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Hi folks, many thanks for visiting the tiny aircraft gallery once again. I have at last finished painting my collection of French fancies, so without further adieu (I couldn't help myself, sorry) on with the show.

In 1936 in response to Germany's continued remilitarisation France was taking a long hard look at its Airforce and finding that it was long overdue a major update.

Fighters like the Dewoitine D500 and bombers like the Bloch MB210 not long ago considered the very leading edge of modern aviation were already practically obsolete and in need of replacing.

The Dewoitine 510 was still in production at the time. A beautiful little monoplane plane with long, low wings, fixed undercarriage and open cockpit it was clearly an outmoded mount yet a shipment had just been delivered to China where they saw action against Imperial Japan.


The old Bloch MB210 had been an improved design based on the older MB200 and as such had been easily rolled into production to outfit a number of bomber groups. However both were now considered too old and vulnerable and suitable for night bombing only. They were scheduled for replacement by newer and faster bombers as soon as these could be designed, produced and equipped.

The war came sooner than the replacements however and the old Blochs remained in service as reserve units and were occasionally pressed into service. Many French MB210s survived the war intact by dint of rarely seeing action. However the Romanian Airforce operated their MB210s with some success. Some of the even older MB200s were used by Vichy French forces in the Syria-Lebanon campaign where they were eventually destroyed on the ground.

Many private aircraft manufacturers in France were swiftly bought up and nationalised in an effort to meet the needs of National Security. However it proved too little too late as German production outstripped that of its neighbours and by 1940 the Armée de l'Air were still woefully under-equipped to have any real hope of success against the Luftwaffe.

One product of this nationalisation project was the Morane-Saulnier MS.406, designed to replace France's ageing stock of 30's fighter planes. Over 1000 were produced making it one of the most numerous of France's fighter planes.

Although it was a considerably more modern design than the aircraft it replaced it was underpowered, underarmed and critically outperformed by the Luftwaffe's Bf 109E.


Pilot Sgt. Mirolsav Jiroudek, like many airmen escaping the German occupation of their home nation, fled to France to continue his fight against Nazi Germany. He flew with Groupe de Chasse III/1, operating this MS406 during the Battle of France. Upon the fall of France Jiroudek was able to escape to Britain where he flew Hurricanes and later Beaufighters in service with the RAF. He returned to Czechoslovakia in July 1945 and flew for a Czech Air Line until 1950.


At age 18 Pierre Le Gloan joined the Armée de l'Air at the outbreak of the war. He served in the GC III/6 fighter squadron, flying the Morane-Saulnier MS.406 from Chartres in the air defence of Paris. He scored victories against four German bombers in the battle of France. Two Do17 and two He111.

Le Gloan's unit GC III/6 were re-equipped with new Dewoitine D.520 fighters in June of 1940 and moved to the south of France. Le Gloan in his new D520 soon added a number of Italian aircraft to his tally before the Armistice between France and Germany. Le Gloan's unit were sent out to Syria where he scored victories against RAF Hurricanes and Gladiators before being withdrawn back to Algiers.

Following the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942 GC III/6 defected to the Free French. They were equipped with Bell P-39 Airacobras which Le Gloan flew until his death in a landing accident in September 1943.
Pierre Le Gloan had shot down 18 aircraft during his flying career, four German, seven Italian and seven British making him an ace for both sides.


The Dewoitine D.520 was the best modern single engine fighter that France produced, out-performing the MS.406 and able to hold its own against invading German fighters. However due to delays in development, production and delivery (France's aeronautical industry being frightfully ill-equipped for the war) there were nowhere near enough available to defend France. Had more D.520's been ready in time they might have made a much more significant contribution to the war.

They had a great range, good manoeuvrability, powerful weaponry and handled very well. The Italians who received some following the armistice thought them excellent.

This Dewoitine 520 was captured from the Vichy French in Lebanon by Free French airmen flying with the RAF. It was marked with the Cross of Lorraine, the symbol of the Free French Forces led by Charles de Gaul. A fine prize to be sure, to liberate one of your own, however the few D.520's in Free French hands could only be used as advanced trainers as their radios were incompatible with other RAF combat aircraft.


Another product of the Armée de l'Air's desperate modernisation programme was the Lioré et Olivier LeO 45. This medium bomber was originally designed to meet the1936 B4 specification (which itself had shifted a number of times since 1933) With the imminent threat of war looming and continued delays due to engine reliability the LeO 45 was hurried into production despite known teething problems.

The LeO 451 entered service flying recognisance over Germany with Groupe de Bombardement I/31, but by the start of the Second World War this unit had only five LeO 451s and eight practically obsolete Bloch MB200s. (Honestly, is the MB200 not the ugliest plane ever to lift off from the face of the earth?)

In fact by the start of the Battle of France only 54 of the 222 LeO 451s that had been delivered were actually ready for combat. Too few in number and often without fighter escort the LeO 451 was none the less a remarkably fast and very agile bomber and enjoyed some success against Italian forces.

Following the armistice LeO 451s continued to fly under Vichy direction in the Syria-Lebanon Campaign and a number were captured and used by both sides as unit hacks and transports.

And the last two aircraft in my (not entirely comprehensive) French roundup are the Potez 631 and Potez 63.11

The Potez 63 was originally designed to fulfil the role of Fighter Control, bomber escort, interceptor and night fighter. Something in the vein of the German Bf-110 or the Soviet Pe-2, you can see the similarity. Unfortunately so could many French anti-aircraft gunners and "friendly" fliers and often the Potez 631 was mistaken for its German counterpart and attacked by its own.

