Aesthete Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 (edited) Dewoitine D.520C1n° 277, GC III/6 5ème escadrille l'armée de l'Air,Rayack (Syria), June 1941,flown by Sous-lieutenant Pierre Le GloanKit: 1/72 Hasegawa Dewoitine D.520 "French Air Force" Afermarket parts : Eduard #72-254 photo-etched detail set (selected parts only) Falcon vac formed canopy (from the set #26 “France WWII”) Corrections & additions made on the kit: The nose air intakes were originally the wrong shape being too narrow at their forward end. This was corrected with plastic inserts and re-shaping. The louvers were added to the intakes as it can be seen on the photos. The under-belly cooler was too narrow and also not curved enough in outline. It was re-shaped by making two cuts in its rear part, repositioning the rear ends of the cooler sides outward and filling the gaps with Mr.Surfacer. The cooler interior (area covered by the cooler) was completely re-worked by cutting out the flat plastic fragment of the lower wing part and making an appropriate niche instead, as it was on the real thing. Therefore, the etched cooler grills by Eduard (designed to fit the kit parts) became just useless and the replacement parts were finally scratch built. The wing area where the cooler is attached was also modified according to the reference photos. The main wheel wells (too shallow and represented totally wrong on the kit) were completely re-worked, in particular, the niches for the landing gear legs. For the wheel well “ceilings” the Eduard parts were used, with some additions though. The kit parts for the landing gear covers were thinned down and modified for correct appearance. This way they still look much better than the flat etched pieces. The incorrect curved representation of the area under the rear view windows behind the cockpit (à la P-40) was removed and replaced by the flat panels at it was the case with the real thing. Some panel lines were added and some were corrected according to the reference photos. The rear view windows (unfortunately, not present with the Falcon set and too thick as kit parts) were therma-formed using the kit-parts as templates. The main wheels were flattened using the surface of the electric cooker. The etched parts for the gun sight were still too big and this one was eventually scratch built as well. I decided to add the ring gun sight as well, since it can be clearly seen on one of the photos showing this a/c. The kit decals were modified according to the reference photos. Edited August 9, 2014 by Aesthete 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notty Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Exquisite work. Love the airborne shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Lovely work there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pascal JMW Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 hello very very nice !!!!! fantastic build ! en plus frenchy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich G Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Really impressive, I really like the clean crisp paint job with just the right level of weathering given that D.520's were all brand new in 1940. Congratulations on a fine build. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Your dedication to the subject certainly paid off. What an ambitious and beautifully rendered project! Pure inspiration. Kind regards, Joachim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Nicely done! You should give classes in 'airborne' photography - I'll be the first to sign up. Cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VG 33 Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Fantastic job. Congratulations. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 A super model - more inspiration for a French GB for 2015? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanuszPL Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Magnifique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HL-10 Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Outstanding work, especially as its 72nd scale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aesthete Posted August 16, 2014 Author Share Posted August 16, 2014 Thanks so much to everyone! More airborne shots to follow soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Fantastic build, and with a great guide for those who want to (try) to match your superb standards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aesthete Posted August 17, 2014 Author Share Posted August 17, 2014 Your feedback is really appreciated!Here are some in-progress shots showing the main areas of corrections: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordfunker Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Lovely looking build. The 520 is such a good looking aircraft, it's a shame it didn't play a greater part in WWII. Karl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winenut Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Brilliant! Great job. I'm quite interested in the French and Italian aircraft of the era. Always look amazing and yours is no exception. For me this aircraft always looks like the marriage of a Spit and a P-40!!??? Well......just putting it out there Cheers bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aesthete Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 Unfortunately, there seems to be not really a lot of French and Italian WWII aircraft fans, let alone 1/72 modellers... This is why we'll probably never see even major types in this scale released by Airfix or Revell, not speaking of Tamiya (not repacks) or Eduard. The (relatively) recent releases of Supermodel upgrades by Italeri is another sad story... At least we are pretty well served wit MPM/Azur keeping them coming in decent quality and there is still a chance that AZ Model might consider releasing a new CR-32 in this century... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 what a great posting - superb line work and a great colour scheme - top marks to you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatbox8 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Excellent build. Looks 1/48th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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