Goodyear K-type Blimp ‘Fleet Defender’
Goodyear K-type Blimp ‘Fleet Defender’
Mark I Models 1:720
This injection-moulded kit contains 17 parts, including a mobile mooring mast. A towing tractor (4 resin parts) is provided. For modeller’s convenience a display base, made of pasteboard card, depicting a section of the military airfield is added. A comprehensive instruction leaflet and a decal sheet are included.
Colour schemes included in the kit:
1) Goodyear ZNP-K-74 (K-type) Blimp, BuNo 30196, Blue K-74, Airship Patrol Squadron ZP-21/Blimp Squadron ZP-21 (Blimpron 21), Airship Patrol Group 2 (APG 2)/Fleet Airship Wing 2 (FASW 2), Fleet Airships Atlantic (FASA), US Navy, Naval Air Station Richmond, Det. NAS Key West, Florida, U.S.A., June/July 1943
2) Goodyear ZNP-K-112 (K-type) Blimp, BuNo 33504, Blue K-112, Blimp Squadron ZP-14 (Blimpron 14, “The Africa Squadron”), Fleet Airship Wing 1 (FASW 1), Fleet Airships Atlantic (FASA), US Navy, Craw Field, Naval Air Station Port Lyautey, French Morocco, North Africa, July 1944 and Cuers-Pierrefeu Naval Air Base (Base d’aéronautique navale, BAN), Var Department, France, September/October 1944
3) Goodyear ZNP-K-134 (K-type) Blimp, BuNo not received, Blue K-134, Blimp Squadron ZP-14 (Blimpron 14, “The Africa Squadron”), Fleet Airship Wing 1 (FASW 1), Fleet Airships Atlantic (FASA), US Navy, Craw Field, Naval Air Station Port Lyautey, French Morocco, North Africa, summer 1944 and La Sénia airfield, Oran, Algeria, North Africa, December 1944
| Ref. No.: | MKM720-10 |
| Availability: | IN STOCK |
Goodyear K-type Blimp ‘Fleet Defender’
Description
Non-rigid airships (or blimps) were the first types of lighter-than-air craft. Since the turn of the 20th century, they have been employed on a large scale by armed forces and also engaged commercially.
The Goodyear Aircraft Company, the foremost producer of airships in the United States, produced a series of K-class airships which became the backbone of the US Navy’s airship fleet in WWII. Developed from earlier 1930s designs, the prototype ZNP-K-2 first flew in December 1938 and the production was started two years later. A total of 134 airships in four production batches had been built by the end of 1944.
The K-type airship consisted of a fabric covered envelope containing the lifting gas and two internal ballonets. It was fitted with vertical tailfins and horizontal tailplanes with control surfaces. The crew was carried in a control car (gondola), attached flush to the underside of the envelope. It was fitted with a forward firing Browning M2 machine gun while four Mk.47 depth charges could be mounted on two external carriers and in an internal bomb bay. Radar and magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) equipment was also fitted. The ship was powered by two Pratt & Whitney Wasp engines, turning tractor propellers.
The K-type blimps were used for anti-submarine patrols and convoy escorts in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas. Post-war, the Navy’s LTA programme continued, with many ships modified with more advanced electronics, radar search systems and increased capacity envelope. In 1947, the upgraded ships were designated ZP2K and ZP3K and after 1954 they became ZSG-2 and ZSG-3, respectively. The last K-class airship retired in March 1959.
Products purchased together with this product
Goodyear K-type Blimp ‘Early Production’
Mark I Models 1:720
This injection-moulded kit contains 17 parts, including a mobile mooring mast. A towing tractor (4 resin parts) is provided. For modeller’s convenience a display base, made of pasteboard card, depicting a section of the military airfield is added. A comprehensive instruction leaflet and a decal sheet are included.
Colour schemes included in the kit:
1) Goodyear ZNP-K-3 (K-type) Blimp, BuNo 7025, Blue K-3, Airship Patrol Squadron ZP-12, Airship Patrol Group 1 (APG 1), US Navy, Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, U.S.A., early 1942
2) Goodyear ZNP-K-6 (K-type) Blimp, BuNo 7028, Blue K-6, Airship Patrol Squadron ZP-12, Airship Patrol Group 1 (APG 1), US Navy, Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, U.S.A., spring 1942
3) Goodyear ZNP-K-28 (K-type) Blimp, BuNo 04378, Blue K-28, Blimp Squadron ZP-24 (Blimpron 24), Fleet Airship Wing 1 (FASW 1), Fleet Airships Atlantic (FASA), US Navy, Naval Air Station Weeksville, North Carolina, U.S.A., summer 1944
Zeppelin R-class ‘Super-Zeppelin’
Mark I Models 1:720
This injection-moulded kit contains 49 parts, including a useful model stand. A comprehensive instruction leaflet and a decal sheet are included.
