AntoineG

1943 – Flugplatz Lille-Vendeville – Messerschmitt Me-410 This year is easier. Indeed, both references mentioned the same unit at the same time: V/KG2 equipped with Messerschmitt Me-410. In addition, this is also an option offered by FineMolds in one of their Me-410 boxing. Lucky me, I had one in my stash but for the reconnaissance version (with parts for the fighter bomber version). After a quick email exchange with the manufacturer, I was able to purchase one spare decal sheet for the scheme I was looking for (thanks again to Hiro). In term of documentation, once again I will use a Replic and also Mushroom volume on Me-210 and Me-410. Cheers, Antoine

1942 – Flugplatz Lille-Vendeville Year 1942 is even more tricky than 1941. It seems that IV/KG53 was based there at that time. But again, only Bruno Bonduelle book provides that information. Another information that can be found it that book is a story of aborted sabotage of Messerschmitt aircraft by the local resistance. The plan was to introduce time delayed grenade in the ‘orifice in the tail’. The only Messerschmitt aircrafts I know with ‘orifice in the tail’ is the Bf-109. The only trace of a fighter unit I can found is III/JG26 (thanks to the KIA list). So it looks like we’ve got something. However, as for the KG53 in 1941, I would like to find some more information before taking any decision. Besides, the type of 109 still has to be defined. Would that be an F or an early G? Finally, August 1942 saw the raid on Dieppe. Figuring an aircraft that was involved would be nice. S, still some work on 1942 too.

1941 – Flugplatz Lille-Vendeville German troops arrived at the airfield on 28 May 1940. The first Luftwaffe aircraft, an Henshel Hs.123, landed on 1st June 1940. The base was then used by the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain and saw several different units, among which the KG53. The plan was for the Luftwaffe to use the now named Flugplatz Vendeville as a major base in Northern occupied France. They stayed there for the next four years. Many units were affected to the airfield, especially in the second half of 1940. A few pictures can be found in Lille-Seclin book. Especially one of a Fw-189 in front of the control tower. Unfortunately, it is not possible to read any identification on that aircraft, but I would love to represent it. For the year 1941, it is quite difficult to identify an aircraft type and a unit for the present project. It seems that KG53 equipped with He-111 was based on the airfield from July 1940 until June May 1941. More particularly, the Staffel 4, 5 and 6 of II/KG53. This looked to be confirmed by the KIA list of airmen based at Lille-Vendeville (provided in Appendix of the book). However, on the website ww2.dk, there is no trace of the II/KG53 in Lille-Vendeville. It is given to be based at Lille-Nord instead. So I am now looking for other sources to confirm or not that Lille-Süd was the airbase of II/KG53 in early 1941. Another option seems to be the I/Aufkl GR 22, a reconnaissance group that was equipped with Junkers Ju-88. Once again, the two sources I have provide different information: ww2.dk/ indicates that it is I/Aufkl GR 122 that was based at Lille-Vendeville. But it seems as well that both units were indeed the same but at different dates. In addition, the book contradicts itself as it mentioned both I/Aufkl GR 22 and I/Aufkl GR 122 being based at the airfield at the same time. So, it should probably be I/Aufkl GR 122. Now, what type of aircraft the I/Aufkl GR 122 operated in early 1941? While digging into http://www.luftwaffedata.co.uk, I found out that this unit might have been equipped with Junkers Ju-88 D-2 . D-2 were A-5 that were modified for reconnaissance, with the underwing dive brakes removed and camera ports in the rear bomb bay doors. A-5 were A-1 with new extended wings, like the A-4 and with Jumo 211B, G or H, unlike the A-4 which is equipped with Jumo 211J with a prominent fairing under the engine. Having a Ju-88A-4 in my stash, that means I would have to do some (heavy) adaptation, either using Blackbird Model for Italeri A-4 or starting from the incoming A-1 from Revell. Long story short, the Ju88 D-2 option would be a difficult jouney. So, for 1941, the model is still to be decided.

