DONE @p.2 +++ Another captured M.S. 406 in Thai service (inspired by NARSES)

Old Wombat · December 13, 2020, 06:23:54 AM

Quote from: zenrat on December 13, 2020, 03:52:44 AM
Did Vichy operated aircraft carry the red/yellow, and the white bars in Indochine Francais?

It appears so;

They were, after all, Vichy France's "neutrality" colours.

NARSES2 · December 13, 2020, 06:39:58 AM

Quote from: zenrat on December 13, 2020, 03:52:44 AM

Did Vichy operated aircraft carry the red/yellow, and the white bars in Indochine Francais?

Yes they did, from some time around May 1941. Initially the "Armistice" marking was purely a white ring around the standard red/white/blue roundel and a longitudinal white bar along the fuselage. The full "candy stipes" took some time to develop, but were eventually used in Metropolitan France, North Africa, Syria, Madagascar and Indo China.

Dizzyfugu · December 13, 2020, 11:48:55 PM

Yes, they did. And from early 1942 onwards, AFAIK, they were obliged to carry the red tail as an ID marking, instead of the striped surfaces (as displayed above in the lower left illustration). Just the engine remained read and yellow. The white cheatline was a standard marking, too, I just added the vertical stripe, since many Thai aircraft (of Japanese origin, though) carried it, too, but it could also have been a standard feature of French origin.

BTW. photo session was done yesterday, but editing still pending.

zenrat · December 14, 2020, 03:50:17 AM

Thanks for the learning folks.

I do like the red/yellow stripes but I can't bring myself to build a Vichy aircraft. A captured one would be a way around that.

Dizzyfugu · December 14, 2020, 05:15:19 AM

The stripes are horror... Since my option only has the striped engine, I used the opportunity to finally tackle such an aircraft with this build.

Dizzyfugu · December 15, 2020, 04:40:07 AM

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
The outbreak of the war in Europe in September 1939 did not immediately affect the status of the Armée de l'Air in French Indochina because it had the task of defending a wide area of Southeast Asia, including the future Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. And yet its array of airplanes seemed inadequate to perform any kind of real defense against any incursion by an enemy, because there were less than 100 airplanes available to it, all obsolescent or obsolete. In September 1931, Japan invaded and occupied Manchuria. This was an area of northeast China, which encompassed the provinces of Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang. Nearly six whole years later, in July 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War had begun. As yet, the French colonial authorities were hoping that the Japanese would not be brazen enough to take on the might of a European power. However, it became increasingly likely after the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, since Japan was part of the Axis alliance and thus Germany's ally.

On September 26, 1940, Japanese troops landed in Haiphong, violating a cease-fire which had been signed only the previous day. From the middle of the following month, the French became heavily involved in repelling Japanese army assaults. Following the Fall of France in 1940, Thais perceived a chance to regain the territories they had lost years earlier. The collapse of Metropolitan France made the French hold on Indochina tenuous. After the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in September 1940, the French were forced to allow the Japanese to set up military bases. This seemingly subservient behavior convinced the Thai regime that Vichy France would not seriously resist a confrontation with Thailand.

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

During the French-Thai War, the Thai Air Force achieved several air-to-air-victories in dogfights against the Vichy Armée de l'Air. During World War II, the Thai Air Force supported the Royal Thai Army in its occupation of the Shan States of Burma as somewhat reluctant allies of the Japanese and took part in the defense of Bangkok against allied air raids in the latter part of the war, achieving some successes against state-of-the-art aircraft like the P-51 Mustang and the B-29 Superfortress. During these times, the RTAF was actively supplied by the Japanese with Imperial Japanese Army Air Force aircraft such as the Ki-43 "Oscar," and the Ki-27 "Nate." Other RTAF personnel took an active part the anti-Japanese resistance movement.

French forces in Indochina consisted of an army of approximately fifty thousand men, The most obvious deficiency of the French army lay in its shortage of armor; however, the Armée de l'Air had in its inventory approximately a hundred aircraft, of which around sixty could be considered first line. These consisted of thirty Potez 25 TOEs, four Farman 221s, eight Loire 130 flying boats, six Potez 542s, nine Morane M.S.406s.

The M.S.406 was a French fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by Morane-Saulnier starting in 1938. In response to a requirement for a fighter issued by the French Air Force in 1934, Morane-Saulnier built a prototype, designated MS.405, of mixed materials. This had the distinction of being the company's first low-wing monoplane, as well as the first to feature an enclosed cockpit, and the first design with a retracting undercarriage. The entry to service of the M.S.406 to the French Air Force in early 1939 represented the first modern fighter aircraft to be adopted by the service, and the type was also used in the French overseas colonies. The M.S.406 was France's most numerous fighter during the Second World War and one of only two French designs to exceed 1,000 in number. At the beginning of the war, it was one of only two French-built aircraft capable of 400 km/h (250 mph) – the other being the Potez 630.