Due to the French aircraft industry's inability to produce high powered aircraft engines most German bombers were able to outrun the underpowered Potez 361 so it wasn't much use as an interceptor, day or night.

The most useful and therefore most numerous of the variations was the Potez 63.11 which had been developed to serve with the Groupes Aèriens d'Observation (Army co-operation squadrons) as a reconnaissance aircraft.
It had a completely redesigned crew compartment and extensively glazed nose. The pilot's seat was moved higher and further back to accommodate the changes.

A note on colour schemes before we're done. Most of what I've been able to find suggests the Armée de l'Air did not employ any standardisation in camouflage patterning so there was much variation in the blue/grey, green, brown tri-colour scheme.


National cockade roundels typically were placed in the usual 6 locations with the wing roundels being located on the very end of the wing.


Aces wore diagonal stripes and squadron codes and insignia vary a great deal.

The Vichy era saw the addition of a white stripe and outline to the fuselage roundels, and in mid-1941 the introduction of the infamous yellow and red "Slaves' Pyjamas" striping on the tails and engine cowlings.

That's it for my Focus on French fliers. Hope you enjoyed seeing them. As ever I'd love to hear your thoughts and Thanks for looking.

These look phenomenal!

Excellent as always, good info and very pretty pics. How on earth did you manage to do those red yellow and stripes so neatly?

Incredible job and great history lesson too!

Amazing and inspiring work!

Ever do any Finnish AC?

Awesome aircraft! Kinda curious to see you do sci fi stuff as well.

@ingtaer- layer up -white base- inked yellow- red ink stripes on top-corrections/tidy up with white- yellow ink the white bits.

@schoon- not yet but I've mentioned them having success with Buffalos. Actually by all accounts they had much more success with many of the planes they bought than the countries who sold the old clap traps ever had with them. Got plans for more British, Japanese and Italians, (not to mention the obvious gaps in my USAAF) but the Finns could easily get a look in. They were certainly no pushovers.

@ Malika2- Closest things I've got by way of painted sci-fi is maybe these (spoilered as they're not WW2 aircraft)


Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement. Got an exciting batch on the go right now that I can't wait to share. Really a bit special! Watch this space.

Talk about doubling down on 1930s technology, the massive production and use of the Soviet crop duster, the Polikarpov Po-2 is about as retrograde a plan as can be imagined. But it worked a treat.

They were used for just about everything conceivable and often got away with it due to their top speed being about the same as the stall speed of the Luftwaffe fighters ordered to shoot them down.

One of the most famous operators of the Po-2 was the all female 588th Night Bomber Regiment known to their german enemies as the 'Nachthexen' (Night Witches). Their pilots like Yekaterina Ryabova and Nadezhda Popova, (who famously flew eighteen missions in a single night.) were notorious for daring low-altitude night raids on German rear-area positions. With engines throttled off there was little warning to the sleepless nerve wracked enemy below as the bombs fell from the whistling shadows gliding low overhead.

 schoon wrote:
Amazing and inspiring work!

Ever do any Finnish AC?

You've really got me thinking now. Some fascinating stories to be told looking at The Winter War. Hmmmm...

Continuing my theme of four-winged wonders I'll show a few more recent additions to the collection.

These beautiful British bi-planes are all coming from Heroics & Ros (Another very nice selection of 1:300 scale aircraft to choose from. I got those Po-2's and some of my French collection in the same order.)

First up its the RAF's "modern" bi-plane, the Gloster Gladiator.

The Gladiator was developed to replace the obsolescent Gauntlet but did so only for a short time as more modern monoplane fighters like the Hurricane quickly outstripped its performance and replaced it.
None the less Gladiators were pressed into service by the RAF and Fleet Air Arm in France, Malta and the Middle East and Gladiators saw service in many other theatres across the world with various other forces on both sides.

The Hal Far Fighter Flight were formed during the Siege of Malta. A group of Gloster Sea Gladiators formed the air defence of the Island from June 1940 for a number of weeks under bombardment by Italian bombers.

In September 1940 Pilot Officer Roald Dahl (yes, THAT Roald Dahl!) flying this Gloster Gladiator over the Lybian desert made a crash landing and received severe head and back injuries. Although he returned to service with 80 Squadron and had some success flying Hurricanes his injuries from this crash put an end to his flying career and he was invalided back to England. Dahl often expressed the belief that this head injury had produced the change in his personality and creativity that made him one of the world's best loved and most celebrated children's authors.


Next up on our British bi-plane bonanza its Fairey's quintessential Fleet Air Arm icon the Swordfish.

It might have appeared practically obsolete when first introduced in 1936 but this large and rugged biplane had all the right qualities for deck flying operations and torpedo dive bombing.

Affectionately known as the 'Stringbag' for its adaptable multifunctional capabilities the 'can do, will do' Swordfish outlasted all expectation continuing its distinguished service all throughout the war, outlasting even Fairey's replacement the Albacore to become Britain's last serving bi-plane.

Famous for the attack on the Italian Fleet at Taranto in Nov 1940 and the operation to seek and destroy the Bismarck the Swordfish was also instrumental in protecting Allied convoys from German submarines.

Another stalwart of the Fleet Air Arm and of the Air Sea Rescue service is this, the Supermarine Walrus.

