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SPIN Models 1/48 Resin Morane-Saulnier A.I

By Bob Pearson

Introduction

The French firm of Morane-Saunier had made their name building monoplanes, indeed some of their prewar designs were licensed to the German company Pfalz. The first aircraft to have a machine gun mounted to fire through the airscrew was a Morane L flown by Roland Garros. The MoS monoplanes were developed in various types, the most well-known of which was the two seat parasol Type 'L', and the single-seat Type 'N'. By 1917 these designs had been superceded by biplanes from other manufacturers, but in the summer of 1917 a new MoS monoplane took to the skies. This was a parasol design with one or two fixed forward firing machine guns and a 150hp Monosoupape engine. the single gun design was refered to as the MoS27C.1 and the two gun as the MoS29C.1.

The MoS A.I was superior to other designs also under test using the same engine, and despite the fact that over 1000 were built, only three escadrilles were equipped with the type, and it was withdrawn from frontline service by the end of May 1918 (It only entered service in January).

The Kit

SPIN Models has recently released a resin kit of the MoS A.I. As is common with their other kits it is cast in tan resin and will require some cleanup of the parts. The fuselage is cast in separate halves and includes stringer detail inside of the cockpit. The cockpit walls are fairly thin, so there should be no need to replace this detail when detailing the interior. The single wing is well cast, with subtle representations of the ribs and leading edge riblets. In the scan it looks like the wing is cracked, this is just a miscolour in the resin. All flying surfaces are quite thin.

Other details comprise: engine, cowl, wheels, seat, control column, struts, two Vickers guns, propellor. All look to be of the standard that we have seen in previous SPIN kits and with careful cleanup will be quite nice.

Decals are provided for the two examples seen on the Mini-Datafile of the type and there are also b/w drawings showing their placement as well as the camouflage pattern worn. there is no photoetch included. the only instructions are a sheet showing three exploded views of the fuselage, cockpit and wings/tail to fuselage.

Conclusion

A nice looking kit that I would have to recommend to someone with a little experience with resin kits and/or biplanes as the struts for the parasol wing looks to be a fun job to attach. Peerhaps replacing the kits resin struts with brass Strutz or bamboo is in order.

My thanks to Lubos Vinar of HOBBYSHOP.CZ for the review sample