Airfix RE-8

Here is the Airfix 1/72nd scale RE-8. Sources on the Internet seem to disagree on whether the genuine article was any good or not (with a slight majority leaning toward "not") but I happen to like the shape a great deal. Something about that "bent in the middle" shape appeals to me.

Once again, the paint is basically just Tamiya Khaki Drab and Desert Yellow for the wooden bits.

I know that I earlier said I was going to rig the thing, and obviously I didn't. I started to stretch up a bunch of sprue for the task, but then I went inside, laid down for a while, and the fit passed. My defense for this is that the model would benefit from better machine guns (the kit-supplied parts are, in the immortal words of Jeremy Clarkson, "rubbish"), some kind of mesh in the nose radiator opening, and a better interior. The pilot's opening is particularly large and would reveal a detailed cockpit quite nicely... if I'd actually supplied one. (The figures are shocking, by the way. I'm not sure what nationality they are. I'm not sure what era they come from. I'm not even sure what species they are. But I saved them; someday when I built a science fiction diorama they might be useful, what with their third eyes and flat heads).

Revell 1/72nd Nieuport 28

Revell's 1/72nd scale Nieuport 28, as flown by Captain Eddie Van Halen... err, I mean, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, the top American ace of the Great War. It's another beautiful kit, as far as I'm concerned, with very nice rib detail, fabric texture here and there, and nicely engraved detail on the cowling and forward part of the fuselage. There is no interior other than a seat, and the machine guns are little lumpy, and as you can see, the decals are a tad transparent, but it's fun and easy to build.

I'm a little dubious of the colors, which are mostly Model Master acrylics (olive green, dark green, dark earth, sand and a little bit of NATO black). But I am not richly endowed with reference materials for WWI fighters, and the instructions only call out Revell paints, which I do not use. So this is my interpretation of what the instructions said I should use. My model doesn't look like a Nieuport 28 in French service, that's all I know.

Most World War Two fighters fall into one of two categories: the streamlined in-line engine jobs like the Spitfire, and the chunky radial engine jobs like the F6F Hellcat. I think this is the reason I like the Hawker Typhoon and Curtiss P-40 so much; they're sort of a cross between the two and are thus distinctive. But World War One aeroplanes have much more character, and each one seems to have its own character. Albatros fighters look fast and lean; Spads look powerful and tough, Fokker D.VIIs convey a kind of slab-sided inelegant Teutonic efficiency, Fokker Dr.1s look aggressive and dangerous (to fly against, or to fly in), and Nieuports seem to convey an impression of grace and agility.

Revell 1/72nd Fokker Dr.1

The Revell 1/72nd scale Fokker Dr.1 triplane. What's a collection of Great War aeroplanes without at least one Manfred-mobile? I'm occasionally known to claim that Fokker Dr.1s and Pzkw-V Panthers are grossly over-represented in the modeling world, and I think they are, but that doesn't mean I won't build the occasional example.

It's a lovely kit, featuring a pretty nice interior, nice fit, and nice surface detail. The decals are nice too. It's just nice, all the way around. Even the Spandau machine guns are recognizable, though you couldn't tell that from my ham-fisted photography.

Revell 1/72nd Sopwith Triplane

I don't build a lot of aeroplanes from World War One. Part of the problem is that I don't know what to call it. I think "First World War" is proper terminology in the UK and former Commonwealth; "World War One" seems to be a US thing; and "Great War" always makes think of Yoda saying "Oooh, wars not make one great!" But a big part of the problem is that World War One aeroplanes (it doesn't seem right to call them "airplanes") have a great deal of character, which makes them, to my mind, formidable modeling challenges. If a plank-on-frame sailing ship is the Everest of modeling, a good fully-rigged biplane must be the K2.

But I do like World War One aeroplanes. The first model I ever built was a Revell Fokker Dr.1, the light blue one that I think was flown by Werner Voss. And I've built the Sopwith Triplane at least a dozen times. But my absolute favorite is the RE.8; something about the way it looks bent in the middle appeals to me.

