Showing posts with label armee de l'air. Show all posts
Showing posts with label armee de l'air. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
SPAD XIII and Charles Nungesser
Charles Eugène Jules Marie Nungesser (1892-1927), pilot, daredevil, womanizer, party animal, and the third ranking French ace after Fonck and Guynemer with in all 43 victories. His many exploits won't be listed here, but suffice to say that Nungesser flew a Nieuport for most of the war until August of 1918, when he finally upgraded to a modified SPAD XIII. The modifications included an early gun camera on the top wing and a smaller wind screen, both of which can be found on the model below. By the way, the model is an old SPAD kit re-boxed by Italieri, with all the quirks of the 1960s, I am also quite certain that the scale may be a bit smaller than 1/72, perhaps 1/75 or 1/76. The engine louvres were also removed, as per photographs of Nungesser's SPAD. Also, the pilot's head was repositioned to make the figure look a bit more lively. Painting was done with Vallejo acrylics, and the plane was finally rigged and mounted on a piece of plastic card. The decals came from the spare box, since there's no shortage of aircraft with somewhat morbid Nungesser's personal markings, the black heart with the elements of a funeral inside the heart, a memento mori that contrasted rather well against the extravagant lifestyle of the ace.
Friday, January 24, 2014
Dassault Super Mystère
The Dassault Super Mystère was first flown on March 2, 1953, has the distinction of being the first European aircraft to break the sound barrier. It was similar to the North American F-100 Super Sabre, the Soviet MiG-19 and somewhat similar to the SAAB J-32 Lansen. The Super Mystère served with the air forces of France, Israel and Honduras, being retired from the Armee de l'Air in 1977.
It served in the Israeli Air Force (IAF) as the Sambad (a Hebrew acronym of "Super Mystère B Deux") from 1959 and it acquitted itself well against MiG-17 and MiG-19s, although the engine was found to be weak. Initial dogfights in the early 1960s did not result in any enemy aircraft shot down despite some excellent opportunities. It turned out that the 30mm DEFA cannons rounds were set for delayed detonation, which was ideal for bringing down Soviet bombers, but not jet fighters. As the Dassault Mirage entered IAF service, the Super Mystère began flying ground attack missions, and the IAF Super Mystères were heavily engaged in the 1967 war. 507 sorties were flown during the war and nine Super Mystères were lost, while five enemy aircraft were shot down. The Super Mystère pilots did encounter MiG-21s during the war, but despite being outperformed, the IAF pilots managed to evade the MiG-21s and on at least one occasion shoot down two Egyptian MiG-21s. The IAF Super Mystères were upgraded in 1969 with stronger engines to the Sa'ar (Tempest), and it served into the 1970s. The air force of Honduras operated Super Mystères between 1976 and 1996.
The model is the Airfix Super Mystère from the early 1970s, and it is one of the better Airfix kits of the era. The raised panel lines are discreet, and the cockpit has a reasonable amount of detailing. The fit was quite good, with the exception of the cockpit, and the decals were in good shape, although the blue had faded. The markings are of an aircraft belonging to the EC 2/10 'Seine' squadron in the mid-1960s, which had two escadrilles, the Cercle de Chasse de Paris, which was founded in 1934, and SPA 76, which originated from 1916, although it was disbanded between 1919 and 1938. During the Second World War the escadrilles formed the fighter squadron GC III/10. The Super Mystère was in use between 1959 and 1968, after which the squadron flew the Mirage IIIC until 1985, when the squadron was disbanded.
It served in the Israeli Air Force (IAF) as the Sambad (a Hebrew acronym of "Super Mystère B Deux") from 1959 and it acquitted itself well against MiG-17 and MiG-19s, although the engine was found to be weak. Initial dogfights in the early 1960s did not result in any enemy aircraft shot down despite some excellent opportunities. It turned out that the 30mm DEFA cannons rounds were set for delayed detonation, which was ideal for bringing down Soviet bombers, but not jet fighters. As the Dassault Mirage entered IAF service, the Super Mystère began flying ground attack missions, and the IAF Super Mystères were heavily engaged in the 1967 war. 507 sorties were flown during the war and nine Super Mystères were lost, while five enemy aircraft were shot down. The Super Mystère pilots did encounter MiG-21s during the war, but despite being outperformed, the IAF pilots managed to evade the MiG-21s and on at least one occasion shoot down two Egyptian MiG-21s. The IAF Super Mystères were upgraded in 1969 with stronger engines to the Sa'ar (Tempest), and it served into the 1970s. The air force of Honduras operated Super Mystères between 1976 and 1996.
The model is the Airfix Super Mystère from the early 1970s, and it is one of the better Airfix kits of the era. The raised panel lines are discreet, and the cockpit has a reasonable amount of detailing. The fit was quite good, with the exception of the cockpit, and the decals were in good shape, although the blue had faded. The markings are of an aircraft belonging to the EC 2/10 'Seine' squadron in the mid-1960s, which had two escadrilles, the Cercle de Chasse de Paris, which was founded in 1934, and SPA 76, which originated from 1916, although it was disbanded between 1919 and 1938. During the Second World War the escadrilles formed the fighter squadron GC III/10. The Super Mystère was in use between 1959 and 1968, after which the squadron flew the Mirage IIIC until 1985, when the squadron was disbanded.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Caudron C. 714
The petite Caudron was used by the French Air Force as well as the Finnish Air Force, and it was flown by Polish pilots in French service. This Heller kit was built almost a decade ago, and it was my first foray into detailing a cockpit from scratch. The results were decent, but for some reason the rather colorful French color scheme didn't apply to me, and the Caudron was painted as a Beuteflugzeug in German service. Other scratchbuilding included the pitot tube and the gun sight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