The "Shagbat" as it was sometimes called, for its frankly disastrous aesthetics may not have been a looker but to anyone stranded out in the Channel seeing it swoop in to the rescue it was the very vision of beauty.

Originally designed for catapult launch and spotting duties for the Royal Navy the old Shagbat though somewhat unsuitable proved a rugged and able rescue craft. Unable to take off from the water when carrying more than 6 men, there were countless instances of Walrus crews landing to effect a rescue knowing full well they would have to taxi back to shore often for tens of miles in mine infested waters and rough seas.

Hundreds of men were returned safely to shore by the doughty Walrus who would otherwise have perished.

That'll be all for bi-planes for the time being. I've got another order incoming so expect some more WW2 bi-plane action here some time in the hopefully not too distant future.
As ever, thanks for visiting the tiny aircraft gallery.

Check out the OP for an updated list of aircraft in my collection. Having massive fun painting lots of different Regia Aeronautica camouflage schemes! Looking forward to uploading them in the near future, so look out for those.

I eagerly await the next installment of your fantastic work.

Hi folks. Glad to be able to show my first lot of Regia Aeronautica at last.

This little batch are all from Scotia Grendel. Beautiful sculpts as ever from them and a joy to paint up. I hope you enjoy these as much as I have.

Fiat G50 Frechia (arrow/dart)

Italy’s first single-seat, all-metal all-modern monoplane fighter was much celebrated for its excellent manoeuvrability when it first entered service in 1939. Despite its inadequate armament of only two machine guns and its lack of pace and range compared to contemporary rivals it was extensively used by Italian forces throughout the war in many theatres.

Macchi MC200 Saetta (Arrow, or a flash of lightning)

Marginally more capable than the Fiat G50 the first all modern monoplane fighter produced by Macchi was ultimately another under powered and under equipped offering. On top of that the Saetta also had a dangerous tendency to spin out of control resulting in a hurried improvement program which soon saw the development of the C.202 Folgore to replace it. However a shortage of engines for the new fighter saw the old MC200 Saetta continue in production. Over 1000 were produced almost all of which had been lost in service by the armistice of 1943.


Macchi C.202 Folgore (Italian "thunderbolt")
These fast machines were sleek and deadly. A real piece of Italian style in the air.

Unfortunately for the Regia Aeronautica that was about as far as it went. Still with a woefully insufficient compliment of only two nose-mounted machine guns (that were quite prone to jamming) combined with faulty radios and inefficient oxygen systems meant that their pilots rarely had the support needed to push these elegant fliers to success. Still, they were widely regarded as the best fighters the Italians had and were best not underestimated.


This is the C.202 Folgore flown by Captain Franco Lucchini of 84 Squadriglia in North Affica. Lucchini was an experienced fighter pilot having flown CR.32's over Spain, CR.42's in North Africa, C.200's over Malta and then C.202's again back in Africa. An ace of some 26 victories Lucchini was amongst the most celebrated fighters of the Regia Aeronautica. On 5th July 1943 he was engaged in a massive battle in the skies over Sicily where he was shot down and killed fighting B-17s and Spitfires.

Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Italian for sparrowhawk)
The true workhorse of the Regia Aeronautica and a terror for Allied shipping in the Mediterranean the SM79 carved out its place in history as one of the fastest medium bombers and deadliest torpedo bombers of the war.

With its three engined design and notable dorsal hump the SM79 is easily recognisable and was well liked by its pilots and crew who nicknamed it il gobbo maledetto ("damned hunchback").

A source of much national pride for its award winning speed and ability it often flew without escort in the Spanish civil war. Their myth of invulnerability ended when the first Sparviero to be shot down fell to a Gladiator over Malta.


Carlo Emanuele Buscaglia flew this SM79 in 1940 as part of the Italian torpedo bomber campaign in the Mediterranean. His successful attacks on HMS Kent, HMS Glasgow and HMS Illustrious amongst many other hapless Allied ships made him one of the most celebrated pilots of the Regia Aeronautica.

Five times awarded the Silver Medal of Military Valor and also the German Iron Cross second class, Buscaglia was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor after his aircraft was shot down in North Africa in November 1943.
Though he was badly wounded and burned in the crash he survived and was taken prisoner. Buscaglia returned to Italy in July 1944 to fly with the Aeronautica Cobelligerante del Sud, but died attempting to take off in a new American-built Martin Baltimore without an instructor.
The 3rd Wing of the current Aeronautica Militare Italiana was named after him.

Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 Pipistrello (Italian: bat)

Basically a militarised 30's airliner the SM.81 Pipistrello had already proved very capable in multiple roles during the war with Ethiopia and the Spanish Civil War.

By the onset of the Second World War despite near obsolescence there were still around 300 SM.81's in service performing various second-line duties. Its wide fuselage provided a large capacity for bomb loads on night bombing raids or for transport of goods and troops during daylight. It was one of the most flexible, reliable and important aircraft of the Regia Aeronautica.


CANT Z.1007 Alcione (Kingfisher)
Originally a land-based version of CANT's record breaking trimotor float plane the Z.506 the Alcione had a disappointing start and required a good few updates and improvements before engines, airframe and armament came together into something of a capable modern medium bomber.

The trimotor design was a common feature of Italian aircraft of World War II, mostly because the Italian aeronautical industry were having a hard time producing an engine that could put out as much power as some contemporary German or British ones. The trimotor design could provide as much power as a german twin engine design but with the added weight of a third engine.

