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Potez 63-11, No. 156, 2 Escadrille, GR II/33, Athies-sous-Laon, winter 1939-40.

 

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It's difficult to work out where to start with the Potez 63 series. In 1934, the French air ministry put out a specification for a heavy fighter. The new type needed to perform several functions, from fighter direction where it would lead formations of single-seat fighters, to day bomber escort and night fighting operations. A crew of up to three, and maximum speed of 450kph from a twin engine setup, plus various armaments, were all considered essential. All the big companies were asked to provide prototypes to the new specification, with at least Hanriot and Breguet continuing into series production. Potez, however, seemed to win the most favour, and the 63 series began construction with the 630, after the prototype's maiden flight in April 1936.

 

From there, it begins to get very confused, with multiple variants of the basic aircraft being developed as fighters, bombers, trainers and reconnaissance. Overall, the design was relatively simple, fairly quick to assemble, and shared pleasant flying characteristics, and were all designed for easy maintenance. 

 

Then we come to the Potez 63-11, the variant that was built in the most numbers. Developed for the reconnaissance role, the pilot was seated above the observer who occupied a position in a large glazed nose. The fuselage had to increase in depth compared to other variants, which impinged on top speed and manoeuvrability. The end result was an ungainly looking plane which was vulnerable to attack, despite armour and self-sealing fuel tanks. The need to act in a light bombing role was part of the requirements, but the tiny bomb bay in the fuselage was rarely used, and later filled with an extra fuel tank. There were hard points under the wings, and self-defence was in the form of a single machine gun in the rear observer's position, and remote control guns in the tail cone and a belly blister pointing to the rear. Many machines were also equipped with twin machine gun gondolas under the outer wings, allowing them to at least perform some ground attack duties. 

 

The kit is typical fare from Azur. Nice fine detail in the plastic parts, but a fair amount of flash. It exhibits a lot of reliance on resin for cockpit and undercarriage details, plus some exceedingly fine PE parts. As is typical, the instructions can be rather vague, and pay careful attention to dry fitting parts before committing to glues. Overall, though, the kit builds up adequately well. Seat belts were made up from masking tape, and I had to re-engineer part of the undercarriage so the wheels fitted properly, the only headache turns out to be dust trapped inside that copiously glazed nose. I bought in a set of Montex vinyl masks for the complex glazing, and the model was painted using French Air Force colours from the ColourCoats enamels range. I tried my hand at freehand airbrushing the camouflage, which I think worked out better than I expected. The transfers, which covered pre-Armistice France, Free French in Palestine and Rumanian aircraft, were finely printed, nicely thin and laid down really well without reliance on setting solution. While I didn't enjoy the build, and it lingered near the Shelf of Doom for a time, I'm pleased at how it turned out. Eventually, similar twin-engined types from Breguet and Hanriot will join it in the display cabinet.

 

I've just noticed I haven't updated my photo copyright watermark since 2019. That kind of sums up 2020 well, don't you think?

 

The WIP thread starts here, in an ever-expanding thread of French aircraft of the 1930s:

 

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Great model and I agree with the above statements. I must confess I've never heard of this type airplane before. Thanks for the background information.

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Hi Heather,

 

brilliant work on one of the most beautiful French WW2 aircraft.

The paint job is superb.

Congratulations!

 

JR

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Nice job Heather especially the paintwork.

 

I normally think of the Potez 63 series as an attractive series of aircraft quite forgetting the sibling that wasn't looking where it was going and walked into the ugly tree.

 

I hope you'll have plenty left come the French Fancy 2 GB if it gets the nod.

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1 minute ago, Heather Kay said:

I’ll have to see if I haven’t already signed up for that. I’m at risk of signing up to too many GBs!

:surprised:...   ...although I do know what you mean.  I have signed up for anything I have a passing interest in, I'm working on the basis they won't all get through the bumfight.

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Not the worlds prettiest aircraft, , it just screams out 1930's French design.  It's such a fascinating time, with the French going their own way and building some real howlers in the styling department. One of my favourite periods.

 

The build has turned out well up to your usual standards, with the glazing being particularly eye catching. Are there more early French aircraft on the horizon? I hope so...

 

Tony.

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Well I'm going to stick my neck out and say that I think it a rather good-looking aircraft. Well, interesting-looking anyway B) 

 

What put me off about this kit was the spindly resin landing gear support legs, but you don't seem to have had a problem with them Heather - a nice job all round and a lovely model :)

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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10 minutes ago, TonyW said:

Are there more early French aircraft on the horizon? I hope so...

As I sit here, I count seven further French oddities to build. Then I can begin to consider French naval aviation… :frantic:

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That's a super build of a seldom seen or mentioned type. Really nice Heather and I also enjoyed the info on the development of the aircraft.:like:

5 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

French Air Force colours from the ColourCoats enamels range.

The colours look absolutely spot on and as I use enamel's as well I was interested in the paints you mention. Not heard of them. How are they to use? For decaling purposes I use Xtracolour where possible because they are gloss and Humbrol with a gloss varnish as second choice. How do they compare to these makes?

 

Cheers

Pete

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4 minutes ago, Pete in a shed said:

Not heard of them. How are they to use?

@Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies is the proprietor. He’s a member here, and knows his paints.

 

I am a convert to the CC range. I grew up, like so many of us, using enamels for all my models. When I began to seriously get into my 1940 collection, I decided to learn about acrylics, and settled on the Xtracrylix range. When my interests began to spread beyond RAF/FAA/Luftwaffe, the ranges became harder to work out. I didn’t want a million different brands of paint, all in different containers and needing their own thinners to work effectively. The CC range, while seeming to be a step back to enamels, has been a revelation.

 

It is possible to brush paint them, as I have done on most of my French single-seaters. It is easier to airbrush them, using the CC thinners. I was told a coat would be dry enough to mask in about half an hour - giving acrylic like drying times, which I was sceptical about at first. Then I tried it, and here I am. I’ve invested in the range for Dutch, French and Italian colours. I intend to switch to them for RAF/FAA and Luftwaffe. The only snag for me is the faff of masking - hence my experiment with freehand on the Potez, where only the glazing was masked.
 

Jamie is incredibly helpful, and very happy to advise here on BM about using his paints. I recommend them.

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