Spitfire Mk.I, L'Armee de l'Air de l'Armistice, 1941 (Eduard 1/48)

[2996 Victor]

Hi, and welcome to my first thread on What If Modelers!

By way of a bit of background, I've recently offloaded my entire stash of 1/72 aircraft kits and decided on a re-boot in 1/48, the intention being Fewer Builds=More Completed. Good in theory, eh?    The two subjects of this double build were already on my 1/72 radar, but didn't come to fruition, so I thought it would be a good point to kick off in the larger scale.

The kits are from the Eduard "The Few" Dual Combo. One will be finished as a real aircraft, P9331, the PR Type B that force-landed at Reims in 1940 and was captured there by the advancing Wehrmacht. The second will be the what-if, a fairly simple paint job for a Vichy French Spitfire Mk.I ostensibly based in North Africa late-1941/early-1942.

The premise for the French aircaft is quite plausible: in 1938, a Major Jullerot of L'Armee de l'Air had an interview with the French Secretary of State for Aviation, with aim of interesting the French Government in acquiring Spitfires, an idea that was apparently received very favourably. An order for 100 Spitfires was considered but, at that stage, Supermarine were committed to deliver the first 300 to the RAF. In the end one example, the 251st aircraft built, was sold to France, arriving there on the 18th July 1939.

From here on, we deviate from history as we know it.....

Backstory
Spitfires for France didn't stop there, however. Major Jullerot, as obtaining Spitfires had been his idea, was tasked with acquiring a further 49 complete aircraft from Supermarine, and at the same time negotiating an initial production licence to manufacture 250 fighters in France. At the same time, he negotiated with Rolls-Royce for a licence to manufacture of the Merlin III to power the French-built aircraft. The licences were signed in late-August and mid-September 1939, following which Major Jullerot wasted no time in beginning organisation of production facilities and supplies. SNCASE were given the manufacturing contract.

The 49 Supermarine-built aircraft were delivered in January 1940, but domestic airframe production did not begin until early in March 1940; the French-built Merlin engines did not begin arriving until late in April. As it was, by the time the Battle of France erupted on 10th May 1940, fewer than 35 Spitfires had been formally accepted by L'Armee de l'Air. The remaining Supermarine aircraft and some 23 complete SNCASE-built examples had been accepted by the time of the Armistice on 25th June. Of the total of 73 Spitfires that had been available to the French air force, 27 had been lost to enemy action both in the air and on the ground: unsurprisingly, these were almost entirely from the Supermarine batch. Of the remaining 46, a further seven were deemed unserviceable, and were burned by their ground crews during the retreat southward into the unoccupied zone.

The surviving 39 aircraft, joined by six machines that had been at the SNCASE factory awaiting acceptance, made the journey across the Mediterranean to French North Africa where they joined L'Armee de l'Air de l'Armistice. Spares were understandably limited, and there were never enough serviceable Spitfires to equip more than two escadrilles de chasse. However, they proved very tough opponents during the Allies' Operation Torch amphibious landings, accounting for the majority of British and American aircraft lost; those still remaining airworthy after Torch were taken over by the RAF Desert Airforce.

Back to reality, attached are a few pics of the Eduard boxing that I'll be using. I've never built an Eduard Spit before, but have heard great things of them. I'm hoping to make a start in earnest at the weekend!

Thanks for looking in and all the best,
Mark

[PR19_Kit]

With that sort of backstory writing ability you'll fit right in here, no problem. 

Welcome to this den of iniquity, nice to see you.

[NARSES2]

Welcome aboard, looking forward to the builds 

[Rheged]

Welcome to Whiffworld!  It's obvious from your first backstory that you belong here.

[2996 Victor]

With that sort of backstory writing ability you'll fit right in here, no problem. 

Welcome to this den of iniquity, nice to see you.

Welcome aboard, looking forward to the builds 

Welcome to Whiffworld!  It's obvious from your first backstory that you belong here.

Thanks, guys, its greatly appreciated!  Hope the builds live up to the preamble!

