Dweotine D.520 - Just about a Wif

[NARSES2]

This one only just qualifies as a Wif by virtue of the fact that I changed a couple of colours, but it was done whilst I was struggling with the 509 as relaxation.

Dweotine D.520 of GC II/7 Tunis Airbase Spring 1942.

Firstly I'd thought I'd jot the initial part of my alternative WWII story down in order to put the model more into some form of context. It also helps to explain some of my other builds.

In my own little world WWII starts on the 1/3/1939 as in "our" world but then departs from that in April 1940. So here are the first few months of this alternative conflict.

So my framework departs from the real history on 7th April 1940 at the Battle of Arras, and from there we go: -

1) 7th April 1940. Battle of Arras/Amiens. The Anglo/French counter attack to cut off the German spearhead succeeds and the German 7th Armoured Division is destroyed and General Erwin Rommel is captured. With an already jittery German General Staff fretting about their overextended lines of communication this leads to a battle of attrition on the line of the river Somme. The Germans breakthrough in the autumn of 1940 but eventually the French forces complete a withdrawal to North Africa and continue the struggle from there.

2) Italian forces in Libya are defeated by Anglo/French forces in a three month period during early 1941. Defeat of their forces in East Africa takes 9 months or so however.

3) The German's meanwhile have spent some time recovering their strength but launch an invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece in the late spring of 1941. Turkey declares war against the allies and invades Greece from European Turkey. Bulgaria also takes this opportunity to gain some revenge for the Balkan Wars defeat it suffered earlier in the century.

So there we have it. I do have a complete history of an alternative WWII jotted down but that is for a future U.K. S.I.G. Newsletter, but the above is enough to set the scene.

By the Spring of 1942 GCII/7 and their D.520's were patrolling the Algerian and Tunisian coastlines and supplying overhead cover for the increasing numbers of Allied supply convoys which were hugging the North African coastline as they made their way to Egypt and the Levant in order to help provision the Anglo/French forces in their struggles against the Turkish forces in the region. Despite the convoys staying as close to the coast as possible the combined German and Italian air forces constantly harassed them during the hours of daylight, flying from bases in Sicily and southern Italy. The pilots of GCII/7 would escort the convoys down the coast until they could be relieved by other squadrons based in newly "liberated" Libya. These squadrons would then hand them over to RAF squadrons based farther down the coast. However given the proximity of the Tunisian coast to that of the Sicilian it was the pilots of the Armee de l'Air based there who drew the short straw.

When evacuated to North Africa French aircraft had all been painted in the "standard" four colour camouflage of the time but over the next few months various units had experimented with different colours in order to blend in more with the country they were flying over. Unlike in the RAF, who were quite strict about such things, this had been left very much to the individual unit and initially some interesting combinations of colours and patterns had arisen. By this period however some form of conformity had been reached, although not too much so. Later on in the War in the Levant the French High Command gradually started to issue instructions as to camouflage patterns and the colours to be used, although this never became totally regimented.

Thus this D.520 is finished in the units "standard" Gris Bleu Ciel/Gris Bleu Clair/Terre D'Ombre Natural/Chocolat 4 colour scheme applied in a pattern seemingly at the whim of the crew chief and pilot when compared to other aircraft of the same unit. The only standard feature is the red spinner and nose cap. This was the standard Anglo/French recognition feature and adorned all single engine fighters in theatre. (If anyone knows why it wasn't used on twin engine fighters can they let this author know?) It wears standard Armee de l'Air markings combined with GC II/7's own prominent heraldry. Another area where RAF pilots often found it difficult to not let their jealousy show.

As for the kit, it's the Hasegawa 1/72 offering which went together exceedingly well. I like this period of Hasegawa's toolings. They are not over complicated and can be depended on to fit well and go together quickly. Nice relaxing builds when you are perhaps a bit worn down by something more complicated. Glad I got a few in the stash years ago before prices soared. Transfers are from the boxing, whilst the main paints are Colourcoats enamels with my normal mixture of makes for some of the smaller items.

So nothing more than a slight repaint of the standard boxing, but an enjoyable one. If my recent Me.509 was a tad cursed then this one definitely wasn't as it went together so well that it almost made itself.

I enjoyed this build so much that I've already broken out it stable mate which will be the little known P.R. version in a nice shade of pink and used to take photos of those pesky Sicilian airfields at dawn or dusk. Also whilst on the subject of the Armee de l'Air, did they ever consider the P.39 ?  They seem to have considered/bought/ordered every other available US type and possibly some that never really existed. Anyway I think one would look good in the four colour camouflage so where did I put that Academy kit ?

[PR19_Kit]

The pics aren't showing Chris.

[NARSES2]

4 out of the 6 are to me Kit. The other 2 are showing the small "box" in the left hand corner which I sometimes get. I get that occasionally but if I come back latter they tend to be ok ?

I'll check them tomorrow.

Having typed that now all 6 are 

[NARSES2]

And I've just spotted a bit on the windscreen I meant to clean up 

[PR19_Kit]

Still can't see any of them, but the one on your Blog thread works. Weird........ 

[zenrat]

I can see them all.  Good job Chris.

[PR19_Kit]

I can see them all.  Good job Chris.

So can I now, that's REALLY good Chris. 

[Old Wombat]

I can see them all.  Good job Chris.

So can I now, that's REALLY good Chris. 

Agree with both!

[AXU]

Unfortunately I do not see anything

[Hotte]

I can see all!
Nice Dewoitine 

Hotte

[NARSES2]

Unfortunately I do not see anything

Yup it's weird. They seem to come and go ! I can now see two four  of them ?? If you click on the little image of a picture then some come up and some don't. Had it happen before but never so persistent 

Final edit. All of them are now showing now ! I think it's a case of giving them a little time to wake up from their nap sometimes 

[NARSES2]

After all that, thanks gents

[The Wooksta!]

The French ordered the P.39 but they never arrived in France due to their surrender.  One in Vichy markings could be interesting, but I don't do French aircraft and certainly not treacherous collaborators.

[Glenn Gilbertson]

All the pictures visible - that looks very smart!

[Charlie_c67]

Looks good! When the weather settles down a bit it'll be joined by my DAF version