Operation SQUABBLE

[Wizzel]

On 12th June 1942, a daring low level raid was flown over Paris by a single Bristol Beaufighter.  Today is the 75th anniversary of Operation SQUABBLE and here is my tribute - not to scale - of part of the raid that caught my imagination; the dropping of part of a tricolore over the Arc de Triomphe.

 

The Beaufighter is a Mark One models 1/144 scale Bristol Beaufighter Mk 1C, the Arc de Triomphe is one of those etched metal things that you slot together and works out about 1/400 scale, the flag is a piece of clear plastic packaging that I cut into a rectangle and held over a tea light until it softened and I then set about it with my pliers.  All 3 elements are held together by plastic coated garden wire which is slotted through the Arc (difficult with all those bends around the inside of the towers) and into a hole in the wooden base which I cut out and varnished from a spare bit of pine.  Around the edge are pictures of German troops marching along the Champs Elysee which are overlaid on a red white and blue strip and at the front centre are photographs of Flt Lt AK Gatwood (pilot) and Sgt GF Fern (navigator) with a reproduction front page of the raid taken from a French newspaper.

 

The Beaufighter kit was excellent in all respects and any poor fit of the parts are of my making.  It was my first attempt at making anything this complicated at 1/144 scale and I gained a lot from it.  I look forward to my next Mark One kit as they really are wonderful.  I haven't quite got the skill to fix the antenna wire in 1/144 scale yet (or maybe it was the lack of forward planning by not drilling the a hole in the fin for it?) but I reckon that doesn't quite disqualify me for putting it in the "Ready for Inspection" section rather than "Work in Progress".

 

A bit about the flag that you may find amusing; when I had mutated the bit of plastic into a "fluttery flag shape", I glued it to the wire and then painted the whole thing white.  Once it was dry, I carefully measured it into 3 equal segments (THAT BIT IS IMPORTANT) and painted the centre bit that would remain white with Humbrol Maskol.  I then painted the blue and red stripes, one at each end.  When it was time to unpeel the masking, I happened to have Radio 4 on in the background.  Brain of Britain was playing.  As I pulled the last bit of dried Maskol off and sat admiring the finished result, I heard the following question being asked:  "In relation to France, what do the numbers 30, 33 and 37 represent?"  Imagine my horror when the answer was revealed.  They are the proportions of blue, white and red respectively on the French flag!!!  Apparently, if the colours were all the same size, if would look "wrong" as the further from the pole you get, the smaller the sections look so as a result, the white is marginally wider than the blue and the red is marginally wider than the white.  Oh well, I wasn't planning on entering it into any competitions anyhow.  It seems France is unique in taking this view though.  Italy and Belgium for example are quite happy with equal thirds.

 

Edited June 13, 2017 by Wizzel
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[Gorby]

Lovely little display, well done! The bit about the flag made me laugh.

[Gimme Shelter]

what a great model/diorama - love the way you have tipped the flag into the Beau - brilliant idea