Major Hawker VC, Skytrex DH2

I have painted up one of the DH2 scouts. This is plane registration 5964 of No.24 Squadron, Bertangles, November 1916, flown by Major Lanoe G Hawker VC. I have simplified the paint job slightly to suit the small scale. The Airco DH2 was Britain's first purpose-designed air superiority fighter. It was the plane that ended the Fokker Scourge. The pusher layout was one way of solving the problem of how to mount a forward firing machine gun. Not using interruptor gear allowed a higher rate of fire.

The problem with pushers was that the mass of wires and struts caused drag. Initially this was not an issue but became one as fighters got faster. By November, 1916, the DH2 was obsolete. Bloody April was coming.







I made a mistake in the colour scheme. The horizontal booms were aluminium and should be silver grey. An easily fixable error.

It is dusk here even at midday, so the pics are taken with a flasgun.


















Major Hawker was the "English Boelcke", He led the first air superiority squadron, No. 24 Squadron, and devised training and tactics. Often this was achieved against opposition of the aristocratic muppets at the top of the army. He was shot down and killed by the Red Baron, Richothofen, on the 23rd November 1916. Hawker was alone, outnumbered, flying an obsolete aircraft that was slower both on the flat and climbing, miles behind enemy lines, with a wind pushing him deeper to the east. It was not really Richthofen who killed Hawker but the horse-riding half wits in command who devised this master strategy.
(Picture copyright Guttman, 2009, Osprey, Pusher Aces of World War 1 - a very good book, by the way.)



















More essential sustenance while painting struts on a 1:144 model biplane.

Skytrex 1:144 Kits - Assembled

OK, I have assembled the Skytrex Triplanes and Pushers more or less as intentended. I used brass rods on the DH2s as recommended by Stephen Blease. I strongly recommend that you read Stephen's build suggesions (see Stephen's comments at the bottom of my Skytrex posts. I half used them and wished I had followed his advice unreservedly. You will need blue tack, epoxy resin & fine brass rod. The planes are mounted on Wings of War bases. I have put a WoW Camel in the pic for comparison.



I mounted the model by cutting the lug of a short Battle Fleet Gothic flyer stand, reversing it and cementing it to the bottom of the model in the centre of gravity. It then fits straight on top of a WoW stand.

Skytrex WWI White Metal Plane Kits 1:144

I have started assembling the Skytrex planes. Superglue is of limited value because (i) you need to repostion all those struts and superglue drys too quickly, and (ii) it does not provide enough support for the small contact points. I have therefore tried Araldite quick drying epoxy resin with better results. It is slow and messy but it does the job.







Essential tool when assembling white metal 1:144 triplanes and pushers.

Skytrex Red Eagle WWI Planes

I bought some Red Eagle WWI planes from the Skytrex site (see sidebar), a couple of DH2s and a couple of Sopwith Triplanes. cards for both these aircraft are available from Wings of War, but not the models.

Red Eagle planes are supposed to be a living nightmare to assemble: I will let you know in a couple of days. One trick, apparently is to use thin copper tube, rather than the provided white metal struts.

The models are a bit rough and ready and will need cleaning up but are only £4 a time. Skytrex have a wide range, including heavy bombers.

When assembled, they should look like the pics below.

John