1/48 Eduard Morane-Saulnier Type N

Gallery Article by Mike Muth

 

      

Raymond Saulnier and Leon Morane were boyhood friends who were among the early pioneers in French aviation. Their Type N was a shoulder wing monoplane powered by a 80 hp Le Rhone rotary engine. The rotary engine with attached propeller would spin around a fixed pole, creating a lot of torque. Ailerons were not used on the Morane; instead a wing warping technique was used. The famous pre-war French pilot, Roland Garros flew a Morane-Saulnier L to score 3 victories before shooting off his propeller and crashing behind German lines. While there were some synchronization systems invented, none of the combatant nations were using them. Garros had steel wedges attached to his propeller on the L to deflect the bullets fired from his Hotchkiss machinegun. This was essentially the same system used on the N. The N was a stop gap measure until the better Nieuport and SPAD airplanes were introduced. The Royal Flying Corps and the Russian Air Service also flew the N.

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Eduard produced 2 1/48 versions of the N. The first was one of its earlier kits and is best described as limited run. With more advanced tooling it re-did the kit in 2004 and produced an excellent product. Sadly, the kit is now out of production. I had previously built a French N and decided to add an RFC version to my collection. The kit goes together without any serious fit issues, except for the tailskid. I could not get it to fit properly either time. The tailplane is very fragile with no attachment points. I did a better job of attaching it on the RFC version. The cockpit is fairly detailed for a WW I airplane and goes together easily. I used some of the pe that Eduard provided in the kit, but not a lot. All in all a nice kit and an easy build. 

Rigging really makes this airplane stand out. I used silver thread attached with ca glue for the RFC version and black thread for the French. No real reason for the different color thread other than whimsy. The French painted the metal cowling on their Ns black while the RFC painted it red. I am not a big one for weathering, but just about all of the Ns show heavy paint stripping on the cowling due to the castor oil used to lubricate the Le Rhone. I tried a little weather on the French N but decided to forgo it on the RFC version. Eduard does provide some silver "weathering" decals in the Profi-pack version. The clear doped linen was achieved using Model Master Radome on the RFC kit and Ivory on the French. The RFC N was flown by Lt. B.M Wainwright of 60 Squadron before it fell behind German lines. It appeared to have its elevators painted in a dark color. I chose Model Master French Chestnut, but who knows when it comes to many WW I color choices. The French version was chosen from Eduard's decal sheet without any info on pilot or Escadrille.

Mike Muth

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Photos and text © by Mike Muth