Cheers,
Mark

[Old Wombat]

Full agreement with the esteemed gentlemen above!

Welcome aboard the Crazy Train, Mark!  

[2996 Victor]

Full agreement with the esteemed gentlemen above!

Welcome aboard the Crazy Train, Mark!  

Many thanks! Glad to be on board 

Cheers,
Mark

[SPINNERS]

Welcome! I did enjoy that backstory!

[2996 Victor]

Welcome! I did enjoy that backstory!

Many thanks! Hope the finished article lives up to the hype 

Cheers,
Mark

[Jakko]

I've recently offloaded my entire stash of 1/72 aircraft kits and decided on a re-boot in 1/48, the intention being Fewer Builds=More Completed. Good in theory, eh? 

Yeah, because I complete so many more models in 1:35 than I ever would be able to in 1:72 ...

I don't know what it is, but I have a nagging suspicion you got something the wrong way round there

[Wardukw]

The doors to the nuthouse opened...Mark stepped thru..the doors slammed shut.
Welcome matey   
Oh helpful hint...if you think your wiff is a bit to strange..it's quite possible it isn't in here 😉

[2996 Victor]

I've recently offloaded my entire stash of 1/72 aircraft kits and decided on a re-boot in 1/48, the intention being Fewer Builds=More Completed. Good in theory, eh? 

Yeah, because I complete so many more models in 1:35 than I ever would be able to in 1:72 ...

I don't know what it is, but I have a nagging suspicion you got something the wrong way round there

Hmmmm.....I think you're right    just don't tell my better half!

The doors to the nuthouse opened...Mark stepped thru..the doors slammed shut.
Welcome matey   
Oh helpful hint...if you think your wiff is a bit to strange..it's quite possible it isn't in here 😉

Aaagggghhhhh! Trapped! Oh, well - I think I'll probably fit in if I don't draw too much attention to myself 

Thanks, guys!
Mark

[Wardukw]

I've recently offloaded my entire stash of 1/72 aircraft kits and decided on a re-boot in 1/48, the intention being Fewer Builds=More Completed. Good in theory, eh? 

Yeah, because I complete so many more models in 1:35 than I ever would be able to in 1:72 ...

I don't know what it is, but I have a nagging suspicion you got something the wrong way round there

Hmmmm.....I think you're right    just don't tell my better half!

The doors to the nuthouse opened...Mark stepped thru..the doors slammed shut.
Welcome matey   
Oh helpful hint...if you think your wiff is a bit to strange..it's quite possible it isn't in here 😉

Aaagggghhhhh! Trapped! Oh, well - I think I'll probably fit in if I don't draw too much attention to myself 

Thanks, guys!
Mark

Dude your gonna fit in here with this raging pack of maniacs if you draw attention to yourself or not..come to think of it drawing attention to yourself is a good thing as there's a couple of guys here who will hunt you down if ya don't 😉 
In all truth tho matey your gonna love it here ..a place where everybody is awesome and none will ever tear you a new one cause a rivet is .0274 of a mm out of place .
We hunt them ppl down here..its epic fun..once Chris (NARSES 2 ) says it's OK 👍

[2996 Victor]

Dude your gonna fit in here with this raging pack of maniacs if you draw attention to yourself or not..come to think of it drawing attention to yourself is a good thing as there's a couple of guys here who will hunt you down if ya don't 😉 
In all truth tho matey your gonna love it here ..a place where everybody is awesome and none will ever tear you a new one cause a rivet is .0274 of a mm out of place .
We hunt them ppl down here..its epic fun..once Chris (NARSES 2 ) says it's OK 👍

Thanks - that's a relief, although I'm not keen on the idea of being hunted down    I wouldn't class myself as a rivet counter, so I guess I'm safe. At least for now 

Cheers,
Mark

[Wardukw]

     ...your openly building a wiff..your safe matey 👍
It's nice knowing that what ever you build here is that your not wrong..I think the No1 unwritten rule here is that there are no rules 😉