Pavla

1/72 Dewoitine D.510

Kit Number: 72065

Reviewed by  Brian R. Baker, IPMS# 43146

MSRP: $39.95 www.pavlamodels.cz History The Dewoitine D.510 was a further development of the original D.500 produced in 1932. The D.510 prototype was actually a D.500 with a more powerful Hispano Suiza 12Ycrs engine and a 20 mm cannon firing through the propeller hub. Two additional machine guns were mounted either in or under the wings outboard of the landing gear struts, depending upon the variant. Featuring a long, high aspect ratio wing and a rather spidery-looking, but robust, wide track landing gear, the airplane retained the open cockpit arrangement much in favor with fighter pilots of the middle thirties. From the looks of the plane, it must have been a lot of fun to fly. A total of 116 appear to have been produced, including 105 for the Armee de l'Aire, 7 for Lithuania, 1 for the Soviet Union, 1 for Britain, and 2 which were ordered by Turkey but which finally wound up with the Spanish Republicans. The type was used by the Armee de l'Aire during the middle and late Thirties alongside the earlier D.500 and D.501 types until replaced by more modern fighters at the outbreak of World War II. Those squadrons which still used the D.510 were quickly re-equipped with more modern types after 1939, although units operating in more remote areas continued to use the type until as late as 1941. The Kit The kit depicts the D.510 only, and consists of one sprue of grey injection molded plastic containing the basic components. In addition, there are numerous resin parts, including cockpit details, instrument panel, exhaust stacks, an optional landing gear for the Chinese version, radiator doors, and aileron hinges. These are all very small parts, and are highly detailed. They are also easy to lose. The molding has a dull grey finish, inscribed panel lines, and basically good surface detail. The wings and tailplane fit to the fuselage with butt joints, but this presents no problem as long as you trim the pieces square before assembling. There is a little flash on both the plastic and the resin, but nothing that a serious modeler shouldn't be able to handle. The prop is molded in one piece, and it seemed to me to be a little rough, although it can be trimmed to acceptable standards. The windshields (two are provided) are vacuformed, and I found them difficult to use, so I replaced them with scratchbuilt units. Instructions The instructions consist of 12 pages of material and drawings, most of which is useable. A good sprue diagram numbers the parts, and this is necessary, especially with the resin section. A major problem is the color guide. They keep switching from English to French, and I had to Google some of the colors to find out what they actually were. Reference is made to Xtra Colour and E.Deluy, which were all Greek to me. So, the colors are anyone's guess. That is where reference materials come in handy. One problem I encountered was the conflicting color scheme information for the Chinese variant. I understand that most Chinese aircraft operated against the Japanese were a dark olive green on top with sky blue underneath. Pavla's scheme showed silver underneath, although I couldn't find any references to confirm this. It would seem logical that the French would have delivered the aircraft in aluminum finish, and the Chinese would have logically camouflaged them to protect them from Japanese attack, so I opted for that scheme for my Chinese version. Exploded drawings show each stage of assembly, and the steps are clearly illustrated, although it would have helped to have a front view to help in the alignment of the landing gear. The four view camouflage and marking drawings are excellent, showing the exact camouflage patterns and decal locations. On the Chinese example, the drawing does not show Chinese insignia on the upper wing surfaces, although decals are provided for both upper and lower wing surfaces. Most references show insignias top and bottom, so I don't know where they got their information. Assembly The resin cockpit must be assembled first, and it is quite robust when together. However, it doesn't fit inside the fuselage halves without some filing and sanding, but fortunately it is thick enough to withstand this mistreatment, and I finally got it to fit. After the fuselage is assembled, the instructions say to install all of the little resin details, such as exhaust stacks, venture tube, and some small fairings and scoops on the forward part of the fuselage. This is only asking for trouble, so I waited on those parts until after the airplane was assembled. Tailplane struts are provided, but I used plastic rods, which were a little more petite. The large radiator housing under the nose is a resin unit, and includes a shuttered forward section, or you can install them individually. I opted for closed. I needed a little bit of filler on some of the wing and tailplane joints, but maybe I didn't get the butt joints perfectly flat. During the construction process, I wondered "How does this kit compare to the model it is intended to replace, the old Heller D.510 kit?" So I went back to my ten year supply of older kits and discovered that I had just one Heller D.510, so I started it alongside the Pavla model. The Heller kit, being older, had less detail, and it does have some raised panel lines where the Pavla kit has recessed lines, but otherwise, the kits are similar. The Pavla kit had no markings for the landing gear strut positions, so I had to invent my own. The Heller kit has a one piece lower wing section, which makes the proper dihedral angle easy to achieve. Other than a lack of sidewall detail in the cockpit and a prop that seems to be a little too large (about 2 feet in scale), the kits are really comparable. The Heller windshield, at least on the one I had, was lopsided, leading me to scratch build the units for both models. I used the Pavla landing gear strut for the Chinese version, and it worked out very well. Painting The French version I chose to build was silver overall, so painting was no problem. With the Chinese version, I painted it overall silver and then used RAF dark green in a soft mottle to achieve the desired effect. The decals are of a very high qualify, although I found that the large clear black and white single color decals tended to stick in place wherever they first touched the surface of the model, requiring some coaxing to get them to position themselves correctly. The tail stripes were just large enough for the rudder, and required a bit of painting on the trailing edge of the rudder. Decals Decal instructions were clear, and no special decal solutions were required to get them to snug down on the surfaces. Decals were provided for four aircraft, including No. 341, the camouflaged personal aircraft of Commandant Pallier, CO of GC I/1 at Chantilly in Sept. 1939; No. 307, a silver aircraft of GC II/8 in mid 1938; No. 225, another silver fighter of 3e Escadrille, GHC II/1 in 1936; and #4105, a D.510C of the 41st Chungtui of the Chinese Nationalist Air Force, based at Kunming Airfield, flown by William Labussiere, a French volunteer pilot, during the late thirties. Finishing After painting and decal application, I attached the small resin parts on the Pavla kit. These included the venturi tube, step, and exhaust stacks, which have to be glued individually in their proper locations, which are not really clearly marked. Drilling out the holes would work, except that the middle stacks are paired. My solution was to trim them to about half of their original length, and superglue them in position after painting them a rust color. The end result is a pretty nice little model of a classic French fighter. Recommendations My feeling is that the Pavla kit is a good one, and that an excellent model of the D.510 can be made using this kit. There are some problems, but nothing a good modeler can't master. The price difference for the Pavla kit as compared to a vintage Heller kit ($40.00 vs. $4-8, based on Burns' Kit Collector's Guide) is a matter of personal preference, and whether you choose to go with the nice resin cockpit from Pavla or scratchbuild an interior. Recommended. Thanks to Pavla and IPMS/USA for the review sample.

Information, images, and all other items placed electronically on this site are the intellectual property of IPMS/USA ®.