So, the Sopwith Triplane. Put on a DVD of The Blue Max and dig in. The molds are showing their age and the fit isn't great. The Vickers machine gun is pretty bad, and the pilot is starting to resemble a Sumo wrestler in a leather flying coat. But it isn't too hard to assemble, and the decals were excellent. I've read a lot of negative comments about the size and shape of the "Blymp" lettering and the serial numbers, and those comments may well be true, but the decals as decals worked very nicely. The decal sheet includes a seat belt decal, but considering that there's no interior detail at all and the only way to hide that fact is to shoehorn the portly flying officer in, well, that decal goes in the spares box.

I used Tamiya Khaki Drab to represent PC10. I think it looks a little too dark and maybe not quite brown enough, but PC10 is a hard color to duplicate; I bet everyone has their own interpretation of it. I used Model Master Sand to represent the clear doped linen. It's about the right lightness, but maybe not quite creamy enough, but it'll do. I painted the wooden fuselage decking Model Master Wood, and the struts Tamiya Desert Yellow.

You'll note two major deficiencies. One is that it has no windshield, something I intend to add later, and another is that it isn't rigged. At all. Maybe someday I'll rig it, but I bet I won't. I don't even know what's good for rigging. I used to rely on stretched sprue because it could be tightened with heat, but sometimes it turns out kind of uneven. Maybe some kind of very fine music wire would work. When I get around to building the RE.8 in my collection I'll probably try that. I can justify not rigging the Sopwith, but not the RE.8.

Emhar 1/72nd Whippet

The British intended for the larger and heavier Mark-IV, armed with cannons, to provide the bulk of the offensive shock required to break German trenchlines. Once the breakithrough happened, the lighter and faster Whippets were supposed to exploit the opening and wreak havoc on the German rear. Alas, the engines and mechanical systems of the day weren't up to the challenge and the Whippet never lived up to its role of fast tank, but it's still an interesting shape.

This was even easier to build than Emhar's Mark-IV. The tracks and suspension are one-piece parts, which makes for extremely quick assembly. I didn't count, but I'd be surprised if there were more than twenty parts in the entire model. The only parts that required much in the way of manual dexterity were the mufflers, and the machine guns are not universal so there's a need to keep them halfway organized before installation.

I painted it olive drab (because it was handy) and drybrushed it with Radome Tan, then hand-painted the tracks dark red-brown with a lot of silver over the top of that. And that was pretty much the length of its forty cubits. The red and white recognition markings are decals, and I expected trouble from them, but I worried needlessly. It took a fair amount of setting solution to get the decals to conform to the deep relief of the track tensioners and details on the engine hood, but in the end they did conform nicely indeed.

I would have to say this is perhaps the easiest 1/72nd scale armor kit I've ever attempted, and certainly one of the most satisfactory.

Emhar 1/72nd Mark-IV

Here's Emhar's 1/72nd scale British Mark-IV tank from the Great War. It's a mixed bag, frankly. I liked the surface detail, which was heavy on rivets and bolt heads. The tracks were workable, being three-part things made out of some kind of odd plastic that was sort of halfway between vinyl and styrene, but they were easy to form to the contours of the tank and secure with super glue. The decals were excellent - thin, opaque, and highly responsive to Micro-Sol (note the way the F56 decal settled down over the rivet heads).

On the less than brilliant side, the rails on the top of the tank (meant to carry unditching beams up and over the exhausts and top clutter, I think) were murder. The instructions are not clear on where they fit, the parts themselves are brittle and easily broken, and in the end I just sat and stared at the tank for a while and thought "If I were designing this, how would I fit the rails?" I also thought the machine gun barrels were very over-scale, but chose not to mess with them.

I painted the tank medium green and drybrushed it with my standby for such things, Model Master "Radome Tan", and then stabbed on a lot of dark brown craft paint wherever the tracks might have carried fresh mud.

In the end - nice surface detail, acceptable fit, excellent decals, and except for the unditching rails, a quick and easy build. The main problem is the difficulty in fitting the rails.