The wooden structure of the Z.1007 would allow the aircraft to float if it was forced to ditch in the sea but it was a nightmare in the extreme climates. Aircraft stationed in North Africa and Russia suffered badly from delamination and cracking which caused extra drag on the otherwise very narrow and streamlined airframe.

That's all of now folks. I have another batch on the go, this time from Heriocs & Ros. Another selection of Italian aviation should be singing your way hopefully soon.
As always folks, many thanks for visiting the gallery and sharing my enthusiasm for tiny planes.

Beautiful stuff as always! Stunned at how well those camo patterns retain their coherence at this scale, simply superb.

Incredible work Crowe. Do you have any advice or tutorials for the Spitfire and BF109 which were used during the Battle of Britain in 1940?

Also, if at all possible, please could you provide dimensions of the BF109's and Spitfires which you own? I've recently picked up Blood Red Skies and I was thinking of substituting the warlord models for these.

Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing more of your airforce.

Thanks ingtaer I'm really super pleased with how they came out myself. The Italians had such a variety of very intricate patterns and colours, its a real playground. Working on another small lot of Italians which hopefully won't be too much longer in the pipeline. I've been distracted though.

Hi FreeFrag.UK Thanks for your comment. I've taken a scale picture for you here.


What we have here are a couple of 109's a Spitfire and a Hurricane. Now the Spitfire here is obviously all wrong for 1940. A Spitfire in 1940 should be painted more like the Hurricane here. Green and brown and in the same pattern. You should be able to find a painting guide online. There must be about a million pictures of Battle of Britain Spitfires to follow. The underside should be a duck-egg blue, I think with no roundels, but check the dates for those. They had them, they took them away, the re-painted them back on... RAF roundels changed regularly. My hurricanes have no underside roundels.

I'd encourage you also to try and make a subtle difference in one or two of your Aircraft for each side to distinguish the better fliers in a game. Yellow noses for German aces is an obvious solution and different squadron codes or codes of famous RAF aces ZP@A for Sailor Malan for instance. Check the Blood Red Skies scenarios and see what makes sense. I just know I that when I painted all my Hurries the same squadron it makes the individual planes very difficult to follow in a game because they're so similar.

Luftwaffe planes have a little more variation though so you can brows examples of Battle of Britain schemes easily enough online. There are tonnes of examples around. Adolf Galland is a big name that you'll see and you have a choice of green or grey splinter camo with options for yellow or white engine cowlings and recognition markings.

Scale-wise you'll see that mine are smaller than the 1:200 scale plastics in the Blood Red Skies box. Mine are 1:300 scale, all pictured are Scotia Grendel miniatures (which I thoroughly recommend) They have a massive selection of aircraft available in 1:300 but they do have a small selection of 1:200 which might suit your BoB requirements fine. 1:200 will be a little easier to paint up nicely too as I'll warn you, Bf-109's are especially tricky to do neatly at 1:300 scale. Its those grey mottled side panels and super tiny balkenkreuz. If you're not planning on an extensive collection I'd go 1:200. Little bit more costly but easier on the eyes.

Hole that's helpful. Let me know how you get on and if you've any more questions I'm happy to help.

Also, as far as a painting tutorial goes, have a look on page 3 at my Flying Tigers Curtis P-40 Tomahawk painting guide, (it's spoilered) painting a 1940 Spitfire shouldn't be a whole lot different. Similar camo pattern but different markings. Same idea technique-wise though.

Hi folks. Sorry for the long wait. (I got a bit distracted there writing and drawing) but I finally have my second batch of Regia Aeronautica to show. This time they're all coming from Heroics & Ros whose excellent selection of 1:300 aircraft has provided some real classics to my collection. So thanks to H&R and on with the post.


Fiat CR.32
Italian ace Mario D'Agostini 163 Squadriglia in 1940
The Spanish Civil War was for the Italians (as for the Germans and Russians) a proving ground for the tactics of their Air Forces and their aircraft designers and many of the lessons learned and the aircraft developed in the 30s were carried on into the Second World War. One such lesson learned by the Regia Aeronautica was courtesy of the Fiat CR.32, a robust and highly manoeuvrable biplane that had dominated the skies over Spain.

Indeed so enduring was the reputation of this doughty little biplane that by June of 1940 when Italy declared war on France and Britain various versions of the old Fiat CR.32 still equipped two thirds of Italy's fighter squadrons.



Fiat CR.42 Falco
Italy remained firmly convinced, due to the success of the CR.32 that the bi-plane would remain the unrivalled king of the sky. And so Fiat set about refining and developing a "modern" version producing the Fiat CR.42 in 1939 the last of the great bi-plane fighters.
Although technically outclassed by faster and more heavily armed modern monoplanes the CR.42 was none the less a dangerous adversary. It soon became known for a rugged and brilliantly manoeuvrable aircraft that which while easily outpaced was better avoided than engaged in a protracted dog-fight.


Mario Visinti was the top scoring bi-plane ace of the Second World War with 16 (some say 20) victories. He was known as a meticulous and even scientific fighter and was a recipient of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals of Military Valour. His success, charm and gallantry made him a legend following his death in 1941. Having landed safely back at his airfield following a successful mission Mario refuelled and took off in search of his wing-man Luigi (I'm not making this up!) who had been forced down by bad weather. The weather got the better of Mario Visinti who crashed on Mount Bizen.

