1:32 Finnish Air Force Swastikas and Serials 1934-44

The marking that belonged to Finland from 1918

The blue hakaristi appeared on Finnish aircraft as soon as an independent air arm came into being. The first donated machine brought it, carrying the donor's personal good luck mark, and the young service took it as its national insignia. This tradition has nothing to do with the Nazi symbol; it was in use earlier and disappeared from aircraft after the war. It was this marking, usually on a light circular field, that Finnish machines carried from the interwar years to the close of the fighting.

Set contents

The set is built as a stock of material, not as an accessory to a single model. The national insignia are printed in seven sizes, so they cover small as well as large machines in 1:32 scale, and two separate sheets with letters and numerals in black complete them. Altogether that makes three large sheets.

What the letters and numerals are for

Finnish aircraft carried a registration of two letters and a number on the fuselage, with the letters derived from the type of machine. A modeler can therefore assemble from the individual characters a particular aircraft that is not to be found on ready-made sheets, and do so even for types for which no separate markings set exists.

Recommended procedure

Lay the letters onto the surface one at a time and mark the position in advance with a fine pencil line or tape, so that the row does not wander. Settle every character into a drop of water, straighten it and only then move on to the next. Once dry, unify the whole surface with a top coat, otherwise the angular islands of film will be visible. The kit and paints are not here.