Special Hobby 1/48 L-4/NE-1 Grasshopper "Pacific Warriors" (SH48239)

The Piper L-4 Grasshopper was the US Army’s primary liaison and artillery spotting aircraft of the Second World War — a militarised Piper Cub that served in every theatre from North Africa to the Pacific, flying at low level over enemy positions to direct artillery fire and evacuate wounded. The NE-1 was the US Navy and Marine Corps designation for the same basic aircraft. Fragile, slow, and unarmed, the Grasshopper crews relied entirely on terrain and low altitude to survive, and their contribution to artillery accuracy and battlefield intelligence was far out of proportion to the aircraft’s modest appearance. Special Hobby’s 1/48 kit covers Pacific theatre examples with appropriate markings — a subject that rewards careful work on the fabric-covered surfaces and detailed cockpit interior that the scale makes accessible.

The unarmed spotter over the Pacific — L-4/NE-1 Grasshopper in 1/48 scale.