1940 – Lille-Seclin airfield – Hurricane Mk.I On 5 November 1939, Lille Vendeville airfield that is renamed Lille-Seclin by its new hosts is the home of the 60th Wing composed of the 85 and 87 Squadrons a. Both are part of the Air Component of the British Expeditionary Force. In addition to those fighter squadrons, two other units are based at Lille-Seclin airbase: the 615 Squadron equipped with Gladiators at that time and the Special Survey flight equipped with at least a Blenheim IV and a specially modified Spitfire PR1A. The RAF remains on the airfield until 19th May 1940. This period of time was the starting point of this project. As already mentioned, Airfix proposes for its latest 1/72 Hurricane Mk.I two schemes for 85 Sq aircraft during their time at Lille-Seclin. I completed that kit a couple of years ago and it can be found in the RFI section of this forum. Note that the squadron marking is incorrectly placed. It should be turned so that edges are at 12, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 o'clock. A few pictures dated 1939, in particular those taken during the visit of King Georges VI on 6th December 1939, show that the Hurricanes from the 85 Sq. and 87 Sq. were equipped with a two-blade propeller at that time. Other non-dated pictures show Hurricanes equipped with a three-blade propeller. To represent an aircraft at a time around April/May 1940 (as planned for my project), using a three-blade propeller as proposed by Airfix can be a safe guess. I hope it is as this is how my Hurricane is completed. If not, building another of Airfix Hurricane would be my pleasure as it is really a very nice kit. Cheers, Antoine

Hi, Not a lot of progress since last time as I spent half of my modelling time looking for the PE head-up display frame that decided it was a ejector seat… Fortunately, it misfired and after checking half of my workbench it appears it was still in the cockpit… Well, you know the story. Any way, it is back in place with its glass installed. Not sure of the green colour, but I like it this way. Now the windshield is in place and the glue drying. Getting ready for the Light Gull Grey On the anticipation side, I have tried to find the best green paint for the tail and the nose. By comparing my stock with the decal sheet, the closest colour that is available to me during the lockdown is Gunze H26 (second from the left on the picture). Cheers, Antoine

1939 – Mureaux 115. The Mureaux 115 and 117 were observation aircrafts developed in France in the early ‘30s. In 1932, it was a very good aircraft. In 1939, it was another story. Fortunately for its crews, they were being replaced by the more modern Potez 63.11. The GAO (Groupe Aérien d’Observation) 501 equipped with the Mureaux 115 in 1938 and arrived at Lille Vendeville on 3rd September 1939 with nine serviceable Mureaux. It started to receive the new Potez in December 1939 and was fully operational on that type in May 1940. Model wise, there is no injected kit enabling to build a Mureaux 115. Heller is proposing the Mureaux 117. That will be the base. The adaptation will be made thanks to Renaissance resin kit. Icing on the cake: Renaissance proposes also a decal sheet for the Mureaux 115 that enables a GAO501 scheme, when it was based at Lille airbase. In term of documentation, there is a few builds that can be found on other forums. In addition, I’ve dig out a Replic magazine. I’ve also purchase French Wing n°3. I was lucky to find it has they are quite rare now. Cheers, Antoine

Hi, While the detailing work on the cockpit continues, I have applied a first layer of white on the underside and the moving surfaces. The tanks were also painted. The nose landing gear bay is still quite bare. I intend to add some details when I install the landing gear as most of the work will be to add actuators. I have also painted the inner side of the main bay doors. Most are ok but some will need some additional finishing. No picture today but I will take one when all doors (including the nose one) are completed. Cheers, Antoine