As the bleeding edge of aviation technology fast outstripped the already obsolete CR.42 the inevitable call of the Night Fighter beckoned and so the CR.42 found a valuable role in intercepting night bomers. One such unit was the 377th operating out of Sicily.

CR.42 night pilots were often up there in the dark lacking a reliable radio, any kind of radar equipment and as in the case of Capitano Giorgio Graffer guns that were prone to jamming. The hapless Capitano famously resorted to ramming is target (a British A.W.38 Whitley ) before baling out. The Whitley subsequently crashed into the English Channel on the way home making this the first successful night interception by a CR.42.


Breda Ba.65
This old Spanish Civil War ground attack plane was already a bit long in the tooth by the outbreak of the second World War but some 150 were still in service none the less. This was thanks largely to a number of variously unsuccessful attempts by both Breda and Caproni to produce a suitable replacement, all of which ended in failure, some spectacularly so.

The venerable Ba.65 muddled through, an easy target for British fighters in Northeast Africa and by early 1941 they had mostly all been destroyed.


Imam Ro 57
97• Gr. Autonomo Tuffatori Rome-1943
A fine example of the Italian Aeronautics industry of the era the Imam Ro 57 originally designed in 1939 might have been the long range fighter Italy needed at the time, it looked fast and mean and deadly but it would be four years in the making and by 1943 standards was considered too slow, badly under-equipped and too costly to produce for all it offered.

Produced in limited numbers as both a fighter/interceptor and a ground attack dive bomber it saw very little use and remains a largely forgotten and sadly overlooked little gem, because just look at this thing! (I mean look at a photo of the real thing as this sculpt doesn't quite do it justice) Ah, if looks could kill...


Piaggio P.108 Bombardiere
In a marked departure from the Regia Aeronautica's policy of 3 engined bombers Piaggio looked to the engineering experience of Giovanni Casiraghi whose 4 engine heavy bomber design owed much to his time in the US. (Its a kinda B-17 lookin' thing)

They were very expensive to produce but the numbers crunched in Piaggio's favour as compared to the SM79 (the Regia Aeronautica's bomber workhorse) for the same cost comparable bomb loads could be delivered by fewer P.108's and therefore fewer crewmen would be required.

The P.108 was a very different kind of aircraft than what the Italian pilots were used to and early test flights of P.109 prototypes were fraught with accidents including one that claimed the life of Musolini's own son Bruno Musolini.

Operationally the P.108B had a poor survivability record on bombing raids and saw limited use over Gibraltar, North Africa and Sicily. Before the armistice when the few remaining P.108B's were sabotaged so as not to fall into German hands. The Transport version P.108T saw more success however in Service with the Luftwaffe evacuating encircled German Troops from Russia.


CANT Z.501 Gabbiano a.k.a Mammaiuto "Mamma help me!"
Once a much celebrated sea plane for its record breaking endurance and distance flying in 1934, the Z.501 by 1940 was a bit of a relic. It was however still quite useful for sea rescue and maritime reconnaissance, and submarine hunting at a pinch and was deployed in some numbers all throughout the war.

Unfortunately for its crews though the old Gabbiano had a reputation for being something of a death trap.
The wartime mass-produced hulls didn't tend to hold together very well in rough seas, the engine nacelle might collapse into the cockpit if you landed too hard, the extra weight of machine gun turrets and bombs impeded the aircrafts flight characteristics considerably and resulted in a rescue plane that was very vulnerable to enemy fighters and more likely to require a rescue than to effect one. 'Mamma Help Me' indeed!



The CANT Z.506 Airone (Italian: Heron) was an award winning tri-engined float-plane used for torpedo bombing, reconnaissance and Air Sea Rescue. It was an exceptionally useful and well respected aircraft that was much more rugged and reliable than the older Cant z.501. By the end of the war many Airone's were in service on both sides and some examples continued in post war service on into 1959.

Although in general the CANT z.506 was quite vulnerable to enemy fighters there was one man who you definitely would want in your top turret. Pietro Bonannini, a turret gunner on Cant Z.506B and Fiat RS.14 floatplanes was credited with 8 victories (4x Spitfire’s, 3x Blenheims and 1x Hurricane) and another 2 probables making him the only non-pilot flying ace of the Regia Aeronautica.


And finally...

My whole collection of Regia Aeronautica aircraft.

Well I've had a blast painting these. What an amazing variety of aircraft and camo patterns there were to choose from. Some of these are now some of my favourites of my collection. I really knew next to nothing about the Italians in the skies of WW2 before starting this, so I hope you've enjoyed discovering the Regia Aeronautica with me.

Next on the bench I'll be looking east toward China and also doing a little investigation into the Winter War, some early Finnish and Soviets on the way there too. Watch this space for those and as ever, thanks for visiting the tiny planes gallery.

I love the painting and i love the history.

Very Cool camo patterns on the regia aeronautica planes,still dropping by to check out your new stuff,never disappointed,they look like real planes the paintjobs are that clean. I Look forward to seeing your next batch of planes.

Thanks guys.
Sorry the next batch has been so delayed already. I'm working on some early Chinese Airforce but finding info online in english on specific aces and their planes isn't easy.

Got some winter war Finns for after that too.

Unfortunately though I've been very distracted of late drawing pictures and writing. While I am enjoying that I'm not getting any further on with my tiny planes.

Sorry for the very long wait folks. I didn't do any painting in July so its been a bit of a summer holiday from tiny aircraft but I've finally pulled another set together ready to share.
So first off here's a little teaser. What do all these mid 30s aircraft have in common?

