My Great War Aeroplane Collection
Last edited Sun Jul 18, 2021, 12:30 PM - Edit history (3)
These have been packed away for moving and, as they are quite fragile, I will be surprised if all make it intact. So I thought I would memorialize them here. They are a mix of scratch-builds, kits re-worked extensively, and kits more or less assembled straight. All are in 1/72 scale (six feet to the inch). Several of these represent machines whose individual histories some might find particularly interesting, and for those I am including links to full accounts posted up on a modeling site I frequent.
First the scratch-builds:
This is the prototype Morane-Saulnier Type N militaire, flown in the summer of 1915 by Sgt. Gilbert. He had been a racing pilot for the firm before the war, and when his former team-mate, Roland Garros, was brought down behind German lines in April, he prevailed on the company to give him this armed machine, which he dubbed The Avenger. It is the first scratch-build I completed. I have since seen a photograph from which the serial number was not censored, but at the time I took that absence at face value, since the machine was company property when Gilbert received it.
This is an F.E. 8 of No. 40 Sqdn, Royal Flying Corps, in August of 1916 at the Somme. Odd as this appears, at the time it was designed, machines of this configuration were quite effective fighting aeroplanes. Production of this one was delayed by a good half a year owing to inexperience of the contractors, so it arrived at the front barely weeks before far superior fighting machines came into German service.
This is a Caudron G.III of Escadrille C.11 at the Marne in September, 1914. This machine became the standard French type for artillery spotting during most of 1915, and then began long service a trainer. It was sturdy and easy to fly, by all accounts. I won prize money in a contest with this one.
This is the Morane-Saulnier Type L 'Parasol' flown by Georges Guynemer in July, 1915, in an air fight with a German Aviatik which his mechanic, Charles Guerder, shot down behind the French lines. Guynemer went on to become an extraordinarily successful fighting pilot, and a popular hero of legendary proportion in France. He did not return from a sortie in mid-September, 1917.
This is a Breguet U.1 'affine' of Escadrille BR17, on the Alsace front in September, 1914. It was flown by Sgt. France Vaurin, who was awarded the medal militaire for undertaking 'numerous hazardous flights' in the machine. It was a wretched thing to fly, and just about any time it went aloft ought to have counted as hazardous. It was quite difficult to make, and is the one which left me thinking I could manage just about anything....
This is a Maurice Farman M.F. 11, of Escadrille MF62 at the battle of the Artois in September 1915. This type was in service when the war began, and became the standard French reconnaissance machine throughout 1915. This one is carrying MF62's 120cm focal length camera, used for getting a closer look at things deemed of particular interest from routine photos or reports.
This is a Martinsyde G.100 Elephant operating at Baku in September, 1918, as part of 'Dunsterforce' against Enver Pasha's Army of Islam. It is quite the ripping yarn, and more information can be found here by anyone interested:
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235096415-martinsyde-g100-elephant-with-dunsterforce-at-baku-september-1918/
This is a Caudron G.VI of Escadrille C575, at Port Said, Egypt, in autumn of 1918. Known as "l'Escadrille de Palestine", C575 retained the Caudrons after the war, based in Lebanon. A family resemblance with the G.III above may be detected, as this is in effect a twin-engine G.IV with a fuselage rather than bare longerons. The camouflage pattern is largely conjectural, but this machine was painted in the 5-colour scheme. Wife did the escadrille markings.
This is the Breguet A.G. 4 (the is used advisedly, there was only one at the time) donated to the camp retranché de Paris late in August, 1914. In early September, with its designer M. Breguet at the controls, and Lt. Watteau as observer, this machine was flown on a sortie whose significance was little short of that of Enola Gay over Hiroshima. They brought a report in the position of German armies approaching Paris which led to the Battle of the Marne, which resulted in the war being no mere summer campaign but years of grueling death and destruction.
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234929495-breguet-ag-4-september-1914-paris-scratch-build-in-172/
This is a Vickers 'Bullet' FB.19 mkII flown by 14 Squadron RFC at Gaza in Palestine during the summer of 1917. It is an odd case, for it was an excellent flying machine, but a very poor fighting aeroplane. An earlier version was ordered by Czarist Russia in quantity, and had one photograph been a bit clearer, I might have chosen for a subject one which survived into the Soviet air service, and was part of the liquidation of the Kronstadt Rising against Lenin's government.
