Bristol Bulldogs in combat

[john redman]

I notice the blurb for the rather spiffy looking new 1/48 Bulldog says that the type "never fired its guns in anger during a relatively short seven-year period serving with Fighter Command."

This is true of its Fighter Command service but not of the type more generally. IIRC the Finnish Air Force flew Bulldogs with some success against the USSR, while 10 or 11 ex-Lithuanian Bulldogs were shipped to Spain and operated for the Republicans against Franco's forces. Both of these have interesting colour and marking schemes quite different from the hi-speed silver of the RAF's peacetime examples, so I wonder if we'll see decals for these in some later issue? I don't think Airfix has ever provided Finnish decals with any kit, perhaps because of squeamishness over the swastikas* required.

Markings for the Bulldog in which Douglas Bader crashed would be interesting too. I've long thought it would be a fun theme to build every aircraft he flew - it is not actually that long a list. 

 

 

* technically they're not swastikas at all as they are not reversed and are rendered in square, not diamond orientation

 

 

 

 

[peebeep]

10 hours ago, john redman said:

I don't think Airfix has ever provided Finnish decals with any kit, perhaps because of squeamishness over the swastikas* required.

Squeamishness has nothing to do with it, the question is about where you can legally display your product for sale. The answer is not many places. I know it's possible to adapt box artwork and decals, but when it comes to putting a product package together I can imagine marketing execs muttering 'too much hassle, forget it'.

[john redman]

That would mean almost nobody could sell Finnish WW2 aircraft kits, though, which isn't what happens. It's an interesting point though and I would be interested to know whether the restriction is on only what appears on the packaging or on the entire box contents. If the latter, then there are presumably no Finnish air force subjects on sale anywhere in Germany.

[peebeep]

I Have one of the 406 kits, the decals come exactly as per the box art! Special Hobby have a penchant for Finnish subjects and are even brave enough to produce box art complete with hakenkreuz but I can't imagine them being openly on sale in many places within mainland Europe. The thing is a small outfit like Special Hobby can take a punt on something 'exotic' because they're dealing with a few thousand units, whereas Airfix, Revell etc are dealing with hundreds of thousands, that could be a big loss if they're forced to pull a product over something legal. They're not going to go there. If you want Finnish subjects you need to look to the small manufacturers and decal aftermarket. In respect of decals, Galdecal is your best bet: link

[modeling maniac]

Well if you can't sell Finnish airforce sets because of being squeamish over swastikas, then you can't sell German kits because they have swastikas.

[Ratch]

And Airfix don't sell kits that contain swastikas on the decal sheet.

[paul71]

the swastika is a banned symbol in a lot of European country's and can not be put on display that's why you wont see it on box art or decals because you wouldn't be able to put it on the shelf to display or sell, its nothing to do with been squeamish its the law

if you go to an air show and see a flying WWII german aircraft that is registered in one of those country's it wont have a swastika on the tail, if its registered in england it can have the swastika on the tail.

[john redman]

The blue markings on a Finnish aircraft are not N*zi swastikas, of course, which are black and reversed. 

Here's a Roman shield, which has four "swastikas". Presumably this exhibit won't be touring Germany.

 

[dogsbody]

Don't forget the red Latvian Airforce swastika! It was rotated 45 degrees from Finnish ones.

 

 

Chris

[john redman]

On 02/06/2024 at 02:16, Ratch said:

And Airfix don't sell kits that contain swastikas on the decal sheet.

They don't at the moment but they have done so in the past, interestingly. Compare the tailfin of the original release of the 1/24 Stuka with the 2024 version. 

Splitting it into two seems like a good solution.

 

[john redman]

On 01/06/2024 at 12:51, peebeep said:

I Have one of the 406 kits, the decals come exactly as per the box art! 

Unless I am mistaken, that decal sheet allows you to place a blue square (fourth row down) atop a central cross (third row down) to make a Finnish hakaristi... 

Edited June 4 by john redman

[Ratch]

3 hours ago, john redman said:

They don't at the moment but they have done so in the past, interestingly. Compare the tailfin of the original release of the 1/24 Stuka with the 2024 version. 

Splitting it into two seems like a good solution.

 

They used to have complete swastikas many years ago - I'm talking about today and the need to comply with other countries' laws (from a Sales standpoint).

[peebeep]

Early Airfix kits didn't contain hakenkreuz, in my recollection they started to appear some time in the seventies, then disappeared a few years later. It may have coincided with the takeover by General Mills/Palitoy, or it could have been to do with meeting requirements in order to display a CE marking. This debate has been done to death on modelling forums, the long and short of it is that hakenkreuz on decal sheets or box art, even where the subject is not aligned with fascist ideology is a big no, no. If you wish to add hakenkreuz to your model the solution is to go with the aftermarket.