Morane Type N Reborn
Building the New Tool Eduard Morane N in 1/48 Scale
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History
In an era when biplane types were generally
considered the norm, the aircraft designed by Raymond Saulnier and Leon
Morane were monoplane types that enjoyed considerable success prior to
the outbreak of the Great War and during its early years. Popular participants
in the pre-war Air Salons and cross-country air races of the time included
the company's Types G, H, and the parasol type L, all monoplanes. The
Type N was developed just in time for the air meet at Aspern, Vienna in
July 1914.
 Following
the outbreak of WWI, Morane Saulnier aircraft were among the very first
to be armed with forward firing machine gun weapons. The problem of firing
a machine gun through the whirling disc of a propeller was addressed in
a number of ways, the most famous of which was the use of a synchronizer
as per the Fokker Eindeckers. In fact, Raymond Saulnier designed and patented
a gun synchronizing mechanism as early as April 1914, but this failed
to work chiefly because the gun he used was a Hotchkiss machine gun, which
was a gas-operated weapon. The long cyclic action (the time between when
the trigger is pulled to when the round fires) made synchronization impossible
for this type of weapon. This was overcome by installing steel wedges
to the rear face of the propeller to deflect errant machine gun bullets.
While seemingly crude, this worked well enough for the time being, at
least.
The Morane Saulnier Type N was used by
France and also by the British Royal Flying Corps where it earned the
nickname "Bullet". The type saw service on the Western Front
during the grim battles of 1915 and 1916. The RFC version was equipped
with a Lewis gun, another gas-operated weapon.
Construction
 A
review of the kit contents can be found in the First
Look Preview by Matt Bittner in the November 2004 issue of Internet
Modeler. This is the Non-Profipack version (or "Eduard Lite"
as some like to call them), and is an all new kit, not a reissue of the
1995 original. Construction started with the cockpit, and like Matt, I
shall defer any references to its accuracy. All the cockpit parts were
prepared by prepainting as many of the components as possible before assembly.
A nice touch is the inclusion of instruments along with decals for the
dial faces. The assembled instruments are quite convincing. The interior
framework was painted light gray, the floor given a wood finish, and the
fabric areas were painted Tamiya XF-57 Buff. Brass instrument cases and
the handpump were colored with Citadel Brazen Brass, while aluminum areas
were painted Citadel Chainmail. Photoetched seatbelts were added from
Eduard set 48-318, French WWI Seatbelts. All was given a light wash of
thinned Raw Umber enamel.
 The
completed cockpit structure is a tidy assembly that fits very snugly between
the fuselage halves. A little trimming was necessary to get a good fit.
Once together, the completed cockpit really looks convincing. At this
point, I also added the front cockpit coaming, minus the gun installation,
as the instructions would have you install this much later. The perforated
metal framework along the cockpit opening visible in photos was simulated
by drilling rows of small holes with a no.79 twist drill. All joints were
cleaned up with some light sanding and a few applications of Gunze Mr.
Surfacer 500 in a few locations. The engine was dry fitted at this stage
so that the completed engine could be installed from the front later on,
instead of being sandwiched between the fuselage halves as called for
in the instructions. Fit of the excellent engine was very tight, the cowl
actually fouling the cylinder heads enough to prevent it turning. The
cylinders and the inside surface of the cowling was sanded to allow free
rotation of the engine when in place. The engine was painted with a mixture
of steel and copper shades, and set aside to be installed later. The propeller
with its huge spinner was assembled, with a length of stretched sprue
added between the rear hub and the deflector plates to represent the radius
rods found on the original.
 The
wings are installed with the help of a pair of fairly large locating pins
on each side at the roots. The geometry of the wing joint requires that
special care be taken so that the wing panels are level and that the leading
edge is square when viewed from above. A fairly unsightly gap resulted
at the roots, which was filled with a little Squadron White Putty, blended
in with a cotton bud soaked in Cutex nail polish remover. This results
in a smooth clean joint that still indicates separate panels.
Exterior Finish and Markings
In preparation for painting, the remaining parts were removed from the
sprue and cleaned up as required, which generally only meant a few strokes
with a sanding stick here and there to remove mould seam lines. Many of
the small parts are very delicate, especially the braces for the Hotchkiss
machine gun. Another part that requires special care is the horizontal
tailplane assembly, which is connected with a very thin shaft of plastic.
It would be worthwhile to improve this by removing this shaft and replacing
it with brass rod or some other, stronger material. The tailplane as it
is remains very fragile, and on several occasions nearly broke off, despite
very careful handling.
 The
kit comes with a choice of markings for two very early production Morane
N's, a black-trimmed machine bearing the tail code MS 393 (there is a
photo of this aircraft on p.10 in the Datafile), and a red-trimmed MS
394. I chose to do the black adorned version.
The color scheme is simple enough, doped
linen fabric surfaces with black metal panels and fittings. For the shade
of doped linen I referred to the excellent article by Harry Woodman in
Windsock magazine Vol. 11, No. 5, "Was There Life Before the Plastic
Kit?" In this article Mr. Woodman states "clear doped did not
always mean a bright cream color", and contends that the shade of
fabric varied greatly, from a pale brown (fawn) color to greyish shades.
