Dewoitine D.520 - Part 5

by Randy Lutz

This is another Dewoitine D.520 and, as with all the others, it is based on the Tamiya 1/48 kit.

This particular model represents the D.520 flown by Commandant Paul Stehlin, of Groupe de Chasse III/6 while based at Maison Blanche, Algeria in July 1940.

To model Stehlin's aircraft I was fortunate to have three photos from three different time periods. By coincidence, all three photos are of the exact same airframe. One of the photos, a close-up of the rear, shows Stehlin's aircraft in pre-Armistice markings and was a great aid in determining the camo pattern on this area.

The second photo was taken about a month later when the aircraft was displaying the full white Armistice markings. This photo provided a complete starboard side camo pattern, although the nose area was too dark to see the pattern.

The final photo showed Stehlin's aircraft after being painted with the yellow tail surfaces as seen on Syrian based machines, but had much better exposure in the nose area and allowed me to duplicate the camo pattern in this area.

One thing Aero Master missed in their decal option was the extra white letter 'A' on the top of the starboard wing, inboard of the roundel. This made it necessary for me to pick up another set of these decals to obtain the missing 'A'. The application of the individual aircraft letter or number was a common practice of Groupe de chasse III/6 and can be traced back to MS.406's of early war days. Aero Master also suggest that the numero de matricule (serial number) No.331 is shown on the rudder. However, this is incorrect as it is clearly not visible in the 3 photos of Stehlin's Dewoitine. One final complaint with the Aero Master markings relates to the size of the fuselage letter 'A'. It is a little oversize and because of that, it would be impossible to model Stehlin's aircraft in the Syrian markings as the letter 'A' would not fit in between the yellow rear fuselage and the fuselage roundel.

In keeping with my standard painting practices, this model was finished with Xtracolor X384 WWII Kaki, X386 WWII Ombre Calcinee, X388 WWII Gris Bleu Foncé, X389 WWII Gris Bleu Clair, X103 Insignia Red FS11136, X124 Blue FS15109 and X141 White FS17875. The decals are from Aeromaster sheet 48-095 and the aircraft was weathered with chalk pastels.

As with all my other Dewoitines, this one is essentially out of the box, save the photo-etched seatbelts. This is my sixth Dewoitine and I would have to say that the appeal of this subject has to be on account of the varied marking choices. I have many more in the queue to model, including both Allied and Axis Bulgarian machines, a Free French, and a few from the Aeronavale.

We all have our favourite subjects we like to model. For some it is Me-109's, or Spitfires. But for me it is D.520's. However, I also like Nates and Mustangs.


 

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Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2003 by Randy Lutz
Page Created 10 January, 2003
Last Updated 10 January, 2003

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