Pro Resin 1/72nd Loenings (Wright-Martin M-8, M-8-1 and LS-1) By Matt Bittner

History

Upon receiving these kits, I immediately started into research. I knew little to nothing about them, so I had to figure out their place in history.

Grover Loening was the first person in the US to earn a degree in aeronautical engineering from Columbia University in 1910. After a stint with the Wright Brothers, he left in 1917 to form his own company. At that time he bid on an Army contract for a two-seat pursuit monoplane, which resulted in the M-8 series. The prototype M-8 was too late to see action in World War I, so the Army cancelled the contract. The M-8 was the first aircraft to use rigid strut bracing which Loening patented. It was also the first aircraft in the US military that was a monoplane.

Even though the initial contract was cancelled, the US Navy decided it was a formidable aircraft after all, and re-ordered the M-8s post-war (including the float-plane (LS-1) version). In addition, the Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF) also built the Loening M-8 series under contract.

There appears to be a little bit of confusion as far as the type nomenclature goes. According to AeroFiles Hangar, the M-8 was built by Wright-Martin, exactly as the Pro Resin boxtop shows. However, from there it becomes confusing. There was an M-8-0, but there was only one built in 1918. Maybe an offshoot of the prototype? Plus, there were a number of M-80s built by Loening. This site lists the next "version" as being the M-81, and not the M-8-1. There were a number of M-81s built by Loening, as well as the Naval Aircraft Factory. These documents also show that the standard nomenclature for the seaplane version was M-81S and lists only one LS-1 as being in existence.

However, take that all as you want. Regardless of what could be the proper nomenclature for these machines, these models are a thing of beauty.

The Kit

The majority of the parts in all three kits are the same. Each kit comes with the same photoetch, the same "smaller" parts and the same plastic-injected guns. The M-8-1 and LS-1 have the same fuselage and wings while the M-8 comes with different wings, fuselage and horizontal tail. The LS-1 comes with the floats, struts for the floats and the ventral fin. All resin parts are very well cast with some very minor airholes. The photoetch is top notch (and includes the typical clear acetate instrument piece) and the plastic injected guns are some of the best ever produced.

Construction actually starts with assembling the engine. I'm trying to track down a photo or three of the Hispano-Suiza 300hp engine as installed in the Loenings. There appears to be more coverage of the cylinder heads than normal, but it's difficult to tell in the very few images I have seen. After the engine is assembled and put aside then construction continues with adding the photoetch seat belts to the seats and then the seats, photoetch rudder pedals and control stick to the floor.

Now the major construction can begin with first adding the cockpit floor assembly to one of the fuselage halves then gluing the fuselage halves together. I'll talk about cockpit colors in the section below on colors. Once the fuselage is assembled then the wing, horizontal and vertical tail, along with some of the smaller struts can be added. However, I would leave off the struts until painting is finished. Once painting is finished, though, then you can finish up the model with the struts, as well as rigging. Unfortunately one thing left off the instructions was any type of rigging diagram, so tracking down images of the real aircraft is a must to rig.

Colors

In looking at images of the post-war built machines, I started to question the color information that Pro Resin provides with their kits. Pro Resin would have you finish all three kits in a Clear Doped Linen (CDL)-type scheme. However, looking at the images shows me something else entirely.

The first prototype machine was definitely CDL and it's extremely obvious from the image I have seen. This is the one machine that was first flown before World War I ended. However, the other, post-war machines are the ones in question.

The Squadron/Signal book Navy Air Colors, United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Aircraft Camouflage and Markings, Vol. 1 1911-1945, lists the color standards as clear dope 1911-1915; some aircraft (Curtiss, Burgess) from 1916 on had an opaque, pigmented dope which was specified as "Yellow" but varied from cream to yellow; mid-1917 there was a specification for "English Khaki-Gray"; and in 1918, they finally settled on "Naval Gray" as a standard.

But Volume 1 (1911 - 1939) of John Elliot's Masterwork The Official Monogram U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Aircraft Color Guide does not list "Naval Gray" as a color standard but does list "Aircraft Gray" as a color standard, noting that it is "No. 16473 under Federal Spec 595a, 8.8BG 6.9/0.6 in the Munsell scheme, No. 1645 under Federal Specification TT-C-595, No. 512 under ANA Bulletin 166, 0.4PB6.82/o.9 under the Munsell Navy Standard (serial 78-B, dated01 Dec 1933, and no. 12 under 3-1 Old." (The previous is taken from Elliot's chart on pages 190 - 191 of Volume 1 . There is a color chip for Aircraft Gray on page 193 of the text.)

I'm leaning toward the gray for one primary reason. There's an image of the prototype that shows it's obviously CDL with possibly a black (or at least "dark") nose. However, there is also an image of a post-war machine in flight, and there is no "see through effect", evident on CDL machines at all, which is why I'm leaning toward gray overall. At the very least it's painted, and not left CDL.

What does this mean for the cockpit colors? Practically anything. The Ardpol kit of the Aeromarine 39B calls for the cockpit to be painted "interior green". However, as we have no documentation for the interior of the Loenings, my guess is the same gray as would be applied to the exterior, so that's the way I'm leaning right now (unless some other reference information comes my way - soon).

Conclusion

All three of these kits are beauties. Pro Resin is one of the finest 1/72nd resin aircraft producers around and these models show the level of quality they can achieve. I have recently started on the M-81 (M-8-1) and there are very few problems to overcome with the build. Hopefully I'll have it done soon.

These kits are highly recommended and my thanks to Pro Resin for supplying them for review.