Second World War aviation art prints of the Zero aircraft. Our collection of prints and original paintings of the Zero aircraft of World War Two.
Legend of Colin Kelly by Robert Taylor.
December 10th 1941, Just three days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, captain Colin Kellys 19th BG B-17C is heavily outnumbered by Zeros as it returns to Clark Field after completing a successful bombing attack. With his aircraft on fire. Kelly remained at the controls whilst his crew bailed out. Seconds later the B-17 exploded. Colin Kelly gave his life and was posthumously awarded the DFC. A legend was born.
Supplied with matching numbered print entitled Rising Sun , a study of the Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighter of Japanese 64 victory fighter Ace, Saburo Sakai, signed by Saburo Sakai and initialled by the artist.
Item Code : DHM2154
Legend of Colin Kelly by Robert Taylor. - Editions Available
Australian Ace Dick Cresswell tangles with a Japanese Zero in the humid air of the tropics over New Guinea during an encounter in 1942. Flying a P-40E Kittyhawk with the insignia of 77 Squadron, RAAF blazoned on his aircraft, Cresswell makes a head-on pass leaving the enemy aircraft streaming smoke. Immortalised by the Flying Tigers, the P-40 was a fine combat aircraft that operated in the Pacific, European and Middle East theaters.
Item Code : DHM2111
Combat Over New Guinea by Nicolas Trudgian. - Editions Available
Colin P. Kelly, Americas first hero of WW II, was born in Florida in 1915. He was accepted to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and following graduation Kelly married the former Marian Wick. Kelly received his primary flight instruction at Randolph Field in San Antonio, and after earning his wings he moved across town to Kelly Field for advanced pilot training. Unlike many would-be fighter pilots, Kelly was not disappointed with being assigned as a bomber pilot. Kelly received a letter of commendation from The Secretary of War when he crash landed a Northrop A-17A he was ferrying to Mitchel field in a vacant street in Brooklyn. In September of 1940 Kelly was promoted to Captain, and was assigned to the 42nd Bomb Squadron as commander of a B-17. Kelly trained in Hawaii, and was later made Operations Officer for the 14th Bomb Squadron. In September of 1941 Kelly and his crew flew from Hawaii to Clark Field in the Philippines. The B-17s were an important addition to the woefully i.........
A Japanese Zero condenses the air off its wing tips as its pilot hauls his fighter inside a Marine F4F Wildcats determined attack. The two adversaries cavort the air in a desperate duel high over the island of Guadalcanal. The sky is alive with fighting aircraft as F4Fs and Zeros are locked in deadly combat. Below, clearly visible throught the clear tropical air is the prize over which they do battle: A single tiny airstrip on a small hill, humid, almost uninhabitable island - A priceless possession providing the key to air supremacy in the South Pacific.
Item Code : AX0036
Zero Encounter by Robert Taylor. - Editions Available
The B-32 Dominator was produced by Consolidated Aircraft in parallel with Boeings development of the B-29 Superfortress. While both of these long-range heavy strategic bomber development programs encountered some difficulties, the B-29 was completed sooner, and was ordered in far larger quantities than the B-32. About one hundred Dominators were ultimately built and the aircraft saw some service very late in WW II. Powered by the same engines as the B-29, the B-32 had a distinctive very tall stabilizer. Four B-32s from the 386th BS of the 312th BG based at Yontan, Okinawa were given a three-day photoreconnaissance mission near the end of the War. On the third day of the mission, August 18, 1945, two aircraft were forced to turn back and only two aircraft, the Hobo Queen and the Hobo Queen II made it to Japan. The mission involved photographing an area north and east of Tokyo. The aircraft were unescorted, as the War was for all practical purposes over. As the two aircraft prepared to.........
One of the most successful of the P-38 equipped units was the 475th Fighter Group, Satans Angels, and it is the P-38s of this famous unit that Nicolas Trudgian has portrayed in his tribute to the American Air Forces that made Victory in the Pacific possible. It is March 1945 and the P-38s of the 475th FG are involved in a huge dogfight with Japanese Zeros over the coast of Indo-China. Flying Pee Wee V is Lt Ken Hart of the 431st Fighter Squadron, who has fatally damaged a Zero in a blistering head on encounter. The second P-38 – Vickie – belongs to Captain John Rabbit Pietz, who would end the War an Ace with six victories.
