Heavy fighter escorts reporting for duty!

The Letord 2 and the Caudron R.11 are completed!

These both painted up nicely. Decals were from Dom's Decals and a few odds and ends from the decal box (the numbers were Woodland Scenics decals).

A box with the escorts in front and back.

The bomber box with the escorts shifted to the flanks. 

Caudron G.6 on a bomb run, as the fokker D.VI closes in. 

The Letord 2 turns as the D.VI hurtles past into the rear guns view. 

The Letord from the front, showing off the twin MG's in the nose and the prominent radiators over each engine.

The R.11 and the D.VI get close up and personal.

You can see the gunners clearly in this image. The gunners are separate items for this model. 

French firepower almost ready to take flight

Work on the R.11 and Letord 2 models discussed in a previous post is almost complete. All that is left is the final gloss and matt finish coats and adding a magnet for basing the models.

First up, the Letord 2. A nice, mid-war twin engine, three seater that packs a punch.

And of course, the Caudron R.11 "Heavy Fighter". Here's something that you see twenty years later in similar form in things like the Me110, the Potez 630,the Russian Pe-2 culminating in the P-61. But in the Great War, we're still hammering out the details and the concept.

The Caudron R.11 was envisioned as a robust recon bombing aircraft with enough armament that it could defend itself from attacking fighters. The two twin machine gun mounts gave it quite an effective punch. A mediocre bomber (The BR-14 was far superior) The R.11 found a role as a 'battle plane' serving as an escort to the bomber groups. Not a good dog fighter, but a solid powerful escort that could keep up with the bombers all the way to the target and back. In place of the bombs, a fifth machine gun was added that fired into the lower rear sector, covering the 'blind spot' the other guns could not reach. 

Two French Hens...

Painting on the two recent Shapeways models is underway. The two models are the Caudron R.11 haevy escort fighter and the Letord light bomber / recon kite. Both planes shall be painted in the French four color camouflage used to the end of the war.  My friend Scott had experience painting a pair of Salmson's using this pattern and recommended the following color palette;

Folk Art Forest Moss -
Vallejo Reflective Green
Vallejo Camo Orange Ochre
Game Color Charred Brown
Vallejo Black
Undersides: Folk Art Lemonade


I made one small tweak to accommodate paint that I had on hand;

Folk Art Forest Moss -
Vallejo Reflective Green
Vallejo Camo Orange Ochre
Vallejo Flat Brown
Vallejo Black
Undersides: Folk Art Lemona

Here's a good overview of the R.11. It's a nice clean casting and the repeated
coasts of gloss coat have filled the surface nicely.

View from the starboard quarter. 

view from the port quarter.

The Letord is a similar project, but for variety, I've reversed the color pattern on the wings.

In this view the flat brown has been painted on the rear fuselage. Compare this to the prior photo. 

The Letord had prominent radiators and engine struts. Combined with the negative stagger on the wings and you've got a fairly unique airplane! 

Those magnificent men in their (heavy) flying machines - The Letord and R.11 hit the work bench

Two new arrivals on the table, both twin engine aircraft.

The Letord is a French observation/bomber introduced in early 1917 and used throughout the war. This particular model is armed to the teeth with each observer having a pair of machine guns in a flexible ring mount. With this much firepower, the Albatross might find that this prey has fangs.

The Letord after surface preparation and  a primer coat of generic tan. 

Nice modelling of the wing and fuselage ribbing.

Our other arrival is a Caudron R.11 heavy escort fighter. More of a late war aircraft, the R.11 mounts an impressive five machineguns including one the fires to the rear and down through the bottom of the plane. Typically used as an escort to the BR.14 bombers. It may not be agile, but it packs a wallop!

The R.11 has nice big, streamlined engine nacelles. 

The R.11 evolved from the G.6 bomber design (you can see it in the back)

And now in the front. The R.11 is larger than the G.6

The R.11 on the left and the Letord on the right. The G.6 is stuck in the middle.

It's an all Caudron mission. Two G.6 escorted by the R.11.