1:48 Rafale B 4-IA 100 ans SPA167 - Cigogne de Romanet EC 2/4 La Fayette 2018 - (Limited 300pc)

The stork after Romanet

The badge that gave this escadrille its nickname is tied to Bernard de Romanet, one of the successful French fighter pilots of the First World War. The stork in the emblem of SPA 167 carries his name to this day and in 2018 the hundredth anniversary was bound up with it. The bird motif belongs to the oldest heraldry in the French Air Force altogether and it is rewarding for a modeler, because it can be placed on the fin at virtually any size.

The festive machine became a two-seat Rafale B marked 4-IA from the fighter squadron 2/4 La Fayette. That one at the same time keeps the tradition of the escadrille of 1916 founded by American volunteers, so it is a formation with two strong historical lines. That is precisely the reason why round celebrations appear with it repeatedly and why it has such a prominent place in a decal collection.

The year of the hundredth anniversary caught the squadron in the middle of ordinary service, and that shows on the artwork: the fin and part of the fuselage are festive, the rest of the airframe stayed in its gray operational coat so that the machine could go on with its tasks. This compromise is typical of present-day French jubilee aircraft.

Practical notes on the sheet

The run is limited to three hundred pieces. The real subject is the two-seat version, that is a machine with a long cabin canopy and two seats one behind the other.

With the stork and similar organic shapes it pays to lay the decal on dry first and to mark the position on the paint with a pencil. After soaking, the thin extremities like to curl up and the search for the right position then costs time that a decal in water does not have.