Hello, This project has been in my head for some time now. It all started with the assembly of Airfix latest Hurricane Mk.I in 1/72. The proposed scheme is for an aircraft from the 85 Squadron, when it was part of the Advanced Air Sticking Force, based at Lille-Seclin in France. From there my mind wandered and I started wondering if the base was operational all along the war. After digging what I could on the internet (www.ww2.dk, IWM.org.uk just to mention a couple), it appears that this base was quite active. To support my research, I also procured a very detailed book on the airbase that has become today Lille International Airport: “LILLE-LESQUIN, d'hier à aujourd'hui” from Pierre-Antoine COUROUBLE. Thank to those sources, I was able to identify a few aircrafts and squadrons that were based there. Hence, I decided to build one aircraft per year of the war, targeting the early part of each year. Even if the war was not declared in early 1939, I still decided to include that year as it enables me to represent a French aircraft. 1940 is already represented by the RAF and the Hawker Hurricane. From 1941 to 1944, the airbase was called Lille-Süd and occupied by Luftwaffe units. In 1945, the RAF was back on that airfield that was now called B-51. So, the plan is (date – airbase name – Aircraft – unit): · 1939 – Lille Vendeville – Les Mureaux 115 – GAO 501 · 1940 – Lille Seclin – Hawker Hurricane Mk.I – 85 Sq · 1941 – Lille Süd – TBD · 1942 – Lille Süd – TBD · 1943 – Lille Süd – Messerschmitt Me410 – V/KG2 · 1944 – Lille Süd – Focke-Wulf Fw190A-6 – I/JG26 · 1945 – B-51 – DeHavilland Mosquito NF.XIII – 604 Sq As you can see, I still haven’t identified aircrafts and squadrons for 1941 and 1942. There will probably be a Heinkel He111, potentially from IV/KG53 in 1942 but it is difficult to confirm. Some sources tells that IV/KG53 was based in Lille-Nord... And then, what version of the He111? In addition, there is a couple of picture in P-A COUROUBLE book that shows an Focke-Wulf Fw189B in front of the control tower. Unfortunately, it is not possible to read the ID of that aircraft nor to date it. Anyway, I should dig it out as Fw-189 would be a nice touch (especially as I have one waiting on my shelf of doom). More on the models in the next post. In the ,meantime, if anyone has information to share on years 1941 and 1942, it would be more than appreciated. Cheers, Antoine

Hi, Engraving on the aircraft belly is now completed. Probably not 100% accurate but good enough for me. A few lines remain to work on on the wing and it will be ready for the paint stage. But before moving to the spray booth, it is also time to finish the cockpit with the gunsight and a few details. As I am getting short of cleaning agent for my airbrush (aka nail varnish remover – out of stock at my delivery shop), I’m trying to optimise the paint session. Hence, I’ve also started working on the frame of the rear canopy as it will be paint in black as well. As the paint stage approaches, I’m starting to look at the paint to use. For the white, it will be Tamiya flat white. I think it is the best white to airbrush on large surfaces. For the Gull Gray FS36440, it will be Gunze H325 (it covers much better than H315 that is supposed to be the same shade in gloss instead of satin). The big question is for the green. Italeri quotes FS34151. I can’t find any direct equivalent and the pictures found on iinternet show a shade of green a bit different from Italeri decal. It won’t be easy to decide. If anyone has a suggestion, it will be welcome. Cheers, Antoine

Hello, The detailing work continues with the main landing gear doors. They do have different shapes and brackets on their inner faces. But the first task is to remove them properly from the sprue. As you can see, the interface is a bit crude. With that done, channels for the actuators are engraved on the rear doors while the recessed areas on the main lower door are corrected. Finally, some brackets are added on the main upper door and position hole drilled into the fuselage to ensure their fixation will be robust. There are still a few actuators and links to be added to get closer to reality. Sometime, it looks like it is a never-ending job. There is always something to add and/or correct. I’m far from the “short” built I anticipated back in January. Fortunately, dry fitting made the hours spend on those details worth it (eventhough macro picture is not kind with approximation...) Thanks Andre @Hook for the precision on part 10G. It has now been added. Same for part 9G. Indeed that trap door seems to be open (partially or fully) on the ground most of the time. Hence, the front end of 9G was thinned until it looks like a trap door and not just like a raised panel. I think it is time now for a fresh drink. Cheers, Antoine

Hi, This morning, it was the first time for the Corsair to stand on its wheels. This was to try out its attitude, and more specifically, the length of its new nose landing gear. Looks adequate when compared to pictures of the actual beast. While the PVA glue was drying, I worked on the external fuel tanks to improve their attachment to the pylons. Using the attachment “fingers” as a reference, holes where drilled in both tank and pylon. Then little round sections are used to link both parts. This will be particularly helpful during the paint stage. Cheers, Antoine

