1940s

They say necessity is the mother of invention.  If so, then in the 1940s, the United States, Great Britain, Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany certainly had a need to invent.  Engaged in an epic struggle for control of nothing less than the fate of humankind, the Allies and Axis powers produced a dizzying array of innovative, radical and very often ridiculous-looking aircraft designs intended to achieve military air superiority. 

Although the Second World War ended in 1945, the race for aerial supremacy did not.  No sooner were Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan defeated than the United States and Soviet Union entered the "Cold War," a period of intense political and technological one-upsmanship that prompted, among other things, the rapid development of new and increasingly more sophisticated combat aircraft.  This was the decade that saw the first jets.  The first rocket-powered interceptors.  The breaking of the sound barrier.  And the first use of the term "X-Plane." 

More than a half-century later, the 1940s remains one of the most popular decades for plastic model manufacturers and their customers eager to recapture the romance and daring of this unique decade.

CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

NORTHROP NM-1 "JEEP" (1940)

- SWORD MODELS -

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MESSERSCHMITT Me163 "KOMET" (1941) 

- HAWK MODELS -

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JUNKERS JU-322 "MAMMUT" (1941)

- HBM MODELS -

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MILES M.35 "LIBELLULA" (1942)

 - KORA MODELS -

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JUNKERS JU-187 "SUPER STUKA" (1942)

- UNICRAFT MODELS -

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VULTEE X-54 "SWOOSE GOOSE" (1943)

- PLANET MODELS -

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NORTHROP JB-1 (1943)

- MUROC MODELS -

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Tikhonravov I-302P Rocket Plane (1943)

- A MODEL -

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MESSERSCHMITT Me163 S-1 "HABICHT" (1944)

- DRAGON MODELS -

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HEINKEL He162A "SALAMANDER" VOLKSJÄGER (1944)

- THE LINDBERG LINE -

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HORTEN Ho-229-A1 "GOTHA" (1944)

- DRAGON MODELS -

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DORNIER Do-335-A V6"ARROW"  (1944)

- REVELL MODELS -

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SACK AS6 V.1 (1944) 

- SPECIAL HOBBY -

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FIESELER 103 "REICHENBERG" R-IV (1945)

- HELLER MODELS -

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YOKOSUKA MXY-7 OKHA "BAKA" (1945) 

- HAWK MODELS -

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  KYUSHU J7W1 "SHIDEN"(1945) 

- HAWSEGAWA MODELS -
 

MESSERSCHMITT P-1101 (1945) 

- HUMA MODELL -

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LIPPISCH DM-1 (1945)

- MASTER X -

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DFS-346 Supersonic RECONNAISSANCE Aircraft  (1945)

-HUMA MODELL -

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BELL X-1 (1947)

- REVELL MODELS -

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MIG I-270 (1947)

- A MODEL -

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SAUNDERS-ROE SRA/1 (1947)

- PLANET MODELS -

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DOUGLAS D-558-1 "SKYSTREAK" (1947)

- MEIKRAFT MODELS -

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McDONNELL XF-85 "GOBLIN" (1948)

- MPM -

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CONVAIR XF-92A "DART" (1948)

- HAWK MODELS -

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DOUGLAS D-558-2 "SKYROCKET" (1948)

- REVELL MODELS -

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NORTHROP X-5 "BANTAM" (1948)

- MPM -

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Bisnovat "Samolyot 5-2" (1949)

- UNICRAFT MODELS -

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AVRO 707A (1949)

- PROJECT X -

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