Answer 1:33 Morane Saulnier L

**Ron0909** · #1 07-07-2010, 06:36 PM

Hi Guys

As usual I've bitten off more than I can chew and have another kit on the go. One of these days I need to finish a couple of them! The Fokker E.III competition had me looking through my collection at Answer's Morane Saulnier 'L' designed by Maciej Herbut. Like the Fokker it's a boxy monoplane that relies upon wing warping. The big difference between them is that the MS has a parasol wing configuration whereas the E.III's wings are attached to the sides of the fuselage. The MS is a 2 seater with a rear firing machine gun in place of the Fokker's forward facing synchronized gun. What amazed me the most about this model is how clean it looked.
Construction is relatively straight forward with the fuelage mainly made up of laminated skins. Formers are almost non existent however the methods used keep this one nice and square. I made a conscious decision to prep some of the rigging prior to assembly instead of my usual stunt of forgetting 'til the end

Rigging is silvered 8 lb monofilament silvered with a silver Sharpie. The cowling was made in almost the same way as the Fokker E.III model but with less pieces. I hand brushed the surface with some cheap dollar store black acrylic. It's not as nice as it could be but I hadn't any spray around the house. I found the method that MS used to secure the cowling pretty neat as it is just a steel bar running across the bottom. Anyways...here's some pics with more to hopefully come (if I'm not distracted again

)

**B-Manic** · #2 07-07-2010, 06:42 PM

That is a nice early monoplane. Looks like it has significantly more wing rigging than the E.III. I've never built a parasol wing model so this will be educational.

**wag** · #3 07-07-2010, 06:47 PM

I was looking at this one at papermodelstore a few weeks ago. Is there more than one livery in the kit? I notice the box art doesn't match the fuselage.
Wayne

**Don Boose** · #4 07-07-2010, 06:54 PM

That's a beautiful model of a historic airplane, Ron. This should be a very interesting and instructive thread (and visually appealing, if the first batch of build photos are anything to go by).

Don

**Ron0909** · #5 07-07-2010, 07:04 PM

Thanks guys. This should prove to be fun if I actually finish it! Wayne, you're right. There are 2 liveries available. I have yet to discern what the true differences are. The one on the cover looks to be an armed military version while the one that I chose doesn't seem to be armed although I'm not positive. I can still change it up as it would be just a matter of gluing new skins on the sides. Unfortunately, unless one scans the kit prior to building, there are only enough parts to build one but not both. If anyone has access to this kit and can read Polish, would you mind letting us know what the true differences are?

Ron

**EricGoedkoop** · #6 07-07-2010, 07:54 PM

One of my all time favorites!

The similarity to the Fokker E.III is no coincidence. The MoS L was derived from a pre-war parasol configuration of the Mos G; a machine of this type was displayed at the 1913 Paris Salon along with a standard shoulder-wing G and a single-seater patterned after Garros' cross-Mediterranean machine. The original parasol was developed to give the pilot and passenger an unobstructed downward view, and was equipped with a camera in the rear cockpit. The Fokker eindekkers trace their lineage back to a Morane-Saulnier G or H (can't remember which, although the distinction between the two is notoriously hazy) purchased by Anthony Fokker before the war and copied with some modifications. Fokker substituted a welded steel fuselage frame for the MoS' wooden one, altered the undercarriage and lower pylon a bit and eventually adopted the trademark comma-shaped rudder, but for all intents and purposes his M.5 was a Morane-Saulnier. The E-series followed.

I've always been fascinated by the MoS / Fokker / Pfalz family tree of designs. Interestingly enough, Fokker also developed a parasol version of the basic layout, the M.6. Whether this was an independent notion or "inspired" by the MoS L is of course open to debate.

Quote:

If anyone has access to this kit and can read Polish, would you mind letting us know what the true differences are?

3253 as pictured on the kit cover was a RNAS machine, purchased from the French. Note the British roundels on the fuselage sides; these were added to the already-existing French cockades on the wings. This particular aircraft was flown by a Flt. Sub-Lt. R. Warneford, who gained some notoriety (and a V.C.) for becoming the first to destroy a Zeppelin. He bombed it from his MoS L.

**Ron0909** · #7 07-07-2010, 08:20 PM

Eric,

Thank you for all that information! I wondered about the reversed cockades and was praying that it wasn't a design flaw. The tail remains the same other than the lettering and numbering for both versions. I guess red, white and blue in vertical stripes worked for both

When I originally looked at this kit I instantly thought of your work for no other reason than how clean the lines were.
Thanks again Eric!

Ron