1:48 D-520

The last French fighter of 1940

The Dewoitine came late, but it was the only French type that could afford an equal duel with the German fighters in May and June 1940. The Hispano-Suiza engine with a hollow shaft made it possible to lead the barrel of a twenty millimeter cannon through the propeller hub, and four machine guns were added to it in the wing. Before the armistice was signed the factory managed to deliver only a few hundred, a fraction of the order. After the defeat the type flew on with the southern regime, later reached the training units of the occupiers and smaller batches ended up in Bulgaria and in Italy.

A roundel inside out and stripes for quick recognition

The French round marking looks British at first glance, but it has the colors the other way round: blue is in the middle, around it a white ring and red around the circumference. At the close of 1940 a far more conspicuous layer was added to it. Aircraft of the southern regime were given a cowling painted yellow by order and slanting alternating stripes in red and yellow on the nose and on the tail surfaces. The purpose was for the crews of both sides of the conflict to date to recognize at once whose machine it was. Few markings of the Second World War are so easily recognizable and few lasted so short a time.

Working with the masks

The cockpit is masked from both sides. With the striped scheme it pays to apply the yellow area first, let it mature thoroughly and only then block out the bands and spray the red. A deep yellow covers slowly and over a dark base it practically will not assert itself without a white ground.