World War One Whifs

[Old Wombat]

Nice!

3rd image seems to be a fairly typical aircraft pose on the airfields in France during the 1915-1918 era.

[zenrat]

Nice.

[NARSES2]

I do like that 

Particularly admire the strutwork.

[PR19_Kit]

That looks very smart indeed! 

I love those huge crosses, no doubt about whose side it's on. 

[stevehed]

Thank You Gentlemen. Considering the change of horses in mid race I'm quite happy how it turned out.

Regards, Steve

[stevehed]

It had to happen and work has been closed down. Most of us have been furloughed which sounds painful but is quite bearable when you have a large stash to choose from. Two vac form projects that had been shelved for many months have been resurrected and I'm busy applying lozenge to an Eastern Express Pfalz DXII, a kit I haven't built before. Whifland hasn't been forgotten and a handful of neglected bits and pieces have been assembled. There is an old SE5a fuselage that has previously donated part of the nose section, the upper wing remains but where the lower went I can't remember and the elevators, a Fokker Triplane middle wing, a rotary engine cowling, BE2 fin and Curtiss Jenny undercarriage. Haven't got a backstory or an engine yet but while paint and glue dries this will be tackled.


Regards, Steve

[stevehed]

Made a start by adding part of the remaining nose section to the fuselage. Ended up removing the radiator plus a tenth of an inch. The lower wing cut out is much larger than the triplane centre section so card and filler were required to close the gap. Started to paint things as we go along and am using Hu121 as CDL and HU11 as metal. As I'm quite content at the moment to be furloughed with a stash of models I've decided that my penance is to use as many of those vac-form bits and pieces that are only used in desperation. Usually these are engines, manifolds and various struts and undercarriage legs. I draw the line at the latter but the rotary engine has been extracted from the card and assembled after a lengthy filing session. The cowling has proved usable and I'm going to use some vac form wheels from another kit.

[stevehed]

The Back Story.

The Russian Revolution of February 1917 provoked a desperate attempt by the Western Powers to convince the new Russian government to continue the war against the Central Powers. The Russians required massive quantities of material to replace their losses and the British and French sent Military Missions to access the measures required. As far as aviation was concerned the British mission contained representatives from private companies such as De Havilland(Airco) and Vickers as well as the government sponsored Royal Aircraft Establishment. Airco agreed to the DUX company building the DH4 under licence and Vickers sold bombers and FB19 fighters to the Imperial Air Service. The RAE had its hands full with getting the SE5 into operational service but sent examples of the FE2b and Be2e to Russia. The pusher Fee was rejected as no better then the Farman pushers already in service but the BE2e was intended as a trainer and well regarded although only a small quantity were received. Until recently it was not known that the RAE offered the Russians another aircraft. It was a rotary engine fighter known within the RAE as the SE4b. It had been developed at the end of 1916 when it became clear that the Hispano engines intended for the new SE5 fighter could not be delivered on time. Several of the earlier rotary engine SE4a aircraft had served as Home Defence fighters and the experience gained suggested potential improvements to the basic design. These were shelved when the Hispano engine became available but the shortages envisaged suggested an interim design may be welcome as a temporary stopgap. The main change was the reduction in chord of the lower wing which made the aircraft a sesquiplane similar to the Nieuport fighters which were regarded as the best Entente fighters at the time. This change reduced the weight and the engine was upgraded from 80hp to a 110hp Le Rhone. Armament could be a synchronized Vickers or an  overwing mg, or both, but the latter affected performance. Six aircraft are known to have reached Russia but events prevented any participation on the Eastern Front. The SE4b's were delivered without engines and it was not until September that an example was uncrated and test flown with an 80hp engine. It handled well but was regarded as less than adequate for front line use and was returned to storage as the Imperial war machine collapsed under the combined pressure of Bolshevik agitation and the Central Powers offensives. The Se4b's were part of a rescue mission that saw quantities of war material dispatched to the rear areas before the enemy forces could claim it as spoils of war. Still crated they ended up at Moscow and were finally inspected during the autumn of 1918. Along with the Spad Triplane the SE4b was flown with an 80hp rotary engine and pronounced fit for training duties. However, it was obvious to the experienced test pilots that a more powerful engine was needed and eventually a 120hp Le Rhone was fitted at the end of the year. Suffice to say that the SE4b's, along with the Spad triplanes, were sent to oppose the White Russian advance  in the Spring of 1919. Records are scarce and all Russian sesquiplanes were reported as Nieuports. Aten might have seen a Nieuport with a funny tail but he was writing for the pulp fiction market so you pays your dollar and makes your choice.

I tried to use a vac form propeller mould. I'd usually find a spare or even scratch one although it's not my favourite task. But this time I decided to cut the prop part along the top side length with a razor saw instead of the normal method and subsequent filing to size. It wasn't a bad piece and only needed a little filler on the back of the blades. However, I haven't finished it because it proved to be too long. Rather than discard it's in the spares for later and I found a white metal piece that fits. The wheels look ok from the front. All I do is shape some card and fit into the back. Then the edges are shaped to match the tyres. These I'm going to use.






May I present a Bolshevik SE4bis. As bis when affixed to type numbers meant improved the 4b became the 4bis when it was re-engined with the more powerful Le Rhone. The markings are Blue Rider and from the Russian Civil War series. As the Imperial colours were red, white and blue French and British imports were frequently flow with the original roundels. When such aircraft were taken over by the Bolsheviks often a red star over the roundel sufficed to show change of ownership. The over wing mg is an American Colt with a large barrel magazine. This held the belted ammunition which gave increased firing time compared to the drum fed Lewis. The rudder was shaped from an Airfix DH4 part. All in all an exercise in fantasy that has used a multitude of parts that were destined for the waste bin.