Martin B-10, Curtiss Goshawk, Dewoitine D.510, Tupolev SB, Ilyushin DB-3,

Well done if you guessed, they all saw service with the Chinese Air Force during the Second Sino-Japanese war immediately prior to and leading into WW2.


Kicking things off its this beautiful little mini from H&R, the American built Curtis Goshawk, exported to China as the Hawk II and later with retractable undercarriage as the Hawk III.

These early 30's biplanes equipped the majority of China's fighter squadrons in 1937 and were hard pressed to meet the challenge of Imperial Japan's much faster and more modern Air Force.

2401 was flown by biplane ace Captain Liu Chui-Kang who was squadron Leader of 24th Pursuit Squadron.In a short three month span from August to October 1937 Kang became biplane ace of seven confirmed victories before his untimely death in a crash landing.

Another American built aircraft equipping the CAF's 30th bomber Squadron in 1937, The Martin B-10 (exported as Model 193WC.)
First flown in 1932 the B-10 had been a great leap forward (no pun intended) in 1930's bomber design. All metal construction, fully cowled engines, enclosed cockpit, internal bomb bay, rotating nose turret and retractable undercarriage. An ultra modern medium bomber that could outperform many contemporary pursuit aircraft the B-10 was very much the shape of things to come.

In May 1938 a plan was proposed to bring the war home to the Japanese people by sending Chinese bombers on a mission over Japan for the first time. The CAF's last two (of 9) remaining Martin 139WC bombers were chosen for this special mission but when over Nagasaki, in lieu of bombs they dropped leaflets imploring the Japanese public to put pressure on their leaders to end their aggression and occupation of Chinese territories. No such pressure resulted and the war continued regardless.

From 1938, 18 Chinese D.510s saw action against the Japanese, including the defense of Chengdu and the Chinese wartime capital Chongqing equipping 17th squadron Chinese pilots and 41st French volunteer squadron.

On the 4th November 1939 Captain Shen Tse-Liu flying this D510 over the Lanchou area managed to destroy a Japanese G3M in a head on assault.

As the D.510s came around to attack from behind defensive fire from the Japanese bomber formation damaged Shen's engine forcing him down. He was injured in the crash but soon flew again.

Other European aircraft to see service with the CAF included both Gloster Gladiator and Fiat CR30 biplanes, a model of He-111 that the Luftwaffe had rejected and a few examples of Italy's most versatile SM81 Pipistrello.


Polikarpov I-15
Following a deal with the Soviets in 1937 the Chinese Airforce started receiving deliveries of much needed Russian aircraft and volunteer pilots. Large numbers of I-15 biplane fighters and marginally more modern I-16 monoplane fighters began pouring onto Chinese airfields. More than 250 Soviet pilots 'volunteered' to fly the 255 I-15s supplied to China. By 1939 a total of 347 Polikarpov biplanes had been delivered to the CAF.

The I-15 had proved a tough and capable biplane in the skies over Spain but it soon met its match in some of the newer, faster Japanese monoplanes and the air war over China quickly became a dangerously one sided affair.

Polikarpov I-16
Some 250 I-16 Type 10s were supplied to China. The type 10 had four 7.62 mm (0.30 in) ShKAS machine guns, armour behind the pilot, and had a slightly upgraded engine. Further variants and improvements would follow but by 1939 a Soviet study found that the 1-16 had exhausted its performance potential.
Finally in Dec 1940 to Jan 1941 a last batch of 75 improved I-16 type 17 fighters were delivered. But even with their new 20mm Vickers cannons and additional armour they were no match for the Japanese Zero's and Hyabusas.

My Chinese I-16 is that of Luo Yingde who flew with the 24th squadron in 1940. (And look at my dodgy old Soviet I-16 !!! The less said about that the better really.)

Tupolev SB
Hundreds of Russian Bombers were also supplied to China between 1937 and 1941. An initial delivery of 62 Tupolev SB's was made with combat operations by Soviet forces starting in December 1937 with attacks on Japanese ships on the Yangtze River. A further 60 SBs were delivered in early 1938. In February 1938, to celebrate Soviet Army Day, Soviet SBs carried out a long range attack on Japanese airfields in Taiwan, claiming 40 Japanese aircraft destroyed on the ground. However during the Battle of Wuhan losses were heavy, forcing the Chinese SB units to be temporarily withdrawn from combat.

The Soviet Volunteer units operating the SB over China re-equipped with the Ilyushin DB-3 in 1939, allowing their SBs to be transferred to Chinese units and a further 100 SBs were supplied in 1941.

Ilyushin DB-3
In 1939, thirty DB-3s were supplied to the CAF and they also saw heavy action against Japanese targets in the Wuhan region from their bases in Sichuan, Lanzhou and Chengdu. The DB-3 had arrived too late to see service in Spain but this trial run in the CAF proved it was a very capable long range bomber with much potential. It was however a very complex and time consuming airframe to build and maintain.

The DB-3 would go on to be one of the most useful long range bombers in the Soviet arsenal, eventually dropping the first Soviet bombs on Berlin.


At its peak the Soviet Volunteer Group numbered 3,665 personnel 2,000 of which were pilots some of whom had been sent directly from the Spanish Civil War. Soviet squadrons were withdrawn after the non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Japan in 1941.
and the Chinese turned to the United States, which authorized the creation of the American Volunteer Group the Flying Tigers and their more modern P-40 fighters.