Item Code : DHM2589
Pacific Glory by Nicolas Trudgian. - Editions Available
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Anniversary Edition : Signed limited edition of 350 prints. Full Item Details
Print paper size 35.5 inches x 27 inches (90cm x 69cm)
In 1938 Vought won a contract for what was to become one of the last of the great propeller driven fighter aircraft, the F4U Corsair. Designed to incorporate the most powerful air-cooled radial engine available at the time, the Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp, the Corsair was powerful, heavily armed, ruggedly built, and designed from the onset as a carrier based fighter. The Corsair was fast, and became the first military aircraft to obtain 400 MPH in level flight. The Corsair incorporated the largest three-bladed propeller ever utilized on a single engine aircraft, a unique distinctive gull wing design, and its 2804 cubic inch engine developed a whopping 1800 HP, more than twice the horsepower of the Japanese fighters which dominated the early years of the War in the Pacific. Despite its design emphasis the USN was reluctant to utilize the Corsair for carrier-based operations because of the aircrafts poor pilot visibility during landings. As a result, the Corsair initially entered serv.........
Nicolas Trudgians action packed painting shows an attack on Rabaul during the fall of 1943. B-24 Liberators of the Army Air Force pound the harbor and docks below whilst the Marines Corps pilots of VMF 214 - the famous Black Sheep Squadron - provide top cover in their F4U Corsairs. A fierce dog-fight has developed between the F4U pilots and Japanese Zeros. One Zero, already smoking, begins to roll out of control, while the two F4U pilots turn their attentions on to a second. Below further dog-fights are in progress, the air filled with aerial combat.
Item Code : DHM2116
Gunfight Over Rabaul by Nicolas Trudgian - Editions Available
A new U.S. Navy fighter squadron designated VF-11 was organized in August 1942. The new squadron received several combat tested pilots, and many newcomers, including Vernon E. Graham, a Colorado native. After two months of training in San Diego the new squadron deployed to Maui, where, under the command of Charles Fenton, the squadron commenced a comprehensive training program. While in Hawaii several of VF-11s pilots came up with a squadron insignia which depicted two Grumman F4F Wildcats blasting a rising sun into the Pacific. Thus VF- 11 became known as the Sun Downers. The Sun Downers first combat tour would be land-based, flying out of Guadacanal with the Marines. This was a bit upsetting to some member of the squadron as the Marines were flying the state-of-the-art F4U Corsair, while VF-11 was equipped with the older Grumman F4F Wildcat, an aircraft somewhat inferior in dog fighting capability to the Japanese Zero. During the first several weeks of its first combat tour the Sun .........
As dawn breaks across South Pacific skies, a group of Mitsubishi A6M5 Zeros of the 201st Air Group head outbound from their base at Rabaul on a raiding sortie in November 1944.
For their outstanding contribution to the war in the South Pacific, the Black Sheep were awarded one of only two Presidential Unit Citations accorded to Marine Corps squadrons during the war in the Pacific. With typical mastery, Robert Taylor has brought to life an encounter over Rabaul in late December 1943, paying tribute to one of the US Marine Corps most famous fighter squadrons, and its outstanding leader. With the Japanese airbase at Rabaul visible in the distance, Pappy Boyington and his fellow pilots of VMF-214 tear into a large formation of Japanese Zekes and a series of deadly dogfights have started, one Zeke already fallen victim to their guns.
