1:32 Danish F-16 800 years of Dannebrog - Demo plane

A flag that legend says fell from the sky

The Dannebrog, a white cross on a red field, is one of the oldest national flags still in use in Europe. Danish tradition tells that it came down from the sky in the middle of the Battle of Lyndanisse in June 1219, near the place where Estonian Tallinn stands today. The Royal Danish Air Force marked eight centuries since that event by dressing one of its fighters directly in the colors of the flag and sending it to the air shows as a display machine.

A pattern that tolerates no shift

The red field covers the fuselage as well as the lifting surfaces, and the white arm of the cross runs across the fin and continues along the sides. A geometric motif of this kind is trickier on a model than the most complicated animal or badge: if the arm on the vertical surface does not line up on axis with the trace on the fuselage, the eye notices that before anything else. The symmetry is therefore set by a mask, not by guesswork.

Work proceeds from a white base. Onto the dried paintwork go the sheets defining the arms of the cross, and the rest is covered in red. Once the film is removed the edge stays sharp and without the glossy border that would give away an applied decal.

What else is on the sheet

Besides the main pattern, shapes for the glazing frames and for the wheels tend to be enclosed. Between individual sprays it pays to leave a longer interval, so that the lower coat does not lift together with the film when it is peeled off. The kit itself is obtained separately and the masks are transferred onto it only after the basic paintwork is finished.