Scale aviation modeller international

doesn’t have mudguards on the

wheels. I got one to bend OK, but I

couldn’t get the other to match.

But I am getting ahead of

myself. Before the fuselage and

engine nacelles can be fixed to

the bottom wing there is quite a

lot of photo-etch that needs to be

added first, starting with a steel

plate under each nacelle. These

need quite a tight curve bent into

them so they fit around the leading

edge of the wing, I managed

this with one, but the second I

replaced with thin paper using

the etched steel as a template,

and only with a close inspection

can you tell the difference.

At the top and bottom of each

strut there is an etched steel rigging

attachment point, which requires

very careful bending and handling

to avoid breakages (how do I

know that!) Next came the fitting

of the eight interplane struts,

a task made a lot easier by the

excellent fit of parts and the lack of

stagger on the Caudron’s wings.

Before fitting the top wing you

will need to glue all of the rigging

attachments to its underside. In

hindsight it would have perhaps

been better to glue these to the

top of each strut and attend to the

multitude of rigging wires at this

stage; again ask me how I know!

It was at this point that I

decided to change my mind from

my initial choice of colour scheme.

Four are included in the kit and

all are the same basic colours, so

it was not too much of an issue.

COLOUR SCHEMES

All of the schemes supplied in

the kit are for French aircraft in

clear doped linen with nacelles

and cowlings painted to match:

• Caudron G.IV from Escadrille
  C.66. An option is given for either
  red or black chequer pattern
  on the cowl and wheels.


• Caudron G.IV C.1720 of Escadrille
  C.202. This example has a red
  devil on the nose, and is the
  scheme in which the example
  in Paris air museum has
  been restored to emulate.


• Caudron G.IV from Escadrille
  C.11, February 1917. This
  example has the ”paper” bird
  motif on the nose in red.


• Caudron G.IV C.1704 of
  Escadrille C.487, May 1918.

This example features the

squadron badge on the nose.

Initially I had chosen Option B, with

the red devil on the nose, but after

some of the issues I had with folding

the photo-etched steel, I couldn’t

face folding the gun mounting. So,

in the end I changed my mind and

opted for Option D, an unarmed

example with its squadron badge

on the front of the cockpit nacelle.

The decals have good colour

density and went on the flat

surfaces with no issues. I found that

to get the roundels on the wings to

settle I had to use a lot of Micro-

Sol, and when they had dried I had

to use a scalpel to slit the bubbles

around the wing ribs and apply

more Micro-Sol. This was repeated

until I was happy with them.

26 • SEPTEMBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

022-29-FEAT-Caudron-0918.indd 26 16/08/2018 17:13