by George Grasse

COPPER STATE 1:48 SCALE INJECTION KIT CS1027 OF THE CAUDRON G.4

COPPER STATE CS1027 BOX ART

CAUDRON G.4 THREE-VIEW DRAWING

This 3-view drawing is credited to J. D. Carrick or F. Yeoman and appeared in Reconnaissance & Bomber Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War compiled by W. M. Lamberton and published by Harleyford Publications Limited.    Consult also French Aircraft of the First World War by Dr. James J. Davilla and Arthur M. Soltan.

THE MODEL TO BE BUILT

The model to be built is Caudron G.4 No. C.1596 of Escadrille C.66.  Image credit is French Aviation in the First World War, p. 49.

 

Escadrille C.66 Insignia to early 1916

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 1

FUSELAGE BEGINNINGS: The short fuselage cockpit details were built according to the colorful instructions supplied in the kit.   A few more will be added in the next step after the fuselage halves and cockpit interior group have been glued.  The fuselage top (right, middle) is one of these parts to be added.  I used Vallejo VC0856 Ochre Brown for the wood interior and highlighted with a thin wash of Vallejo VC0872 Chocolate Brown.  Metal parts were painted with Andrea ANC024 Union Blue except the decking of the fuselage which was finished in Vallejo VC0864 Natural Steel (it appears darker - dark gray - in this photo).

 

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 2

FUSELAGE AND ENGINE NACELLES, PART 1: The fit of the fuselage halves with the inserted cockpit floor was tight and required rubber bands over night for a secure fit.  There is a small plastic forward floorboard that is slotted for the gunner's downward view and this had to be fitted in place next.  The fuselage top deck was then glued in place with a nice tight fit.  The pilot's rear seat was dropped in place and glued, also a nice tight fit.  There were a few PE parts now added, topside and underneath. The engine nacelles are assembled by first gluing the struts in place followed by joining the upper and lower nacelle halves together.  There are several PE panels: top, front, and both sides.  The cross bracing and half dome exhaust ports were added last.

 

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 3

FUSELAGE AND ENGINE NACELLES, PART 2: The nacelles have been painted in two colors.  The lighter color represents 'French Yellow Beige' which is a particular shade of doped linen in which a tincture of yellow is added and is referred to as 'Acelos'.  The lacquer finish also contributes to the shade which is often interpreted as lighter or darker.  The area just behind the cowlings is aluminum sheet metal and a special shade of metallic paint referred to as 'Ripolen' is used a protective coating and is shaded to come close to the 'Acelos' doped linen shade but is usually a bit darker and browner.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 4a and 4b

LOWER WING ATTACHMENT: The top photo shows the addition of the PE aluminum sheet metal panels applied to the wing surface to protect the linen from engine heat.  The next photo shows the addition of the fuselage nacelle and a couple of PE panels.  The kit comes with scores of PE turnbuckle fittings which I gave up on.  Instead, I opted to pre-drill rigging holes through the lower wing so that that rigging lines will pass through, be weighted, glued, and then trimmed.  When all of the rigging lines are installed much later, the rough spot on the underside will be puttied and sanded. I'm not sure why much of the PE stuff had to be done this way.  It would have been easier to have incorporated the panels, for example, into the plastic casting.  This is my only complaint about Copper State is the excessively use of PE parts.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 5

ENGINE NACELLES: The two engine nacelles were each completed as "mini" models, painted, and (not visible here) had the outside red/white checkered decals applied.  The engine nacelles were simply placed in position and not glued in this photo.  Note the dangerously close proximity of the two propellers to the front of the fuselage nacelle.  The forward observer/gunner had to be extremely careful not to lose a hand, arm, or even head! Note that the engine cowlings are painted the darker shade of beige specially mixed for application to metal surfaces that need to be matched to the lighter beige of the fabric dope.  I mixed these shades specially for this aircraft also with the idea of doing a future Spad 7 during this "yellow" period.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 6

RIGGING: This photo compares the wingspans of the Caudron G.4 (top wing) compared to the Spad 7 in 1:48 scale.  All of the rigging holes were drilled out because I chose to leave off all of the PE rigging fixtures.  Each hole was filled with super glue and a short piece of .005 MFT was inserted.  When the top wing is glued to the wing struts, the rigging lines will be pulled through pre-drilled holes in the lower wing and glue taut using weights.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 7

TOP WING ATTACHED: Not much trouble attaching the top wing to the struts.  I started from the inside and worked out, alternating from one side to another.  Note the 'nightmare' rigging lines.  One potential problem of many in attaching the rigging lines are the narrow spaces between the wings.  Note the underside of the top wing was painted in two coats of Vallejo Mix French Light Beige (see Color Table below, note 1).  Decals were applied and the underside was sprayed in two coats of clear satin finish.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 8

