Hasegawa Dewoitine D-520

You probably have noted I’ve resolved to complete some types that I’ve never done before, to mix in amongst some that represent repeaters (like P-47s and Hurricanes). Plus I’ve never knowingly finished a French aircraft in WW2 French markings, so that was something I decided to try late last year.

Hasegawa is pretty fool proof as a kitmaker (an advantage I have utilized many times in my modelling career), and I had one of their D-520s in the stash. It exhibited all of the hallmarks of Hasegawa; excellent fit and exterior detail, not much in the cockpit.

Although I do have some alternate D-520 decals in the stash, I decided to use the ones that came in this particular kit boxing. They are for Fighter Group 2/7, based in France in 1940. The paint colors are all Xtracolour equivalents of the French paints: lower surfaces are X136 Light Compass Grey, and the upper camo is X219 Dunkelbraun, X115 Field Green, and X133 Neutral Grey. Looks fine to me in the absence of specifically designated French shades by Xtracolour.

One odd note. Possibly due to the kleptomaniacal leanings of the newest rescue cat, the exhausts for this kit turned up missing during the painting process. It seems to be happening occasionally, so I've started boxing up the smaller sub-assemblies so they are less accessible. To solve this particular problem, I have a set of Quickboost resin exhausts on the way, but have used a pair of Hurricane exhausts as a stopgap. I'll swap them out when the replacements arrive. 

This is the first D-520 I’ve completed, so another type gets marked off the list.

This is completed aircraft #508 (6 aircraft, 1 ordnance, 1 vehicles for the year 2019), finished in February of 2019.