Biggles Learns to Fly

Aircraft name: Sopwith Pup 

Kit: Airfix

Notes: This is Biggles' Pup from the latter half of the book. This has to be the best vintage Airfix kit. It was a delight to put together and now I want more! Built pretty much straight out of the box (EZ line rigging) with generic RFC scheme and fictitious serial number B6615 (get it?....)

Aircraft name: Bristol Fighter (F2B)

Kit: Roden

Notes: The "Brisfit" flown by Biggles and Mark Way in 169 Squadron. I based the scheme on generic Western Front F2Bs. Built as part of the Biggles Forum WW1 group build. Pig of a thing - the fit of the engine and cowling gave me all sorts of headaches. Not one of Roden's finest and I was glad to see the back of it. 

All stories (post- Learns to Fly)

Aircraft name: Biggles' Camel

Story: All

Kit: Roden, Sopwith F.1 Camel (w/ Bentley)

Notes: Biggles' Bentley-engined Camel....or one of them at least. He crashes many of them over the course of the war. The serial number comes from the story "On Leave" which would be late 1917. I decided to continue with the yellow wheel cover theme from the Pup. Fuselage markings of a thick vertical stripe are conjectural. One story definitely refers to 266 sqn markings but there is no indication of what they would be. I went with something simple and nondescript.

Aircraft name: C-flight: Biggles, Algy, The Professor

Story: Various

Kit: Roden, Sopwith F.1 Camel (w/ Bentley)

Notes: All Bentley-engined Camels, same as Biggles. Same fuselage marking. Serial number for Algy is conjectural as it is never mentioned to my knowledge. S/N J7743 for Henry Watkins (AKA the Professor) is given in the story "The Professor" where he is introduced.

Aircraft name: Wilks' SE.5

Story: Various

Kit: Roden, RAF SE.5a

Notes: Wilks and his SE.5, the"perishing glasshouse" or "palsied, square-faced SE" according to Biggles, are a regular feature of stories. In The Joy Ride, Biggles is flying an Albatros and recognises Wilks' SE5 by its blue nose (shortly before Wilks forces him down). I based the rest of the scheme on typical markings of SE5 aces of 1917/18, such as Billy Bishop.

Aircraft name: RE-8

Story: Various

Kit: Airfix

Notes: The Royal Aircraft Factory RE-8 was the mainstay of British artillery Observation in the late war. It was also as ugly as all get-out and apparently evil to fly. Initially, aircrew would deliberately crash them on take-off in the hopes of getting something different. It is mentioned in many of the stories, in passing. This was built with the scheme Airfix supplied, but with a lot of modification and upgrading of parts to make up for how horrendously crude the kit is (dating from 1958). Ugly as anything, but a necessary part of the collection.

Vehicle name: 266 Squadron Tender

Story: Various

Kit: Roden, Vauxhall D-type Ambulance

Notes: There's unfortunately no kit of an RFC Crossley Tender available so..... 266 co-opted a Vauxhall D-type from its service as an ambulance to become a squadron transport. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! I had to build bench seats for the back to replace the stretcher racks but other than that it was a straightforward build. Great little kit but very delicate!

Vehicle name: Colonel Raymond's Staff Car

Story: Various

Kit: Roden, Vauxhall D-type Staff Car

Notes: Straightforward one. British staff officers used the Vauxhall D. This would be the logical transport for Raymond. Job done.

The Camels are Coming

Aircraft name: J-9982 (Captured Sopwith Camel)

Story: J-9982

Kit: Airfix, Sopwith F.1 Camel

Notes: In this story, a German pilot is discovered to be flying a captured Sopwith Camel and using it to shoot down unsuspecting allied airmen. When Biggles realises this, you can probably predict the outcome if you haven't read the story. This kit started as an Airfix kit but the only parts that were used were the main bulk - fuselage (rear section) and wings. Everything else was Roden kit spares or scratchbuilt. A Roden turtle deck was grafted on. This has been referred to as the "Frankencamel". It's fitting. Printing white decals is impossible without a specialist printer so I had to do my best with white rub-down lettering for the serial number, which the story specifically refers to as being on the tail fin and in white. I also tried a new rigging technique making fine wire loops for anchor points. First and last time I used that technique...

Biggles, Pioneer Air Fighter

Aircraft name: Spad

Story: Spads & Spandaus

Kit: Revell, SPAD XIII

Build Thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=455&t=22540

Notes: This is the mount of the cocky American who leads the 299th Aero pursuit squadron, who rubs Biggles up the wrong way. I based the scheme on US Spads, particularly Eddie Rickenbacker's. I needed some sort of unique artwork that said "patriotism" and also alluded to the comment that Biggles makes that some chaps just get given command not based on merit but because "his sister's in the Follies" (Follies Berger). An art nouveau print of a girl wrapped in the US flag worked nicely.

Aircraft name: Pfalz Scout (unarmed delivery aircraft)

Story: The Zone Call

Kit: Roden Pfalz D.III

Build Thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=22959

Notes: "What's the matter with you? Haven't you got any guns?" sneered the British pilot.

"Nein. No guns," said the German quickly.

"Great Scott! You people running short of weapons or something? We'd better lend you some." 

One of the funniest lines in the stories. Biggles attacks a Pfalz, only to discover it was unarmed and being delivered to an aerodrome but became lost. Simple build according to the scheme described in the story.

Aircraft name: The Rumpler with the Green Tail

Story: The Decoy

Kit: Esoteric (vacform), Rumpler C.1

Build Thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=22812

Notes: The Rumpler that lures Batson to his death and leads Biggles to swear vengeance. This was a must-build for me, being such an iconic aircraft of the stories. The C.1 in 1917 matches the story description of being "obsolescent" - they were still in use even into 1918 despite newer and better marques having been introduced. Lovely kit for a vacform, going together like a charm.

Aircraft name: Fokker (Von Kirtner Circus)

Story: The Boob

Kit: Full scratchbuild

Build Thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=22814

Notes: Algy joins the squadron, goes up with Biggles on a patrol and promptly gets tangled up with a flight of 5 Fokkers (type unspecified) from Von Kirtner's circus and manages to shoot one down. I'm pretty certain WEJ envisaged Fokker D.VIIs but for the whole Biggles timeline to work this would need to be in mid 1917, a year before the D.VII. The D.V was (sort of) still in service at this point and fits the context of the story quite neatly so I scratchbuilt one, there being no kit. Turned out alright.

Biggles of 266

Aircraft name: Halberstadt (high altitude one-off)

Story: The Camera

Kit: Joystick vacform (fuselage) and scratchbuilding (wings)

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23528 

Notes: Described as "orange with black stripes" and with greeen streamers on the interplane struts, I tried to make this look as much like a real aircraft of this stage of the war as I could. Straightforward build with nothing unusual other than paint scheme and streamers made from alfoil.

Aircraft name: "Green Streamers" Albatros D.V

Story: War in Hot Blood

Kit: Roden

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=24617

Notes: The Germans make an aerial camera with an extraordinary lens and the British capture it. Then the Germans re-capture it and build a special high altitude aircraft to stay above allied scouts and keep from losing it again. Biggles recognises it as a Halberstadt. I reasoned that the Germans could have used the fuselage from the CL.IV (ground attack) that would have been in development, then designed high lift wings, to be later used for the C.V. That would make this aircraft a C.IV. Construction was challenging but patience was rewarded I made the camera from scratch based on pictures of WW1 cameras.

Aircraft name: Von Balchow's Roland C.II

Story: The Challenge

Kit: Heller

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23443 

Notes: Von Balchow goads Biggles into single combat and Biggles meets his green Roland to settle the score. From the story, obviously an aristocrat, so I decided that von Balchow would fly with his family crest on the side. Rolands were usually all over one single colour so all green fits here. The kit is 1960s Airfix so a scratchbuilt interior was needed and prop, engine and guns were replaced with Roden items.

Biggles of the Camel Squadron

Aircraft name: Green Hannoverana

Story: The Professor

Kit: Airfix Hannover CL.IIIa

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23527 

Notes: Henry "The Professor" Watkins joins the squadron and insists that air combat is purely a matter of mathematics. Putting his theories to the test when he encounters a green "Hannoverana" he receives a rude shock when theory doesn't quite line up with practice.... After losing his temper when his altimeter is smashed, he comes to realise that going at things bald-headed might be the way forward. The model was straightforward to build but horrendous to detail. Something like 120 individual wing rib tape decals to apply. A full scratchbuild was also needed for the interior.

Aircraft name:Captured Albatros

Story: The Bottle Party

Kit: Roden Albatros D.III

Notes: Algy forces a red-nosed Albatros to land (he says its engine cut out) and later Biggles takes it for a joy ride. Things of course go pear-shaped. I picked a D.III for this. I would place the story either late 1917 or early 1918. The D.III were still in service but probably a bit overworked by that point so it made sense to have one cut out with engine trouble. 

Aircraft name: Fokker Triplane (described as "blue and white triplane")

Story: The Bottle Party

Kit: Airfix (old tool)

Notes: This was one of the many Fokker Triplanes referred to incidentally in combat scenes in the stories. I liked the sound of the colour scheme so I chose this one to model. I originally built this kit with a pilot, but unless I have  a specific diorama plan for a model I don't include pilot figures. I refurbished the model later to remove the pilot and add a rough interior. I also replaced the utterly atrocious Airfix prop and guns with ones that I reproduced in resin from a Roden kit.

Aircraft name: "Yellowtail" - Fokker D.VII of Von Doering

Story: The Great Arena

Kit: Roden

Notes: I don't recall much about this build. I think it was pretty straightforward apart from the gun mounting being a bit problematic. The story describes an all-blue D.VII with a "sulphur yellow" tail for the ace Von Doering, so that's what I built.

Biggles of the Special Air Police 

(WW1 story reprints)

Aircraft name: "Ace of Spades" Fokker

Story: The Ace of Spades

Kit: Roden, Fokker D.VIII

Notes: This story is reprinted in an Air Police short story collection and originally appeared in the Modern Boy magazine. Biggles encounters an orange and black Fokker with an Ace of Spades on the fuselage. When I first went to model this subject, I misread Fokker D.VIII as D.VII and built the model shown below this one. Then I realised my mistake and found a D.8 kit and built this. Then I discovered that the original Modern Boy story features a D.7 and that D.8 is probably a mis-print. So now I have two versions of this aircraft from the two printings. I much prefer the D.8 because of the honey-bee scheme, which I chose based on an adaptation of Theo Osterkamp's aircraft: http://frannybrodigan.com/Images/Slide_Shows/FokkerDVIII/images/fullsize/59_4.JPG 

Aircraft name: The Blue Devil

Story: The Blue Devil

Kit: Roden, Albatros D.Va

Build thread: https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23528 

Notes: Pretty straightforward: Biggles meets an ace who flies an all-blue Albatros and who can perform some stunt that nobody can replicate. Biggles responds by using unconventional tactics and emerges the winner. I needed a blue Albatros so here it is. A nice simple build!