World War One Whifs

[chrisonord]

Absolutely brilliant 
Chris

[stevehed]

Thanks Folks, appreciated.

[zenrat]

Wow.

The lozenge pattern makes it look like the upper wing is made from lego in a couple of pics, but still wow.

[NARSES2]

floats + lozenge : very impressive !

Add to that Austro-Hungarian markings and I'm even more impressed 

[TheChronicOne]

Whoa!!!!  Far out, man!! I love it.

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Magnificent - especially the lozenge scheme!

[stevehed]

Been absent from Whifland for a while. I had a project almost finished last summer but I literally dropped it. Currently all forlorn but it will be resurrected soon. In the meantime this is my first build in the current ATF Whif GB.

Although the numbers are not known it is believed that Pups were sent to Russia as examples of potential reinforcements to bolster the Tsarist regime. Blue Rider used to have a decal sheet that had markings for a Pup operated by the 1st Aviation Unit of the Red Air Force circa 1918-19. This is my interpretation of another aircraft which may have operated against the White Russian forces in Southern Russia. The build is largely OOB. The differences revolve around the engine and armament. I decided to upgrade the motor from the normal 80hp Le Rhone to a Dux built 120hp version as I'd used the original on another project. The replacement is slightly larger so I left the lower cowling off to create a horseshoe effect. The synchronized Vickers had been removed while the aircraft was in storage so the Pup was re-armed with an over wing Colt mg which was a spare from an Eastern Express Nieuport. The Reds frequently overpainted the previous owner's roundels with stars so I applied the original transfers and then used Blue Rider stars intended for a Sopwith Snipe over them.  Add everything together and we have the Sopwith Super Pup, fighting the Whites in Southern Russia during 1919.

[nighthunter]

The Pup is one of my favorites from this period, excellent work, and love the backstory!

[Wardukw]

Ummmm ..wow is a pretty good start ..WW1 wiffys i never thought of and these are extremely good ..Steve ya do awesome work mate and  the rigging is utterly surpurb too.
Theres a couple WW1 aircraft ive always liked alot..the Spad for one..it just looks fast even tho a helicopter from today would leave it behind  and the Gotha bombers ..Wingnut Wings makes a 32nd Gotha and then i saw the price here in NZ..$379.00. ..one thing   puckered for sure so wont be getting one anytime soon .
Keep em coming mate..im loven these 

[NARSES2]

That's nice  The "horseshoe" cowling is just different enough 

[stevehed]

Thanks, appreciated. I've always preferred 1/72 on practical grounds. Never a super detailer, looks like has been my motto. Plus for display purposes I get much more per shelf and 1/72 gets me more kits per ( whatever currency we have to pay ). The price of the larger scales scares me. Funny Wardukw-NZ mentioned the Spad. I've just finished one which technically qualifies for here.

[Wardukw]

Well Steve mate if the Spad technically qualifies for here then why aint it huh huh huh ?? 
If its anything like your other aircraft its gonna be a beauty 

[stevehed]

Here's a couple of recent builds. They were intended for real world GB's but work got in the way and I ran out of time. As I haven't got any suitable squadron markings I used some spares from an Iranian AF sheet. Exotic motifs were quite prevalent so I thought these were appropriate and also allowed entry to whif land. The Spad XIII is the Revell kit which represents the early version with rounded wingtips. These need reducing and the tips squared to make a later version. The Morane MS29 was a little more complicated. The fuselage was kit bashed from a vac form Bristol M1C Bullet by Airframe with parts from the spares and scratched wings and rudder.






Spad XIII, September 1918, an unidentified escadrille de chasse, on the Western Front.

Designed in 1917 the MS29 was a parasol fighter and could be called the predecessor of similar aircraft produced by the company during the 1920's and 30's. It was powered by the same 160hp Gnome Monosoupape rotary used by the Nieuport 28. Both types served with the Americans with the N28 equipping front line fighter units and the MS used as an advanced trainer. The MS29 entered service with the Aviation Militaire during January 1918. According to the Aerodrome web site it was used by MS157 and 161 escadrilles with two's and three's sent for evaluation to other units. It operated in the Verdun sector. It was apparently well thought of although there are mention of structural defects on some aircraft. As the type was used post war for aerobatic instruction it would seem to suggest the types structural integrity was not an issue. From the end of March the parasol fighters began to be superceded by Spad fighters and this process appears to have been completed by mid May. Reading between the lines it would seem the French had decided that in line engines such as the Hispano Suiza and Renault were a better option than persevering with the rotary engine which had less further design potential. The Gnome was not the easiest engine to master and had reliability issues.

This build started life as an Airframe vac form of the Bristol M1C monoplane. The fuselage looked similar to the Morane and both had horizontal stringers. It was shortened by cutting off the front cowling and a short section at the rear end. The Bristol terminates with a flat end while the Morane has a point. This was provided by a drop tank nose which was wider and produced a step. A combination of filler and filing created the sharp end. The Bristol cockpit was too far forward so I cut the upper decking out and replaced it with a section from a spare from a Sopwith Strutter kit. That was the main structural work. The cowling was a spare from the Eduard Nieuport 17, the Vickers from the Roden Camel trainer, the engine and prop is a white metal Aeroclub kit, one of  a dwindling supply, the wing and rudder are cut from plastic card, the elevators are reshaped parts from the Revell Sopwith Triplane and the undercarriage/wheels came from the HB Starstrutter. The cabanes are Albatros struts cut down as they were the perfect angle for the front legs while the rest of the support work is 20x40 thou Evergreen strip. More looks like than replica but it's a type I've fancied for years and quite pleased to have finally spotted a way to build it. It was to be my entry in the High Wing GB on BM but work got in the way and I ran out of time. This link shows most of the work.
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235101364-morane-saulnier-ai-parasol-172/







Morane Saulnier MS29, of an unidentified escadrille, circa March 1918.

[NARSES2]

Very nice, particularly like the MS.29 

[Wardukw]

A Spad  looks very very nice matey 
Might be time for me to hunt one down..hopefully someone does one in 48th.