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Clay More homepage (https://www.clay-more.com/) indicates as "new release" a 1/48th Royal Aircraft Factory FE8 multimedia kit. But up until know except box art and profiles I haven't seen any picture from this company products... I'm therefore a bit suspicious. No address, no Facebook... V.P.

God I do love the FE2. It's in my very top five of favourite British aircraft. It's more contrapted than constructed, and seems to have more in common with the age of sail than with aviation. It meets the challenge of practical aerodynamics like a drunken hooligan, charging a hedgerow. Head-on, arms outstretched. And it's ugly... It's so ugly. I love it. I've always wanted one. I absolutely ache to have an FE2b in my collection, but I'm cursed to follow the cult of 1/144. So what's a fella to do? I could order some lumpen bogey from Shapeways perhaps. Maybe buy a gigantic 1/32 kit from Wingnut Wings, only to fondle the sprues and never actually build the thing. Or I could try and scratchbuild one... Nah! That would be bonkers I told myself. It cant be done. It can't. I leaned back in my rickety chair and took another sip of my favourite Islay single malt. I imagined the empty space in my tiny display cabinet, filled with a trophy-sized replica of the Royal Aircraft Factory's finest... Not a chance! It's too damn small in 1/144. I grabbed my trusty Windsock Datafile and measured off the size of the nacelle and transferred it to a bit of styrene. "See" I said to myself. "It's not even 30mm long. It's impossible!" I looked at the little piece of styrene, sitting forlorn on my cutting mat. I grabbed my scalpel: Just round the front off a bit... ***************************************************************************************************************** That was back in January of this year. I'm committed now, or probably should be. Here's some shots of how things have gone so far. I'll try and get things up to speed as quick as possible. First up was the main body of the fuselage nacelle. This was the fateful bit of styrene that started me off. I marked out the plan view onto a piece of 1mm Evergreen strip and trimmed it to size. Sidewalls were added from .25mm styrene and laminated pieces of 3mm were prepared for the upper works and forward nacelle. Some trimming may have occurred... And some more. But eventually I got here... Once the main components were made I used dental burs to hollow out the insides. It took several sessions of this until I got them suitably thinned. After that I cut some strips of 1mm acrylic sheet and scraped the under-camber into them with the sharpened end of a steel ruler, then sanded the upper surfaces to get the finished aerofoil sections. Couldn't resist a bit of RFC product placement I also made the main wheels, as there was nothing remotely similar available in the spares box. Steaming some styrene rod around a drill bit proved to be the best method. Much better than metal, as I wouldn't have a problem with pain adhesion later on. The bally Hun provided the period coinage for the next shot: And I made a seat from sterling silver That will do for now. It's getting late here, so I'll add more of the build soon. Cheers!

New Airfix kit announced: 1/72nd Royal Aircraft Factory BE2c Source: http://www.airfix.com/uk-en/news/workbench/workbench-behind-the-scenes-at-airfix/ V.P.

Merit is to release a 1/24th Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a kit - ref.62402 Sources: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234973406-merit-cataloguefolder-2015-2016/ http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10347144 box art V.P.

"Far From Home" BE2e (A10817) 67 Squadron near Gaza 1917. Oil on canvas (mounted on board 23.5" x 19") Lt Gerald C Stones (observer) from Wisbech Australia and 2Lt Joseph A Morgon (British pilot attached to 67 from the RFC) where both killed 30 May 1917 flying A1807 when their aircraft whilst on an artillery observation mission was brought down by anti aircraft fire near Gaza. Thanks for looking, Terry

Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a pics thanks to Mark Mills.