Yak-3 Normandie-Niemen Squadron

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Spaceowl
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Yak-3 Normandie-Niemen Squadron

Post by Spaceowl »

First in a new project, the history of Normandie-Niemen squadron of the French Air Force:

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In November 1945, the Free French squadron that had been flying with the Red Air Force as the Normandie-Niemen Regiment returned to Paris, arriving at Le Bourget Airport in front of a crowd of 100,000 people. Part of the return ceremony involved the gifting of the 36 fighters they had used during the war as a gift from the USSR to the French People. After the celebrations, these became the nucleus of the new GC/III, Normandie-Niemen of the Armee de l'Air and continued to serve until some time in 1947/8 when lack of spare parts effectively grounded them. This had been a continuing problem that became progressively worse, causing the new Groupe to supplement its Soviet flightline with a very unexpected running mate (keep watching this space).
The kit was the surprisingly nice, given its age, Yak-3 from Heller, which went together well with surprisingly few fit issues. The colour scheme is a tentative reconstruction from several sources, as almost no GC/III aircraft had a matching scheme. Decals were pulled from the spares box and worked fairly well, although the blue of the roundel centre disk seems way too pale and may be revisited at a later date, as will the crosses of Lorraine.
The next kit in the build list will be the Yak's unexpected running mate in 1947. Please keep watching.
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iggie
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Re: Yak-3 Normandie-Nieman Squadron

Post by iggie »

Excellent build and some great history to back it up
Best wishes

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Old_Tonto
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Re: Yak-3 Normandie-Nieman Squadron

Post by Old_Tonto »

Super build again Rob. Just goes to show that some planes do look good in grey. :lol:
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Lone Modeller
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Re: Yak-3 Normandie-Niemen Squadron

Post by Lone Modeller »

What an interesting subject and theme. Looking forward to more....
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skypirate
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Re: Yak-3 Normandie-Niemen Squadron

Post by skypirate »

Not the usual scheme makes a very attractive model!

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Clashcityrocker
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Re: Yak-3 Normandie-Niemen Squadron

Post by Clashcityrocker »

Looks very nice.

Nigel
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Re: Yak-3 Normandie-Niemen Squadron

Post by ShaunW »

Very nicely done and an interesting bit of history.
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