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TopDrawings 89 British Fighter Aircraft S.E.5a


Mike

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TopDrawings 89 British Fighter Aircraft S.E.5a

ISBN: 9788366148765

Kagero Publishing via Casemate UK

 

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The S.E.5 stood for Scout Experimental 5, and was developed at around the same time as the Sopwith Camel, with similar performance, but some minor issues with the Hispano Suiza engine that put a crimp in production initially, with less than a hundred made before the improvements made resulted in the S.E.5a.  It was a fast aircraft, and although it couldn’t turn quite as quickly as some, its stability made it a good platform from which to fire with accurate results from a skilled operator.  It quickly gained favour with pilots and officials alike, and over 5,000 were made once the engine problem was resolved, with many powered by the Wolseley Viper and plenty of Aces achieving their tallies in S.E.5a airframes.  A few US squadrons were also equipped with them by the end of the war, at which point the type was quickly retired from service with only one example of the more streamlined S.E.5b having been made.

 

We have kits in almost every scale from 1:144 upwards, some old, some new with many major and some minor manufacturers getting in on the act, showing that it's still a popular subject over 100 years later.  The TopDrawings series majors on scale plans, which is the main thrust, but also includes a little background information, some pertinent profiles, and separate A4 sheets printed on both sides with drawings of various aspects of the aircraft.

 

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The book is written in English on the left of the page, with Polish on the right, which translates to top and bottom for the captions to the various drawings within.  The book itself is bound in a card cover and has 20 pages, and the rear cover devoted to additional profiles of two S.E.5as in radically different schemes.  After the introduction, the first half of the plans show the S.E.5 then S.E.5a aircraft from every angle in 1:48 with smaller detail drawings in 1:24.  After this are the colour profiles with four pages of profiles wearing some interesting camo schemes, including one captured by the post-Czarist Bolsheiviks in 1920.  After the break are more plans, including a number of minor variants with twin trainer cockpit openings and one with a single seat and a partial canopy over the front of the area.  At the end are profile drawings of civilian variants, then two pages of detail pictures of the real thing.  Throughout the book, there are numerous smaller diagrams that show cross-sections, equipment layout such as the cockpit, armament, engine and prop.

 

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The loose sheets contain three more profiles of various airframes on one side, with the remaining three sides full of drawings that show the internal wooden structure of the wings, fuselage and tail, plus detail of the instrument panel.

 

 

Conclusion

These books are essential for the modeller that enjoys comparing their models against scale plans, and wants them to be as accurate as possible, with the loose pages handy if you wanted to strip away some of the fabric of your model to show the inner workings and wooden structure.

 

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Review sample courtesy of

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