This is a Short 827, with floats removed and wheels fitted. It was flown frequently by Flight Sub-Lieutenant Dunn of the Royal Naval Air Service. It was part of a small detachment operated by the R.N.A.S. 'up the Tigris' in autumn of 1915, in support of Gen. Townsend's 'Force D' at Kut al' Amara. This campaign by the Indian Army in Mesopotamia became one of the great disasters of English arms. More can be found by any interested here:
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234964852-short-827-converted-rnas-mesopoptamia-1915-scratch-build-in-172/&tab=comments#comment-1694895
This is a Martinsyde S.1 'Scout' flown by Major H. L. Reilly of the 82nd Punjabis, in support of Gen. Townsend's 'Force D' advancing up the Tigris in the summer of 1915. It would not be stretching things much to say that a single Turkish bullet striking this aeroplane led directly to the ghastly siege of Kut al' Amara, and the surrender and captivity of the survivors of Gen. Townsend's 'Force D'. It is, again, something of a ripping yarn, and any interested may find more here:
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234970973-martinsyde-s1-scout-30-sqd-rfc-kut-al-amara-mesopotamia-autumn-1915/&tab=comments#comment-1796290
This an Henri Farman H.F. 27 'Steel Farman' operated during June, 1915 by the South African Air Corps in the German Southwest Africa campaign. This was an operation in extremely harsh conditions, which began in a welter of half-measures, defeat for, and rebellion within, the South African military forces. I knew little of the matter when I set out to build this model (in fact, I meant to do one operated in India on the Northwest Frontier in 1917), but it proved a fascinating tale. More can be found by any interested here:
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234992274-henri-farman-hf-27-south-african-air-corps-june-1915-scratch-built-in-172/
These are models from kits which have been re-worked a good deal, either to produce a different type, or to correct various errors in the kit itself.
This is a Nieuport N.27 of Escadrille N87, flown by Lt. Descours, early in 1918. It was made from an Eduard N.17 kit, by 'fleshing out' the sides of the fuselage to the rounded section of later Nieuport sesquiplane types, along with small alterations to the upper wing. Unit marking is hand-done using reverse masking on white plastic (this is before home decal printing, too). M. Descours, I learned later, had quite a career as a pioneering flier in Indo-China after the war.
This is a Fokker AII (military version of the M.5 with long-span wings), in summer of 1915 on the Russian front, where they were employed mostly for liaison and scouting. It is a conversion employing two Eduard E.III kits.
This is an R.E. 8 of No. 5 Fighting School at Abu Suier, a major RAF base in Egypt, in mid-1919. It is the result of major surgery on an Airfix R.E. 8 kit.
This is a Nieuport N.17bis at No. 11 Training Depot, Old Sarum, in the spring of 1918. It is a blend of an Eduard N.17 kit's wings, and a Roden N.24 fuselage. It is a commonplace among aviation devotees that all later developments can be found pre-figured in the Great War --- this one shows that procurement boondoggles can be pre-figured there along with all the rest:
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234992831-nieuport-17bis-11-training-depot-old-sarum-spring-1918-in-172/
This is Vickers Vimy Trainer refitted with Jaguar radial motors, still in use as a school machine with No. 4 F.T.S. at Abu Sueir during 1930. It is made from an old Frog kit, reissued by Maquette, which needs a great deal of work to make a service Vimy, let alone a school machine, as the kit was intended to represent the extensively modified trans-Atlantic machine of Alcook and Brown (which it does pretty well, actually). The motors are pirated from a pair of Matchbox Sisken kits, and given quite literally a few hundred small plastic tweaks to get them looking all Sir Garnet in their uncowled state.
These are more or less straight kit builds. All are Great War types, though not necessarily Great War subjects.
This is an Albatros D.III flown by Lt. Strahle of Jasta 18 in March, 1917. It is a Roden kit, which was a little rough at the rear of the cockpit.
Nieuport 17 of No. 60 Squadron Royal Flying Corps, December, 1916, flown by Lt. Meintjes, built from an Eduard kit. It was involved in an incident which might be comic except that several people were killed in it. Six Nieuports of 60 Sqdn attacked a German observation machine, and managed to wound its officer observer in the foot. He ordered his pilot to land, which the private did. The Nieuports came down to land nearby. There was snow on the ground, and they did not see they were coming down on plowed fields. Four were damaged badly. A number of Canadian soldiers gathered to watch the novel incident. The German pilot had gotten his officer out of his aeroplane. He seems to have forgotten several bombs were aboard, and when he tried to start the machine on fire, these exploded, killing him and several infantrymen.
