• Wings
• Fuselage
• Tail
• Booms
• Nacelle Attachment
• Undercarriage
• Rigging and Final Assembly

The AE-3 (Armored Experimental) was an armored two seater intended as a ground attack fighter. This is the only RAF aircraft that was given an official name, the 'Farnborough Ram'. The aircraft was to carry two forward firing Lewis guns and a third pillar mounted in the observer's cockpit for self defense. The entire nacelle was armored plated and there was adequate storage for 32 ammunition drums.

It was a large three bay equi-span biplane that was to be powered by the 200hp Hispano Suiza engine. Problems with this engine resulted in the Sunbeam Arab engine fitted instead. The second prototype was fitted with the 230hp Bentley BR2 and was completed in May 1918.

The Ram II's flight tests in June 1918 were not promising. By the end of June the Ram II was in France with the Nos. 201 and 209 Squadrons for field testing. Even with enlarged rudder and ailerons the Ram II's performance was not enhanced. It was back in Farnborough in July. The aircraft never went into production because its intended role was adequately covered by the armored Sopwith Salamander.

The aircraft with the Sunbeam Arab engine was designated Ram I. The 230hp Bentley version was the Ram II. A deviation of the two, designated Ram III, was never built.

This is my second venture into scratch building. I chose this kit because every collection needs a Farnborough Ram II, right? Also, the fuselage is just a box and I can build boxes with the best of them.

The wings are Rosemont Hobby wing blanks. Find the correct wing chord and sand it out exactly like a vacuform kit. The rib locations were marked and using a liquid glue, round stock was glued in place and allowed to dry for at least a day. The round stock is then sanded almost completely off to form the ribs. The control surfaces were scribed in and the ribs on the bottom of wing are represented by a single shallow pass with a scribing tool. The three piece wing is glued and the dihedral is set. The strut locating holes are drilled (just a turn or two) and the wings were painted and decaled. Since the nacelle floats between the wings, the struts were cut, drilled and installed and the top wing installed. After it dries, this is a very strong unit.

This is just an armored tub and is very easy to build. I made copies of the plans and cut them up to make templates and made a box. Nothing fancy, just a box. Two Aeroclub seats and 230hp Bentley, three Roden machine guns, a fuel tank from a Roden Camel, a control stick, rudder pedals and a “I think this is what the instrument panel should look like” panel and its done. I'm not sure who gave up the prop for this kit. With paint, decals and a gloss coat, the nacelle is complete. Now as fate would have it, the day after I finished the kit, I was sent a picture of the Ram II which I was under the impression of that a picture did not exist. It shows the nacelle decal to be small and near the very front of the plane. Mine is larger and set back more. I made no attempt to correct the roundel position.

Again making templates, I cut the tail surfaces out of sheet stock, sanded them to their correct shape and scribed the ribs and control surfaces. The rudder decals were applied and the holes drilled for the support wires prior to assembly. The rudder was slotted and the horizontal surface was slide into place.

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With the tail unit complete, four pieces of round stock were cut and butted against the inner most strut. I used tube glue here as I wanted to be able to move the booms just before they dried completely. When the alignment is correct, slide the tail unit between the booms and set in place with a drop of super glue. Do this on top and bottom and when all of the stars line up, set the entire assembly with super glue, even at the strut/boom attachment. This is now a very fragile assembly and will wave at you every time you touch the model. Don't wave back.

This is the hardest part of the assembly, at least for me. Starting with four lower support struts, they were cut and positioned as best as possible per the plans. I was able to get the front struts in place and then cut and positioned the rear struts. The cabanes are very easy and they were put in one at a time, checking alignment as I went.

I took a piece of large strut material and filed it down into the three tiered shape per the plans. A hole was drilled in the bottom of this piece and a rod was added to the top of the piece for insertion into the wings. After this was dry, the rear portion of the V was added. Then the axle was bent into shape and positioned. The wheel was added and this unit is very sturdy.

The rigging is not all that complicated and all told, it took about three hours. After rigging, the engine, prop and machine guns were installed and the model is complete. It is the rigging stage that the tail boom stops waving at you. As friendly as the model wants to be, I'm glad it stopped waving.

It was not an overly complicated kit to build. The wings are big but Rosepart wing blanks made that part easy. The square box fuselage was very easy to build. I figure it took between 30 to 35 hours to complete.

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