Special Hobby News Dec 2025

Morane-Saulnier MS-406C.1 HI-TECH 1/32

In 1934, the French Armée de l’Air announced a competition for a single-wing fighter with a speed of 450 km/h and armament of one to two 20 mm cannon. The winner of the competition was the Morane Saulnier MS-405C.1. Only 16 of this version were produced, and production switched to a modified version of the MS-406C.1. It was powered by an H-S 12Y.31 engine and was armed with a cannon firing through the propeller hub and two machine guns in the wing. 1,064 were produced, including the export ones. At the beginning of the war, the MS-406C.1 was the most numerous fighter type that France had at its disposal. It exceeded the German Bf 109D in terms of performance, but lagged behind the most modern version of the Bf 109E. Units flying the MS-406 C.1 were deployed not only in France, but also in North Africa and Indochina. French fighters fought on the MS-406C.1 from the beginning of the war until the defeat of France. Along with them, Czechoslovak and Polish pilots. The Morans were also used by the Armée de´l Armistice air force. Several of them were also used by the Free French air force. Furthermore, the MS-406C.1 was purchased and entered the service of Turkey, Finland and Switzerland. Due to the occupation of France, the captured machines entered the service of Germany, Italy and Croatia. Other machines were purchased from Germany by Finland. Switzerland also built the MS-406C.1 under license and further developed it.
   We are returning the kit of this very important fighter in 1/32 scale to the offer after a long time. Four sprues of grey plastic parts and one sprue of clear parts are complemented by resin parts and two frets of etches. Decals are offered for three machines, two French, one of which flew with the Polish unit and therefore bears the Polish chessboard on the sides of the fuselage. The third machine is a Finnish Morane, decorated with a mouth full of sharp teeth.

–    the kit also contins finely detailed resin parts and two frets of etches one of which is pre-coloured
–    atrractive colour schemes and decals
–    limited edition

SMB-2 Super Mystere ‘The First French Supersonic’ 1/48

Model of a French jet fighter. The model is moulded using metal type tools, contains 8 sprues of plastic parts (two are duplicates) and a sprue with clear parts. The SMB-2 Super Mystère was the first mass-produced Western European aircraft to exceed the speed of sound in level flight. In its development, Dassault built on its previous mass-produced fighter types as were the Ouragan and Mystère IVB and a number of experimental prototypes. The first production aircraft, out of 180 produced, first took to the air on 26 February, 1957. The new aircraft were gradually assigned to three squadrons of the Armée de `l Air, numbers 10, 12 and 5, and also flew at the CEV and CEAM test centers and in flight schools. Later produced SMB-2s received the more powerful Atar 101G-2 or G-3 engine. The Super Mysteres flew with combat squadrons until 1977, when the last SMB-2s of Squadron 12 were retired and replaced by the Mirage III. The SMB-2 service of the Armée de `l Air was relatively uneventful, with exercises in NATO countries, Africa and participation in the Operation Air Bull in Thailand.
   The situation was exactly the opposite for the other user, the Israeli Air Force. The SMB-2’s service with the IAF was marked by participation in a series of conflicts with Israel’s Arab neighbours, known as the War over Water, the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War and the protracted conflict between these wars, the so-called War of Attrition. Soon after the Sambads, the excellent Mirage IIICs were delivered to Israel, which became the main front-line fighters. The Sambads were therefore assigned to only one unit, the 105th Squadron, and were used mainly as fighter-bombers.

–    finely detailed and top notch accurate model
–    perfect and accurate decals for three Armée de `l Air machines, including full set of stencils
–    also available are pre-cut masks, A couple of 3D-printed sets in the pipeline

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