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Bristol M.1c "Captain F.D. Travers, 150 Sqdn RAF" [1:32 Special Hobby]


Alex

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So it's been along while since I joined a group build, and I'm going to jump into this one in violation of my "one kit at a time" rule.  I picked up this kit last winter at my "LHS away from home", Wheels and Wings in Toronto, which is conveniently just down the block from where my daughter lives.

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The Bristol M1 is one of the few monoplanes to see service in the Great War, another being the similar-looking Moraine-Saulnier Type N (which Special Hobby has also done a 1:32 kit of).  Its combat deployment was limited to a few dozen aircraft used in the Middle East and Balkans.  In the Balkans, 150 Squadron of the RAF (formerly 47 Squadron, RFC) re-equipped with the M.1c in August 1918.  A number of notable aviators flew the type in that squadron, but my model will be the only plane that, as far as I can tell, a flying ace actually scored his fifth victory in.  Captain Fredrick Dudley Travers scored his first four victories flying Royal Aircraft Factory planes (both B.E.12 and S.E.5), but in August 1918 switched to the M.1c, and then on Sept 2, 1918 shot down a German reconnaissance plane, beginning a run of victories that would see him complete his career total of 9 by September 16, all in the same aircraft, s/n C4976.

 

Notably, this will be my first WW1 model ever!

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At least started cutting some plastic on this one.

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This is a typical early-2000s Special Hobby short-run kit.  Details are quite good (note the stitching depicted where the linen sections are sewn onto the aluminum surfaces around the forward part of the fuselage), but there are no engineered aids to assembly - no locating pins, tabs etc.  You are left to figure out alignment for yourself.  The large parts of the kit also have a fairly rough texture as delivered, so need a light sanding everywhere.  

 

Looking at the size of that cockpit opening sets one to thinking about just how much effort ought to go into detailing out the cockpit...

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