Special Hobby present a satisfying little
packaging of this fine looking late war French monoplane. The product is
contained under nicely rendered box art and comprises two sprues of injection
molded plastic parts, a fret of crisply detailed photo-etch, acetate backing to
the instrument panel, acetate windshield, and three small resin parts. I have
included a number of close-up shots that will hopefully allow you to see the
standard of casting and detail of this kit.
Click on
images below to see larger images
It is a limited run kit of
course but I think you'll find that there is some good detail present on this
small model. The detail is occasionally heavy handed but can be forgiven or
sanded off and replaced depending on your preferences. I particularly like the
fabric and stringer surfaces on the fuselage and the cowling work around the
cock-pit and gun bay. The stitching in this area is nicely handled and there is
also a strip of additional PE stitching for the port side. A good collection of
PE supplements the shortfalls in plastic and is capped by two very intricate
Morane Saulnier badges to attach to the engine cowling. The decals provide for
three schemes. They are detailed, clear, thin, in register and in nice clean
colours. The artwork on these decals will compliment what is already a very
attractive aircraft. Hopefully they go on as well as they look.
Markings are:
-
MS1591 Red 11 of Escadrille
MSP 156 piloted by Sgt Walter J Shaffer February 1918
-
MS1724 White 3 of
Escadrille MSP 158 piloted by Sgt Rufus R Rand Jnr March – April 1918
-
MS1583 Red 9 of Escadrille
MSP 156 February 1918
In
summary, Special Hobby have created the makings of what could be a great looking
model if put together with the care that such a delicate limited run subject
requires. The plane has a great experimental look to it with its single swept
back wing. Images online show an AI (genuine or replica I do not know) with
especially hot personalised Nungesser markings. Nice. I recommend this kit and
look forward to seeing some superbly built up examples from the WWI modelling
community.
This kit can be purchased here: http://www.hlj.com/product/SPH48099
I would like to thank HobbyLink
Japan
( www.hlj.com
) for providing this review sample.
Nick Moore
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