Armed with this information, I chose Tamiya Buff XF-57 for the fabric
surfaces (which happens to be the same color as the plastic!). Examination
of photos shows that this finish was fairly opaque on these aircraft,
so I chose not to do any preshading of ribs and stringers. The wing and
fuselage assembly as well as the horizontal and vertical tail were sprayed
this color.
 Once
this coat of Tamiya Buff was dry, the black metal panels were masked off
with Tamiya tape and sprayed Testors Acryl Flat Black. Express masks for
the purpose are supplied in the kit, which were used to mask the tailplanes
to paint the trim edging, which worked very well. All the struttery was
painted with a coat of black at this time as well, as were the wheels.
Paint chipping, which apparently resulted from exposure to castor oil
in this case, was simulated with a Berol Prismacolor silver pencil crayon.
Eduard actually provides paint chip decals on the sheet for this purpose,
but I chose not to use them. The MS logo on the sides of the cowling are
very well done in relief which were picked out by careful drybrushing
with brass acrylic. The structure in the tailplanes was indicated by drawing
thin lines along the ribs and spacers with a Derwent Burnt Sienna water
color pencil. Everything was then given several light coats of Future
to provide a glossy surface for decals.
 The
decals went on with no trouble whatsoever, being very thin and in register.
Only a little setting solution was required around the edges of the rudder
tricolour to get them to conform. My only question is about the shade
of blue used, I suspect it should be a paler shade. Another light coat
of Future was applied to seal the decals.
Final Assembly and Rigging
The struts and braces were attached to the airframe in preparation for
rigging, and this is where the first problems arose. The lower rear "A"
frame parts B3/B4 has locating pins that do not fit the holes provided
and are at the wrong angle. These are best removed entirely. The landing
gear assembly fits and assembles well enough, but the center "V"
strut part B15 is too short by several millimetres, and was replaced with
lengths of Pend Oreille styrene strut stock. The illustrations in the
instructions indicate that the center of the axle is angled upwards to
meet this V strut, but this is incorrect, based on photos of the real
airplanes.
 The
tail skid assembly turned into another problem area. The parts that make
the frame for the tailskid mount B13/B14 are too short, fouling the bottom
of the rudder. A replacement assembly was fabricated with stretched sprue.
The instructions would have you install the tailskid with the end inserted
into a hole provided, but this is incorrect. The end of the tailskid is
supported by a pair of bungee shock cords that enter the fuselage between
the skid struts. This was fabricated by twisting fine copper armature
wire to represent the bungee chord, which was painted a pale brown color.
The tailskid itself was given a wood-like finish with a few strokes of
Burnt Sienna enamel.
 Rigging
was accomplished with heat stretched sprue, painted Citadel Boltgun Metal
by running the stretched sprue between my fingers wet with paint. A pair
of dividers was used to measure the lengths, and each was attached with
white carpenter's glue. Any slack lines were tightened with a glowing
matchstick held close by. Turnbuckles were simulated in appropriate locations
with thick Testors PLA Gold enamel paint from the small square bottle,
applied with a small brush. A fitting had to be fabricated out of styrene
stock and installed between the V strut on the landing gear to accept
rigging as per photos. The small pulley on a cable on the rear of the
upper mast was simulated by twisting thin copper wire around a pin, then
filling the loop with paint, to which the upper control cables were attached.
The tyres were painted light grey with a touch of red to give a pinkish
shade. Weathering was accomplished with very light washes of thinned Testors
Model Master Raw Umber enamel. The engine and propeller were inserted
and the model was complete.
 The
figure of the happy Aviateur comes from the Eduard Nieuport 11 kit, painted
with acrylics and highlighted/weathered with oils. The base was made from
a left-over trophy plaque from our latest local model contest (Hope they
don't find out!), decorated with static grass and various earthy materials.
Conclusion
Notwithstanding the few problems
encountered above, the kit assembles easily and captures the look of the
original. While I never had the good fortune to build Eduard's first kit
back in the 90's, I am sure this one would be quite a bit easier. The
short struts and the misleading instructions could cause problems for
some builders. It appears the Profipack version will supply additional
detail parts as well as markings for several RFC versions. Dimensions
and overall shape and outline compare favourably to Ian Stair's drawings
in Windsock Datafile 58.
Recommended for modelers with some experience.
 Eduard
is planning a retool of at least one other of their classic firsts, the
ever popular Fokker E.III Eindecker. The future is bright indeed for WWI
aircraft modelers!
Special thanks to Eduard for supplying
the model, and to Matt Bittner for allowing me the chance to build this
kit. Also thanks to the good folks on the WWI
Modeler's Forum for their happily shared knowledge and inspiration.
References and Further Reading
 Morane-Saulnier
Types N, I, V. By J.M. Bruce. Windsock Datafile 58, Albatros Productions,
1996.
"The Mother of Invention: The Morane Saulnier 'Bullets' and Their
Armament", Harry Woodman, Windsock Magazine Vol.11, No.5, Oct. 1995.
"Was There Life Before the Plastic Kit?", Harry Woodman, Windsock
Magazine Vol.11, No.5, Oct. 1995.
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