Caudron C.714R 'Deutsch de la Meurthe' Racer

[Courageous]

Hi BM'ers,

Here is my first completion of 2020 and a slog it was too. First some detail.

 

The Caudron racer was a new racer that was designed to participate in the Deutsch de la Meurthe Race of 1939. The new design had the wing of a C.560, the fuselage of a modified C.712 and fitted with a new Renault 12-cylinder prototype engine to develop 900 hp. The new racer was going to be called a C.712R but propaganda and wanting to prove that the aircraft descended straight from the C.714 fighter, the aircraft was called a C.714R. Once the 714R was completed, it was to be transported to Istres but unfortunately war was declared on September 3 and the aircraft never took to the air. During the war years, the new racer was hidden in the basement of the large Renault exhibition hall on the Champs-Elysees and when the war had ended, it was brought up for an aeronautical exhibition at the Winter Velodrome of Paris. The finish for the 1939 Deutsch de la Meurthe race was going to be a colourless lacquer through which you could see the wooden sheets but it was repainted a very dark blue and exhibited for a long time at the Air Museum of Le Bourget and is now in storage.

 

Here is my representation of the 714R using 1/72 Dujin resin kit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have built one resin kit before but it wasn't as bad as this one by a long way. Parts like the undercarriage were a total mess and scratch options were the only way to go. The exhaust stacks were not defined in any way, so they were scratch built too. The French udder flash was painted using Humbrol enamels. Although she looks black, MRP Insignia Blue was painted overall. Kit decals. The figure is an OO gauge factory foreman from the railway fraternity.

 

And just to show youhow small these racers were when compared to a P-51 of the same scale.

 

WiP here:

 

Has this put me off Dujin kits, to late, I have another 3 or 4 to do but they look much better.

Thanks for looking.

 

Stuart

[RidgeRunner]

Thats a cutie, Stuart

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Such streamlined beauty!

Excellent build, Stuart, and extra congrats for overcoming the struggle that entailed working with the original kit.

Nice to see these racers, so inspiring, and with aesthetically pleasant lines.

Cheers

[Terry1954]

Nice one Stuart. Well done on turning this challenging little kit into a very respectable result!

 

Terry

[Yorkshire man]

Is that Granville looking over the plane as view to buying it !

[Work In Progress]

What a scary little toothpick that is! Interesting model, thanks for sharing