S.E.5a in 1/48 by Roden (Ukraine)

[Geek44]

This is a British S.E.5a flown by ace Mick Mannock (I think) in WW1. It was built in response to a group build on another site. Roden kits can be pretty challenging as I found but they're pretty good kits for an experienced modeller. They don't include pins or tabs to help position parts and I encountered a few sink marks on the bulkier parts...namely the cylinder banks of the engine which are visible. The decals were just awful. Very glossy (I hate that), thick and out of register. Some were replaced here with aftermarket ones by AeroMaster which are excellent. This kit came with three different turtle-decks, optional headrest and four different propellers...all of which point towards different versions of the aircraft. It's painted with Tamiya acrylics and rigged with stretched sprue. It was my first biplane in nearly two decades...it won't be my last. Roden kits are kinda interesting in that they offer an excellent range of WW1 aircraft, often several versions of the same type. At first glance, they look pretty bad if you're used to Tamiya or similar, but they're actually very well moulded and fit, surprisingly, is excellent. They have 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 models in their range. Decals universally suck though. Some kits feature lozenge camouflage in decal form as Whiterook well knows () and one would think that the requirement to cover the entire model with decal would spur them to improve that aspect of their kits. I've wondered about the availability of aftermarket lozenge camo decals but I don't know yet. The last pic is pretty bad quality but I include it for size reference.








Peace.

[Whiterook]

That's such a sweet looking ride mate! The stretched spur rigging is awesome!!!! What I really like about that method of rigging is your ability to goose the ends right up to the struts; whereas the method I'm using has them a bit far from the strut ends...but at 1/72, I'm hopeing it won't be too noticeable. Nice work!!!!!!!

[Geek44]

Thanks mate, but when you look really closely, it's not as neat as it seems. This is the first attempt at seriously rigging a biplane and I'd probably do it differently the next time...perhaps closer to the method you've described. I measured the distances for lengths with dividers but you need something to 'hold' after you anchor the first end. Cutting off that extra 'holding' length has left the ends a bit untidy, especially where access was tricky, eg. underneath the upper wing. The 'experten' at my club use stuff like lycra thread that has some stretch. But there's also been talk about ambient temperature affecting the taughtness and humidity as well. Sprue is impervious to those things. One guy said he had a tightly rigged model implode on him because cold weather contracted the rigging so much. Maybe a DH. 1 which was basically sticks and wire with an engine and wings attached...a trip to my 'local' haberdashery may be in order next time.

[Whiterook]

I've heard the lycra method...not sure I liked the idea of all that stretch; definitely not for my Gotha, as it needs all the "shoring up" of the wings as it can get! Great big floppy things, they be!

[Hagen]

Nice S.E.5a Geek. The Roden kits do give you a nice selection of WW1 aircraft, but as you talked about there decals are terrible! I had three 1/72, two DR1s and a DVIII all decals shattered on me. Couldn't believe it, all three sheets were crap. I have a Gotha tucked away in my closet but am really worried about the decals, as they are lozenge and I just know it's not going to be an enjoyable experience. Ah well..

[LAH 1 SS]

nice mate i have both there 1/32 scale albatros d1 and d3 they are so nice i wish i could post them in the kit reveiw section but its all good worth the money

[Geek44]

Originally Posted by Hagen

Nice S.E.5a Geek. The Roden kits do give you a nice selection of WW1 aircraft, but as you talked about there decals are terrible! I had three 1/72, two DR1s and a DVIII all decals shattered on me. Couldn't believe it, all three sheets were crap. I have a Gotha tucked away in my closet but am really worried about the decals, as they are lozenge and I just know it's not going to be an enjoyable experience. Ah well..

Check out Whiterook's Roden Gotha if you haven't already...it's in the 6 month group build thread I'm pretty sure. I did a little research concerning the availability of aftermarket lozenge camo decal and found that Eduard have upper and lower surface colours available in 1/48 at least. I'd be surprised if there was nothing around for 1/72 as well. Eduard are easily Googled and for WW1 builders, they make excellent products and kits. I won their 1/72 Dr.1 and Fokker EIV in a raffle...they look beautiful.

[Whiterook]

Thanks Nick!

Mike, for whatever its worth, if I was to build the Gotha again, knowing what I know now, I'd personally make the jump to aftermarket lozenge decals if I could find them. Saying Roden's decals are crap (on the Gotha, anyway) is an understatement! They are brittle and thick, and as Nick so aptly noticed, have some printing issues suspected. That said, I'm not ready to chuck the bird out to the bird feeder, but it perhaps could have been brought up a notch (or several) by switching to an alternate decal source. The worst thing was, my model came with three puny little sheets, and I didn't have much left over! No room for error. I think I even posted a pic on that 6-month thread that showed how little decal was left over.

I gotta tell you though...it is soooo worth the build. It's a beauty! Of course, rigging is about to put me to tears, but the bird just wouldn't be the same without it. I have learned so much on this build. I can't recommend it highly enough!

[Hagen]

Nice job on the Gotha Whiterook! Maybe I will haul that kit out of the closet and into the light of day. I knew it would look really sharp with those lozenge decals. There was a place here in the states that used to make lozenge but they went out of business last Dec, for the life of me I can't remember the name though. Many moons ago I built the old Aurora Gotha, it was fun, had a dark blue and black paint scheme, never thought I'ld see a Gotha attempted again though, so was pretty excited when Roden came out with the bird. After armor I like the 'old kites' of the Great War.

Happy building and keep it fun!

Mike

[Whiterook]

I like that term..."Old kites" of the Great War!! Excellent!!!!! I've seen that Aurora, and loved the color scheme on it. On the Roden kit, two build schemes are with the lozenge, and the third is a white HG scheme. For rigging, a painted surface would have been a lot more user-friendly. The rigging method I'm using is cool, but would have been a nightmare without advanced planning. Yes, build that bird, and start a thread on it so we can all see!