Orion – 72073 – Spanish Republicans Pilots

Description:

Well, for us, being Spanish, this is a very special subject and a very welcome addition by Orion, who has released in the past many other “crew” sets but oriented to tanks or armored cards, and here for first time touch a very interesting subject of the Spanish Civil War and this is an awesome resource for the many Aircraft kits related to this subject.

The box contains 48 figures in 12 different poses, including pilots, mechanics and officers or ground staff, amongst them, 3 seated in the aircraft pilots figures (note that it might be tricky suit them inside an 1/72 scale aircraft).

Uniformity of the Spanish Republicans Pilots were pretty basic and generic, with some elements from the Soviet deliveries, this figures can be probably used for other minor nations during the inter-wars period without many problem, in particular de pilots wearing full leather very common on open cockpit aircrafts.

A brief list of the main aircrafts operated in the republican side:

• Polikarpov I-15 “Chato” – Soviet-supplied biplane fighter, highly maneuverable and widely used.
• Polikarpov I-16 “Mosca” – Advanced Soviet monoplane fighter, fast and heavily armed for its time.
• Tupolev SB-2 “Katiuska” (Tupolev SB) – Soviet twin-engine light bomber, fast and modern early in the war.
• Dewoitine D.371/D.372 – French monoplane fighters supplied early in the conflict.
• Potez 540 – French twin-engine bomber, outdated but used due to lack of alternatives.
• Breguet XIX – French reconnaissance and light bomber aircraft, widely used before and during the early war years.
• CR.32 (captured) – Although mostly used by the Nationalists, some were captured and flown by the Republicans.

Less known or just available in few numbers were the following aircrafts:

• Grumman GE-23 “Delfín” (Grumman FF) – Export version of the FF-1 biplane fighter, supplied by the U.S. indirectly.
• Hawker Spanish Fury (Hawker Fury) – A single prototype of the British Fury fighter, built under license in Spain and used experimentally.
• Letov 328 – Czech reconnaissance biplane, a few were supplied early in the war.
• Bloch MB.200 – French twin-engine bomber, a small number were used but quickly outclassed.
• Amiot 143 – Another French bomber, slow and obsolete by the time it saw service in Spain.
• Fokker F.VII – Civilian trimotor aircraft converted for bombing and transport duties.
• Caproni CA.310 – A few Italian reconnaissance bombers originally ordered by the Spanish Republic before hostilities; deliveries were limited.