1:72 EKW C-3401, '167' Überwachungsgeschwader, Schweizer Luftwaffe, 1941

[Dizzyfugu]

1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Some background:
The history of the Swiss Air Force began in 1914 with the establishment of an ad hoc force consisting of a handful of men in outdated and largely civilian aircraft. It was only in the 1930s the military and civilian leadership decided to establish an effective air force. On 13 December 1929, in what was in retrospect referred to as the "bill to create an air force", the Federal Council asked the Swiss Federal Assembly to approve the spending of 20 million francs for the purchase of 65 French Dewoitine D.27 fighters and the manufacture of 40 Dutch (Fokker C.V-E) reconnaissance planes under license.
Although the opposition Social Democratic Party collected 42,000 signatures in a petition opposing the bill, Parliament passed it handily and declined to allow a referendum on the issue, optional at that time for spending bills. This was the start of a massive armament program that would consume more than a billion francs over the next ten years, but after Hitler's rise to power in Germany, the Social Democrats added their support to the efforts.


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The program not only included the procurement of foreign aircraft the domestic industry also started to develop its own products. One of the leading manufacturers of its time in Switzerland was the Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte (English: "Federal Constructions Works"), short K+W or EKW, and later also known as F+W. It was a Swiss state-owned enterprise, established in 1867 in Thun. The company produced artillery, vehicles, and other typical military equipment, and in 1914 EKW had already started the production of the Häfeli DH-1 reconnaissance biplane. Long-standing connections to the ETH Zurich ensured the necessary know-how. EKW started the program with three military aircraft, the indigenous C-34 single-seat fighter and the fast C-36 long-range light bomber/reconnaissance monoplane, plus the C-35 two-seat reconnaissance and ground-attack biplane, which was actually a license-built Fokker C.X with a water-cooled Hispano-Suiza HS-77 V12 engine, a license-built version of the 12Ycs that also powered the C-36.

The C-34 was the direct response to a requirement issued by the Swiss Air Force for a new fighter, and was the winner of a competition against the German Arado 80, which had been offered for export and eventual license production. The German monoplane was a modern construction, but the type was uninspiring in terms of performance and suffered from a number of failures (so that the German Luftwaffe rejected it, too). Although Arado's low-wing monoplane Arado heralded the design standard for future fighter aircraft, the Swiss Air Force preferred EKW's conservative but more maneuverable C-34 biplane, which also offered better starting and landing characteristics and a superior rate of climb – important features in Switzerland's mountainous theatre of operations.


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The C-34's structure was conventional and of all-metal construction. To overcome the biplane layout's inherent speed disadvantage, EKW's design team used flush-head rivets and as little as possible stabilizing rigging to reduce drag. The fuselage was fully planked with aluminum, as well as the fixed parts of the tail surfaces, wings and rudders were still fabric-covered. It had unequal-span biplane wings, braced by struts, with upper-wing ailerons but no flaps yet.
The prototype, which flew for the first time in March 1935, was powered by an imported German liquid-cooled BMW VI 6.0 V-12 engine with 660 hp, which drove a metal three-blade propeller with fixed pitch. The C-34's production version, which was already introduced in September of the same year, was outfitted with a more powerful, now license-produced BMW VI 7.3 with 633 kW (850 hp), which required a bigger radiator and higher-octane fuel to achieve this performance, though. Armament consisted of two 7.5 mm (.295 in) Darne machine guns, imported from France and synchronized to fire through the propeller. Provisions were made to carry up to four 20 lb (9.1 kg) bombs under-wing, but these were hardly ever used in service.

An initial production run comprised 30 aircraft to equip a complete fighter unit. The first C-34s were delivered in a typical three-ton splinter camouflage in ochre, khaki green and red brown, over grey undersides. The machines were allocated to the so-called "Überwachungschwader" (Surveillance Squadron) at Dübendorf near Zürich, and the new biplane proved to be an instant success. The C-34 was commonly well liked by its crews, being very maneuverable and benefitting from a relatively strong fuselage structure, a favorable control arrangement, a tight turning circle. An excellent handling made the type furthermore ideal for executing aerobatic displays. After a brief and successful period of testing, orders for 80 additional C-34s were placed in 1936.


