1:48 MERIT SE-5A SCOUT (4735)
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SILVER SCOUT!
ANOTHER Aurora clone, the Merit S.E.5A-SCOUT has been subject od more copies and more re-issues from many manufacturesr down the years than any other WWI kit subject-and it still goes on. Quite why is a bafflement but we have several examples available and this 1956 Merit version is mint and contains 30 parts. Moulded in pale green , it is cleanly moulded with barely any flash. Outlines of wings and tailplane halves are good but the fuselage is overlong, near to 1:46 scale,although the integraly-moulded fin and rudder are to scale. No rib detail under wing or tail surfaces, these easily suggested by contrasting decal tapes over a CDL finish.Nose contours are reminiscent of the earlier SE5 but with a little ingenuity and plastic card either version could be built from the kit with relative ease. Decals provide Aurora's mixed take on McCudden's No.6 and are showing their age. So we've included a more recent replacement from a 2002 Revell/Monogram re-issue with RAF and USAS markings.
THIS popular version of the SE5a-or is it an SE5?-was an almost carbon-copy of Aurora's Kit No.103 and comprises 30 parts in a light pea green plastic.Mould trees were redesigned to encompass the original's separate black 'accessories' and the interplane struts linked by tie-bars to ease into upper wing slots. It's a shame Merit did not take things a little further and remove the original's embossed decal positions, compounding the felony by applying their own trademark inscriptions on the inner wheel surfaces-talk about adding insult to injury! No ground base,no mechanic and no nameplate of course-and no cement in our kit either. Although most main components are akin to 1:46 scale,the fin/rudder and tailskid fairing are true 1:48 which gives the completed model a rather curious aspect.An upward-sloping cooling louvre panel and corresponding shallow radiator are indicative of the earlier SE5, corrected by Aurora in their 1976 reissue, but Merit, Marusan and all the myriad boxings they spawned over following years remained the same. Decals are virtually identical to Aurora's with serial A4891 for Major James McCudden's aircraft '6' of No.56 Squadron RFC. Roundels again bear yellow surrounds whilst all black markings, except the lower wing numeral, should be white,but then they wouldn't have stood out on the silver-painted aircraft depicted by Aurora's Jim Cox and echoed on Merit's box...
Instruction leaflet offers a brief history together with concise,basically accurate painting notes.Full specifications are quoted and the excellent assembly sketches include the rigging layouts so sadly lacking in Aurora's kits.Apart from the yellowing decal sheet,all plastic parts are in prime order, most still held on oversize runners and individually bagged as the original cellophane and paper wrap has not survived.
EXTRAS: In view of the decal sheet's condition we have included a 2002-dated replacement from Revell's re-issue that adopted the highly improved moulds developed by Monogram. The sheet provides markings for two examples: E1295, a Viper-engined aircraft of No.84 Squadron RAF as flown by Major 'Mick' Mannock and F8008 of the 85th Aero Squadron, USAS,circa late 1918.An instrument panel and four unconvincing triangular inspection panels also feature. Nevertheless, the decals are of high quality with sharp printing and in their correct colours.