Albatros D.V of Jasta 4, July, 1917, flown by Sgt. Clausnitzer. He came over low to shoot up an observation balloon, was caught by a flight from 19 Sqdn RFC, who shot up his motor. RFC pilots rescued him from rough handling by artillerymen who got to the intact machine and pilot first. It is built from an Eduard kit.
This a Bristol F2b, operated by No. 2 Squadron RAF in Ireland during the Troubles. It crashed onto rooftops in Barrack St., Waterford Town, in 1920, at the junction of Mr. Aspell's Public House, and the home of a widow, Mrs. McSweeny. It is a Roden kit.
This is a Fokker D.VII operated by the Marines at Brown Field, Quantico, during 1922. It is a Roden kit.
This is Nieuport Scout of 60 Sqdn, RFC, in early April, 1917, built from an Eduard kit. The project turned into a sort of memorial in my mind for its pilot, Lt. C. S. Hall, who was killed at the age of eighteen. For any interested, more can be found here:
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234938700-nieuport-scout-60-sqdn-april-1917-lt-c-s-hall/
Meant as a Sopwith Camel in U.S.N. service at Guantanamo NAS, 1922, but I botched the center-section cut-outs, leaving them standard, which they were not. This machine was intended to be flown off a platform erected over the guns of a battleship turret, and then to land in the water once its mission was complete. The projections of the undercarriage were a hydrovane to keep the aeroplane from nosing over on contact with the water, and likely drowning the pilot, and it was fitted with floatation bags under the wings. It is from a Roden kit.
This is a KO-3 training aeroplane of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in 1920. It is essentially an N.24 school machine built under license with an 80 hp motor. The same machine, with a 120 hp motor, became front line equipment for the IJAAF during the early twenties. It is built from a Roden kit.
Here is a recent model I forgot in compiling this.
It is a Junkers D.I. from a Roden kit. The type is remarkable for being of all-metal construction. This example was used by a Freikorps unit in Latvia during 1919. The background on this one is well worth a look:
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235078222-junkers-d1-kampfgeschwader-sachsenberg-latvia-1919/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Thank you for sharing these.
These are A.G.O. (Aerwerke Gustav Otto) C-type designs, employed in 1916 by Bavarian units. The English called them 'two tails' and believed them to be twin-engine, thinking a tractor motor was at the front of each boom, and missing the propulsion engine at the rear of the nacelle. They weren't common, looks were fleeting, the Germans used hardly any pusher types, so it's easy to understand the error. the tail booms were made of plywood verneer, wrapped round a core and glued --- they were quite solid,
The Farman and other 'pusher' (propulsion) designs with a motor in the nacelle rear need some arrangement to provide stabilizing and control surfaces at the rear. Their longerons (the supporting booms) usually converged either in plan or in profile. Drag was tremendous, but in the early days of air fighting, having the biggest weight right about at the center of gravity could make these surprisingly nimble. The Germans called these 'lattice tails'.
It's also a chronicle of history. Wish I could show these to my Dad. Thank you so much for sharing them with us! 
Wish my Dad could see them, he would have been very interested, but he didn't have the patience himself. And it also requires a thorough knowledge of history, these deserve to be displayed somewhere special, just hope that they survive their relocation.
being packed up to send to a museum or such where they may be further curated and appreciated.
Such splendid and loving work!
airplane music
The Antoinette monoplane in it is a beautiful thing....
Out of this world fabulous
Here is mine:
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It is a machine of 609 Squadron, circa September, 1940, flown mostly by a pilot with the unlikely name of Noël le Chevalier Agazarian.
You might find the background worth reading: he touched on quite a few interesting patches, including one of the great betrayals of the French Resistance.
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235077256-spitfire-mkia-609-squadron-september-1940/
Here's what the 'kit' for the Short 827 looked like:
I will on occasion pirate bits from the spares box, armament or propellers or wheels, sometimes an engine, that sort of thing.
Here's a link to the construction of the Short 827, for some idea of the process.
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234961961-short-827-converted-rnas-mesopoptamia-1915-scratch-build-in-172/
I have always been most interested in the earlier period, but I do many types from the twenties and thirties, and some from the Second World War. This is the last one I have finished, a Curtiss 'Mohawk IV' in Burma:
