SMER 1/44 and 1/48 kits found new home

Well I was searching up more Hobby Shops around the Metairie New Orleans area and I came across Hub Hobby Shop. Amazing store. No R/C of any kind that I noticed. nice lil WW1 section.

I found a great section of Eduard with every kit bout 25$ and up . even a hard to find Pfalz D3a. I seen a few Hobbycraft kits for around 13-18$. I looked even lower beyond all the mustang's and 190's and found a few kits made by SMER. 7$ each. They had a Ansaldo, Camel, Se5a, and a Dr1.

Needless to say I nabbed the Dr1 and the Se5a. Dr1 bein in 1/44 scale and the Se5a in 1/48.


The scheme for the dr1 can either be painted in Dr1 204/17 Pilot IE: Baumer with Boelcke"Jasta2" which is quite a nice look to it or I could go with the All black Josef Jacobs Jasta 7. Still undecided..

The Scheme for the Se5a is for Capt. L.W. Jarvis of 56 Squadron RFC Anglie 1917.



The mold for the dr1 is quite nice as well the Se5a. Im still pondering either to build them and have a Dogfight scene among the clouds above my PC or do a single plane Diaroma.....OH THE OPTIONS.....



Has anyone ever built either of these kits? They look like they should go together with ease

That shop had a bundle of WW1 in 1/72 but 1 can only take so much 1/72 at 30 bucks a pop........

[drbubba43]

Ive had some mixed reactions to the 3 SMER kits ive owned. I think the DH 2 was, well, not so great. It quickly went by the way side as soon as Eduard released their kit.

The Nieuport seems to be pretty decent. Light on detail but pretty well proportioned. The Ansaldo also seems to be a pretty decent kit. Landing gear looks a bit funky, but otherwise not a bad kit really. (And the only one in close to 1/48th)

In fact I wouldn't mind getting another Ansaldo kit...

The only real gripe I've had is the decals.

Ray

[StephenLawson]

Hey Feared in combat; Check this out.

http://theaerodrome.com/classifieds/index.php

hehe nice Albotros :P

[PeterL]

Has anyone ever built either of these kits? They look like they should go together with ease

These kits and other Aurora clones (actiually the Smer kits are mostly from Merit moulds which found thier way to the Czech Republic via Italy and Artiplast) were for decades all there was in the manly scale. Us wrinklies would churn out endless permutations of the handful of kits available, and many of us took the scratchbuild route out of necessity as much as anything.

Are they any good? Well they are certainly good value. If you are a stickler for accuracy they'll keep you busy for years (even decades). If you like a quick build that looks to you like what it's supposed to be you got it made. Anywhere in between works just as well.

They are also a good basis for conversions, because at these prices you can afford to screw up. As a for instance I have worked five different types out of the Smer Camel; Snipe, DH-5, Hanriot HD1, Salamander, and Camel.

[PeterL]

Take a look at what Harry Woodman had to say about each of them in Scale Model Aircraft in Plastic Card.. They are listed under the original manufacturers and not as Smer kits, but his comments still apply. It may be heresy to say so, but I think the great man was a little harsh on some on them.

[StephenLawson]

Hey PeterL; Have you heard anything of the Grand Old Man? I think you and I talked about him some time ago. Is he well?

[PeterL]

Originally Posted by StephenLawson

Hey PeterL; Have you heard anything of the Grand Old Man? I think you and I talked about him some time ago. Is he well?

I regret to say, Stephen, that I have heard nothing. During the turmoil of my house move what paper record I had went up the Swanee. A computer crash almost immediately afterwards left me with no contact information at all. As far as I am aware he doesn't even know that I finally managed to get SMAc on the net.

The SMER kits go together great/with ease. I need to get more....my cats thought they should fly. Now I am missing pieces.