1/72 Hasegawa Morane Saulnier MS406

by Eric Bade

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This is my model of the most modern French fighter available in noticeable numbers at the outbreak of World War 2. It had been amongst the best fighters just a few months before the start of the war but it quickly started to get outdated. It was to be replaced by the better Dewoitine D520 (another surprising Hasegawa release) but this latter machine never was to be delivered in sufficient numbers. Hence the MS406 turned out to remain one of the workhorses of the French Air Force during the early stages of WW2.  

Building 

That is a very nice little kit that builds quite easily. As almost everyone knows by now, Hasegawa small fighters usually are accurate, sharp, easy to build, boast beautifully engraved panel lines but lack details in the cockpit area. I therefore used a Hi Tech set that provided resin and PE parts, mostly to detail cockpit, wheel wells (just a hollow part in the Hasegawa offering), flaps and landing gear.

Cockpit general colour is a greyish night blue while flaps and wing inner parts are painted in the French chamois colour, which is a light tan. 

Click on images below to see larger images

Painting 

This model actually has been revamped, as I had done some time earlier with a Me262 model (look out in the Gallery area).

I originally followed the Hasegawa instruction sheet. My model built in a nice little kit but I never was impressed with its colours that I generally found to be too light. After some researches my original feelings proved right. As this kit is not widely available and I found its general construction quite acceptable, I simply decided to repaint my model. Some paint scrapping was exercised there before I started my repaint process. I based my colours on some documents and on some articles found in French magazines (tribute to OS, the colour master – amongst his wide abilities in modelling).

Chart of paints follows – based on Gunze paints :

  • Gris bleu clair (light greyish blue – under surfaces) : 85% H67 + 15% H11

  • Kaki (French Khaki) : 90% H80 + 10% H329

  • Ombre calcinée (Dark Brown) : 85% H84 + 15% H333

  • Gris bleu foncé (Dark greyish blue – upper surfaces) : 85% H56 + 15% H325

Just by chance, I was able to give my model the same identity after repaints as the one it had before the repaint process. The same livery turned out to be available from the Hasegawa sheet and from a Carpena decal sheet that I used in the reconstruction.

Eric

Photos and text © by Eric Bade