Grant

1:32 Morane-Saulnier Type N "RFC Service" Special Hobby Catalogue # SH32017 Available from MPM for 34.43 € Much of the history of Morane-Saulnier's Type N has been recently documented by James H in his review of Special Hobby's 1:32nd Scale version of the French Aéronautique Militaire Type N, and thus I intend commenting on the Type N's appearance for the Royal Flying Corps and the corresponding highlights of the model by Special Hobby (No: SH32017). Nicknamed "The Bullet" the Morane-Saulnier was originally designed as a race plane but when hostilities broke out it was quickly rushed into service with the French Aéronautique Militaire, the 19th Squadron of the Imperial Russian Air Force and 1st, 3rd and 60th Squadrons of the Royal Flying Corp. Here they were equipped with an unsynchronised Lewis gun which was fired through the propeller arc; the propeller itself was protected from damage by way of "deflector wedges" Type N thought to be of 60th Squadron An RFC Type N Equipped with it's Lewis Gun Sadly, this graceful and elegant aircraft was not easy to fly (belying its true racing heritage where instability equates to speed and agility) due to its (a) stiff controls because its wing warping technology and ( it's propensity to nose over on landing due to the high landing speed required. The engine was also prone to overheating caused, in the main, by the attractive "wok" like spinner which give the aircraft much of it's elegance. Although difficult to fly and, therefore unpopular with it's understandably reticent pilots, the N Type compared favourably against the Fokker E.III in almost all respect which lead to the myth of invincibility which surrounded the Fokkers to break down. The Type N's of the RFC saw action over Cambrai and the Somme where No 60 Squadron (having been shipped out to France with the war barely a month old) were badly mauled in the skies above the Battle of the Somme; they were reequipped with more advanced aircraft from there on. Those that survived the early stages of the war with the other two Squadrons were replaced or put out of service due to the shortage of spare parts The Kit I have to say that I immediately fell in love with this little kit the moment I saw it – that is, what there is of it, for it really was a small, uncomplicated aircraft in real life and so it is with the kit. That being said, this short run, low-pressure moulded kit is no push over. It comes in three different media: plastic, resin and photo-etch and will certainly keep the average modeller amused for some while. Definitely not flush with youth this model carries its age very well indeed. We know there will be some flash associated with low-pressure moulding but despite that, and its age, there's not much evidence of anything other then the usual here. The moulding is crisp, the panel lines ahead of the cockpit and around the engine area are sharp and the attempt to replicate fabric strips over the wing ribs is very good indeed. Likewise, the wheel covers are nice and subtle as is the buttoned leather seat cushion. I expect (and I will duly find out) that all these will take paint very well. The plastic components are arranged on three plain grey sprues; the first holding the fuselage halves, the main wing section, seat, "Wok" spinner, cowling and wheels whereas the second sprue houses the inner workings of the aircraft; i.e. the cockpit framework, headrest, wire braces plus rudder and tail surfaces; and the third sprue contains the Lewis Gun (which, in effect differentiates the RFC Type N from it's French counterpart). The Resin parts, cast in a yellowish polyurethane, comprised of the Le Rhone 9C rotary engine, propeller and sundry mounting blocks come packed in a small re-sealable bag and are very nicely cast indeed. There's a little flash to be cleaned away but nothing to write home about. Finally, the Photo Etch fret contains the engine's ignition wiring loom, pedal straps, ammunition belts and feeds, cockpit sides fairings and rigging turnbuckles etc. All are excellently crisp and sharp as by now we would come to expect from this kit. The single sheet of Decals printed by Czech company Aviprint are extremely nice and totally in register, the brightness of the roundels are such that when toned down by the inevitable wash, should show through sufficiently but not gaudily as do some I've seen. This leads us on to the 9 page Instruction Booklet which are printed in black and white. Neat and concise, they lead you logically through all aspects of the build along with a full rigging guide – no complaints there – and include colour callouts from the Gunze paint range plus schemes for 3 different machines; 2 from No 60 Squadron and 1 from No 1 Squadron. Full colour guides are downloadable from www.cmkkits.com Conclusion I said at the very beginning of this review that I fell in love with this kit the moment I laid eyes on it and nothing to date, or anything in this analytical exercise has changed my mind. For its age (consider that it came before the glories of Wingnut Wings) it is an extremely well engineered, cast and moulded scale model of a very attractive war machine that was never intended as such. The aptly named "Bullet" may not have the laurels of a Fokker but in its short service life, it gave them a run for their money and this certainly won't put me off building it for the current Large Scale Modeller Great War Group Build. Recommended, but not for the complete novice. Grant L. Our special thanks go to MPM/Special Hobby for the review sample used here. To purchase directly, click THIS link.

Love this scheme George; very nice and clean looking too. Mocha's definitely getting larger .. either that or your ruler is shrinking

I don't know why or how I've missed this but, wow, I'm glad I've found it now! This is very special stuff Anzo... what modelling is really about. Beautifully clean, well documented and great photos too - thank you for sharing this with us. I'd love to see you other builds, I'd learn such much more!

Nice, both of them !!

Gorgeous! Love the scheme.

....... you'll notice the ones at Arrow Wolf for sale

Wow, thank you Paul for your high praise and for echoing Martin's kind words elsewhere. It's very, very kind of you and kinda makes everything feel worthwhile - I'm delighted to be a part of this community and do whatever I can to be of service to its members. Arrow Wolf is only 9 months old so I hope those who support me will excuse any shortcomings stock wise whilst I realign the business away from kits and accessories that can be bought anywhere to those kits and accessories that can't. Oh, and by the way too ! Along with other brands as well, of course

This is looking very free of any drama Cees, that's nice and refreshing given all the earlier issues; it's also good to know that PCM reacted to those issues pretty quickly as well. I'm enjoying this.

