One of the most important, yet relatively obscure, aircraft of the World War I Royal Flying Corps, the Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2 series served as everything from a fighter to a night bomber. Wingnut Wings has not ignored this underrated airplane, and has added two versions to its fabled 1/32 scale lineup. The F.E.2b (late) depicts the aircraft in its later years. A number of optional parts are included, like two styles of propellers, various interior fittings, armament and ordnance, and, of course, Wingnut’s standard of five decal options. I could not resist the thought of a flare-equipped night bomber from WWI.
Typically, Wingnut has produced a model that has tremendous detail without construction problems. The best example is the engineering and fit of the tail booms — you will not find an easier lattice tail to build. Assembly of the fuselage is quick, marred only by an obvious seam in the panel behind the pilot’s seat. The wings take a fair amount of careful hole-drilling, depending on options of underwing Holt flares, bomb racks, and such. The one-piece lower wings slot securely into the fuselage, while the four-piece upper wing also assembles easily with the proper dihedral.
As with all biplanes, painting occurs in many steps and always before assembly. Be careful to select the proper struts and place them in the correct slots based on your markings option. Somehow, I mixed up one of the front cabane struts and painted the wrong one; luckily, they are tabbed and can really only be assembled one way. There are many subassemblies to build and paint in between construction steps, such as the engine (again, Wingnut provides a fully detailed engine.) Pictures of a restored example help in painting. At the same time, I assembled and partially rigged the boom. Fit was good, and the assembly is firm after adding the cross struts and horizontal stabilizer.
Planning is the key to a successful build. Building this model is a bit like assembling two biplane kits, then gluing them together. The instructions would have you add the landing gear before rigging the main planes and attaching the booms. I decided to assemble the main wings and rig them, then attach the assembled boom and complete the rigging. This worked well and gave a much more stable platform for assembly. I was worried that the boom would be easily knocked out of alignment, either during assembly or rigging, but I needn’t have worried — the assembly is strong and, thanks to positive interlocking tabs, the attachment to the main wings is sturdy.
Be prepared for a marathon rigging session — I may have lost a pair of tweezers somewhere in the boom. There is a lot of rigging, but it isn’t hard.
By far the most difficult part of the build was the control wires. The aileron control wires run externally on the wings. Unfortunately, the rigging plan is detailed on the instructions before the step that shows attaching pulleys under the wing for the lower ailerons. I didn’t catch it in time for my model: I drilled all the way through the pre-molded control wire holes in the upper wing, passed wires from the elevator horn through the wing, then through the blocks on top of the wing, then finally to the elevators. There is a photoetched-metal cable connector for the rudder, but it defeated every attempt to have it stay vertical instead of lying horizontally. I left it off. Then I added the landing gear and all the under-fuselage parts, like the bomb and bomb rack. Wingnut has a rigging diagram for this, too, but I was already over-wired.
Not mentioned to this point are the decals I applied to various assemblies before attaching them. They behaved well, but be careful to keep track of the ailerons — I swapped mine and painted them upside down, which I discovered by trying to place a decal. This left one aileron without a white surround on the roundel. Let’s call it battle damage.
Of interest for reference, the website TheVintageAviator.com features a full-size reproduction of an early F.E.2 with construction photos and a fabulous flight video.
I spent 74 hours on my F.E. — but it felt like much more, because of all the rigging. Nevertheless, this kit is very buildable if you’ve completed a biplane or two before. It just needs lots of rigging time.
OK, Wingnut, bring on the D.H.2 — but not for a while!
A version of this review appeared in the July 2012 FineScale Modeler.