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


During the rising tensions in Europe Switzerland remained neutral and isolated, and the Swiss Air Force machines received prominent identification stripes in red and white on fuselage and wings. The air corps furthermore confined its activities to training and exercises, reconnaissance, and patrol.
The Swiss Air Force as an autonomous military service was created in October 1936, and the units were re-arranged to reflect this new structure. In 1938 Gottlieb Duttweiler's launched a popular initiative calling for the purchase of a thousand aircraft and the training of three thousand pilots. After 92,000 citizens signed in support, nearly twice the number necessary for a national popular vote, the federal government offered a referendum proposal in 1939 that was nearly as extensive, which was accepted by a 69 percent majority. This led to a massive procurement of additional and more up-to-date aircraft, namely the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Morane-Saulnier 406 fighters from Germany and France, respectively, and the Moranes were license-built as D-3800 in Switzerland. By that time, the Swiss Air Force changed its aircraft designation system, and the C-34 was officially renamed C-3400.

Despite these new and more modern aircraft the C-3400s remained in service, and to supplement the fleet a further eight aircraft were built between 1941 and 1942 from spares. These machines received a simplified camouflage with dark green upper surfaces over a light blue-grey underside, similar to the imported Bf 109s from Germany, and some older C-3400s were re-painted accordingly, even though many machines retained their pre-war splinter scheme for the rest of their service life. During the same period, almost all aircraft received prominent neutrality markings in the form of bright red and white stripes on wings and fuselage.


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


From 1941 on, most C-3400s were gradually upgraded during overhauls. Several new features were introduced, which included a fully closed canopy that greatly improved pilot comfort esp. in wintertime, a variable pitch/constant speed propeller, a better radio set, a new gun sight and spatted main wheels. The Darne machine guns were replaced with belt-fed MAC 1934 machine guns of the same caliber from domestic production, because they were more reliable and had, with the license production of the Morane Saulnier M.S. 406, become a standard weapon in the Swiss arsenal. These modified aircraft were re-designated C-3401, even though the aircraft under this designation did not uniformly feature all improvements.

When enough monoplane fighters had widely become available for the Swiss Air Force in 1943, the C-3400/-3401 biplanes were quickly removed from front-line service. They served on in second-line surveillance and aerial patrol units, or they were transferred to training units, where most of the type (a total of 119 were built) survived the hostilities. The last C-3400/-3401 was finally withdrawn from service in 1954, and only a single specimen survived in the collection of the Aviation Museum (Flieger Flab Museum) in Dübendorf, Switzerland.


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


General characteristics:
    Crew: 1
    Length: 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)
    Wingspan: 10.02 m (32 ft 10 in)
    Height: 3 m (9 ft 10 in)
    Wing area: 23 m2 (250 sq ft)
    Airfoil: NACA M-12
    Empty weight: 1,360 kg (2,998 lb)
    Gross weight: 1,740 kg (3,836 lb)
   
Powerplant:
    1× BMW VI 7.3 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 634 kW (850 hp),
        driving a three-bladed variable pitch metal propeller

Performance:
    Maximum speed: 400 km/h (250 mph, 220 kn) at 3,000 m (9,843 ft)
    Service ceiling: 11,500 m (37,700 ft)
    Rate of climb: 16.67 m/s (3,281 ft/min)
    Time to altitude: 5,000 m (16,404 ft) in 5 minutes 30 seconds
    Wing loading: 75.7 kg/m2 (15.5 lb/sq ft)
    Power/mass: 0.36 kW/kg (0.22 hp/lb)

Armament:
    2× fixed, forward-firing 7.5 mm (.295 in) MAC 1934 machine guns with 600 RPG
    4× underwing hardpoints for 20 lb (9.1 kg) bombs (rarely used)


The kit and its assembly:
This whiffy biplane was/is just a kit travesty – the fictional EKW C-34 is a Kawasaki Ki-10 (the ICM kit) with mild mods and Swiss pre-WWII markings. I had an eye on the quite elegant Japanese fighter for a while, and due to its engine with German roots (its Kawasaki Ha9-IIa was a license-built water-cooled BMW VI V12 engine) I thought about a European operator – and eventually I decided to make it a Swiss aircraft.

