1/48 Tamiya Dewoitine D.520 |
Gallery Article by Randy Lutz
on
Nov 18 2003
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This particular
model of the Tamiya 1/48 Dewoitine represents the D.520 flown by Commandant Paul
Stehlin, of Groupe de chasse III/6 while based at Maison Blanche, Algeria in
July 1940.
To model Stehlin's aircraft I was fortunate to have three photos from three
different time periods. By coincidence, all three photos are of the exact
same airframe. One of the photos, a close-up of the rear, shows Stehlin's
aircraft in pre-Armistice markings and was a great aid in determining the camo
pattern on this area.
The second photo was taken about a month later when the aircraft was displaying
the full white Armistice markings. This photo provided a complete
starboard side camo pattern, although the nose area was too dark to see the
pattern.
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images below to see larger images
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The final photo
showed Stehlin's aircraft after being painted with the yellow tail surfaces as
seen on Syrian based machines, but had much better exposure in the nose area and
allowed me to duplicate the camo pattern in this area.
One thing Aero Master missed in their decal option was the extra white letter
'A' on the top of the starboard wing, inboard of the roundel. This made it
necessary for me to pick up another set of these decals to obtain the missing
'A'. The application of the individual aircraft letter or number was a
common practice of Groupe de chasse III/6 and can be traced back to MS.406's of
early war days. Aero Master also suggest that the numero de matricule
(serial number) No.331 is shown on the rudder. However,
this is incorrect as it is clearly not visible in the 3 photos of Stehlin's
Dewoitine. One final complaint with the Aero Master markings relates to
the size of the fuselage letter 'A'. It is a little oversize and because of
that, it would be impossible to model Stehlin's aircraft in the Syrian markings
as the letter 'A' would not fit in between the yellow rear fuselage and the
fuselage roundel.
In keeping with my standard
painting practices, this model was finished with Xtracolor X384 WWII Kaki, X386
WWII Ombre Calcinee, X388 WWII Gris Bleu Foncé, X389 WWII Gris Bleu Clair, X103
Insignia Red FS11136, X124 Blue FS15109 and X141 White FS17875. The decals
are from Aeromaster sheet 48-095 and the aircraft was weathered with chalk
pastels.
As with all my other Dewoitines, this one is essentially out of the box, save
the photo-etched seatbelts. This is my sixth Dewoitine and I would have to
say that the appeal of this subject has to be on account of the varied marking
choices. I have many more in the queue to model, including both Allied and
Axis Bulgarian machines, a Free French, and a few from the Aeronavale. We
all have our favourite subjects we like to model. For some it is Me-109's,
or Spitfires. But for me it is D.520's. However, I also
like Nates and Mustangs.
Randy Lutz
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images below to see larger images
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