Dewoitine D.520 by RS Models

1/72 Scale
Kit No. 92090
Decals: Five versions – all French Air Force
Comments: Engraved panel lines, detailed cockpit, recessed rivet detail, one-piece canopy with separate side windows, boxed-in wheel wells

History

The Dewoitine D.520 was designed in response to a 1936 Armee de l’Air requirement for a fast, modern fighter with good climbing speed and an armed with a nose-mounted 20mm cannon augmented by four 7.5mm machine guns in the wings. At the time the most powerful V-12 liquid-cooled engine available in France was the Hispano-Suiza 12Y, which was less powerful than state-of-the-art aero engines like the Rolls-Royce Merlin and Daimler-Benz DB 601, but also lighter. The prototype flew for the first time on October 2, 1938 from Toulouse-Francazal airfield with Marcel Doret at the controls.

The D.520 entered service with the Armee de l’Air in the Spring of 1940, but like many new combat aircraft it had its share of bugs to be worked out. The required modifications to address engine overheating, inefficient supercharger intakes and faulty armament systems were not fully incorporated into Dewoitine’s assembly line until April 1940, the eve of the German invasion and the Battle of France. This hampered production to the point that the firm routinely fell short of its monthly goals, and only 36 operational D.520’s were on strength with the French Air Force in France when the shooting started and the “Phoney War” suddenly ended on May 10, 1940. A total of 79 had been delivered to French forces, but the remaining 43 had been divided between the Aeronavale and overseas bases in North Africa.

Unlike the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406, which was at that time the most numerous fighter in the French Air Force, the Dewoitine D.520 came close to being a match for the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Before the German invasion, on April 21, 1940, C.E.M.A., the French test aircraft establishment at Orleans-Bricy, arranged a “fly-off,” a series of comparative test flights between a D. 520 and a Bf109E-3 which had been captured intact after landing behind French lines. The D. 520 proved itself an able opponent; it was slower thn the Bf109E but owing to its superb handing qualities it had superior maneuverability, which in the hands of a skilled pilot, could provide a decided advantage in combat.

A Dewoitine D.520 on display at the Musee Air & Espace at the former Le Bourget airport, outside Paris.

Upon the outbreak of war, one of the first units to operate the D. 520, Groupe de Chasse I/3, although barely ready for action, was rushed into the fighting, meeting the Luftwaffe for the first time on May 13, 1940. On that day, D. 520’s shot down three Henschel Hs 126’s and one Heinkel He 111 with no losses of their own. The next day, two of the unit’s pilots were killed in the fighting over Sedan, but G.C. I/3 was credited with 10 confirmed kills, four Messerchitt Bf 110’s, two Bf 109E’s, two Dornier Do 17’s, and two He 111’s — in addition to a probable Bf 110.

In perhaps the most famous action of its brief career, on June 5, 1940 German ace Werner Molders, flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4, was shot down in combat by a D.520 piloted by French ace Second Lieutenant René Pomier Layrargues 0f Groupe de Chasse II/7. Molders, the first ace of any nation to achieve more than 100 victories, was captured by French soldiers but liberated within a month upon the armistice with France. In an indication of the ferocity of air combat during the Battle of France, Lt. Layragues was himself shot down and killed within 30 minutes of downing Molders.

On June 9, 1940, while protecting Allied bombers over the Forge-les-Eaux area, G.C. I/3 again was credited with 10 victories. Dewoitine’s D.520, along with the Arsenal VG 33/39, was one of the two most modern French fighters in service when war broke out. But these more advanced fighters had entered service in relatively small numbers, too late to play a significant role during the Battle of France. Due to production delays, too few were available for combat against the Luftwaffe. The D.520 in particular proved to be relatively capable as a dogfighter against the Germans, but lacked sufficient numbers to make a strategic difference. By the time of the French armistice, D.520’s had accumulated 77 victories against 34 losses in combat

Following the June 1940 armistice, the D.520 remained in service, operated by both the Free French Air Force and the Vichy French Air Force. The type was also returned to production during 1942, although it was manufactured at a lower rate than it had been during 1940. Additional examples were operated by the Luftwaffe, Regia Aeronautica, and the Bulgarian Air Force. The D.520 saw combat service in North Africa, Bulgaria, and the Eastern Front, as well as use in France and Germany for training and defense purposes. During the type’s later life, it was used as a trainer aircraft. On September 3,1953, the last D.520s were finally withdrawn from service.