The ICM kit was built almost OOB, the only changes I made were the spatted wheels (IIRC left over from an ICM Polikarpov I-15 biplane), which needed some tweaks on the OOB struts, and the different, closed canopy (from a Hobby Boss A6M Zero), because I wanted a relatively modern look, comparable with the contemporary Avia B-534 biplane. Mounting it was tricky, because of the "step" under the windscreen, so that I had to add a console under it, and some PSR was necessary to blend the canopy, which was cut into three parts for open display, into the rounded back of the Ki-10. A scratched antenna mast was added, too, to fill the respective opening in the rear part of the dorsal glazing. Thanks to the many braces of the A6M canopy, the implant looks quite organic.


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The ICM Ki-10 went together quite well, it's a rather simple kit with only a single sprue and few parts. The biggest challenge was the upper wing, though, which is only carried by the struts. The locator pins are only marginal, and finding a proper position took some time and superglue.
I furthermore modified the propeller with a long metal axis and a tube adapter inside if the fuselage, so that it could spin freely.


Painting and markings:
The reason why the Ki-10 became a Swiss aircraft was the paint scheme – a quite attractive tricolor splinter pattern (apparently inspired by the similar German camouflage in RLM 61,62 and 63?) was the Swiss Air Force's standard at the breakout of WWII, and I adopted it for the C-3401, too.

The pattern is vaguely based on a real C-35 biplane (presented at the Dübendorf Aviation Museum), which I deem to look authentic, and I tried to emulate its colors as good as possible. I settled on Desert Yellow (Humbrol 94, the tone is officially called "Ochre" but appears to be quite yellowish), French Khaki Green (ModelMaster 2106) and Chestnut Brown (ModelMaster 2107, another French WWII aircraft tone), with light grey (Humbrol 64) undersides. Painting the splinter scheme with a brush on a biplane like this was tricky, though. The cockpit interior was painted with a grey-green tone similar to RLM 02 (Humbrol 45), the wing struts became black.
As usual, the model received a light black ink washing, plus some post-panel shading and dry-brushing to emphasize details and to weather it, but only lightly, because the aircraft would not have been involved in fights.


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The roundels on the upper wings came from a generic TL-Modellbau national markings sheet, while the red bands for the national insignia under the lower wings and on the rudder were painted. The white cross on the fin comes from a Swiss BAe Hawk trainer (Italeri), while the slightly bigger white cross under the lower wings was scratched from white decal stripes. The tactical code comes from a Croatian MiG-21UM trainer (KP kit), the unit badge is fictional and came from a Spanish Heinkel He 70.
The model was sealed overall with matt acrylic varnish, and as a final step the rigging was applied, made from heated black sprue material, using the real Ki-10 as benchmark for the connections/positions.

1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 EKW (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte) C-3401; aircraft '167' of the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force), Überwachungsgeschwader; Dübendorf/Zürich, 1941 (What-if/ICM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


A pretty result, and the simple travesty of the elegant Ki-10 into a late interwar biplane from Continental Europe works surprisingly well. The spats and the closed canopy might not have been necessary, but they modernize and change the aircraft, so that its use during WWII – even though not in any offensive role – becomes even more believable. The splinter scheme suits the aircraft well, too, even though its application was a bit tricky, as well as the Swiss roundels.

[Old Wombat]

 

[Wardukw]

    
I'm not much of a bi plane guy but this has a very cool paint job and I do like that 😀

[Dizzyfugu]

Thank you. I was skeptical about the paint scheme - I thought it was more decorative than effective, but when put in front of an alpine landscape the colors and the jagged pattern worked surprisingly well. Also received another inspiration for a whiffy Ki-10, so this here might not be the last one. 

[su27rules]

        

[SPINNERS]

Lovely work Dizzy. Love the backstory too!

[Vulcan7]

Great build, especially the canopy conversion     

[NARSES2]

I do like that, particularly the colour scheme 

[loupgarou]

Another good job, Dizzy.

[Dizzyfugu]

Again, thanks a lot! 

[DogfighterZen]

Pretty cool, Thomas!   

[Hotte]

Nice swiss bird   

Hotte

[2996 Victor]

This looks really great and belies is Oriental origins. The German-derived engine certainly adds substance to the back-story. Excellent as always!

Cheers,
Mark

[stevehed]

Brilliant. Lots of potential whiffery.

[killnoizer]

It is funny for me to see the Kawasaki kit in your build ,  went a total other way than my version ,  and it have a real Swiss character... good work !