Royal Aircraft Factory SE5A Oxford-Cambridge racer - Modified Esci 1/72nd kit

 

 

(Page from "Flight" magazine, 1921)

 (The completed model is here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2022/12/oxford-cambridge-air-race-se5a-modified.html

 

The change of fate of many planes after their service life is a fascinating chapter of aviation. Well-known types ended up in places that one wouldn't think. Those who frequent this space may be aware of how much I love to turn swords into plowshares, and there are many examples of such conversions posted here.

At some point I came across several SE5a that were converted to skywriters, and started to collect material on them. Later on, seeing that other modelers have represented already such planes in model form, I turned to a somewhat more obscure chapter, the several SE5a used in the 1921 Oxford-Cambridge Air Race, framed into the same year's Aerial Derby. The planes were all acquired -or loaned (sources differ) from the company in charge to sell war surplus, Aircraft Disposal Co Ltd. Three went to each university for the competition, with some spares. Material on this race is not scarce, but unfortunately is often unclear or contradictory. I established what I think is a reliable correlation of machines, colleges, registrations, pilots, race numbers and race results. Beware that some sources (especially more modern sources) get this mixed up, so refer to contemporary accounts when possible:

OXFORD

Boeree (Oriel College) 25 (G-EAXV) (5th and last)

Pring (New College) 29 (or perhaps 7?) (G-EAXW) Abandoned

Quote from a source: S.E.5A G-EAXW, ex F5259, owned by the Aircraft Disposal Company Ltd, was borrowed for the one and only Oxford v Cambridge Air Race at Hendon in July 1921. 'XW was flown by N. Pring of Oxford, but engine trouble forced him out of the race.

Hurley (Keble) 31 (4th) (G-EAXQ)

Substitutes

Brown (Brasenose)

Hardman (Hertford)

Hett (Oriel)

CAMBRIDGE:

Francis (Caius) 32 (G-EAXX) (3rd)

Philcox (Caius) 30 (G-EAXU) (1st)

Muir (St. Catherine) 26 (G-EAXT) (2nd)

Substitutes

Beale (Trinity)

Duff (Trinity)

Starey (Trinity)

 

Two other SE5a participated in the Aerial Derby -not at the Oxbridge race- (one of them may have had number 28). They were piloted by:

Longtone

Ortweiller

 

The university pilots, all experienced veterans, were given a refresher course. Photos and a clip of this training stage do exist, and show some of the -later- competing machines with their civil registrations, but still without race numbers, mixed together with other planes. A short clip of them training on Avro 504s and SE5As can be watched here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_4AlwmhNK0

Sources state that each university used their colors (Oxford a dark blue and Cambridge a light blue/teal, the traditional colors of their sports teams). Some planes had their whole tail painted (Cambridge), while others had the rudder in what seems white with a race number on them, and yet others have a light race number on a dark rudder (most likely painted Oxford blue). Some photos show race number circles on the wings, more or less where the cockades were once located. Bits and pieces of information were obtained from photos and accounts, and it seems that whilst the under surface of the upper wing was kept in its service color, the lower surface of the lower wing was painted, which makes sense so the background while circles of the race number would stand out. Sources state that the Oxford planes were painted, as said, dark blue, but what they don't specify is if that was just for the tails (as with Cambridge) or the whole plane, or part of it. Somewhere in the material I read one line stated something in the vein that Oxford spent more time decorating the planes than flying them, which seems to point to an extensive paint job. As usual, publications are a guide, but not to trust 100%, because -as mentioned- some contradict others, some give easily verifiable inaccurate information, and photos are not always captioned correctly. You may enjoy, but dismiss as a reference a watercolor on the Net of one of the airplanes, as it's not accurate (starting with a registration that none of the university racers had).

A short video can be watched here:

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVABIZ5XTW4T7PT5R0Q49U5XVX4D-NEWS/query/defeat

The flag down can be seen here:

https://britishpathe.com/video/aerial-derby/query/wildcard

There are three kits in 1/72nd -that I am aware of- of this plane with the Viper engine, an old one (1963, 59 years to this date) by Revell, a somewhat later one (1981, 41 years to this date) by Italian firm Esci (looks like the same kit to me), and a newer one (2003 according to Scalemates) by Roden.

The Esci kit has some pros (thin and sharp flying surfaces) and cons: very small part count (details are "molded on"), completely blanked cockpit, exaggerated detail on the fuselage and wheels, "bridged" wing struts and some mold mismatches noticeable in the landing gear and struts. I believe that in spite of those evident shortcomings, a fair model can be obtained from it.