The Kit

RS Models Dewoitine D.520 is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 43 parts, including three clear plastic parts for the canopy and two rear side windows. The cockpit is nicely detailed with a combination of raised relief on the floor (which also bears recessed rivet detail) and main instrument panel, a control yoke, separately mounted rudder pedals, and interior sidewall detail on both fuselage halves. The pilot’s seat is rather basic but still has sufficient detail to incorporate a seat cushion.

The kit features separately mounted exhaust manifolds (a detail not commonly seen in this scale), boxed in wheel wells, a three-piece belly radiator, and a choice of spinners for the airscrew. The three-bladed propeller is a single part, and there is a part representing a nose cap for the fuselage which will likely require seam hiding. The entire wing is an economical three parts. In a nod to accuracy, the ventral antenna is not omitted but is to be cemented to the under surface of the rear fuselage in its folded position.

Markings

RS Models provides decals for a total of five aircraft, all in the colors of the Armee de l’Air, circa June 1940. Accordingly, there is only minor variation in their paint schemes, with each aircraft bearing a combination of Chocolate Brown, Dark Green, and Dark Blue Grey with an occasional flash of Light Blue-Grey on the upper surfaces, and Light-Blue Grey under sides. All bear the French roundel in the standard six positions (upper and lower surfaces of both wings and on both sides of the fuselage). All markings are crisply printed, perfectly in register with no color bleed, and appear to be of very high quality with a refined, semi-gloss sheen.

The first machine, bearing a White 6 on the tail and a black panther on the fuselage sides aft of the cockpit, No. 266 on the rudder, has a black spinner and is the aircraft of Second Lieutenant René Pomier Layrargues 0f 4 Escadrille, Groupe de Chasse II/7, who shot down Werner Molders on June 5, 1940.

The second machine, bearing a White 3 on the fuselage aft of the national roundel, with a red spinner and a shark mouth marking just below it, No. 273 on the rudder, is the aircraft of Denis Ponteins of 4 Escadrille, Groupe de Chasse II/7 based at Meaux-Esbly, June 1940.

The third machine, bearing a squared-off White 6 on the fuselage aft of the national roundel, with a red spinner, a red diamond on the tail, and a black and white spinner, is the aircraft of Deputy Chief M.E. Leblanc (likely an Assistant Squadron commander) of 5 Escadrille, Groupe de Chasse III/5, based at Relizanne, June 1940. It has no number on the tail.

The fourth machine, depicted on the rear box art, bearing a Red 27 on the fuselage, has a black spinner and a white greyhound on the tail with a thin red flash bisecting the national insignia on the fuselage and traversing diagonally from a forward facing point on the upper nose to a rearward facing point on the ventral surface of the fuselage just forward of the tail. No. 61 appears on the rudder. This is the mount of Colonel Vaclav Cukr of 4 Escadrille, Groupe de Chasse II/3 based in France in June 1940. Col Cukr was a Czech pilot and an ace with 8 victories who flew for the French once his homeland was subsumed by the Nazis. He would later fight in the Battle of Britain.

The fifth machine, also depicted on the rear box art, bearing a White M on the fuselage, and no number on the tail, with a dark blue spinner, was flown by Col. Mieczyslaw Mumler (3 victories) of 3 Escadrille, Groupe de Chasse II/7 based at Ounans in June 1940. Col Mumber was also a Czech pilot flying for the French.

Conclusion

This is a detailed, quality kit of an underrated fighter of insufficient renown that, but for the early capitulation of France in WWII, might have taken its place among the great iconic combat aircraft of the early war period. Highly recommended.

References

• Profile Publications No. 135: The Dewoitine 520; Profile Publications Ltd., Leatherhead, Surrey, England (no copyright date)
• www.luftwaffe.cz
• www.armedconflicts.com
• wikipedia.org