by Caz Dalton

Model Subject: Morane Saulnier MS-406

Kit Used: Hasegawa, kit number AP19-1200

Finland received her first Morane Saulnier aircraft in February 1940, in the final stages of the Winter War. France donated thirty aircraft and these were used to form a new squadron, Lentolaivue 28 (Flying Squadron 28). The first batch were serialled MS-301 to MS-330 and they began to enter service during the final month of Finland's Winter War with the USSR. After the collapse of France, Germany sold Finland ten more aircraft from French stocks at the end of 1940; these were being serialized MS-601 to MS-610. During 1941 Finland bought fifteen more Moranes, given the serials MS-611 to MS-625. In mid-1942 and at the end of 1942 Finland purchased her last thirty-two Morane Saulniers from Germany (serialled MS-626 to MS-657), bringing the total number of Moranes in Finnish service to eighty-seven. Ten of these were M.S. 410s, an upgraded version of the M.S. 406. In February 1944 Lentolaivue 28 was redesignated Hävittäjälentolaivue 28 (Fighter Flying Squadron 28). During the course of both wars Moranes were credited 118 aerial victories for the loss of 26 Moranes in combat operations.

The aircraft I have modeled comes from the first batch of Moranes given to the Finns by the French. My aircraft was piloted by Senior Sergeant Uhro Lehtovaara of 2nd Flight/Lentolaivue 28 during Finland's Continuation War with the USSR. Snr. Sgt. Lehtovaara was the leading Morane ace among the Finns, having scored fifteen victories with 6 different M.S. 406s (four of his victories came while piloting MS-304), before they were replaced with Messerschmitt ME-109G2s in April 1943. Uhro Lehtovaara was the fourth leading Finnish ace, compiling 44 1/2 victories over Soviet aircraft during the Continuation War, with his first victory coming during the last month of the Winter War. His squadron mates called him "little giant" because of his diminutive size. The plague's title "SE PIENI JÄTTILÄINEN" is Finnish for "THE LITTLE GIANT"

Hasegawa provided a very good basic interior package, but failed to mold in or include any sidewall detail. I built up some sidewall detail with Evergreen strip, using a cut-away drawing for reference. I also cut a piece of sheet plastic for the rear-most part of the cockpit to cover the fuselage seam; this was impossible to get at and sand properly. The cockpit was painted Gunze Neutral Gray, given a black wash, and lastly overcoated in clear flat. The instrument panel was painted semi-gloss black and the kit decal was utilized. After the decal dried, I coated the instrument panel in clear flat and finally gave the gauges a drop of Johnson's FUTURE after the flat had dried.

The pilot came from my spares box (Thanks to all the fellow IPMS members who have responded to my need for pilots, as kits today do not provide them). He was first primed in Tamiya Medium Gray and hand painted using Tamiya, Polly-s, and Model Master Acrylics. After the initial painting was done, I coated the figure in clear gloss. This provided a better surface for my dark washes and cleaned up better should I not like the effect. After the wash had dried, I highlighted a few areas with dry brushings of the proper color required and finished with a spray of clear flat. I should mention that after the flat dried, I treated all leather articles with skin oil applied using a Q-tip (I lightly rubbed a little on the face with an old 5-0 brush). This done the goggles were painted bright silver and given a drop of Tamiya Smoke once the silver had dried. Once the pilot was cemented in his seat, I added two shoulder harnesses from strips of masking tape and glued one buckle to each harness. I cut the buckles from a True Detail set as the belts are too thick for this scale and do not conform well. The harnesses were painted Tamiya Buff, with the buckles picked out in flat aluminum.

Exterior:

This was another of Hasegawa's better-molded kits. Although the parts were petite and required very special care in handling, the kit went together so flawlessly, that I almost beg to do another.

I replaced the nose cannon, wing guns, and pitot tube with hypo tubing. Since my Morane was to be an in-flight model, I could not utilize the kit's retracted ventral aerial. I used a piece of fine steel wire cut to proper length for the extended version. I also used a piece of very thin wire for the rudder balance. Hasegawa had this molded into the port fuselage half, but I broke it off during sanding and it was never to be seen again. I likewise used wire for the rear landing skid's strengthening rod, which was seen in photos of Finnish Moranes. The gunsight was constructed with fine wire and a photoetched ring.

I had to extensively modify the wheels and wheel legs so as to show the wheels in the retracted position. The landing gear doors fit perfectly, but needed to be shimmed so that they aligned with the wing undersides.

Painting and decaling:

The undersurface color of early Finnish Moranes was a light gray that was given as FS 35630. I mixed five parts Polly-S Duck Egg Blue with one part Polly-S Flat White and achieved this color. The entire model was primed in this color after first painting the masked canopy in neutral gray. Underwing and fuselage yellow identification bands were painted Tamiya Flat Yellow and Lemon Yellow. After this dried, I masked the undersurfaces and identification bands to prepare for the uppersurface camouflage.

Uppersurfaces were a mix of Field Green (FS 34096) and flat black, with a white distemper being crudely painted over the black in the winter. I sprayed all uppersurfaces Gunze Dark Green and used Tamiya Semi-gloss Black after applying my green masks. To get the proper camouflage patterns, I enlarged the line drawings in TALLY HO!'s decal sheet instructions to 1/72nd scale and ran off some copies. The masks for the green were cut and attached to the model with strips of masking tape. Masking tape strips were also used to cover any gaps that occurred using this method. The horizontal tailplanes, tailplane struts, and aerial mast were painted separately from the model, as they fit perfectly and were attached in the final assembly.

Decals came from TALLY HO! out of Canada and are sold through the mail by several mail order companies. I got mine from METEOR PRODUCTIONS in northern Virginia (Thanks Dave Klaus for the expedient delivery of that second set of decals). The reason I needed a second set was because the white in the national insignia was translucent and I had to double up all national insignia on the model. The doubling also brightened the blue swastikas and they appeared more in their true colors. Once dried, I cleaned all adhesive residue and treated all recesses for control surfaces and access panels with a technical pen and India ink. I used black pastel powder for the exhaust stains and gun cordite stains. I also dry brushed some earth and mud behind the main wheels and rear skid. I finally sprayed a coating of clear flat and rubbed this out after two days with a cotton swab and cloth.

It should be mentioned that the Finnish swastika dated back to ancient Finn-Estonian tribes and had nothing to do with Germany's emblem of hate. Even though Finland, in order to survive, had to become a co-belligerent with Nazi Germany, she never became a true ally. Jewish Finns fought with Christian Finns in their struggle to hold the USSR at bay and keep their nation's independence. Finland also would not allow Germany to return other European Jews who had made their way to Finland.

Caz