Hi, It is now time to deal with the nose landing gear. In the process of shaping the bay, the fitting system proposed by Italeri had been removed. So a brand new has to be created. I’ve used for that a spare sprue T section. It was fattened to match the landing gear fitting diameter, sanded into shape and axles were attached on both sides, using round sections. This part represents the main fitting head onto which the landing gear is attached and that ensures its interface to the fuselage. To make it more robust, ø1mm holes were drill on both part and some round section added. When the glue will be applied, all three parts will “fuse” into one solid assembly. Before gluing, some dry tests were made to adjust the length of the leg. For the time being, a fair amount has been removed. I’ll check the aircraft attitude on all legs to confirm. Sorry, no pictures yet as the PVA glue that will temporarily maintain the main legs in position is still drying. In the meantime, some work has been done to detail a bit the front landing gear. In particular for today, the arm that links to the catapult has been hollowed. It is still not 100% accurate, but it has now a less crude look. Finally, you can see on detailed pictures of the real aircraft that that arm has a special recess location when the gear is retracted. I tried to reproduce that recess, just in front of the NLG bay. It is a bit tricky as one doesn’t want to drill through the plastic that has already been thinned by a few sanding cessions. Still some work to do to get a good result, but you'll see my progress on the picture (yes, ther has been an "incident"....) This is all for today. Take care, Antoine

Hi! First, I would like to wish you all a very good Easter . I hope you and your family are all fine. Now, with regards to the A7 big mouth, I think I got an good result . Good enough for not trying to improve it anymore. I was really getting bored with it. But in the end, I think it was worth it. To get that result, I try first to use a round file around which I rolled some sand paper. It worked well but it was a bit too sharp and it created some holes in the plastic (imagine my frustration when, after sanding the super glue down, I discover a big 2mm wide cavity in the mouth). After that happened twice, I decided to create my own sanding tool. You can probably guess where it was coming from. It allowed a much smother (wet) sanding that helped getting the final result. One positive side effect was that all those sanding sessions helped to thin the lips down. Looks much better now. With the mouth done, I started gluing some stuff again , concentrating on the details on the fuselage provided by Italeri. One trap that I could have avoided if I had read the instruction thoroughly was the position holes for the air refuelling probe . It looks that the position for two holes are prepared on the inside of the fuselage, but there is no instruction to actually drill them through. Fortunately, with the pictures you can find on internet, it was easy to correct. There are also two “appendix “ I won’t add. I will scribe their locations instead. Part 9G is indeed a trap door that can or cannot be opened on the ground. Same for part 10G that, I think, represents some retractable landing light. It can be seen on some picture or not. As both parts are quite crude, they will go to the spare box. That’s all for today, but I will be probably be back much sooner next time. Cheers and stay safe, Antoine

Hi Guys, You might be wondering what the h*** was I doing with this kit. Actually, I am having a very painful time trying to remove all the seam marks on the kit: on the back, at the wing roots, on the belly and ,the most painful, in the mouth. For that last one, I am the only one to blame though… Nevertheless, it is taking me ages. And when I think everything’s good, a layer of paint reveals another seam…. It looks like it is never ending. And to be honest, if this was not a WIP with you guys, I might have switch completely to another model… On the positive side, the Sidewinders are ready. One would notice that I haven’t represented the little boxy stuff at the back corner of the tails. This is beyond my competencies (which is currently limited by my patience ….) So now, I’ll go back to my liquid superglue tube and erase those seams, hopefully once and for all! Cheers, Antoine

Thanks @Vultures1

Good morning, Hope you are all doing fine in those terrible days. Thank you @CT7567 for your advises and the references. After several sessions of filling and sanding, the inlet duct has reached a satisfactory enough stage and is ready now for some primer. Looking at the picture, I may try to smooth the leading edge of the inlet where it joins with the fuselage. It is difficult to see that with your eyes only, but pictures are with no pity. I've also completed one missile. I'll finish the second one and will apply a layer of Tamiya mat white as primer. Hopefully I'll be able to show you some pictures before the end of the weekend. Cheers and keep safe, Antoine

Maybe this is better?

