Kit: No. 8007
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Eduard Model Accessories, 800 Proctor Ave., Ogdensburg, NY 13669
Price: $29.98
Comments: Mixed media, 90 parts (15 injection-molded plastic, 65 photoetched, 9 metal, printed film instruments), decals.

MORANE-SAULNIER’S Type L parasol fighter was the first aircraft to feature a fixed machine gun that fired forward through the propeller arc. Frenchman Roland Garros attached deflector plates to the propeller of a Type L, and the occasional bullet that would have shattered the propeller bounced off the plates. Months later, Tony Fokker came up with a propeller-linked interrupter gear on his E.III Eindecker which made the Morane’s primitive deflector plates obsolete.

This is a fine example of a mixed-media kit. Surface detail is sparse, but this was a simple fabric-covered machine. The plastic parts need considerable cleaning up, but the white-metal engine and photoetched parts are excellent.

The 16-step instructions are complex but show how to build up the photoetched cockpit interior. A color painting and decaling sheet accompanies decals for one Royal Navy Air Service and a pair of French Aviation Militaire machines.

Metal pins are provided for some parts, but the instructions don’t tell you that they must be trimmed to length. I eyeballed the control column as 20mm long and the control rod below it at 12mm. The control rod below the fuselage that fits through two photoetched parts PE66 should be 9mm long.

Building the photoetched seat is easier if you separate the back from the bottom, curl the back around a paintbrush handle, then reattach it with super glue or epoxy.

My sample’s engine wouldn’t fit inside the cowl, so I eliminated the photoetched rockers on the cylinders hidden underneath the cowl and filed off the back of the engine.

Be careful when building the landing gear; the thicker and longer rod is the axle, while the smaller rods are the supports. If you use the photoetched wheel spokes, nip the rim so you can “dish” the spokes more easily. The rest of the kit’s construction went smoothly.

I finished my model as the French type. The optional British machine features a complicated set of photoetched bomb racks and release mechanism. I made the overall color with Polly S clear-doped linen, then painted the cowl flat white. I produced the unpainted wood panels with a Floquil dark sand base and thinned Polly S sand grain.

Then came trouble; my sample’s decals disintegrated in water. I tried the Micro Film treatment on the remaining decals, but this caused them to curl up as they dried. I was able to piece together a few of the decals for the photo, but be forewarned — they are a handful!

I spent 17 hours on this model. Other than the decal problem, it was fun to build. I don’t have references on the aircraft, but the model looks appropriately dainty for the scale. With all the folded photoetched parts and extensive rigging, you should have plenty of experience with multimedia kits before starting on this one.

Phil Kirchmeier