Esci 1/72 Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5A

ESCI 1:72 ROYAL AIRCRAFT FACTORY SE.5A

Reviewer: Richard Stracey (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 13 March 2003 (#64)

Kit Details:

Royal Aircraft Factory SE5A; ESCI #9016 1/72

Aircraft History:

The SE5/5a was the first of many designs by HP Foland before he left the Royal Aircraft Factory. Although designed around the Hispano Suiza V8 engine, supplies caused delays. Wolseley modified the 200 hp Hisano engine and called it the Viper (there was also a Python and Adder) that became the standard fit for the SE5a. Early on there were some wing failures resulting in modifications and a weak undercarriage that was also improved and strengthened. The 5a was used by nearly all the allied aces and was probably the best fighter of WW1 however it didn’t stay in front line service with the RAF much after the end of the war but was used by many air forces around the world for quite a while.

The Kit:

This ESCI kit first saw the light of day in the mid ‘70’s and consists of twenty parts with no pilot or stand. The decals are for one machine and the instructions clear and adequate. The surface detail is very nice and the parts match the plans perfectly.

Construction Notes:

Two very obvious areas for improvement can be seen immediately. The first is to replace the Tonka Toy wheels and the second is to do something about the cockpit. I replace the wheels with a pair from my spares box, carved away the cockpit “box” and found a suitable dashboard. The Aeroclub WW1 seat (VO54) proved to be too wide for this kit (although it fitted the Revell one) Again I resorted to my spares box. Little can be said of the construction as it proved simple and a very good fit. Even the strut and bar system worked well. As usual I painted the model before adding the top wing onto which I had glued all the struts. It was then a simple matter of gluing the main struts into their lower wing slot and once set, gluing the carbine struts into place on the fuselage. As with the Revell kit, I added a pitot tube and Aldis gun sight. I really feel that a biplane looks bare without rigging so used hemming nylon for the tail and aileron runs and fuse wire for the wing rigging.

Finishing:

All European based SE5a’s were painted in the standard PC10 (Humbrol 108 / Tamiya XF51 Khaki Drab). The under surfaces of the flying surfaces were clear doped linen (Humbrol 74 or 71) although I prefer radome tan or off white with powdered brown chalk brushed on, the excess blown off and the remainder rubbed into the (dry) surface with a soft cloth. This, I feel, gives a more natural, uneven, fabric look. Anyway, I prefer it.

Decals:

The decals by Cartograf are very nicely printed and in register but proved to be very stiff and even with decal softener, would not settle down. They are for a Wolseley built machine F943 from 92 Sqn. Sometime between March and August 1918.

I decorated the kit with Blue Rider’s decal sheet BR211 for a USAAS aircraft F8040 of 25 Aero Sqn. Piloted by Lt. Raymond Watts based at Toul, France in 1918. The rudder stripes proved to be too wide but as Blue Rider supply an extra patch of blue and red, it was no problem. They supply a white 45 deg. Band for the top left wing and a white number eleven for the right. They are repeated in black with the instructions “ numerals and flash appear in this position on lower wing but in black”. What do they mean? If on the top surface, they will hardly be noticed especially against PC10. Sounds more logical that they would be more visible on the light linen under surface. So far I can find no reference showing them. Blue Rider produce quite a few decals for SE5a’s as shown in their web site or in Insignia Magazine.

Reference:

Profile #1 covers the SE5a, Scale Models of January ’74 has plans and Scale Aircraft Modelling of June ’98 has ten pages of script and photos. The script, although interesting, is of little use in assisting the modeller and the six pages of colour side views of limited value as they don’t show top views and, in some cases, are not very accurate. If you really want a useful article have a look at Flying Scale Models of November ’02.

Conclusion:

In my review of the Revell SE5a I said that the Revell kit was the best. Now I am not so sure. Let’s call it a tie! The Revell kit has a better Foster mount and Lewis gun but both need work in the cockpit and replacement wheels. The ESCI kit does depict the “D” shaped fume extractor under the nose near the wing leading edge that Revell ignore. Really, this is a very simple kit for anyone to turn into an acceptable model with only a little extra work.

RHS/64

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