Hello gentlemen, No picture of the beast tonight. The filling and sanding continue. It is especially difficult in the mouth. @Vultures1: in fact, filling is sanding is NOT the most interesting part of model making to me. I was trying to be ironic.... Looks like I need to work my joke-making... I don't know for you guys, but I always have some "down" times in building models. It could happen before closing fuselage, before or during a particularly difficult paint scheme.... and always during the filling and sanding phase, especially if it taking too much time. Presenting the WIP on the forum helps me to keep the momentum. Anyway, between to sanding session, waiting for the putty to dry completly - I tried to let it dry for at least 24h - I try to progress on the missiles. @Vladan Dugaric, @CT7567 thanks for your info. It helps me. The scheme I am targeting now it the green tail Fist of the Fleet. The shade of blue of the Greek decals looks inadequate to my eyes. And as I was already hesitating between the two schemes, it was not difficult to change my mind. Italeri indicates that this aircraft was operating in 1980. So I believe the variant should be a D, G or H. Am I right? I started working on the front winglets. The trailing edge angle might be a bit to sharp, doesn't it? For the rear wings, I'm hesitating between cutting new ones or thining down Hasegawa one.I'll see what I'll do tomorrow One the picture you can also see the nice ejection mark on the missile body. There's a good chance it will remain there and simply be hidden by the missile pylon. Cheers, Antoine

Thank you Steve. With the fuselage closed, it was time to glue the wings. To be sure that the alignment will be good, I temporarily glued the main landing gear legs with PVA glue. Then I glued one wing at the time, making sure I have a good enough angle. To be honest, I am far from being sure that the angle is compliant but at least, both wings look symmetrical. It is time now to enter to maybe one of the interesting part of the modelling: filling and sanding. Amazingly, there isn't much filling needed. While the putty is drying, I started looking at the small elements. The first one is the Sidewinder. Before moving on, I'd like to make a small disclaimer: I'm far from being a missile expert, so please do not believe me! Check your own references. The one I used were: https://www.ausairpower.net/TE-Sidewinder-94.html: here I understand that only AIM-9D, G and H were used by the Navy Hasegawa air to air weapon box that provides both AIM-9 B, D, E, J, and L https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/scratch-built-aim-9-sidewinder-rocket.136447/ and a couple other websites (including Wikipedia) that I don't remember... Based on those, I decided to use Hasegawa AIM-9D as it is plausible for this A-7E to have carried it. In addition, the one provided by Italeri looks more like.... hum... well, I don't know..... Some adjustments on the missile need to be done anyway. In particular, I will thin the winglet down and reshape the front one. Cheers, Antoine

Hello chaps, Some good "but slow" progresses this week. It is indeed time to close the fuselage and I guess, everything's ready: cockpit: ok air inlet: ok nose landing gear bay: ok jet exhaust: ok optional holes opened: ok nose weight: oups... to be added. For this last point, I cut a roughly circular part, painted one side in cockpit grey H337 and glued it just before the cockpit parts. Then, the front nose was filled with fishing lead, glued using PVA glue. A quick test over a pencil to check the equilibrium of the model equipped with its main elements demonstrated it was ok. I also checked the junction between the scratch built inlet trunk and the kit part. Considering the potential sanding work at this location, I decided to glue an addition layer of curve plastic. This will prevent sanding through the plastic.... in theory. Now that the check list was completed, time to close. Before gluing, some dry fit helped to prepare the adjustment. When happy enough, glue was applied and both half fuselages pressed hard together. A quick check of the scratch built parts showed a good fit at the air inlet and at the rear bulkhead of the cockpit. On the other hand, the nose landing gear bay will require some work. But nothing that can't be solve with some plastic sheets. Cheers, Antoine

