Steve's Models

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Does anyone make a diecast Voisin LA.III? Oeffag-Albatros 253 series? If they did, would the models be light enough for our clothespin clips to hold them?

Doubtful at best

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Doubtful at best

It doesn't matter. The real bottom line is that having models is great, but it's the building itself that gets me off. I can't even remember how many planes I've built, put on display in hobby shops and then sold. Back in those days I didn't have a real camera, so there are no pictures, no records. So I keep building.

[Sailor Steve]

This is weird. The rudder from the Morane was missing, so I was going to build a new one. I got a rudder from another Eindekker kit and was ready to start carving it to the correct shape when I dropped it on the floor. I got down under the table and found it...sitting right next to the original one! So the eindekker rudder went back into the spares box and the original went back on the plane.





The next step was an easy one. My kitbashed Morane 'G' had lost a stabilizer, but I had it with the other missing pieces and it was a 30-second repair.

The 'G' was the 80-horsepower predecessor to the famous 'N', commonly known as the 'Bullet', because they thought that giving the fuselage a round shape would make it faster. Of course adding a 110-hp engine didn't hurt.





When you build models for as long as I have you tend to buy, trade and collect a lot of stuff, including decal sheets. I have a couple of WW1 sheets with lots of logos, including a Mann-Edgerton builders label for the Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutter. I like this model because I also have a nose logo for this particular Morane-Saulier.



Of course looking at that picture showed me a couple of rigging wires on that one that were loose. They aren't actually broken so I'm putting off re-rigging it until later.

[Cybermat47]

Nice job Steve! When you've done all that, you might consider building a 1/32 Gotha G.IV

[nikimcbee]

That looks a lot like an Eindecker, other than the tail.

[Cybermat47]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

That looks a lot like an Eindecker, other than the tail.

Yeah, I think that the Germans captured one and copied/improved it.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Cybermat47

Yeah, I think that the Germans captured one and copied/improved it.

Pretty much. Pfalz built their own copies, but under license, and at the end of the war paid Morane-Saulnier all the royalties they owed. Fokker puchased a used Morane 'H' early in 1914 and then built his own version without ever paying Morane-Saulnier anything. His improvement was a big one. The Moranes and their Pfalz copies were all made from wood. Fokker built his out of steel tubing, a techique used on all Fokker aircraft thereafter.