Sopwith F.1 Camel, 148th AS

RODEN RO0419 BOX ART

ROYAL AIRCRAFT FACTORY SE.5a THREE VIEW

This 3-view drawing is credited to J. D. Carrick or F. Yeoman and appeared in Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War compiled by W. M. Lamberton and published by Harleyford Publications Limited. The British-designed Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a was adopted by the U. S. Air Service as the pursuit aircraft for its 25th Aero Squadron in late 1918. The squadron had trouble obtaining aircraft and, except for a couple of fail-safe patrols, never engaged in combat when the war ended.

THE MODEL TO BE BUILT

The model to be built is RAF SE.5a serial F.8038 flown by Lt Aubrey 'Joe' Diamond, 25th Aero Squadron, assigned as an element of the USAS 4th Pursuit Group. The profile shown above was illustrated by Kevin Wornkey and appeared in S.E. 5a in Action, Aircraft Number 69 published by Squadron/Signal Publications. Except for the serial number and white '11', the aircraft shown is virutally identical to Lt. Diamond's white '15'.

25th Aero Squadron Insignia

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 1

The beginning photo shows interior cockpit work. The wood part of the interior is painted in Vallejo 824 Orange Ochre. The fabric portion of the fuselage interior is Vallejo 819 Iraqi Sand lightened with flat white. Other items of the cockpit interior are in various stages of completion, ready to be installed (not all interior parts shown).

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 2

Here's a photo of the cockpit interior after the fuselage halves were jointed.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 3

The fuselage is joined to the bottom wing. At the front end, part of the exhaust and the cowling are cemented in place.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 4

At this stage, the landing gear is built from brass tube and rod worked into the kit's landing gear stabilizer. The plastic extension of the stabilizier is cut off and holes were drilled to accept brass rod for the axle. Also added were the engine covers, gun sight, and horizontal tail unit.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 5

Fuselage decals are emphasized in this step. This decal set is by Moorland Scale Model Decals in the UK. Each decal has to be trimmed close to the image to avoid as much excess 'clear' decal showing up on the finished model.

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Bibliography:

Bruce, J M. RAF SE.5a, Windsock Datafile 10. Berkhamstead, UK: Albatros Productions, 1998.

Conners, John F. S.E.5a in Action, Aircraft Number 69. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1985.

Franks, Norman. SE.5/5a Aces of WWI, Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 78. Osford, UK: Osprey Publishing Limited, 2007.

Kocent-Zielinski, Edward. S.E. 5a. Lublin, Poland: Lublin, Poland: Kagero Publishers.

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

Maurer, Maurer, editor. The U.S. Air Service in World War I, four volumes. U. S. Government Printing Office, 1979.

Weaver, Aaron et al. A Groundcrewman's Perspective (photo essary of the 25th Aero Squadron via the Stephen White album), Over the Front, Volume 17, Issue Number 2, pp.178-184.

Wingnut Wings Instruction Manual, SE.5a, helpful exploded construction diagrams

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