Regards, Steve

[NARSES2]

I like that sir 

[PR19_Kit]

I just don't knowhow you manage that, I'd be a basket case after 30 mins I reckon. 

[stevehed]

Thanks Guys. I think I'm just tight and hate to see things go to waste.

[DogfighterZen]

I have to stop by this thread more often... those little birds look great and the stories are very entertaining! Very nice work! 

[stevehed]

Thanks DZ. Hope you like this one. I'm psyching myself up to start a project that will leave me with spare wings from the Emhar Anasal. Thinking cap on while I ratched through the spares and re-discovered a discarded scratch built fuselage. It's got to be forty years old and was my first attempt at scratch building using card. It was supposed to be a Rumpler CIV and the plans came from Scale Models circa mid seventies. While the basic shape was ok it ended up too wide and has remained unwanted for all these years. However, it's not a bad fit for the Anasal wings and I have various bits and pieces from recent projects that I'd prefer to use and not store for years on end. Here's the back story.

In common with most countries during WW1 Russia had several main aircraft producers. From Leningrad were Russian Baltic(RBVZ), Lebedev and Schetinin, the DUX conglomerate were based in Moscow and Anatra were based at Odessa. The war caused the industry to expand and smaller concerns appeared to try and satisfy the insatiable demands from the front. One such company in Russia was Tereshchenko who build a small order for twenty Farman pusher biplanes. An additional twelve unidentified aircraft are listed as constructed before the factory was closed and the equipment transferred to Moscow. Some of these other aircraft were likely to be German aircraft that had forced landed behind the lines. If they were deemed repairable such trophy aircraft were refurbished and allocated to Imperial air units. During 1915 B types from LVG, Albatros and Rumpler are known to have been used by the IRAS and later C types were rehabilitated. Such machines were highly valued and some Russian units were reportedly completely equipped with trophy aircraft. The Russian authorities paid the companies the same price as a new machine it was reported. Reading between the lines it looks as if Tereshchenko may have used the experience of working on German machines to produce an in house design. In August 1916 the company apparently had a meeting with Anatra engineers in Kiev. Tereshchenko needed a more powerful engine than the Russian Mercedes copy from Duflou and Constaninovich which only produced 100hp. Anatra had access to the 155hp Salmson radial but such was the demand none could be spared. But, they did suggest an improvement to the original design which was in effect an intended higher powered copy of the Rumpler B1. Anatras latest design was a two seat reconnaissance machine that was capable of accepting larger engines as they became available. Currently using 100-130hp rotary engines the Salmson would be next followed by the Hispano-Suiza. The secret were the swept back wings and the Anatra engineers suggested a similar modification. To speed matters up several pairs were sent to the Tereshchenko factory. But, while successfully adapted to the Rumpler fuselage, the design was destined to be a basic trainer without additional horsepower. Salvation came from Duflou and Constaninovich when they asked if Tereshchenko would test an improved model of the Mercedes which promised to deliver 160hp. Before the end of the year the bugs had been ironed out of both engine and airframe. It is believed eight aircraft were delivered to the IRAS where they were regarded as trophy aircraft and allocated to units already using such machines. Bolshevik agitation saw production curtailed and the factory was closed and relocated to Moscow.

The first task was to enlarge the cockpits. I have a sanding bit for the hobby drill which soon created a couple of neater looking holes. Next was to make a cut out in the lower fuselage to accept the wing. This allowed access to the cockpit area. The Emhar has a floor part with seats which only took a minute to make fit the fuselage. The rear seat was cut off and repositioned. A hole appeared from under the original seat position which I'm going to utilize as a camera trapdoor. A T shaped bit of sprue will act as the camera and round number tags will suffice as magazines. Not that much will be visible when the observer takes his seat.






When the fuselage was built several bulkheads were incorporated for strength and lining up. It's still quite robust so I thought dismantling would cause too much damage. This mean I couldn't access the engine compartment to install an engine from the front. The only way in is from above so I've used the cylinders from an old Airfix Albatros attached to a slice of 60thou card to reach the floor. Manifold pipes were made from 20thou rod. The exhausts will be made from something similar and I'll see what's in the spares for the stack. The gun ring is laminated 10thou card which was wrapped around a dowel then filed to shape. I usually use copper wire but thought I'd try this method. For the prop I found a couple of separated blades and a retaining washer and I'll see what it looks like. Not the best photos, just trying to show the sprue camera and Emhar innards.

[NARSES2]

This is going to be a very interesting build

[stevehed]

Before I forget the nose section was extended with laminated card which was then cut and filed to shape. I was going to scratch the tail planes from card and base them on the original Rumpler triangular design. But I have several Hannover biplane units spare so went for a modified set up. The fin had to be increased in height with card so that the rudder and fuselage depth matched. The upper tailplane is painted Imperial colours and the roundels are leftovers from an HR Niueport. I've used the Emhar undercarriage and got the rear gun ring in position. The Anatra company used a Germanic looking gun ring so I figured on Tereshchenko getting specialist supplies from an established company and Anatra is next door in Russian terms. The mgs will be Lewis guns though. Top wing next and I've managed to scratch a leading edge radiator. Progress so far.  Regards, Steve