Fighting the wrong enemy, Armée de l'Air de l'armistice

[wireandpaper]

Thank you Sepp10 and Don for stopping by. As I mentioned before, the Fairey Battle supplemented the SAAF’s Hartbeest during the East Africa campaign. At the beginning of the war there was only one Battle in the inventory, and I have knowledge of six more later on, but probably they were more. In any case they never fully replaced the Hartbeest. Here is a sequence of the work in progress of Bruno’s Battle reduced 25% to 1/400.

[gomidefilho]

Great tiny Battle I repaint two SAAF versions, is in my to do list.

[Brent]

Nice little Battle.

Brent

[wireandpaper]

Thank you Pericles and Brent for stopping by. I do really appreciate it.

Going a little bit East of East Africa to Madagascar. The Vichy France had an unexpected allied against the Royal Navy and Commonwealth forces during Operation Ironclad, the Imperial Japanese Navy.

The Yokosuka E14Y (Glen) is from the Halinski Military Model’s I-19 in 1/200 reduced to 1/400. The Japanese midget sub is from the JSC’s I-16 in 1/400, one of the simplest models I had built recently: 3 paper pieces and 2 wires.

Edited from Wikipedia:

“On the night of 29 May 1942, Japanese submarine I-10′s Glen floatplane (Yokosuka E14Y) flew over Diego-Suarez, Madagascar, sighting the British battleship HMS Ramillies among the ships anchored there. The "A" detachment commander selected Diego-Suarez as the target for a midget submarine attack, scheduled for 30 May 1942.
On 30 May 1942, I-20 launched its midget submarine 10 nautical miles off Diego-Suarez and torpedoed HMS Ramillies at 20:25. At 21:20, while British corvettes dropped depth charges, I-20′s midget torpedoed and sank the 6,993-ton tanker British Loyalty in shallow water. After the midget ran aground, its two-man crew reached shore and attempted to make their way overland to the designated recovery area, but they were reported to the British as having been seen around 11:00 on 1 June and died in a gunfight with Royal Marine Commando No. 5 on 2 June.”

[Don Boose]

I like the way you have documented this little-known (at least, to me) action east of Africa.

This is always a most interesting and enlightening thread. Many thanks.

Don

[georgerutherford1861]

Very interesting history there and nice diorama!

Doug

[wireandpaper]

Thank you Don and George, your words are very encouraging!

One of the official defenders of Madagascar was the Potez 63.11. Other defenders included the MS 406 and the venerable Potez 25. In general, I try to have a three-view diagram on the same scale as the plane I am going to assemble. Above all, if there are no instructions available, this helps for the location of wings, ailerons, and rudder. It also helps to establish the correct angles of the dihedrals. From Bruno, reduced from 1/100 to 1/400.

Ps: In fact, more Series 63 Potez were built than any other French World War II aircraft, including the ubiquitous MS.406.

[wireandpaper]

Thank you Don and George, your words are very encouraging.

One of the official defenders of Madagascar was the Potez 63.11. Other defenders included the MS 406 and the venerable Potez 25. In general, I try to have a three-view diagram on the same scale as the plane I am going to assemble. Above all, if there are no instructions available, this helps for the location of wings, ailerons, and rudder. It also helps to establish the correct angles of the dihedrals. From Bruno, reduced from 1/100 to 1/400.

Ps: In fact, more Series 63 Potez were built than any other French World War II aircraft, including the ubiquitous MS.406.

You may find plenty of pictures of the Potez 25 in these photodocumentary of Madagascar in the 1930s
Images de Magagascar - 1932/1936 - Jean ASSOLLANT

[wireandpaper]

Dear all,
Here is Bruno's Potez 63.11 in flight "a la Jim."
I hope you like it.