COBI Dewoitine D.520 Set 5734

COBI's Dewoitine D.520 is a 1:32 model built from 335 blocks, 26 cm long with a 32 cm wingspan, in Vichy French camouflage and markings. The propeller and ailerons move, the canopy opens, the wheels fold, and a French pilot figure with an oxygen mask is included, along with a black display stand and a nameplate. No stickers.

It fought on every side

The D.520 was France's best fighter, and its career says more about 1940 than about the aeroplane.

It reached squadrons in spring 1940, weeks before the German invasion, and only a few dozen were operational when the fighting started. They did well — better than the numbers suggested — and it made no difference. France surrendered in June.

Production did not stop. The Vichy government went on building them, and Vichy D.520s fought against the British in Syria and against the Allies in North Africa. When Germany occupied the southern zone in 1942 it seized the fleet and handed the aircraft to the Luftwaffe as trainers, and to the Italian, Bulgarian and Romanian air forces. In 1944 Free French units picked up whatever D.520s they could find and flew them against the Germans.

The same aircraft type, in four years, served France, Vichy France, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania and then France again. Around 755 were built, and the design was good enough that the last ones stayed in French service until 1953.

Specifications

Pieces: 335 · Figures: 1 pilot · Scale: 1:32 · No stickers
Model dimensions: 26 × 32 × 13 cm (10.2 × 12.6 × 5.1 in)