Eventually China's surviving stock of 30's aero-tech would be replaced by further American supplied machines as lend lease kicked in and the USA joined the war in ernest against Imperial Japan.

Good to see you back again and with some more lovely minis!

So I had this little thing. It was an unknown and likely totally inaccurate sculpt of some 30s parasol fighter.






So I did a little research and couldn't pin down what it was supposed to be and so decided I would turn it into the closest thing, a Nakajima Army Type 91.

It was a fiddly business but here's the conversion.
i
Lots of greenstuff went on. Filed and reshape the tail and bulked up the dorsal area and the spinner hub.

Cut a radial engine shape into the front and added a Townend ring-type cowling with some brown paper and some staple wire for wing-bracing struts.


I just left those strange undercarriage struts in place up under the wing to keep the wheels strong but all in all I'm pretty happy with that.

So then I painted it up...

In Chinese Colours!!!

But what's a lovely 30's Japanese fighter like the Nakajima Army Type 91 doing in Chinese livery? (I hear you cry)


Well at one time the Chinese Nationalist Air Force had purchased 12 of these from Japan which then later equipped 32nd Squadron during the Second Sino-Japanese War. This fighter is No.505 out of Kwangsi in 1935.


So there it is. Another obsolescent 30's chuggaboom for my early war Chinese Nationalist Air Force.

Hi folks, back again (at long last) with another international lineup representing the collective variety of one particular national Air Force.

This time we're looking at Fokker DXXI, Gloster Gladiator, Brewster Buffalo, Fiat G50, Messerschmitt bf 109G, Hawker Hurricane, Westland Lysander, Bristol Blenheim, Junkers Ju88. But which country used all of these disparate assortment of both Allied and Axis aircraft?


Well done if you guessed, it's The Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force)

The Winter War (Nov 39-Mar 40)
In November 1939 when the invasion Soviet forces began the most modern fighter the Finns had on hand was the Dutch built Fokker DXXI.

This rugged and capable fighter proved an ideal fit for the Finnish Air Force. As well as being on par with contemporary Soviet aircraft it's strong, fixed undercarriage was particularly well suited for improvised, uneven runways and also conversion to skis for winter use.

As waves of Soviet bombers vectored in over Finnish cities the small contingent of Finnish fighters rose to the challenge often taking on groups of bombers and escorts many times their number.

In January 1940 1st Lt Jorma Sarvanto flying this Fokker DXXI managed a stunning feat of interception shooting down as many as six Soviet DB-3 bombers in only 4 minutes! Sarvanto became the top scoring Finnish ace with a total of 13 victories by the end of the Winter War.


As Finland faced off the Soviet advance help arrived from the Swedish Voluntary Air Force, F 19. Over 250 volunteers and 25 aircraft including 12 Gloster Gladiators answered Finland's call for aid. In two months of aerial combat they acquitted themselves well but lost six planes and five pilots, two of whom were captured and were eventually returned to Sweden.


As the Winter War continued the British Government finally agreed to lend some real support to the embattled Finns. Aircraft already purchased were finally released including 80 Hawker Henley's and a lot of other older machines.

The most modern war planes in Finland's inventory were its 17 Blenheim medium bombers, license built in Finland.

There was however no way that Blenheim production in Finland could keep up with demand and so on the 23rd Feb 1940 twelve British built Blenheims took off from RAF Bicester heading north. They bore Finnish markings and were piloted by RAF volunteers in civilian disguise carrying false passports. (It wouldn't do for Soviet Russia to have British RAF officers as prisoners to bargain with.)

This dangerous and highly clandestine journey took three days flying through Scotland, Norway and Sweden and on to deliver all 12 bombers safely to a frozen airstrip on Lake Juva Finland. The airmen were quietly shuffled back to the British Embassy in Sweden and thence safely back to England.

Many more purchases of aircraft from Britain's inventory were fulfilled including an order of Westland Lysander observation aircraft.

Perhaps most famous as a spy taxi the Lysander's sturdy fixed undercarriage and exceptional short-field performance made it an ideal aircraft for Finnish units operating out of small, improvised airstrips often in snowy frozen conditions.

They were primarily employed as observation aircraft and could be used offensively at a pinch although they were quite vulnerable to enemy fighters.

As well as providing finished aircraft to the embattled Finns the RAF agreed to train Finnish Pilots in their operation.

In Feb 1940 12 Finnish pilots arrived in England for a Hurricane crash-course (they probably didn't call it that) before embarking in their new machines on a nail biting flight in terrible weather over the North Sea.



With the signing of the Moscow peace accord hostilities were suspended but by this time Finland's airforce, thanks to a serious amount of international aircraft shopping was considerably larger than before the outbreak of the war.

The Continuation war. (June 41 - Sep 44)
Amongst the myriad other planes incorporated into the patchwork of the Finnish airforce (including French MS406 and American built P-36 Hawks) was the Italian Fiat G50.

Purchased in 1940 to bolster the Winter war efforts a few managed to arrive in time but it wasn't until the offensive operations of 1941 that they had any significant success.
In a cruel twist all 33 machines shipped to Finland were of open cockpit design which was largely unsuitable in such Arctic climates, and the machines themselves when adapted to colder conditions performed quite poorly.


This sorry looking specimen is FA-21 originally flown by 2nd Lt Kokkonen who ran out of fuel and crashed in July 1940. It was repaired and returned to the skies flown by Lt Hamalainen in 42 but overturned on a forced landing.

