Dewoitine D.333 by F-RSIN

1/144 scale
Kit No. FR 14014
Cost: $25.00
Decals: Two versions, both Air France
Comments: Cast resin kit engineered for easy assembly; aftermarket replacement engines and propellers strongly recommended

History

The D.332 was an all-metal cantilever low-wing monoplane and a prototype airliner briefly operated by Air France in the early 1930’s. At the time of its introduction in 1933, it was a cutting edge aircraft of exceptional range. It would likely have had a longer career in civil aviation, at least until World War II, but for a fatal crash less than a year after it entered service. The pilot and co-pilot were seated side-by-side in a cockpit located forward of the wing leading edge, with a radio operator’s station located behind the pilot.

Powered by three Hispano-Suiza 9V radial engines, the Dewoitine D.332 had a cruising speed of 155 mph. The passenger cabin seated eight in two rows of four chairs along either side of a central aisle, each chair featuring an adjustable back allowing passengers to recline and even sleep, if they were able. Each passenger had a small folding table and his own ventilation, and an overhead mesh luggage rack was provided. The passenger cabin featured enormous windows — at least by modern standards — and a lavatory was situated at the rear.

The main landing gear had trouser-type fairings (spats) on the main gear legs, and the D.332 featured a landing searchlight that could be retracted up into the ventral surface of the fuselage. The Dewoitine D.332 first flew on July 11, 1933. The prototype was named Emeraude (Emerald) and caused a sensation performing several demonstration flights around European capitals. Emeraude quickly became the pride of the French civil air service, achieving a world class record on September 7, 1933 when it flew a 1000 km (621 mile) course with a payload of 2000 kg (4,409lb) at an average speed of 159.56 km/h (161.3 mph) – maximum speed was 186 mph. Designed to meet an Air France requirement for a passenger transport linking Paris to French Indo-China, the aircraft set out for Saigon on December 21, 1933 on a proving flight.

The Emeraude arrived safely at Saigon on December 28, 1933. On the return flight, when only 400 km (249 miles) from Le Bourget Airport, Emeraude struck a hill near Corbigny, 125 miles outside Paris in a violent snowstorm and was destroyed on January 15, 1934, killing everyone aboard, including the French Governor-General of Indo-China. The probable cause of the crash was determined to be the formation of ice on the wings. It its brief career, the Dewoitine D.332 set four international records. For this reason, despite the accident Air France decided to order three of an improved version designated the Dewoitine D.333.

The D.333 was a heavier and strengthened 10-seat version, featuring a reinforced wing and the addition of a luggage compartment behind the engine in the nose — a modification requiring the lengthening of the fuselage by three meters. The fully loaded weight was increased by 1650 kg (3,637 lb). Ultimately in 1937 the design was further improved with the debut of the D.338 featuring larger, more powerful Hispano Suiza V16/17 radial engines 0f 484 kW, a larger cabin accommodating 22 passengers, and a fully retractable undercarriage. This would be the most modern and definitive version of the series.

Despite the tragic loss of Dewoitine’s D.332, it proved itself by establishing four international aviation records during its brief time in the limelight, and advanced the cause of commercial aviation by pointing the way to larger, more capable passenger aircraft. It remains an icon of an era in which France was a world leader in aviation achievement.

Construction

Perhaps because of the diminutive size of this kit, F-RSIN seems to have undertaken a serious effort to make its construction relatively easy. The fuselage is a single part consisting of two halves that have already been cemented together and sanded almost completely smooth — a bit of additional sanding amounting to little more than clean-up remains to be done by the modeler. An interesting detail is that this is a multi-media kit by virtue of the tiny tail wheel, an assembly consisting of wire and what appears to be black porcelain for the tire, already affixed to the ventral surface of the tail right out of the box, and looks quite realistic. You quickly move on the wings, to which I chose to cement the nacelles before trying affix the them to the fuselage. I wanted the wings to be totally finished before that happened, so extensive filing and sanding of the nacelles followed.

It took four different types of filler to plug and then sand smooth the gaps between the somewhat crude nacelles (which are molded as a single piece including the spats and the wheels of the main landing gear) and the wings: Milliput, Tamiya putty, Zap-a-Gap, and finally Mr. Surfacer 500. Once this was done the kit rapidly took shape — the wings and elevators were cemented on using cyanoacrylate, and another round of puttying and sanding using mainly Milliput and Tamiya putty followed, progressing much faster than the nacelles had. The cowlings were separate parts and required a bit of sanding also.

