*(103-) SE-5 SCOUT,1956
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AURORA KIT NO.103-69-BRITISH SE-5 SCOUT
AURORA released their SE5 as part of the first Series B WWI set, one of two British fighters in the initial group and which has been copied and distributed by over two dozen manufacturers over the past seven decades and continues to this day! Our genuine first edition contains 36 parts that present a basically good-looking 1:46 scale model of an SE5A with some necessary amendments and detail additions.The content is in good condition with minor wear and tear on the colourful box-all parts are mint, and have been carefully checked. Priced at 69 cents in 1956, the kit proved extremely popular at the time and it has a very long pedigree culminating in Monogram and Revell re-issues in the late 1980s with reworked moulds and all-new decal options. These old Aurora kits were relatively easy to build by young modellers back in the day and pioneering dual-colour plastic kept painting to the barest minimum.
JAMES Pettit Cox (1910-1993) was one of Aurora's most prolific box top artists,his first commission being the P.40 Flying Tiger, the company's first original kit released in 1953. As well as the paintings, Jim was responsible for most all of Aurora's early assembly diagrams for many of the aircraft kits. His most memorable illustration was the burning Fokker D-7 and pilot that remained continually in use until 1976 when Aurora switched to model photos. We will never know why Cox rendered yellow Camels or silver SE5s but perhaps Hells Angels with its 'good guy' white-painted Allied fighters was the inspiration? Our example of the British SE-5 Scout comes in initial 1956 box design with its ornate 'Famous Fighters' sunburst logo. Containing 36 parts in olive and green plastic, most parts are larger than 1:48-more like 1:46-but not all... Comparing this vintage model with current references reveals that the outlines of both wings are close enough and feature the correct dihedral. The model's 6.7/8 ins.spans equate to approx. 1:46, as do the horizontal tail sections, but they can all be cut down to size. Fuselage is over-long although the integrally-moulded fin/rudder and tailskid fairing are virtually true 1:48 with only minimal re-shaping necessary.Nose profile is more akin to the earlier SE5 design-as per the box imprint, but the radiator detail is untypical of that version. Nevertheless,there's a fairly convincing Hispano Suiza motor up front with separate manifold blocks and exhausts in black, along with a passable Lewis atop its Foster mount and a four-bladed airscrew. Cockpit is filled by a pilot;seat and dashboard but you do get a ground base with kneeling mechanic ready for some 'spannering'.All the kit parts are mint and bagged up for extra protection.Decals are past their prime however which is usually the case with kits over 70 years old. Representative of Captain James McCudden's famous A48791,they bear black unit markings rather than white and roundels carry thin yellow outlines.You'll need to remove all the embossed markings first though...
With a larger fin and rudder, plastic card extensions to the nose panels and some refinements elsewhere, a creditable SE5A can emerge-albeit slightly larger than advertised.Aurora's SE5 has the distinction of being the most widely-available of all their WWI kits with two illegal copies and sold in one form or another by over 25 different international manufacturers!
*SEs surveyed: Also available, Jack Bruce's 1993 RAF SE5a WINDSOCK Datafile Special and one of our fastest sellers: 44 pages packed full of archive photos;1:48 scale drawings;over a dozen authentic colour profiles with plan views,plus colour and mono close-up images of cockpit,engine and airframe details. Multiple SE5A colour profiles were also published in WS Vol. 29, Nos. 4 and 5 in the WWI WarPaint series. Then there's Jack's Profile No.1 on the SE5A published in 1965-all four titles shown are in stock-please see links below...