Again it was repaired and is here seen as flown by 2nd Lt R. Sartiarvi with its green/black Finnish colours fuselage and replacement (original Italian desert camouflage) wings and engine cowling. Black areas were applied in an attempt to match the Finnish pattern but honestly it must've looked rather conspicuous on a snowy air strip. Eventually in April 43 2nd Lt Helin flipped this sucker on landing one last time and FA-21 was finally declared a lost cause. Amazingly all three pilots who crashed this same plane survived.


Brewster Buffalo B-239E
This is the flying beer bottle (the Finns had many more nicknames for these planes) of Capt. Hans Wind whose 39 Buffalo air victories (out of 75) make him the highest scoring Buffalo ace of the war. (Easy when your name is "Wind", right?)

The export version of the US Navy's dumpy old disappointment found something of a niche with the Finns, being better suited to ground based operations over Russia than carrier based operations in the Pacific. It replaced the ageing Fokkers and their various other largely obsolete fighters as Finland's premier modern fighter for the best part of the Continuation War.

One oddity of the Comtinuation War in the air is that with the presence of Hawker Hurricanes already in Finland once lend lease Hurricanes started landing in Russia you then had Hurricanes fighting on both sides on the same front!

No idea if they ever clashed directly. Unlikely as by that stage most Finnish Hurricanes would've been all but clapped out and short on parts. The Soviets hated their own Hurricanes, mostly because they weren't built in Russia.

As Soviet fighter technology developed becoming more and more advanced and foreign machines joined their ranks the Finns' old Brewsters struggled to cope. The FAF turned to their Luftwaffe allies for a replacement in the shape of the Messerschmitt Bf 109G.

The Finns received 159 such aircraft which equipped 4 squadrons from March 1943 and would remain in service with the FAF for over a decade being finally retired in 1954!

For pilots transferring from the old buffalo the difference was palpable. Faster, more aggressive and bang up to date the 109G was a massive upgrade and in the capable hands of experienced pilots like Ilmari Juutilainen it was a deadly hunter.

Ilmari Juutilainen was the highest scoring non-German ace of the war with 94 1/6 confirmed victories. (127 by his own count) 2 1/6 in a Fokker DXXI, 34 in a Brewster B-239E and 58 in the Bf 109G.

Another German addition to the Finnish flight inventory was the ubiquitous Junkers Ju88.

(You're seeing here one of the first and one of the latest paint jobs of my collection, with just over two years of 6mm aircraft painting experience in between. Nice to see I've made some improvement in that time)

The Finns bought two dozen Ju 88's which joined their old Blenheims on bombing raids on the North-Easter front hitting Soviet air bases near Leningrad and the Aerosan base at Petsnajoki.

Later during the Lapland War (Now against the Germans- September to November 1944) they were used for reconnaissance and for bombing German vehicle columns. After the war they served as trainers for a while but were soon scrapped.


That's all for this time. I had a blast reading up on Finland's war(s) It's a very interesting story, lots of twists and turns. It seems both sides had an idea of how to use Finland to suit their own ends while Finland just used any help they could get and did what they had to do. They would fly literally anything they could get into the air and I might have painted up many other examples of types they used including captured Soviet planes.

Painting-wise there was a lot of variation for a lot of different reasons; time-line, weather conditions, country of origin, availability of parts. The RAF Blenheims flown in would've been in RAF colours with Finnish roundels at the time before they were painted up properly in Finland to match the Finnish-built Blenheims. I often have to make choices about planes to paint up and how I'll do them but I always try to represent a range of typical schemes as well as the odd stand-alone example that tells a good story. It's never quite exhaustive though as there's always more to discover in the crazy history of the war.

Hope you've enjoyed the planes and I haven't waffled on too much. Thanks for visiting the gallery and do tell me what you think. I enjoy talking about planes almost as much as painting them.

Nice one mate, great work as usual! Really like the Buffalo especially. And defiantly not too much waffle infact I could stand much more.

Thats such an interesting assortment of planes its amazing that the Finnish procurement service didn't go out of their minds trying to find spares and parts for such a disparate and eclectic collection of airframes. Always admired the Finns for how well they fought in the Talvisota but have never taken the time to read much on the continuation war.

Do you have your next project lined up already?

Great work on a very fun period of history!

Well done.

ingtaer wrote:
Do you have your next project lined up already?

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the history and planes both. Yes the Buffalo in the winter scheme is a particularly striking look. I could see a really nice squadron of those in an eastern front game. That'd be a nice game to paint for.

Yes I have a growing list of projects in mind (don't we all) with one in production already. When I'm not painting planes I'm researching and writing up the post. But if you have any particular interest or ideas I'm apparently very impressionable. Do give me a nudge.

schoon wrote:Great work on a very fun period of history!

Well done.

Thanks Schoon. Glad to have done it justice. And thanks for the suggestion, I really enjoyed the Finnish story and my collection is all the richer for your pointing me in that direction.

Have you done Spanish civil war at all? Could be a fun and varied mix of aircraft if you haven't though thinking back on it I am sure you could pick most of the aircraft out of your current squadrons. Would be interesting just for the history though.

But if you are that impressionable I have a load of sci-fi fighters in about the same size that need painting

I think the postage cost between New Zealand and Ireland might be the prohibiting factor there. Much as I'd enjoy making up fictional history for your sci-fi fighters and painting tiny alien symbols on them.