Armee de l'Air - 1940 and beyond!

Time for some aviation eye candy now.  But remember - too much can be bad for you.
When I began building my 20mm forces there were no 1/144 scale French aircraft available.  Even now there aren't many, so I'd ask you to take that into account when judging the following crimes against accuracy....

Humble beginnings.  My first effort was this Dewoitine D-520 which sadly still bears a striking resemblance to the old Revell Spitfire on which it is based.  Better luck next time...

Next time.  This Potez 630 was based on the plates in one of the old Funcken books and began life as a Bf-110.  I know, you'd never have guessed....

Things improved (for both the real A de l'A and my version) with the arrival of the Hawk 75.  This one is a Reverisco metal kit.

The most numerous modern French fighter in 1940 was the Morane MS.406.  These are True North metal castings painted by Wg Cdr Luddite.  The Morane in the background is clearly planning ahead as it is already wearing the colours of the post-armistice Vichy administration.

A Megablitz game a few years ago generated an urgent need for a couple of French bombers.  Both were finished in time for the game with several hours to spare....  First was the Bloch 131 above which I produced by mangling a kit of a Japanese Yokosuka P1Y 'Ginga'.  It has French markings - that's close enough...

he Bloch's stablemate (well not very stable really) is this Amiot 354.  This was the result of another hacked-about Jap kit.  I rather like it.

More recently a degree of professionalism has crept in - in the shape of this pair of diecast models found on ebay.  First is the splendidly antiquated Bloch 210.  Actually this isn't as old as it looks - deliveries only began in 1936!  A few were supplied to Republican Spain and Rumania.

Finally we have the very modern-looking Liore & Olivier LeO 451.  These continued in French, German and Italian service throughout WW2.  Production was resumed postwar and the last French versions served until 1957.