WING RIGGING PART 1: All of the wing rigging shown in this photo was actually completed before the tail unit and landing gear struts were attached and that will be explained in the next panel (No. 9).  I started rigging with the simple rigging lines between struts.  Each line was passed through the lower wing, clipped with a weight, and super glued.  Certain rigging lines in the way were pulled away and taped to the top wing.  The long outer struts were then glued in place.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 9

TAIL UNIT AND LANDING GEAR: This step was of some concern to me because of the apparent weakness of the structure rendered in plastic.  Although the instructions were quite clear, the actual assembly was difficult and more so because most of the parts involved seemed to be "dangling" as they were glued in place.  The complete assembly of the tail boom, tail unit, and complex landing gear was somewhat difficult until enough parts made all three sub-assemblies mutually strong.  Note that the tail boom is well secured to the top wing but, until the landing gear is completed, it "dangles".  It was a delicate step-by-step process.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 10

FURTHER NOTES IN THIS VIEW:  The rear of the tail boom has "legs" which I did not cut off until the landing gear, tail boom, and tail unit were all unified.  The actual "tail skid" is at the bottom of the tail boom and can be seen under the first tail boom strut right behind the landing gear wheels.  The model comfortably rests on it but is not shown in the photo.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 11

WORKING THE TAIL UNIT:  The tail unit was first painted in two coats of my Vallejo French Light Beige mix.  I next applied the serial and weight data decals to inside of the outer rudders.  I hand painted the French rudder stripes.  The topside of the top wing was painted in one coat of Vallejo French Light Beige mix (to be finished later).

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 12

STARTING TO TAKE SHAPE:  The tail unit is complete and a few more rigging lines were added but there are still many more to be added.  After that, the struts will have to have their bindings painted (something I should have done ahead of time).

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 13

FINISHED PHOTO - LEFT SIDE VIEW:  This photo and all of the following photos show the finished model.  All of the struts have been painted to show the bindings now painted in blue.  All of the rigging wires were also painted in blue.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 14

FINISHED PHOTO - RIGHT SIDE VIEW:  Most of the post-assembly detail work was touch-up paint to the struts where rigging was attached.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 15

FINISHED PHOTO - LEFT FRONT VIEW:  Noticeable additions are the wing-mounted wireless generator, the front cockpit Lewis machine gun rail with the gun somewhat sideways, and the wireless antenna tunnel projecting beneath the front cockpit (roughly parallel with left propeller),

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 16

FINISHED PHOTO - LEFT FRONT VIEW:  This is a somewhat better view of the Lewis machine gun.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 17

FINISHED PHOTO - LEFT REAR VIEW

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 18

FINISHED PHOTO - RIGHT REAR VIEW

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 19

FINISHED PHOTO - OVERHEAD VIEW

 

COLOR TABLE

   

Vallejo VC0856 Ochre Brown	Interior wood
Vallejo VC0872 Chocolate Brown	Wash
Vallejo VC0864 Natural Steel	Unfinished metal parts
Andrea ANAC24 Union Blue	Metal fittings and small parts
Vallejo Mix French Light Beige 1	All doped linen surfaces (Acelos)
Vallejo Mix French Dark Beige 2	All metal and wood surfaces (Ripolin)
Vallejo VC0856 Ochre Brown	Struts
1 912 Tan Yellow, 3 parts; 917 Beige, 1 part; 837 Pale Sand, 1 part
2 917 Beige, 3 parts; 837 Pale Sand, 1 part

------------------------------  C'EST FINIS ------------------------------

 

Bibliography:

Davilla, James J. Dr. and Arthur M. Soltan.  French Aircraft of the First World War.  Boulder, CO, Flying Machines Press, 2002.

Ferry, Vital.  French Aviation During the First World War.  Paris, France: Histoire & Collections, 2014.

Flanagan, Brian P. Caudron G.IV.  Cross & Cockade (US), Volume 7, No. 2, pages 185-189.

French Escadrille 66 website page - http://albindenis.free.fr/Site_escadrille/escadrille066.htm

Guttman, Jon.  Caudron G.4, Windsock Datafile 96.  Berkhamstead, Hertfordsshire, UK: Albatros Productions, 2002.

Hayez Lt. Colonel (French Air Force Historical Section), translated by H. D. Hastings.  French Escadrilles in World War I.  Cross & Cockade (US), Volume 7, Number 3, pages 205-231.

Lamberton, W. M., Compiler, and E. F. Cheesman, Editor.  Reconnaissance & Bomber Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War.   Los Angeles, CA: Aero Publishers, 1962.