The kit falls down only in the area of the radial engines, which were riddled with gaping sinkholes, and the propellers, which had the appearance of wafer-thin bits of confetti. One look at what F-RSIN provided (see the kit preview here) and I knew I would be seeking aftermarket replacements. I found a set of BMW 132 radial engines in 1/144 scale for the Junkers Ju 52 by Brengun (BRL 144039), and for the propellers I located a set of B-29 props, also by Brengun (BRL 144037) — these might be a tad large for the Dewoitine D.332, but they were the best replacements available and provided a far more realistic look than the kit propellers. The BMW engines had to be sanded down to fit into the cowlings, and the propeller blades and prop hubs were all individually mounted and required a bit of care during assembly.

Painting

The kit is airbrushed in a metallic paint by Gunze, Mr. Metal Color Aluminum (MC 218). Painting took quite awhile because of the primer I used, Alclad’s Gloss Black Base. Even though I thinned it liberally with alcohol, it took up to three days between coats for it to dry completely — this while taking advantage of the summer heat and setting it outside for a few hours each day. While it contains acrylic resin, Mr. Metal Color Aluminum cleans up easily with enamel thinner. This is great paint and like Model Master’s metallizer series, requires buffing once dry for best results.

The anti-glare panel on the nose is airbrushed in Tamiya Semi-Gloss Black. Despite the most careful masking, inevitably there was a bit of overspray, probably due to the small scale of the kit. Touch-up painting with Mr. Metal Color Aluminum was required, and fortunately this paint brushed on nearly as well as it airbrushes, with most brush strokes being relatively easy to conceal due to the constituency of the paint. Curiously, I found that when applied with a paintbrush, tiny silvery particles of the paint would go airborne. Touch-up painting of the anti-glare panel was also needed, but since Tamiya acrylics do not brush on well at all, I made my own enamel-based Semi-Gloss Black by mixing Tamiya enamel Flat Black XF-1 in the small bottle with Testors Gloss Black enamel, and applied it carefully to the nose with a small paint brush.

Markings

The kit decals were a challenge and required extreme patience. The markings for the upper surface of the wings include all panel lines and are consist of about 85% clear transparencies interrupted here and there by panel lines, and are intended to cover almost the entire wing surface. I had never seen decals of this type before. The area that goes over the nacelles tends to refuse to lay down and hug the contours, so it is better to cut the markings in two at the outset, with the larger piece covering the area outboard of the nacelles, and then trim both pieces so that no part of the decal covers the nacelles themselves.

I learned this the hard way after a mishap with the port wing marking, which I applied first and had to cut after it was already wet — not the ideal method and unfortunately some resulting tearing is visible. The starboard wing marking looks far more professional in light of that experience. All markings had a tendency to very easily fold back on themselves, so do your utmost to slide them smoothly and directly from the decal backing to the surface of the model without any slip ups. I have encountered this problem with other kits markings, but the Dewoitine’s decals had a stronger tendency to do this more readily than most.

A note on the markings for the port side of the fuselage: There is not enough surface area to use the markings as they appear on the decal sheet, and they will have to be trimmed. There is one marking for the multiple windows, one for the door, and one for the aircraft code, F-ANQB or F-AMMY depending on the version you choose. By trimmed I mean the window markings will have to be cut so that there are fewer windows on the port side than there are on the starboard side of the fuselage. This is partly due to the fact that the schematic provided with the kit shows the final letters of the aircraft code appearing under the port side elevator of the tail section, but there is actually insufficient room under the elevator for the letters, given their size.

The Air France lettering went on without incident, but I have two issues with the circular Air France logo, which despite its flaws help make the kit. First, the yellow background against which the trademark winged seahorse appears is far too pale in my opinion, and was a disappointment. Second is that these decals were the most delicate of all and the one on the port broke in two during application and at one point seemed close to a total write-off. I was able to reconstruct it, but it did not quite fit back together perfectly and I reached the point where it was reluctant to move at all, and I had a choice between continuing to try to manipulate and possibly destroy it, given its delicacy, or call it a day. I wanted the logo on both sides of the aircraft, so I let it be. Despite the challenge of working with admittedly quite delicate decals, I have to say they are of extremely high quality.

Conclusion

This is a wonderful if relatively rare kit of the Golden Age era of aviation whose decals make it appear more detailed than it actually is. Its major flaws are the engines and propellers, for which I urgently recommend aftermarket replacements, since the parts provided are frankly not up to the quality of the remainder of the kit. With that said, very highly recommended.

References

• National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Aircraft Circular No. 185: The Dewotine D.332 Commerical Airplane (Published December 1933)
• aviastar.org
• passionair1940.fr
• British Movietone newsreels