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Although a sturdy and highly manoeuvrable fighter aircraft, the M.S.406 was considered underpowered and weakly armed when compared to its contemporaries, esp. over continental Europe. Most critically, the M.S.406 was outperformed by the Messerschmitt Bf 109E during the Battle of France and no serious threat to the German fighter. In less advanced theatres like Indochina, though, the M.S. 406 was a respectable contender, but its numbers were low.

When the French-Thai War broke out in Indochina, the Thai Army was a relatively well-equipped force, consisting of some sixty thousand men, with artillery and tanks. The Royal Thai Navy — consisting of several vessels, including two coastal defence ships, twelve torpedo boats and four submarines — was inferior to the French naval forces, though, but the Royal Thai Air Force held both a quantitative and qualitative edge over l'Armee de l'Air. Among the 140 aircraft that composed the air force's initial first-line strength were twenty-four Mitsubishi Ki-30 light bombers, nine Mitsubishi Ki-21 and six Martin B-10 twin-engine bombers, seventy Vought Corsair dive bombers, and twenty-five Curtiss Hawk 75 fighters.

While nationalistic demonstrations and anti-French rallies were held in Bangkok, border skirmishes erupted along the Mekong frontier. The superior Royal Thai Air Force conducted daytime bombing runs over Vientiane, Sisophon, and Battambang with impunity. The French retaliated with their own planes, but the damage caused was less than equal. The activities of the Thai air force, particularly in the field of dive-bombing, was such that Admiral Jean Decoux, the governor of French Indochina, grudgingly remarked that the Thai planes seemed to have been flown by men with plenty of war experience.

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

In early January 1941, the Thai Burapha and Isan Armies launched their offensive on Laos and Cambodia. French resistance was instantaneous, but many units were simply swept along by the better-equipped Thai forces, with some French equipment – including some aircraft – being captured and immediately pressed into Thai army service. The Thais swiftly took Laos, but Cambodia proved a much harder nut to crack.

On January 16, 1941 the French launched a large counterattack on the Thai-held villages of Yang Dang Khum and Phum Preav, initiating the fiercest battle of the war. Because of over-complicated orders and nonexistent intelligence, the French counterattacks were cut to pieces and fighting ended with a French withdrawal from the area. The Thais were unable to pursue the retreating French, as their forward tanks were kept in check by the gunnery of French Foreign Legion artillerists.

On January 24, the final air battle took place when Thai bombers raided the French airfield at Angkor near Siem Reap, which quickly fell. The last Thai mission commenced at 0710 hours on January 28, when the Martins of the 50th Bomber Squadron set out on a raid on Sisophon, escorted by three Hawk 75Ns of the 60th Fighter Squadron.

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Although the French won an important naval victory over the Thais, Japan forced the French to accept Japanese mediation of a peace treaty that returned the disputed territory to Thai control. A general armistice was arranged by Japan to go into effect on January 28. On May 9 a peace treaty was signed in Tokyo, with the French being coerced by the Japanese into relinquishing their hold on the disputed territories. However, the French (now part of the Axis Forces' Vichy regime) were left in place to administer the rump colony of Indochina until 9 March 1945, when the Japanese staged a coup d'état in French Indochina and took control, establishing their own colony, the Empire of Vietnam, as a puppet state controlled by Tokyo.

Until then, Japanese authorities heavily influenced the diminishing Vichy French presence in the region and handed over a lot of leftover military hardware to its own allies, primarily the Thai forces. However, there was not much left to be distributed: about 30% of the French aircraft were rendered unserviceable by the end of the French-Thai War in early 1941, some as a result of minor damage sustained in air raids that remained unrepaired. The Armée de l'Air admitted the loss of only one Farman F221 and two Morane M.S.406s destroyed on the ground, but, in reality, its losses were greater and the influence of Japan on the leftover stock was fogged in order to save face. However, even in 1944, single former Vichy French aircraft and tanks were still active in the region, primarily under Thai flag.