Colour schemes included in the kit:
1) Zeppelin LZ75 (R-class), L37, Black L37, Naval Airship Division (Marine-Luftschiff-Abteilung), Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine), Seerappen Airship Base, spring 1917
2) Zeppelin LZ80 (R-class), L35, Black L35, Naval Airship Division (Marine-Luftschiff-Abteilung), Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine), Jüterbog Airship Base, Germany, February 1917
3) Zeppelin LZ80 (R-class), L35, White L35, Naval Airship Division (Marine-Luftschiff-Abteilung), Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine), Jüterbog Airship Base, Germany, June 1917
4) Zeppelin LZ85 (R-class), L45, Naval Airship Division (Marine-Luftschiff-Abteilung), Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine), Tøndern Airship Base, Denmark, spring 1917
Zeppelin S, T & U-class ‘Height Climbers’
Mark I Models 1:720
This injection-moulded kit contains 53 parts, including a useful model stand. A comprehensive instruction leaflet and a decal sheet are included.
Colour schemes included in the kit:
1) Zeppelin LZ92 (S-class), L43, White L43, Naval Airship Division (Marine-Luftschiff-Abteilung), Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine), Ahlhorn Airship Base, Germany, mid-April ‒ mid-June 1917
2) Zeppelin LZ93 (T-class), L44, White L44, Naval Airship Division (Marine-Luftschiff-Abteilung), Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine), Ahlhorn Airship Base, Germany, mid-April ‒ 20 October 1917
3) Zeppelin LZ96 (U-class), L49, White L49, Naval Airship Division (Marine-Luftschiff-Abteilung), Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine), Wittmundhafen Airship Base, Germany, mid-July ‒ 20 October 1917
4) Zeppelin LZ98 (U-class), L52, White L52, Naval Airship Division (Marine-Luftschiff-Abteilung), Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine), Wittmundhafen and Nordholz Airship Bases, Germany, late July 1917 ‒ 23 June 1919
HMA R33/R34 (Armstrong Whitworth R33/Beardmore R34) ‘Transatlantic Flyer’
Mark I Models 1:720
This injection-moulded kit contains 35 parts, including a useful model stand. A comprehensive instruction leaflet and a decal sheet are included.
Colour schemes included in the kit:
1) Armstrong Whitworth R33 (His Majesty’s Airship R33), c/n R33, Black R 33, Royal Navy/Royal Air Force, Pulham Airship Experimental Station, Norfolk, March – October 1919
2) Armstrong Whitworth R33 (His Majesty’s Airship R33), c/n R33, Black R 33/G-FAAG, Royal Air Force, Croydon Airport, summer 1921
3) Armstrong Whitworth R33 (His Majesty’s Airship R33), c/n R33, Black R 33/G-FAAG, civilian controlled by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Cardington Airship Station, Bedfordshire and Pulham Airship Experimental Station, Norfolk, April 1925 – November 1926
4) Beardmore R34 (His Majesty’s Airship R34), c/n R34, Black R 34, Royal Navy, East Fortune Airship Station, Scotland, performing the first double crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, July 1919
Goodyear K-type Blimp ‘Special Markings’
Mark I Models 1:720
This injection-moulded kit contains 17 parts, including a mobile mooring mast. A towing tractor (4 resin parts) is provided. For modeller’s convenience a display base, made of pasteboard card, depicting a section of the military airfield is added. A comprehensive instruction leaflet and a decal sheet are included.
Colour schemes included in the kit:
1) Goodyear ZPK-19 (K-type) Blimp, BuNo 04369, Black K-19, Blimp Squadron ZP-2, Fleet Airship Wing 1 (FASW-1), US Navy, Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, U.S.A., seen during the first official celebration of Armed Forces Day at Annapolis, Maryland, on 20 May 1950
2) Goodyear ZSG-3-43 (K-type) Blimp, BuNo 30165, Black 43, Blimp Squadron ZP-2, Fleet Airship Wing 1 (FASW-1), US Navy, Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, U.S.A., recorded during a recruiting circle trip, NAS Moffett Field, California, December 1955
3) Goodyear ZSG-3-125 (K-type) Blimp, BuNo not received, Black K-125, Reserve Patrol Squadron ZP-951, Naval Air Reserve Training Unit (NARTU), LTA (Lighter Than Air), US Navy, Marine Corps Air Facility, Santa Ana, California, U.S.A., summer 1955
