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48-002: Finnish aces |
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Of all the theatres of combat of World War 2, one of the least recognized was the Finnish-Soviet war. It has a rather unique place, as it was actually a seperate war than the main conflict - three seperate "wars," actually. The Winter War was first, and saw the Finns scrambling for any aircraft they could to fight off the Soviets. Moraines, Fiat G.50s, Fokker D.XXIs, even the Brewster Buffalo (which actually arrived late for this one) were all ordered, and most were considered obsolete. Still, they took on a much greater Soviet threat and gave a good accounting of themselves.
With the second conflict (the Continuation War,) the political scene had changed. They could no longer rely on the US or Britain for help (though they'd gotten some of their equipment from those nations) because, regardless of their desire to help, to do so would alienate the Soviet Union - seen as a greater problem, given the war with Germany. Finland remained independant, but got some help from Germany in the form of captured aircraft and ME-109s. After losing the war and conceeding some territory to the USSR, they - by the terms of the treaty - had to turn around and drive the Germans out of Finnish territory.
I picked up this sheet and a Tamiya Buffalo after reading an article in Aviation History about what the Finns did to fight off the Soviets. The more I read on this forgotten corner of the war, the more the Finnish people impressed me. I had to do one of their aircraft. (I also picked up a Curtiss Hawk to use with this sheet, as they used them effectively, and I like the aircraft.) As you can probably tell by the version number, this is an early 1/48 scale Aeromaster sheet. This isnt' a worry as far as the decals are concerned - they're all well printed, in register, and have great color. You wil have to get some references for the aircraft color schemes, as only black and white drawings are provided - the one aircraft that looks "white" isn't, for instance. Still, Finnish schemes aren't too hard - light blue, dark green, and black, some with yellow stripes, for the early aircraft. Others kept German camoflage (the 109s) for part of their life.
And before anyone says anything- yes, there are swastikas in this kit. No, the Finns were not Nazis. They had the swastika as their insignia before the Nazi's existed - it was part of the family crest of the Swedish Count Rosen, who donated the first aircraft to the Finnish air force. They lost the Swastika by treaty after 1946 for the current white-blue-white roundel, as swastikas tended to bring up some not very pleasant memories for many Europeans after the second world war.
In any case, if you want some different schemes for 109s, or want to show off a Buffalo or Morko Moraine in an area it was successful, pick up this sheet - before I hear of it and try to get it myself! It's out of print, now. Maybe someone will manage to rerun it in the near future... one can only hope.