Encore/Roden 1/32 scale S.E.5a

 

Roden/Squadron Encore, 1/32 scale.

My latest project is James McCuddan's S.E.5a in 1/32 scale. The kit is the Encore reboxing of the Roden 1/32 scale "Hisso" S.E.5a. 

As the S.E. is one of the standards of WWI aviation lore, I needed one for my collection. The best kit out there would be the Wingnut Wings S.E. of course, but those are rare and expensive. The Encore kit is a little more common, although now out of production. Also, Roden still offers the Hisso and Viper powered versions that can be easily found.

The Encore kit is really a bargain, because you get the Roden plastic plus three frets of Eduard photo etch, some resin parts which include include a 4-blade prop, (very much appreciated!), and a nice set of decals. I was able to get a couple of these kits for really reasonable prices, so I have an extra for a future project. I also have a Roden Viper powered version in the stash, so my supply of 1/32 scale S.E's is pretty safe!

References for the S.E. are also pretty easy to come by, I've got several plus numerous links on the internet! James McCudden was Great Britains 4th highest scoring ace of WWI. His was an interesting career, starting as an aircraft mechanic, then becoming an observer and then a pilot. His fighter piloting career started in DH-2's. An interesting side note was that his aircraft was apparently Von Richtofen's 15th kill! He actually made it back home after being shot up a bit! He flew a Sopwith Pup for a short time and then made it to the famous 56 Squadron, where he flew the subject of my model, #B4863.

Among the resin parts included in this kit are the control surface pulleys, which are viewed through clear panels on the wings and tail surfaces. You have to cut out triangular holes to fit them into the kit's parts.

All the resin bits installed and filled.

Reading various reviews of the Roden kit, I found that there was a problem in the fit of the nose panels over the Hispano Suiza motor. Sure enough, it took some work to get the panels to sit down properly.

Pre-fitting the motor.

The rest of the build was proceeding nicely. The interior is well detailed with additional PE bits added. 

Now I had to install the upper fuselage covering the cockpit...Encore supplies a resin replacement for McCudden's S.E. but it didn't look quite right to me, the expanded cockpit side seemed a little too tall. Also, the thickness of the walls of the part were very thin and did not look like they would form a good bond to the kit's plastic. So, I decided to use the kits part and graph the expanded sidewalls from the resin part onto it, carving them to a more appropriate height.

The kit's part.

The resin part.

Here's the kit's part with the resin sides grafted on.

With that accomplished, I assembled the fuselage and added the cabane struts.

Then I began the painting process. After priming, I masked of "rib lines" and painted the wings and tail surfaces with a dark brown. Then I removed the masking and sprayed a thin coat of Tamiya Dark Yellow, (XF-60). This gives a nice effect.

Then came the upper coat. I found Tamiya Khaki Drab, (XF-51), looks like a pretty convincing representation of PC 10.

The pulleys looked pretty nice until I tried to glaze over them.

The wing pulley before I tried to fill with super glue for a glass effect. That failed when the super glue dried in a weird dappled finish. Oh, well, there wasn't anything to do but press on.

Time for decals! The Encore kit's decals are just great. They went on easily and responded well to a little Micro Sol.

Now the challenge of fitting the upper wing! I started out trying to use the biplane jig but found some problems with the cabane strut alignment which required a little more force. I ended up going back to my old standby; Lego's! I was able to force the wings into a good alignment and adjust the cabanes this way.

Lego's to the rescue!

Now the real work began...the rigging! The S.E. and most other English aircraft of this period, have a huge amount of rigging. There were some really tricky areas here, especially the rear cabane strut braces and the doubled flying wires. I used Bob's Buckles tiny eyelets with Modelkasten 0.2mm elastic thread. I did not bother to color the thread this time, leaving it black.

After rigging the main wings, I attached the landing gear and added the rigging there. I added a couple of stretched sprue "spokes" to the inside of the wheels which are visible through the hole in the wheel cover.

Finally, with the rigging done, I was able to begin final assembly. This included the final rigging of the tail and installation of the prop and the Lewis MG. The Lewis, by the way, was a hybrid of a Gaspatch Lewis and the kit's gun. 

Finally completed! This build took a very long time, I was away from the bench for nine weeks for an extended road trip during the summer and other stuff so it seems like I've been working on this for a year! Well, it came out okay, I still have lots of room for improving my technique for sure.

Here are the glamor pictures!