Hi guys, It has been some hard time for me since my last post. Thanks to you for your comments. They helped brightening my days. I’ve been slowly returning back to the workbench and hope to keep this return steady. So where are we now with this rogue Corsair? By progressing baby step by baby step, it is getting closer to the gluing of the fuselage halves. The cockpit has been painted in grey (Gunze H337), then in black for the consoles. To highlight the details, a drybrush using very pale grey was applied and a few patch of ‘colour’ added. I quoted “colour” as, according to the pictures I could find, the cockpit of the A-7 is quite dark. Same for the seat: three shades of grey, some green and a bit of black. The only bright colour is for the ejection handles. I also added a strip a plastic on each cockpit side. The inlet tube was sprayed matt white and closed using some black painted plastic. Fishing weights were added between the cockpit tube and the inlet. It will not be enough to a prevent tail seater but it is a start. Finally, the ribs on the inside of the fuselage around the engine exhaust were finalised and the area painted interior green (Gunze H58). A layer of matt varnish was applied to seal everything and it helps seeing the cockpit details. With that done, I think I have everything ready to move to the next step and close the fuselage. Well spotted! There are indeed parts to represent the inlet of the duct. But their section is square and does not provide an accurate representation of the real inlet that is more pointed. This is something I’ll have to correct when finishing the inlet. Have a nice evening! Antoine

Hi Twinpin, You are right to mention the instruments. I usually build/assemble/detail/paint the instrument panel separately as it is much easier (mostly because of access; in 1/72, things can be quite small) Italeri does provide some decals to represent that instrument panel and the side consoles. From my humble point of view, they may be qualified as acceptable. As I am planning to install the canopy in an open position, I intend to use Eduard panels that look much better. A bit of the surprise, the instruments themselves are not provided on a transparent acetate support but on paper. This is a first for me with Eduard. The level of detail looks the same, with some colour added to it. So i'm looking forward seeing all in place. Hope this answers your question. Cheers, Antoine

Hi, As planned, I started painting this weekend. Nothing really fancy yet. The session was for a first layer of grey (Gunze H337) for the cockpit. I also used it to spray the area I’ve worked on to check for obvious issues. So far so good… There was one location that I forget to prepare before closing the fuselage halves: the rear fuselage around the exhaust pipe. It is indeed an area that can be seen easily. So here it is, some more detailing with stretched sprues… Well it won’t be square section ribs but, hopefully, it will look the part. Cheers, Antoine

Hi guys! @Vultures1, glad to read you back too. @Nikolay Polyakov thanks for your comments and welcome on-board! I've continue the work in the cockpit, first by reproducing the triangular shape behind the seat. The seat has also been fattened, especially at the top that was a bit tinny to my humble opinion. With the addition of Eduard photoetch, it looks quite convincing. Even though the shape of some harnesses could be improved... Now that this is done, it is time to put the airbrush back on and start to paint… but this is for this weekend… Cheers, Antoine

Hi guys, The last three weeks have been very busy and I was kept away from the workbench by too many travels. By chance, I had some time to come across the A-7D I built years ago. Same origin (ESCI), nice ANG colour scheme airbrushed freehand and inlet duct done using rolled paper. The latest worked fine until the NLG bay. Nevertheless, I remember having a good time building it and, even if it won’t win any contest, it still looks ok to me. I was able to get back to the new Corsair this weekend and continued where I left it. While everything was enclosed within both fuselage halves, I took the opportunity to close the NLG bay and to represent the reinforcements of the inlet duct. Not really the ‘H’ shape of the real one, but that’s the best I could do. I will finish to dress it once the fuselage halves are glued together and that the filling/sanding phase is over. With that done, it was time to remove everything and start working on the cockpit tube. Side consoles are from Eduard Zoom offering. The control column was also rebuilt as the one from the kit has a square section. Would you imagine flying a high performance jet with a square stick in your hand? So, its lower half was shortened by 1mm and the top half removed and replaced by a section of control column coming from the spare box, the junction being bevelled like on the true one. Not 100% accurate but at least you can put a hand around it. Work also started on the seat that needs to move forward and to get some ‘fat’ on its back. Work still on going, so hopefully some pictures next time. Cheers, Antoine