Moran-Saulnier MS.406 fighter of World War II 1/72 BUILT MODELS EASY MODEL EM36325

 Moran-Saulnier MS.406 fighter of World War II 
1/72 Built Models
Easy Model EM36325
Manufacturer: Easy Model

BUILT AND PAINTED

Scale: 1/72
Material: Plastic
Condition: New in Box
 

The M.S.406 was a French Armée de l'Air fighter aircraft built byMorane-Saulnier starting in 1938. Numerically, it was France's most important fighter during the opening stages of World War II.

Although sturdy and highly manoeuvrable,it was under-powered and weakly armed when compared to its contemporaries. Most critically, it was out-performed by the Messerschmitt Bf 109E during the Battle of France. The M.S.406 held its own in the early stages of the war (the so-called Phoney War), but when the war restarted in earnest in 1940, losses to all causes amounted to approximately 400 aircraft. Out of this total some 150 were lost to enemy fighters and ground fire, another 100 were destroyed on the ground in enemy air raids and the remainder was deliberately destroyed by French military personnel to prevent the fighters from falling into enemy hands intact. In return M.S.406 squadrons achieved 191 confirmed victories and another 83 probable victories.The type was more successful in the hands of Finnish and Swiss air forces who developed indigenous models.In 1934, the Service Technique Aéronautique (Aeronautical Technical Service) of the Armée de l'Air issued the "C1 design" requirement for a new and completely modern single-seat fighter with a monoplane layout and retracting landing gear.

Morane-Saulnier's response was the M.S.405 developed by Engineer in Chief Paul-René Gauthier. The MS.405 was a low-wing monoplane of mixed construction, with fabric-covered wooden tail, but a bonded metal/wood material (Plymax) skin fixed to duralumin tubing. Plymax consisted of a thin sheet of duralumin bonded to a thicker sheet of plywood. Morane-Saulnier had a long history of producing warplanes dating back to pre-World War I years, but in the inter-war period, they had concentrated on civil designs. The aircraft was a departure for them, being their first low-wing monoplane, first with an enclosed cockpit, and first design with retracting landing gear. Prior to this, their most modern designs were fixed-gearparasol monoplanes.The result of these changes was the M.S.406. The two main changes were the inclusion of a new wing structure which saved weight, and a retractable radiatorunder the fuselage. Powered by the production 641.3 kW (860 hp) HS 12Y-31 engine, the new design was over 8 km/h (5 mph) faster than the 405, at 489 km/h (304 mph). Armament consisted of a 20 mm (0.787 in) Hispano-Suiza HS.9 or 404cannon with 60 rounds in the V of the engine and fired through the propeller hub, and two 7.5 mm (0.295 in) MAC 1934 machine guns (one in each wing, each with 300 rounds). A weakness of the MAC 1934 was its operation at high altitudes. It was found that at altitudes over 20,000 ft, the guns had a tendency to freeze. Heaters were added to the guns for high altitude use.

Morane-Saulnier M.S.406
Morane-Saulnier D-3801 (GC LaFayette)
Role	Fighter
Manufacturer	Morane-Saulnier
First flight	8 August 1935 (M.S.405)
Introduction	1938
Primary users	French Air Force Finnish Air Force Swiss Air Force Turkish Air Force
Number built	1,176