglas for their own version of the plane, the DB-7B. They began receiving them in 1941, and called them Boston Mk.IIIs. However, because of Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union in June, 1941, many of the Bostons produced that year were diverted to the Soviet Union through Lend-Lease. When the British finally began to acquire significant numbers of Bostons in 1942, they used them to help replace their Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV bombers. The British also forwarded Bostons to their Commonwealth allies, while an order of Bostons destined for the Dutch air force in the East Indies was diverted to Australia after the Japanese invasion of that Dutch colony in early 1942. |
More Photos: Left, Right, Top, Front, Front Angle Right, Front Angle Left, Rear Angle Right, Rear Angle Left, Above Left, Above Right |
| American A-20G Havoc - This is a model of a ground attack bomber that flew against the Japanese in New Guineau in 1944. The U.S. Army had finally decided to order the new Douglas attack bomber in June, 1939. The engines on some of this initial batch were fitted with turbosuperchargers, in an attempt to make the plane into a high altitude bomber. But the turbosuperchargers were bulky and suffered from cooling problems, so most of these planes, designated as A-20s, were converted to P-70 night fighters. The remainder of the first American order, called A-20As, lacked turbosuperchargers, as did all of the subsequent versions. They were given the British nickname of Havoc and entered service in early 1941. Several newer versions followed. The A-20G version, the most numerous variant, entered service in early 1943. It featured a solid nose bristling with guns, and its rear dorsal gun position was eventually replaced with a power operated machine gun turret. Most of the A-20Gs produced were sent to the Soviet Union through Lend-Lease, and the Soviets eventually became the primary users of the Boston/Havoc in WWII, receiving over 3,000 of the total 7,385 built. The A-20 was the predecessor to the A-26 Invader, which entered service in late 1944. |
More Photos: Left, Right, Front, Rear, Top, Front Angle Right, Front Angle Left, Rear Angle Right, Rear Angle Left, Above Left, Above Right |
Douglas Boston 1/72 Scale Model Kit Box Art
