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Hi everyone – work has been keeping me very busy of late, so here is my latest completion (my first in well over six months), the 1/48 Eduard Morane Saulnier Type N "Bullet". This is the 8090 non-profipack kit, released 15 years ago back in 2004. The kit is quite an easy build (which is what I needed, having not really built much recently), but I did make a few adjustments and additions here and there. I added some RFC style seatbelts, wiring for instruments, some spare Lewis drums in the cockpit, a gaspatch Lewis gun, some external details here and there, strengthened the tailplane by replacing the elevator shaft with brass tube, and replaced the kit wheels (which are way too small) with Eduard after-market RFC-style wheels. The markings came from the spares box. The kit was painted in the markings of A.175 of No 60 SQN, Royal Flying Corps. This was the machine in which the first Commanding Officer of 60 SQN, Major Francis “Ferdy” Waldron, was shot down and mortally wounded on 03 July 1916. The encounter is described thus in Alex Revell’s Osprey Book on 60 SQN RFC: “On the morning of 3 July, ‘Ferdy’ Waldron led 5 bullets in a patrol to decoy attention away from NE 2cs attacking St Quentin. Lts J H Simpson and D V Armstrong fell out with engine trouble, but Waldron, Lt H H Balfour and Capt R R Smith-Barry flew on, above the Arras to Cambrai road. Approaching Cambrai, a formation of enemy two seaters, led by a Fokker E Type was seen, followed by two additional Fokker monoplanes, bringing the number of enemy machines to around a dozen. Undeterred by these odds, Waldron immediately led Balfour and Smith-Barry in an attack. Harrold Balfour later wrote: ‘I’m sure they were not contemplating war at all but Ferdy pointed us towards them and led us straight in. My next impressions were rather mixed. I seemed to be surrounded by Huns in two-seaters’. Waldron was outmanoeuvred and attacked by a two seater, flown by Uffz Howe of FA5b. Balfour saw that his CO was in trouble and succeeded in driving off the enemy, but the damage was done. Waldron had been badly wounded, and although he managed to crash land his damaged Morane behind enemy line, he died of his wounds that night”. Indeed a brave chap, who suffered the same fate as many who courageously faced enormous odds in combat above the front lines. Anyways, here are some pictures: All in all, not my best build but certainly good to finally get a run on the board for 2021. All feedback welcomed as always! Cheers, Brad

Fellow members of my local IPMS have built many, many Wingnut kits and if you can't beat 'em, join 'em as they say. Having procrastinated too long I was fortunate to pick up one of the sell-off boxes from MBK in Germany. I chose the boxart version as the instructions suggested it had the bombs for ground attack, however I've also shown the cable pulleys the instructions show as painted over for this aircraft. Hey, it's my model. Paint is Tamiya, mostly as directed by WNW though I didn't like the various PC10 options they give so I modified proportions from one of their Olive Drab and Desert Yellow mixes to taste. I can't swear what it was now as I foolishly didn't write it down so my beautifully subtle variations at the ribs as been lost somewhat under the touch up coats after rigging. The kit was generally very easy to build, though not quite the perfection the WNW hagiography would lead one to believe. The decals were very, very thick; the cockpit coamings had duplicated part numbers in the instructions (guess how I discovered that!) and the worst problem was that the lower wings which should have a straight dihedral have a slight curve were their sprue was packed too tightly in the box - maybe that was a QC problem as the wheels came off at WNW? Other problems were mostly of my own making, either not thinking ahead sufficiently or finding that the greater length of 1/32 struts make the model much less robust than a 1/72 biplane. Rigging was put off for a good while, but in the end it was reasonably straight forward if time consuming. I just followed through logically from the fuselage outwards, and not doing too many lines in one session. Materials used were elastic "Prym" knitting-in thread from the local haberdashery shop fixed in place with Poundland superglue. There is probably enough elastic left for another 100 aircraft, and the reel was only £2 or so! I tried using a Sharpie, both black and silver on some line as an experiment but gave it up as too much of a palaver. In real life the "Prym" gives a certain shiny air sufficient to look like metal lines, and is more subtle appearing than in these photos. I hope you like these pictures and would encourage all of you with Wingnuts in your stashes waiting until your skills improve to just have a go. There was nothing difficult or impossible about the build if you just take it steadily. Despite the slight error noted above, the instructions are excellent and clear as to how to proceed. It has been a fun route to building detailed biplanes, I have several in the stash but at smaller scales. Would I build another large WW1? Well, not a WNW unless supplies resume or prices moderate, but there are other 1/32 makers back in the picture now so maybe one day... Cheers Will

Hallo again This is my DH2 from Roden in 1/32. Here is the rigging a particular thing. I designed the strut support plates, on CAD. In cooperation with Cooperstate Models, they produced these parts. I did this design work voluntarily. It was the idea, to create for all WW1 model a/c these strut support plates. To achieve easier rigging. Moreover, to prevent drilling the wing. On the same way, I did the Be2c in 1/48 and the DH2 in 1/48. However, in the state of assembling the DH2 the troubles did not show up. The strut support plates I glued with CA on the wing. As I need them, for the static rigging. The gluing of struts I did with CA, because of the pin diameter & hole diameter from the Roden kit. In this case, the DH2 I got along because I did all gluing with CA. Well, I have to mention, that the assembly was very difficult. Today I improved the etched parts. I build the Be12 in 1/48, but here I failed. I glued the etched parts with CA and the struts with Tamiya glue. I did not get along. The gluing process is the problem. As a verdict: As long as you only use CA, it is ok. However, here I see the problem for bigger scales. With CA, there is no chance for drying alignment or a dry fit since you need bigger holes and the struts may not be in place for more than a second. I have no solution yet for gluing the struts with Tamiya glue; so I gave up. Maybe some days I have an idea, but not yet. Happy modelling

Who needs a kit? Not me... When the local paper ran a story in 2013 about the first plane to land in my local area I thought I'd build a model. The plane was the BE4 and the two RFC occupants landed near a local pub just over a mile from my home due to "engine problems". As it landed in a field next to the pub one wonders. The pub and the field are still there but the BE4 took two later occupants to Glory when the rudder snapped off, an early example of metal fatigue, and well before many more planes and men took a similar route over Flanders fields. Anyway, here's the model, which I built in a couple of weeks to enter in the local group's annual competition. It didn't place but both model and I got our photos and a story in the local paper. The model is built from balsa and brass wire, the prop was carved from a coffee stirrer! Cheers Will

Hi all, i am searching for good and well printed roundels and markings for RFC birds, like the Camel and especially the S.E.5.A, any ideas ? Best Regards Bernd