The base kit:

Contents:

We are treated to some ejector pin marks:

All parts off the sprue:

The wheels are on one side a bit overdone in detail, and on the other just not very good:

Quite overdone "stitching" that will have to go:

I saw that Stanley Tucci was "Searching for Italy" in his culinary TV show, well, I found it inside the fuselage!:

The blanked cockpit, another gift from the industry Paleoplastic times:

The cockpit is opened up:

Plugging the former gun locating holes:

A layer of a neutral color. Details will be picked up later. A generic interior (better than no interior at all) is fashioned:

The spurious discs on the inner face of the wheels are removed, and just in case a more subdued Aeroclub white metal pair of wheels will be prepared:

The area of the strut bridges is masked following when possible a rib line:

 

 

Putty is applied, later to be sanded flush:

The home-made interior is ready:

This is an interesting picture from the Net. It shows that the registration white circle was either painted in paper or fabric, and then applied the wrong side (we can see the reversed number in a fainter hue), so the number (seems to be 26, G-EAXT) had to be repainted over the circle again. Notice that the base of both numbers points towards the airplane axis:

 

 

Fuselage halves glued:

The lower wing is a good fit, considering the age. The two horizontal tail halves are a bit of a loose fit, as their locating slots are a too large, and their locating tabs need shortening by about 1mm on each side, or they will interfere with each other inside the fuselage. Keep an eye as the glue sets here, to avoid misalignment:

For those who like to deflect control surfaces, this is a perfect kit to do it, as ailerons, elevators and rudder are very thin, their hinge lines deep, and you can easily cut their edges and move them a bit. I will give it a pass this time.
 

Well, I fell for it, again. I bought a Roden kit of the SE5A to make an Oxford machine, so the pair can race around my building board. 

The Esci kit doesn't provide a windshield, and it must be fabricated and it's simple enough being a flat panel with two small triangular supports at the sides, so no worries there.

And now for some Product Justified Criticism:

Sanding sticks / emery boards are inseparable companions of any modelers. They come in varied qualities, from crap to... less crap. Cheeky-monkey hobby manufacturers/vendors many times just print their brands in generic articles that are of dubious quality and resell them, at a profit, marketing them as hobby-specific articles, a lie of course. Along the years, modelers learn their lessons and find articles and brands that fulfill their needs... but the pandemic sunk at least a few of my preferred brands, being replaced by trash, many times unscrupulously sold on Ebay and Amazon pretending to be a brand they are not, posting deceiving photos. Since the aforementioned companies have no interest in their customers, but instead in their huge profits, they don't weed the shady vendors. At some point long ago I came across the Flex-i-File products, that served me well enough, but not so much their specific product "Flex-Pad", that at the beginning was remarkable good, and with the years also started to go downhill. Naturally, sanding sticks are consumables, and wear off. But at least they have to provide a meaningful usable lifespan, which lately they don't. Being them quite pricey, I see with dismay that the adhesive that holds the "grain" has become less and less effective, allowing only their use during what seems like the lifespan of a mayfly. I have bought literally dozens of them, but I am getting weary. I only hope that Flex-Pads will pay more attention to their production line and less to their marketing, spending the money where is worth it. 

If you buy cheapo crap, you know what the consequences will be, but when you pay a higher price for a supposedly better quality product that should serve well and last reasonably, your blood pressure starts to climb when you realize the product manufacturing quality has gone down with the years and that the item only provides a low number of effective swipes before becoming basically useless. 

To replace the overdone stitching relief that was removed, I printed some as decals:

Primer is airbrushed:

All control horns are added from a P.E. fret. The landing gear and cabane are glued in place, since they appear to be the same color of the airframe, unlike the wing struts that seem wood color. The "bridges" spanning the cabane struts will be excised once the glue sets, leaving just the strut's ends:

Photos show that the lower surface of the upper wing was a light color -most likely the factory CDL- and the whole plane but the tail was again factory PC10. The paint does look glossy in photos, and the under surface of lower wing, instead of being CDL, looks like painted in the same general color (in effective contrast for the withe circles with the race numbers). The wheel hubs are masked and tires painted at this stage too:

Masking and painting of the tail in Cambridge blue. Now, this is a complex color, not just light blue. A mix of Testors' Sublime Green and Gloss Turquoise was used:

Airfix's lazy treatment of the cylinder covers and exhausts, molded integrally with the fuselage, forces you to deal with the painting of those elements either by hand or masking, neither of which is really convenient; the little dot is the headrest:

Exhaust and engine covers hand painted. Wheels, tail rigging and control cables, and decal stitching are now on:

 Upper wing on:

Rigging in progress:

The beautiful decal set arrived from Arctic Decals, and application started!:

To be continued...