Kit: No. Ro 416
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Roden, available from
Squadron Mail Order, 972-242-8663,
www.squadron.com
Price: $19.98
Comments: Injection-molded, 87
parts, decals
Pros: Well-detailed, accurate, good fit,
loads of alternate parts for subsequent
versions
Cons: No instruments, no seat harness, no rigging diagram

The S.E.5a was produced in large numbers
by multiple manufacturers and
was flown with great success by England’s
top aces Mannock and McCudden. It was
much easier to fly than its contemporary,
the Sopwith Camel, and was also a more
stable gun platform.

Roden’s kit fills a need for an accurate
1/48 scale S.E.5a. It is crisply molded in
two sprues of tan plastic needing minimal
parts clean up. This offering represents
the Wolseley Viper-powered version,
but 23 unused parts on the sprues indicate
alternate versions could be made.
Decals are supplied for three marking
schemes, all in olive drab over clear doped
linen, and include machines flown by
Mick Mannock, Billy Bishop, and A.
Beauchamp-Proctor. A clear acetate sheet
gives four windscreen choices.

The cockpit detail is exceptional but
no decals are given for the instrument
faces and no seat belts are provided. Three
forward-fuselage decking parts are provided,
and they vary with the shape of the
cockpit cutout. The Lewis machine gun
(choice of two types) and its mounting
rail are beautifully done. All the struts are
accurately thin, and the control horns for
the ailerons, elevator, and rudder are separate
tiny pieces.

The instructions and markings drawings
are fine, but you have only the box art
as a guide for the rigging.

Building the kit presented few problems.
The fit is generally good, but aligning
the upper wing and struts is tricky.
Before assembly, I painted all the subassemblies,
then drilled holes for the rigging
and control wires.

The pins on the ends of the struts
seemed insufficient to establish correct
alignment, so I fashioned assembly jigs
by enlarging the instructions’ side-view
drawings and attaching them to _” foamcore
board. I cut them into I-beam shaped
supports to hold the wings while the glue
anchored the struts. When they were dry,
I inserted the cabane struts at the fuselage.

I used two-pound nylon monofilament
fishing line for the rigging and stretched
sprue for the X braces between the struts.
The slots in the landing gear struts needed
to be enlarged to accommodate the axle.

This is a petite, highly detailed, accurate
model of the S.E.5a. However, it is
labor-intensive, not only because of the
detailing, but because of the extensive rigging.
I spent about 50 hours on the model.
I highly recommend it to WWI fans with
biplane rigging experience.

– Dr. Bill Funcke