The twice captured Dewoitine

[PR19_Kit]

Here's my backup entry for the GB, a Dewoitine D.520 that started life in the Armee de l'Air, was captured by the Luftwaffe, worked on at Rechlin, and in turn was captured by the RAF and flown to Farnborough for further evaluation.

The kit's a Masterkit D.520 C1, which I bought from an underground hobby shop in Dublin last summer. Yes, it really WAS underground, very odd, but a well stocked place nonetheless. Here's the rather nice, but flimsy box.




And the stuff inside....




And as I mentioned in 'The Rules' thread, I'd already started it, but only glued the upper and lower wings together and added the pilot's seat.



The kit comes with decals for no less than FOUR different versions, one French, one German, one Italian and one Bulgarian, each one with its own separate decal sheet! 

I'll be modelling it with the Luftwaffe's modifications of course........ 

[kitbasher]

Is that a repop of Ye Olde Heller kit, Kit?

And the model shop - not too far from the south bank of the Liffey, near the IAA offices in the old Times Building?  If so I bought an Airfix Kittyhawk there around 10 years ago.

[Smackers]

The plastic is the old Heller kit. Never used Mistercraft decals before so don't know how good or bad they are.
If they work ok then i'm sure it's a bit of a bargain with all those decal options.

[PR19_Kit]

Is that a repop of Ye Olde Heller kit, Kit?

That's a good question Dave and I'd like to be able to answer it.....

I had a look in The Loft, and sure enough there was a Heller D.520 box there, but it contained a FROG D.520 kit (very basic indeed...) and a few bits of the old Heller kit. I've no idea where the rest of it went. But the Heller instructions look VERY similar to the Masterkit product, so I'd say yes, it is.

It's about 5 mm longer than the FROG one though, very odd. 

And the model shop - not too far from the south bank of the Liffey, near the IAA offices in the old Tomes Building?  If so I bought an Airfix Kittyhawk there around 10 years ago.

Sounds about right, yes. It's on a north-south street just west of the weird Samuel Beckett suspended bridge.

[tigercat]

Underground hobby shop  sounds like a  illicit black market shop  a bit like a criminal version of this rather than spy themed

https://youtu.be/swdhsUqLKvs

[Old Wombat]

Thanks, tc, that's just classic! Love it!

[PR19_Kit]

I've got the fuselage assembled now, with all its lumps and bumps.



Oh sorry, didn't I mention that the ever inventive guys at Rechlin had re-engined the D.520, at first with a DB 601 engine from an Me-109E, and later in the war with the larger DB 605 as fitted to the Me-109G. 

The engine's coming from a Hasegawa 109G that was never going to built as intended (I don't really 'do' Luftwaffe...) and it all went together nicely, that's before I get at it with a razor saw and files of course......

[PR19_Kit]

Here's the OTHER D.520 fuselage, the one built in France. 

The green line is where I'm  planning to cut it to install the big DB 605, I hope............

[rickshaw]

 Mmm, I think a "good morning" is right here, Kit.  Are you sure you're well?   

So, what does the green piece of wire represent?

[PR19_Kit]

It's where I have to cut the HS engine off so I can graft the DB engine back on.

If it works..........

[buzzbomb]

graft away !! 

The DB will certainly change the lines of the Dewoitine

[PR19_Kit]

The interior of the D520's been painted now, and the rear cockpit windows glued in place. I do like Heller's method for this, the clear parts are chamfered so they're larger on the inside than the outside, so you slot them into place and they don't fall right through! Then you just give them a drop of liquid cement on the inside edges and it's job done. I glued the two fuselage halves together and then sawed off the engine....

It wasn't quite as straightforward as that as you can see, I had to saw down on the main engine bulkhead line and then use a scalpel to cut around the leading edge of the wing root, but it went OK, and hopefully won't need too much PSR when I graft the DB 605 in place, maybe tomorrow.

[PR19_Kit]

The best laid plans etc...............

The DB 605, like many Luftwaffe engines, had an inverted V configuration, unlike the D.520's Hispano, which was the right way up like a Merlin, so the cowling shapes don't match worth a damn. :-(

The DB 605 is quite a bit narrower than the Hispano as well, so the Hasegawa Me-109G cowling needs some 'adjustment', shall we say? It either needs padding out a lot at the sides, or it needs a tapered spacer down the middle.

The latter is my preferred option at the moment, as trying to pad the sides of the 605 would be pretty difficult with the exhausts and the socking great air filter on the port side.

[The Wooksta!]

Could go for another option - DB603 power egg from a Do 217.  Wider and has a flat top with the oil cooler.

[PR19_Kit]

If I had one.

The Hase 109G was the only DB powered kit I had handy.