Item Code : DHM2673
Rabaul - Fly For Your Life by Robert Taylor. - Editions Available
This legendary Zero pilot graduated into the Japanese air force in 1937 and he scored his first victory in the China War. On December 8, 1941, Sakai participated in the raid on Clark Field and, on December 10, led the attack on Kellys B-17. He fought in New Guinea against the 8th Fighter Group, B-26s of the 22nd Bomb Group, and 75 Sqn RAAF. Badly wounded in August 1942 over Guadalcanal he was hospitalized and lost the sight of his right eye. He was pressed back into service and claimed 5 Hellcats in the final days. In over 200 combats, Sakai never lost a wingman and destroyed 64 enemy aircraft. Saburo Sakai is the Highest-scoring Japanese ace to survive the War. Sakal flew with the Imperial Navy as a noncommissioned officer in China where he attained two victories. While stationed at Tainan on Formosa, Sakais unit was involved in the attacks on American airfields in the Philippines shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japanese pilots had developed fuel-saving, low-speed, tactics with their Mitsubishi Zero fighters, which allowed them to make the 1200-mile round-trip flight to the Philippines, while accompanying Japanese bombers. The appearance of Japanese aircraft from bases which were thought to be out of range came as an unpleasant surprise to American forces. During this mission S akal bagged a p-40 over Clark field. During the days that would follow, Sakai's squadron would repeatedly make the long flight to the Philippines to support the advancing Japanese invasion force that was disembarking. On December 10, 1941 while patrolling at 18,000 feet, Sakal saw several bombs explode near Japanese convoy ships. Noticing a lone B-17 Flying Fortress, Sakal and nine other Zeros made for the American Bomber at full throttle. Overtaking the bomber, believed to be the one piloted by Colin Kelly, Sakal and the other Japanese fighters poured fire into the aircraft from behind. Finally, the overmatched bomber began to go down. Eight of its crew bailed out before the aircraft crashed short of Clark Field. Sakal would later have another encounter with b- 1 7s over Borneo. However, these would be later model aircraft fitted with a rear gunner's turret, and would prove to be much more difficult to bring down. In early 1942 Sakai's unit was shifted to supporting the Japanese invasion of Java. Encountering outclassed Brewster Buffaloes, P-36s, P-40s, and some Hurricanes, the Japanese fighter forces wreaked havoc in the skies. Sakai's victory tally rose to thirteen. A few months later Sakal was involved in fighting around Rabaul. This was the first time the Japanese would meet stiff resistance. In many months of fighting the Japanese forces sustained meaningful casualties. On July 22, 1942 Sakal chased a Lockheed Hudson, whose pilot put on a daring series of aerial maneuvers, before finally being downed by the Japanese ace, for his 4C Victory. In late July the morale of the Japanese fighter forces suffered a serious setback with the realization that American carrierbased aircraft were now involved in the battles in New Guinea. The Japanese forces had in fact not obtained the decisive victory that they had been told was achieved at the Battle of Midway. With the American attack on Guadalcanal, Sakai's unit was refocused on flying 11 00-mile escort missions for Japanese Bombers attacking American forces at Guadalcanal. On one of these missions Sakai mistakenly attacked a formations of Avengers. Hit by fire from the rear gunners of the torpedo bombers, Sakal was badly injured, losing sight in one eye. He successfully nursed his aircraft back to Rabaul. After recovering from his injuries, Sakai would be involved as a flight instructor and test pilot until the Japanese surrender. Saburo Sakai passed away 22nd September 2000.
Ishikawa became the first Zero Pilot to be captured by Allies. Lieut. Jack Conger of VFM-212 shot down a Zero and rammed the tail of another on the Dugout Sunday. Conger parachuted but the Japanese pilot crashed with his plane. While Conger was in the water waiting to be rescued the pilot of another enemy plane, Shiro Ishikawa, drifted down and landed within half a mile of him. After the boat picked up Conger the crew went on to rescue Shiro Ishikawa, who had determined not to be rescued. He swam away but the boat overtook him. When he was being hauled on board, he whipped out his pistol to shoot Conger but it did not go off. Then Ishikawa tried to shoot himself, but the pistol again failed to fire. By this time Conger's patience was exhausted so with the help of an enlisted man, knocked Ishikawa unconscious and pulled him into the boat and so the first Zero Pilot was taken prisoner of war. Shiro Ishikawa passed away in December 2002.
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