Dewoitine D510A, Martlesham Down, 1937-8, 1/72nd scale

[Mr T]

My next entry to this group build is the KP kit of the Dewoitine D510A. The D510 was a development of the earlier D500/1 that when it first flew in 1932 was considered to be in the forefront of fighter design with its cantilever monoplane wing. The D500/D501 entered service with the French Air Force in early 1935 when work was underway on the D510 with a more powerful engine and retaining the engine mounted 20 mm cannon of the D501. In 1936 an order was placed by the British Air Ministry for one D510 to test the 20 mm cannon, by this time the airframe itself was of little interest with the prototype Spitfire and Hurricane already flying and showing great promise. The airframe, given the serial number L4670 was delivered in August 1936 and was part of a cancelled Turkish order and when the aircraft arrived it was found to be without the 20 mm cannon that was the whole point in ordering the aircraft in the first place. After handling trials and an accident it was decided not to repair the aircraft it ended up being used for resonance testing.

The KP kit comes in several boxings with different decals but with the same parts that allow for most of the major production Hispano engined versions to be built The kit I have includes decals for the one sold to Britain, photos of which are not exactly abundant.

The kit comes in grey plastic with reasonable surface detail and recessed panel lines with no PE etc. No location pins are present on the wing and fuselage halves requiring care in alignment. Smaller parts are a little heavier than might be expected from mainstream kits. This kit is going to be from the box and work started with the fuselage interior which consists of a floor, seat, instrument panels, control column, rudder pedals and trim wheel. There is detail moulded to the fuselage halves and decals for the seat belts. As good as I find out the interior was in various metal shades with dark (grey or black) instrument panels. Once the fuselage is together, not a lot is visible.

Hopefully this one will progress a bit quicker than the Supermarine 224

 

Edited December 27, 2020 by Mr T

[Col.]

Lovely subject choice and looks to be a nice kit. There's a lot of similarities between this design and your Supermarine 224 so they'll look good together when done.

[Andwil]

I am trying to resist adding one of these to the stash and this is not helping!

 

AW

[Col.]

8 minutes ago, Andwil said:

I am trying to resist adding one of these to the stash and this is not helping!

 

AW

Go on, you know you want to, @Wezwill welcome you and your new kit to the French Fancy II GB

[malpaso]

I don’t know where the idea of the British 510 not having the motor cannon comes from.  Martlesham Heath A&AEE   did some air-firing with it!  See the Martlesham Putnam book.

[Mr T]

My source of information was an article in the first Air Enthusiast Quarterly which is admittedly somewhat old, but is clear that the airframe was delivered without the cannon, but I suppose the cannon could have shown up later on. I know the moteur cannon was tested in the Fairey Fantome biplane. 

The D510 was the subject of handling trials at Martlesham, but overall it seems to have had a fairly short life in British hands. 

[Graham Boak]

I understand that the reason lay in procurement confusion: aircraft and weapons had to be ordered separately and no-one ordered the gun.  Or, perhaps more likely, the times of delivery differed and someone at Martlesham jumped to a false conclusion with his whinge going down into history.  A similar thing happened when the Halifax prototype was taken to Boscombe Down (Martlesham's successor) for fear of German bombing, and the A&AEE whinged about its lack of preparation for service testing.  Not really surprising.

[Mr T]

Thanks for the information Graham, seems a bit like the time when the Royal Navy had to order its cannon through the Woolwich Arsenal. 

Andwill, the KP kit is not bad so far.  I have fuselage together and the wings on. Fit is not perfect, but some of that is down to me being a bit ham-fisted. Some location holes need a bit of work on them. 

Edited December 29, 2020 by Mr T

[Mr T]

Getting on reasonably well with this one. Fuselage wings and tail together some filling done and some put some primer on. Since the photos were taken the radiator has been added. With the way the undercarriage is arranged I wanted to ensure the joints have been sorted out as I want to add the undercarriage before painting as I do not think it is going to be easy to do cleanly afterwards (I am a bit of a messy modeller)

 

You may have noticed another model lurking in the background, can you guess what it is?

[Col.]

Nice progress. Was about to ask about the other project there; at first thought it might be a Douglas Dauntless but the tailfin looks wrong so no idea what it is

[Mr T]

You are on the right track, think of the ancestors, another clue is that the serial number this kit will have is closely related to the serial of the descendant of the Supermarine 224

[Col.]

In light of that information my second guess is the Devastator. One from Midway perhaps?

[Mr T]

Nope, it is the Northrop Gamma 2E, a bomber/dive bomber descended from the Gamma and other Norhrop mail planes and airliners. Progressive development led to the Northrop BT1 and when Douglas bought the original Northrop firm, development continued to create the Dauntless. Only handful of 2Es were built  some which went to China. One was bought by the Air Ministry for evaluation and given the serial K5053, one before the Supermarine Type 300. I quite like oddities that appeared with roundels, thus the D510. 

[Graham Boak]

If you can find a copy of AE Clouston's The Dangerous Skies (a must for lovers of the DH Comet Racer and much else) you'll find a description and photographs of his flights using the Northrop to see what actually happened when aircraft flew in balloon cables intended to bring them down.

[Mr T]

Thanks Graham, I will look ou for it. When the Flight archive was still up, I was able to find a few photos and quite a detailed article about 2E. The kit was bought as an impulse purchase a couple of years back when I found it came with British makings after finding a pic in 'Air Arsenal North America' 

[Mr T]

The bit I was apprehensive about, that is putting the undercarriage together has been tackled and actually was a lot less hassle than I thought it was going to be. The trick was to assemble the wheel spats to the undercarriage leg that was attached to the wing and get the angle of the wheel to the ground. The 'Vee' struct from the fuselage to the wheel spat then went in and a bit of adjustment it all went well. Making sure all the attachment holes and pins were a good interference fit helped.  As it is virtually a one colour finish, some detail parts may go on as well to avoid marking a 'silver' finish which can be tricky to deal with. Liking this kit a lot.

[Mr T]

Paint on the D510 at last. Some problems with putting the Vallejo White Aluminium on as I struggled to get a consistent coverage, eventually managed something and then found when I cleaned the airbrush that the tip was bent Easily sorted, it would not straighten but fortunately at the beginning of lockdown one I bought two spares. Some detail painting and then decalling.

[Col.]

It's amazing how much more realistic a model becomes with a simple coat of paint. Sorry to hear you had airbrush issues but glad you've diagnosed the cause and have the spares to rectify it. Regardless of that you look to have layed down a smooth coat of silver there.

[Mr T]

It was a nuisance, the airbrush is an Iwata Neo and I quite like it as it is fairly easy to clean, but it does not tolerate slackness if you don't clean it properly. The really annoying thing about it was I had just ordered a couple of new 'O' rings as the one on the paint cup was worn and the one on the Air valve was sticking despite being kept clean of any solvents (I only use acrylics). I have got a spare and might order another one. My supplier is based in Harrogate and so supporting a 'local' business. 

[Mr T]

The D510A is now finished and in the gallery. A photo of it with the 224, easy to see the lineage to the D520, A little less so for the Spitfire

[ForestFan]

Lovely

[jean]

Super well built and a very surprising scheme!

Congrats.

 

JR