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 8.17 m (26 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 10.61 m (34 ft 10 in)
Height: 3.25 m (10 ft 8 in)
Wing area: 16 m2 (170 sq ft)
Empty weight: 1,895 kg (4,178 lb)
Gross weight: 2,540 kg (5,600 lb)

Powerplant:
1 × Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine with 619 kW (830 hp) for take-off at 2,520 rpm at sea level, driving a 3-bladed variable-pitch propeller, 3 m (9 ft 10 in) diameter

Performance:
Maximum speed: 490 km/h (304 mph; 265 kn) at 4,500 m (14,764 ft)
Stall speed: 160 km/h (99 mph, 86 kn) without flaps
135 km/h (84 mph; 73 kn) with flaps
Range: 1,100 km (680 mi, 590 nmi) at 66% power
Combat range: 720 km (450 mi, 390 nmi)
Endurance: 2 hours 20 minutes 30 seconds (average combat mission)
Service ceiling: 9,400 m (30,800 ft)
Time to altitude: 2,000 m (6,562 ft) in 2 minutes 32 seconds
9,000 m (29,528 ft) in 21 minutes 37 seconds
Wing loading: 154 kg/m2 (32 lb/sq ft)
Power/mass: 2.95 kg/kW (4.85 lb/hp)
Take-off run to 8 m (26 ft): 270 m (886 ft)
Landing run from 8 m (26 ft): 340 m (1,115 ft)

Armament:
1× 20 mm (0.787 in) Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon, firing through the propeller hub
2× 7.5 mm (0.295 in) MAC 1934 machine guns in the outer wings

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406; aircraft "๓ ๔ (34/ S̄āms̄ib s̄ī̀)" of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF, กองทัพอากาศไทย; Kong Thap Akat Thai); Tonkin (occupied French Indochina), early 1942 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

A quick build, and the easy-build Hobby Boss M.S. 406 is certainly not as crisp as a "real" model, but in this case the story behind the weird livery was more in the focus than the canvas underneath. However, an interesting result, and the hybrid paint scheme with heritage from three different operators make the aircraft an unusual, if not exotic sight.

NARSES2 · December 15, 2020, 07:42:51 AM

Really like that Dizzy

. The elephant markings being superimposed over the Japanese markings works well.

Particularly like the way the under fuselage aerial is folded whilst on the ground and deployed whilst in the air. Nice attention to detail

Hotte · December 15, 2020, 07:49:13 AM

Nice MS 406

Hotte

Rheged · December 15, 2020, 07:51:16 AM

It's not just the modelling and backstory that are of the finest workmanship(as usual) it's also the presentation of the finished product with an appropriate background in every picture.

งดงาม as I think the Thais would say.

Dizzyfugu · December 15, 2020, 07:53:44 AM

Quote from: NARSES2 on December 15, 2020, 07:42:51 AM
Really like that Dizzy . The elephant markings being superimposed over the Japanese markings works well.

Particularly like the way the under fuselage aerial is folded whilst on the ground and deployed whilst in the air. Nice attention to detail

Glad you like it - after all, it's your idea...

Looking forward to your build and what it will lokk like.
The antenna is just a photo editing trick, no hardware was modified. But that's how the M.S. 406's radio system worked, it had no wire antenna, just two masts.

Dizzyfugu · December 15, 2020, 07:55:36 AM

Quote from: Rheged on December 15, 2020, 07:51:16 AM
It's not just the modelling and backstory that are of the finest workmanship(as usual) it's also the presentation of the finished product with an appropriate background in every picture.

งดงาม as I think the Thais would say.

Thank you very much. Yes, I try to provide a matching context in the beauty shots, it adds a lot of atmosphere to the model, and sometimes it even shows how effective a camouflage scheme is.

NARSES2 · December 15, 2020, 08:16:26 AM

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on December 15, 2020, 07:53:44 AM
But that's how the M.S. 406's radio system worked, it had no wire antenna, just two masts.

Yup, it's how most French aircraft of the periods radio systems worked. I've never been sure if it was automatic or if it was something else the pilot had to remember ? Maybe it was linked to the undercarriage ?

PR19_Kit · December 15, 2020, 08:19:49 AM

LOVE the colour scheme and the backstory.

Not so happy about the aircraft itself, I never did like the look of the 406, and I'm much more a fan of the Dewoitine 520.

(Other opinions are available of course.

)

Dizzyfugu · December 15, 2020, 08:23:55 AM

Yes, the M.S. 406 is not really "sexy", and the Hobby Boss kit is certainly not the best rendition of the aircraft. Esp. the landing gear is pretty wacky. But the colorful livery distracts from these flaws...

TheChronicOne · January 13, 2021, 04:41:24 PM

Great job, fantastic!!! I love the colors!