1/8 Hasegawa RAF SE5a

Museum Series

by Titus "Surefire" Zapanta

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The S.E.5/5a is one of the most successful and the most produced British fighters through the first world war. It's also one of the strongest fighters at that time of 1918 (the other two were the Spad S.13 of France and the Fokker D-7 of Germany).
It's armed with a Vickers 7.7mm gun, fixed on the portside of the fuselage and a Lewis gun with drum magazine mounted on the top center wing. The S.E.5a is powered by a Viper 200h.p. engine.

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

Took me eight (8) full months to finish this humongous model. It was my first time to use wood and my basic carpentry subject in highschool surely helped a lot. Wood was an entirely new experience being accustomed to plastic. The instrument dials and joystick are made of white metal and so were most of the smaller parts. The exhaust pipes are made of brass. The hardest part of the whole process are the skinning and rigging. The skin is made of aluminum sheet so I had to make very precise cuts, and attaching it to the wooden frame was very difficult. Same way with the riggings which were also a very difficult to attach, but it's all worth the effort.

Hope you all enjoyed my build.

Titus
IPMS-Philippines BA

Photos and text © by Titus "Surefire" Zapanta