Very, very nice Paul.

Or even an Ho-229

Great progress Dave .. I'm gutted that having ordered/received the BigEd Set I went to look for it only to find that I'd forgotten that I'd sold the MiG3 I thought I still had in stock (muppet).

Superb review Dave. Enjoyed reading that.

Nice Art Deco poster! That's a good start.

Indeed Dave, I'll give you a shout when I'm ready if I may. I'd like to sample some beforehand or, if that's not possible, read someone's opinion I respect of them.

Excellent Matt .. I'll be hugely interested to hear (and see) what you think of it.

Not mine sadly Rog, although I wish those were indeed my supplies. I do have the tiny Tamiya swabs in my box which are pretty amazing but, being Tamiya, outrageously expensive Dave, I noticed that the swabs are from Gaia - Alex Glass mentioned Gaia to me recently; I'd never heard of Gaia paints etc but Alex rated them very highly. Have you used their paints? If so, what are they like? (I know you'd find it very difficult to source them outside of Japan) but if Alex rates them then my ears prick up in notice.

Stunning work Chris!! I agree, if that's your first attempt then wow ... I reckon that's one of the nicest Tigers I've seen in a very long while. Gorgeous .. and gorgeous photography too.

Oops! I had a quick look round the model itself and for something that's so old, it's actually not too bad. Some bad sink marks in the prop blades and one small one in the st'board leading edge but that's about it. Covered in flash of course but the thing that bugs me most is how bad the decals are. I've heard and seen some which are slightly out of register but MAN, these are shocking. In some cases .5mm to .75mm out of kilter. Airfix should be thoroughly ashamed of a such a shoddy product that was included in their flagship series. They're an absolute disgrace even for when it was produced. One colour scheme calls for a red bolt of lightning down the side of the fuselage but on the sheet, because of being so far out of reg. a black line, which separates the various sections, runs right through it !! So, scrap all of those then and search for replacements or masks.

It a really interesting book Dave. Not only does it break down the modelling of an Fw190, it provides a WIP sequence of converting and modelling the Fw190V-1, a complete WIP (including upgrades) of modelling a number of different variants as well as breaking down the painting stages and how to tackle the Luftwaffe camouflage system. A must for rookies like me.... Then it goes on to: Graphically describe the differences between the different versions i.e. A-5 and A-6 by showing (in profile shots and highlights) of different placed panels, weapons and aerials etc. Provide colour schemes from each variant Description of Reich fuselage bands and which unit they signify Description in colour of the nose colours and which unit they're associated with. All in all it's been a great book to flick through. I bought it on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/2915239584/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. It's s French publication in very good English and part of a series.. I'll be looking at more if I can.. They also do a series by marque aimed at the modeller but not as a WIP type: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Junkers-JU-87-1936-1945-Planes/dp/2913903533/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y

That's absolutely gorgeous ... How much of that Honda was owed to the East German GP Rider Degner Talk about an espionage story that should be filmed.

Right ... I've been merrily gathering away stuff for the (now) 3 GB's here and this is the bundle that I've got so far: As you can see it's a bit of a mishmash so I'll try and break it down. Focke-Wulf 190 Group Build This little lot is the result of the insane idea I had of building an FW190A-8/R2 so, during a moment of madness, I bought Airfix's 1:24th FW190. Some might say, "Hmm a challenge for you" but no, it was pure lunacy, I then decided I wanted to build this: However, the thing is, there's not much out there in this scale BUT! fortunately: Eduard have some nice bezels - Check Peter at Airscale have very nice IP decals too - Check Radu (RB Productions) do some nice 1:24th Pedals AND Luftwaffe seat Belts so, Check Grey Matter Figures have an excellent Fw190A-8/R2 conversion kit along with their undercarriage set as well which will be added to the pile (either as a review set or otherwise) - on their way but - Check Also, I bought this as I thought (knew) I'd need some help (really nice book too!!) Pacific Group Build: I really fancied building something with 4 wheels and when I spotted this it dawned on me that there really wasn't anywhere that a Willy's Jeep wasn't around, so this will be my entry for the Pacific Group Build, Hasegawa's 1:24th (yes, 1:24th) Willys Jeep MB: And to give it some sharpness of detail I've added the Eduard Willys Jeep MB .50 Cal PE set: And FINALLY: Great War Group Build: This .... the very sweet Special Hobby Morane Saulnier which was a gift to me from a very generous friend: It really is a gorgeous little kit so it doesn't want or need anything added to it. Of all the things above, this is what I'm looking forward to the most. _____________________________________ That's it .. I'm going to be a very busy little boy so, brace yourselves for a barrage of questions and queries in the forthcoming months! As the Fw 190 GB is a 6 month build I'll concentrate on the insanity induced Airfix Würger first. Thanks for looking. (Someone, anyone ... please call the men with white coats and a straight-jacket )

Definitely watching.

You're absolutely right Jeroen, Cees, I apologise - I should have mentioned you in my post and hope you will forgive me. Great job guys.

Nice review Jeroen, I'm glad you did this one ... if I had read and believed some others elsewhere I wouldn't consider this kit but now thanks to your review I would.

Happy Birthday Cees! Hope you have a brilliant day, drink loads, eat loads and have lots of presents containing plastic!