I am considering building a Brewster B-239 for the upcoming "Fighters Under the Midnight Sun" campaign. I have been unable to find a kit containing the Finnish Air Force markings so I was hoping to build a U.S kit and convert it. My question is does anyone know where I could find aftermarket decals to convert the Brewster? I was hoping to do something like Hans Winds BW-393 in 1943.
Can anyone steer me towards a kit with Finnish markings for this plane?
Thanks,
VonCuda

Hi,

Classic Airframes makes 1/48 Finnish Buffalo kit.

It is one I will build.

Glad you will join!

Well heck JPTRR, if you're building it I'll have to come up with something else.
Having a picture of my build next to yours will make mine look like......................well, like I built it.
Maybe I could build mine to look like it crashed. :-)

Awww come on, now. I've built some woeful turkeys, too. #:-)

To paraphrase Holdfast, YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY BUFFALOS! :-)

There are many decals for Finnish aircraft, including P-40s (captured Soviet, I assume). See
Meteor Productions and search for AMLD4817, GD72003, THD48004 (P-40M/N RAAF, Soviet AF, Finnish AF). Their search engine is a little weird, but use SEARCH BY KEYWORD, type "Finnish", then click 'Click here for Advanced Searching'.

You just might find something here.

I joined to the campaign too. Now I just have to hope I get out of the army in six months so I can participate.

Note that CA's F2A-1 kit is the same as the Finnish kit, the only difference is the decals and instructions. (Finnish brewsters were de-navalised F2A-1's) That's how I got my kit too. My LHS was out of B-239's, so the shopkeeper kindly gave me InScale's decals for free with a F2A-1 kit.

Hasegawa makes a Bf-109 G-2 that comes with Finnish decals. Finns also used G-6 variants, and aftermarket decals are available from many sources. Here's a finnish store that has a selection of Finnish decal sets and kits and ships internationally: http://www.kolumbus.fi/martti.kuivalainen/engindex.html
(that leads to the English language version of the site. When I checked, it was unavailable, though. I presume the pages are being updated)

VonCuda, no need to purchase aftermarket decals as CA's Finnish brewster cames with decals for Hans Wind's plane from winter 1943. Here's a link to a review with pics of the decal sheet and painting instructions. http://kits.kitreview.com/f2a1andmodel239reviewjm_1.htm

Revell's 1:72 hawker hurricane is a nice kit. It and the ancient brewster & hawk were recently released to Finnish market with appropriate decals. If you get a hold of the hurricane, please note the decals are for the only captured mk.II used by FAF, while the model is actually a mk.I The only reasonable solution is to use aftermarket decals to depict a mk.I

Wow! Thanks for those links PolarBear and Emeritus. I had no idea that there were so many Finnish Air Force planes from WWII. Actually that is the really cool thing about this new campaign. I never new how many remarkable things the Finnish Air Force did before now. This project is going to be a lot more fun and educating than I had thought. Only problem is that I have so many kits to choose from where as yesturday I only had 1. :-)
Don't know if I'll stick with the Buffalo or try something else.
The Finnish Air Force Fiat G.50 in 1/48 by Sector is a really nice looking kit. Then again the Fokker D.XXI. Finnish version also caught my attention.
Of course the wife will make the final decision since it's her credit card I'll have to use to by my kit.

Thanks guys, you are making me feel very good for proposing this build!

Yes, everything about the Ilmavoimat is fascinating to me, the plethora of airplanes from the modeling perspective.

I recall the Revell Finnish P-36 and Buffalo, I built them 30 years ago; 15 years ago I built the Monogram P-36 as a Finnish fighter.

I bought CA's Buffalo just for this campaign, but I am also planning to build my old Life-Like 1/48 Bristol Bulldog for the Ilmavoimat. Perhaps I'll have finished several kits by next Dec.?

Looking forward to building with you all.

Those are most likely just the kits revell recently re-issued with finnish markings.

Yeah, thanks for proposing this build.

To add to the list of possible kits, Finns also flew French morane saulniers (here's a link to a nicely built example: http://aircraftresourcecenter.com/Fea1/001-100/Fea023_M.S.406_Dalton/fea023.htm ), I-16, I-153, and some Lagg-3 fighters.

... and Caudron Renault C.714

Jean-Luc

...Which was grounded because of it's inferior landing and take-off characteristics.
From your use of smiley, I presume you knew this.