Morane Saulnier M.S.406
| Kit: | Hasegawa, 1/72; model finished in 1996-07 |
|---|---|
| Aircraft: | MS-314, "white 4", 2/LeLv 28, Ilmavoimat (Lunkula, September 1941) |
This plane was flown by Lt. P.Massinen (5 victories total, 3 with this aircraft). Pictures and comments about this aircraft can be found in [1 pp.17, 33, 59] and [3 p.139] (which has remarks about colors). The plane has the earlier French color scheme.
Construction Notes
The side view drawing in [1] suggests that the plane had a tailwheel, but the photographs hint that a landing skid was used instead. Also visible on the photographs are the upper side wing root panels which are either some lighter color or gloss.
The model was built from the Hasegawa 1/72 "French Air Force" kit. The wheel wells of the kit are shaped all wrong, and need to be furnished properly (see the image below). See [5 p.130] for a good diagram. Note that it is important to remember piano hinges for fuselage panels and wing ribbing (this is incorrect in this kit - engraved - as opposed to the Heller kit where they are raised). Color information is given here. I used decals from Suomen Lennokki, InScale 72 and Aeromaster (Luftwaffe numbers).
My thanks to David Veres for providing useful information during the construction of this model, particularly about colors (David actually prefers the Heller 1/72nd scale Morane over the Hasegawa kit).
References (at the time of building the model)
- Gaston Botquin, "Morane-Saulnier M.S.406", Le fanatique de l'Aviation, Avril 1978.
- Kalevi Keskinen, Kari Stenman & Klaus Niska, 1975. "Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 & Caudron C.714", Suomen Ilmavoimien historia 4, Tietoteos, Forssa (Finland).
- Kalevi Keskinen, Kari Stenman & Klaus Niska, 1978. "Hävittäjä-ässät", Suomen Ilmavoimien historia 11, Tietoteos, Forssa (Finland).
- Kalevi Keskinen & Kari Stenman, 1989. "Ilmavoimat talvisodassa", Tietoteos, Espoo (Finland).
- Jukka Raunio, 1993. "Lentäjän näkökulma II", Forssa (Finland).
More About the Model
- My model's entry at the Finnish scale model Web site pienoismallit.net
- Scalemates' entry for the Hasegawa kit