1:72 Lioré & Olivier LeO 451

CATCH 22 said:

Thank you all for the kind words.
I hope I'll resume work today and try to go further with this project. I'm sorry to say that, but I have zero motivation at the moment...

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CATCH 22 said:

Hi Guys!
Thank you for the nice words. I really appreciate your inputs and at that moment they are the only factor, still encouraging me to finish this model. Honestly, what happens around me gives me absolutely no desire for modelling or hobbies...
This post of mine is only because of you!

To easy the process of finishing a model, I divide it in assemblies and (if possible) work on each of them separately. As you have seen I've finished the undercarriage with paint and weathering and it's ready to be glued to the rest of the model at any moment.
Another assembly I have finished is the empennage - check my previous posts for more details. It's now painted, decaled and slightly weathered (if you look carefully you'll see how the edges of the different hatch-covers are scratched):
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Now's the time for some more information:
I'm modeling an a/c used during the Syrian campaign, known to the Allies as Operation Exporter, between June and July 1941. This particular Leo 451 was from the first squadron of GB I/31. The latter left France (Istres) on June 8, 1941 with 13 bombers and flew to Alep (Alepo) in Syria. The group has made stops in Brindisi (Italy) and Athens (Greece). At this time Germany requested from Vichy France to use high-viz (in modern language) markings for better recognition.
We all know this colour photo:
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It's from Eleusis-airfield, Athens and shows D.520 from GC. III/6 en route to the Levant.
But on photos from Brindisi, before Athens the yellow tails are visible as well:
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In the background a Farman 223 used as a transport has the same markings. Here again:
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I couldn't find a source stating the exact place where the Syrian campaign a/c have been repainted. I guess it was Brindisi, but that's an educated guess based on the time of arrival and departure.
And here are the interesting details. Leo 451-bombers have been produced in plants of the 2 manufacturers S.N.C.A.S.E. and S.N.C.A.O. As a standard the manufacturer's name, type of airplane and serial number were clearly stenciled on the tails:
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Please note that the SNCASE-serials start with 1 and the SNCAO-serials start with 3001.
These markings were painted on BOTH sides of the fins:
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The decal sheet supplied with the model gives you the fin flashes with the stenciling for both types of rudders - old and new (check my older post showing the two types):
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Here is a nice photo of GB. I/31 at Eleusis-airfield, Athens - this photo is from June 9. 1941 or 3 days after leaving France.
AFAIK from the 3 bomb. groups equipped with LeO 451 in Syria only this one received the very distinctive yellow noses, cowlings and tails:
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The LeOs on the photo DO NOT HAVE the stencils at all. There is another photo of the tail of the nearest a/c White 5 after it crashed:
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No stencils over the flash (tricolore in French). And here's "my" a/c White 3 from the same group:
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It is evident that not only the whole empennage was repainted in yellow (appearing very dark on this type of b&w photos), but the French fin flash was renewed as well. The serial number was painted over the yellow fin. In my case it is 142:
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Using some numbers from the spare decals I recreated the serial and painted the fin flash without using the decal (which had a rather dark blue colour as well):
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This is all for now.
Cheers!

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