Martinsyde

Martinsyde S1 Scout by AEROCLUB Aerodrome Series 1/72 vacuform.

The first Martinsyde Scout was delivered in Oct 1914. It was a neat little biplane with over 60 being built. The early versions had a four wheel unercarriage, later model had a "V" type undercarriage. Six served with the R.F.C. in France and four in Mesopotamia in 1915. It was mainly used for training and anti-airship work.

This model depicts a early version flown by Capt Louis Strange. On May 5, 1915, while in combat, Capt Strange's Lewis gun jammed. While standing up trying to clear the jam, the plane turned upside down, leaving Capt Stange hanging from the very magazine he was trying to remove. He mananged to get himself back into the cockpit at almost ground level. Capt. Strange survived the war and flew in WW2 at the age of 50.

Martinsyde Elephant by Pegasus, 1/72nd scale Short run injection mold

In April 1915, Helmut Martin and George Handasyde formed the company Martinsyde Ltd to produce small, fast scout aircraft. The results was the the S.1. A two seater followed that did not receive any orders.

Their next offering was an elegant twin bay, long tapered fuselage single seater designated the G.100 with a 120hp Beardmore engine. Delivery of the first G.100s took place in March, 1916 in France. The G.102 followed in June, 1916 with a 160hp Beardmore engine. The Elephant enjoyed a very long operational life, not being phased out of service until November, 1917.

The Elephant was designed as a fast scout but it had a flight endurance of five hours and was quickly assigned to observation and bombing duties. It was soon in service as a light bomber, able to carry a 336 lb bomb. It was in Palestine that the Elephant found it niche from bombing and reconnaissance, and a very successful career of rescuing pilots downed behind enemy lines.

There are at least three origins of the name Elephant and they all sound good. What is known about the plane is that was especially loved by its pilots, with the planes carrying a small elephant logo on the side of the fuselage. The Elephant is also featured within the badge of the No. 27 Squadron, RFC.

The kit is one of the last offerings by Pegasus and like all of the latter Pegasus kits, has all of the white metal parts and decals, making aftermarket products unnecessary. The kit depicts an aircraft of the No. 14 Squadron RFC, serving in Palestine in 1917.

I chose to depict an aircraft of A Flight No 27 Squadron RFC, 1917. Per the Windsock Datafile # 70, the aircraft were painted either PC10 or PC12. I chose PC12 for no other reason that some variety in my collection. The kit is out of the box with the exception of adding a bomb, underwing skids and a Lewis machine just to the left rear of the pilot.

I found the kit difficult to build and the time it took and the quality of the work reflect that. The lower wing attaches with only two small attachment points. I would recommend notching the fuselage to strengthen this area. I estimate it took 20 hours to build over a two month period, which is a long time for me. The reference material used is the above mentioned Datafile.