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This is the 1/72 Pegasus DH-5. The kit went together nicely, much like your typical Pegasus kit with some putty here and there and a lot of sanding . . . only I'm doing my "sanding" now with fingernail polish remover on a cotton swab. It represents the last aircraft in the Australia Flying Corps 2 Squadron, A flight. I used the AFC website (http://www.australianflyingcorps.org/mkiii/)to track down the serials, which came off a Microscale railroad sheet. PC-10 is Xtracolor RFC Green. Rigging with ethicon .005 wire.
Kit: Scratch-built (1:48)
Ever since I first watched "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines," I've wanted a model of Pierre's Desmoiselle. I've been collecting information on the subject for decades, taking pictures of models and reproductions in museums, photocopying pages from a book on how they built the aircraft for the movie and collecting images off the internet. This year I was determined to finally build it. The kit is made up of mostly sheet and strip styrene with a few pieces of models purloined over the years and placed in a special spares box. The wing was skinned Woodman-style with the thinnest balsa I could find. It still may be a little thick for the early 20th Century prototype, but pretty close to the movie reproduction. It is not meant to be a direct copy of the original Desmoiselles, but is more of a hybrid of those, the movie reproduction and other modern reproductions I have found.
This is the Pegasus Macchi M.5. This was my first "Grail Hunt" since joining the list. I HAD to have one of these Pegasus kits, so I searched all over the Internet for it. The first of many. You can't tell from the photo, but I tried out the watercolor pencil method of wood grain that I learned about on the list. Take my word for it, it came out nice.
After purchsing the "SE 5 File" from Air Britain, I was inspired to build one of these beauties. As I normally build in 1/72, I looked for a Revell or ESCI kit, but, instead stumbled upon this 1/48 Lindberg kit at a local hobby shop.
I was pleasantly surprised at the fit. It was refreshing compared to some limited-run models that I've been building lately. Besides scatching the interior, I didn't do much else fancy. I did discard the decals (which were meant for a *yellow* airframe!) and found enough bits and pieces to make "S" A8904 of Number One Squadron that is pictured on page 20 of the "SE 5 File."
The PC10 is a custom mix of Ceramcoat "Chocolate," blue and yellow. CDL isCeramcoat "Parchment." Rigging is with .008 guitar string wire.
While building the Lindberg SE 5, I caught "The Bug" that makes me build the same modle in different guises. The Blue Max SE 5a was on sale in the Squadron mailer for under $20, so, I bought it.
This is a real bear of a kit, but the work is worth the effort. It is completely OOB in Elliot White Springs' markings.
Kit: Monogram (1:48)
This is the 1/48 scale Monogram SE 5a. I didn't have to do much to improve it. Even though it's an old mold, the fit was better than some recent releases. The only thing I added were strip styrene and plastic rods to detail the interior. She's rigged with .008 steel wire from Small Parts and painted with Xtracolour RFC Green (using up the last of my last tin of this paint) as well as Humbrol Cream. I used the decals from the SMER kit, as they are more accurate than the ones provided by Monogram.
Kit: SMER (1:48)
This is the 1/48 SMER SE 5a with a Blue Max nose grafted on it. I've read in several places that the SMER kit and Monogram kit are the same. Don't believe it. The SMER kit is blockier and less refined than the Monogram. The parts breakdown is very similar, but there are major differences. It takes a lot more work to get the SMER kit to look right.
One major thing I did was remove the almost toy-like nose and replace it with the SE 5a Hispano nose that I did not use when I built the Blue Max kit. I also used the Blue Max propeller. The interior is detailed with strip styrene and plastic rod. She's painted in my own formula for PC-10, using squirts of Chocolate, Blue and Green from the Ceramcoat line of craft paints. The undersurfaces are painted with Ceramcoat Parchment.
I had originally applied the kit decals for the RFC machine, but an unfortunate incident involving the use of Tamiya Flat Base and Tamiya Clear Gloss resulted in a terminally frosted finish. It took some will power to keep from tossing the model, but eventually I removed all the decals and paint (at the time it was painted Xtraclour RFC Green and Humbrol Cream) with Polly Scale's Easy Lift Off. Then I reapplied the Ceramcoat paints and decals for McCudden's markings from the Roden kit (yes, I have one more SE 5a to add to my collection).
She's rigged with .008 steel wire, Ethicon .005 surgical wire and invisible thread.
Kit: MAC (1:72)
This was an enjoyable little build. Although I had the Bristol Scout D kit, I had some decals in my stash (Americal/Gryffon) for a Bristol Scout wearing Union Jack markings. I also dug up some Pegaus/Blue Max British Serial Number decals to build this ship from photos in the Datafile. She's rigged with .005 surgical steel wire for the bracing and .003 Orvis tippet line for the control cables. I used PollyScale Clear Doped Linen and BTSF Silver from the PollyScale Railroad Colors line.