What if? Brewster B-339B 'Buffalo'; GdCM 1, Freie Franz. Luftwaffe; Marokko, 1941

[dizzyfugu]

Ein Quickie - an diesem Wochenende in zwei Tagen entstanden, plus ein Tag für die Bilder... 





<b>Some background</b>
<i>The Brewster F2A Buffalo was an American fighter aircraft which saw service early in World War II.

Designed and built by the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation, it was one of the first U.S. monoplanes with an arrester hook and other modifications for aircraft carriers. The Buffalo won a competition against the Grumman F4F Wildcat in 1939 to become the U.S. Navy's first monoplane fighter aircraft.
Although superior to the Grumman F3F biplane it replaced and the early F4Fs, the Buffalo turned out to be a disappointment because the weight of added equipment was not balanced by an increase in horsepower.






Several nations, including Finland, Belgium, Britain and the Netherlands, ordered the Buffalo, too. Just before the start of the war, Belgium sought more modern aircraft to expand and modernize its air force, and the nation ordered 40 Brewster B-339 aircraft, a de-navalized F2A-2, fitted with the Wright R-1820-G-105 engine approved for export use.

The G-105 engine had a power output of 1.000 hp (745.7 kW) on takeoff, some 200 hp (149 kW) less than the engine fitted to the U.S. Navy F2A-2, and the type was internally known as B-339B. The arrestor hook and life-raft container were removed, and the aircraft was modified with a slightly longer tail.

The aircraft intended for Belgium reached France by the time Germany launched its Blitzkrieg in the West on 10 May 1940. One Buffalo was captured intact by the Germans, while 32 other aircraft could be ferried over to North Africa (Morocco) and were integrated into the Free French Air Force (Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres, FAFL). One Buffalo was lost during this transfer, though, and six more Belgian Brewsters were offloaded at the French Caribbean island of Martinique and languished on a coastal hillside, never to be flown.






One of its first jobs of the FAFL was to try to persuade the governors-general of colonies in French West Africa not to submit to the orders of the Vichy government, and instead join the Free French in their continuing fight against the Axis Powers of Germany and Italy.

"Operation Menace" was the Allied plan to make Dakar join the Allied cause, or capture it by force. Among the units taking part was the newly formed FAFL Groupe de Combat Mixte (GMC) 1, code-named "Jam", consisted of four squadrons, composed of Bristol Blenheim bombers, the ex-Belgian Brewster Buffalos and Westland Lysander liaison/observation aircraft. The resulting Battle of Dakar was a failure. The port remained in Vichy control, FAFL envoys were arrested and imprisoned at Dakar by the Vichy authorities.









However, French forces in Cameroon and Chad, in French Equatorial Africa, rallied to the Gaullist cause. There were three detachments of French air force units — based at Fort-Lamy (now N’Djamena) (Chad), Douala (Cameroon) and Pointe-Noire (Congo) – operating a mixed bag of Potez and Bloch aircraft, and they thus became part of the FAFL, too.

The first combats between Vichy and the FAFL took place on 6 November 1940, when two Vichy air force aircraft took on two FAFL Lysanders near Libreville. Both aircraft sustained damage but made it back to base. Two days later, the first FAFL airmen were shot down and taken prisoner. Two days after that, Libreville was taken by Free French army troops, resulting in the FAFL aircraft now operating from the air base that had been used by their opponents of a few days before.






The French attitude towards the fighting was that of a “civil war” that was being won for Free France, since now Libreville had joined the Gaullist cause. As it happened, this would be the only time when opposing factions within FEA territory would fight each other openly.

The Free French Buffaloes soldiered on with limited success until the Anglo-American landing in North Africa in November 1942, which marked the rebirth of the French Air Force, thanks to the commitment by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Until then, only about a dozen French Buffalos had been kept airworthy, and they had primarily been used against ground targets since they could not keep up with modern German fighters like the Bf 109, which was superior in any respect. In fact, no Free French Buffalo pilot was able to claim an air victory.




With the delivery of roundabout 1.000 new, U.S.-built aircraft, the French began to replenish its squadrons. In early 1943, all remaining B-339Bs had been replaced by P-40 Tomahawk fighters, which then fought alongside American units in clearing North Africa of Axis forces in 1943.</i>


<b><u>General characteristics</u></b>
    Crew: one
    Length: 26 ft 4 in (8.03 m)
    Wingspan: 35 ft 0 in (10.67 m)
    Height: 12 ft 0 in (3.66 m)
    Wing area: 209 sq ft (19.4 m2)
    Empty weight: 4,732 lb (2,146 kg)
    Max takeoff weight: 7,159 lb (3,247 kg)

<u>Powerplant: </u>
    1× Wright R-1820-G105 Cyclone 9 9-cyl air-cooled radial piston engine, rated at 1.000 hp (745.7 kW)

<u>Performance:</u>
    Maximum speed: 321 mph (517 km/h; 279 kn)
    Cruise speed: 161 mph (140 kn; 259 km/h)
    Range: 965 mi (839 nmi; 1,553 km)
    Service ceiling: 33,200 ft (10,119 m)
    Rate of climb: 2,440 ft/min (12.4 m/s) [N 9]

<u>Armament</u>
    4× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns, one pair nose-mounted above the engine, one in each wing
    Provisions for two 50kg (110 lb) bombs under the wings


Dieses Modell ist ein klassisches Whif - einfach in der Geschichte gestöbert und mal geschaut, was hätte sein können wenn die Lieferung der tatsächlich bestellten Brewster Buffalos für Belgien nicht in Großbritannien gestrandet wäre, sondern noch den Kontinent erreicht hätte?

Das Modell ist die nette Buffalo von Hobby Boss, welches aber eine Marineversion darstellt - für dieses Modell hatte ich vor einiger Zeit schon einen Umbausatz von Pavla mit einem veränderten Heckkonus der Export-Buffalo besorgt. Dieser ist aber für den Hasegawa-Bausatz gedacht und passt hier bestenfalls grob - ich hätte das Heck auch scratchen können...  Insgesamt alles nah OOB; neu sind ein Instrumentenbrett und Innenleben hinter dem Piloten, am Propeller kam der Spinner weg, zwecks besserer Beatmung in Nordafrika.









Der Anstrich lehnt sich an eine MS.406 der Freien Französischen Luftwaffe an - aber es gab eh keinen Standardanstrich oder gar verbindliche Farben. Sehr modellbauerfreundlich. Der Anstrich ist auch ordentlich verwittert, und auf eine silberne Primer-Schicht nicht 100%ig deckend aufgetragen. Später wurde noch trockenbemalt und es kam ein Tusche-Wash drüber, was die gravierten Stöße dezent hervorhebt. Die Markierungen kommen von einem PrintScale-Bogen. Sollte alles "authentisch" wirken, eher subtil als abgedreht.



















Tja, und alles ging flotter als gedacht: zwei Tage, dann war die Brumsel durch!