This is actually the second Hanriot kit that I've put together. The first ended up going to Mike Demana after his spectacular "Ace of Aces" win at Origins last year, and I've missed it ever since. That one had been my best airbrush job to date (bar none), done in French 5-color, but I think I've finally managed to make its equal.

The Kit is an HR Models resin kit ordered from Hannants in England. Having put together a few other resin kits, I was surprised at the extremely poor quality of this kit. The resin was horribly fragile, and all small parts were cast onto a single resin mold which was a horror to cut from (reminiscent of vacu-form kits, and equally as painful.) In the end, I had to custom-cast a new engine cowling from a Nieuport 11 kit, steal landing struts and wheels from the dead pile, and custom-make all the wing struts. The internals to the cockpit were so bad I eventually just decided to avoid them altogether. Still, I think the finished product was well worth the effort.

The Hanriot isn't the best of planes in Aerodrome, but Mike's had tremendous success with it, and it's as historically authentic a plane as I've ever put together. Very maneuverable, but not fast, it's not the most durable of planes to take to the sky. But she's mine.

Once I realized that Rick was going to be running bomber missions as mid-war instead of early war, I decided that I was going to need a squadron plane to fly. The SPAD VII was a perfect choice.

Visually, it's almost identical to the SPAD XIII, with just a few minor differences. The kit was an AirFix injection mold and wasn't all that bad compared to some other kits. There was a fair amount of flash and things didn't quite fit right, but the struts were actually in good shape and overall putting it together wasn't too tough.

Since Mike Demana ended up with my only example of the French 5-color camouflage, I decided the SPAD VII would be a good replacement. The spray job wasn't quite as good as the Hanriot, but in general it wasn't too bad. The engine cowling was an afterthought, and I'm not sure if I like it, but it might grow on me.

As far as mid-war aircraft go (single gun) the SPAD VII is really my favorite. While not as maneuverable as some of the other fighters, it's very fast, and that extra speed can make all the difference in early war competitions.

The SPAD A.2 was a radical experiment in aircraft design, intended to solve the problem of firing the aircraft's guns through the propeller. It came too late to see extensive service (arriving about the same time as the arrestor gear which synchronized gunfire and propeller rotation), and thankfully so. With the propeller situated between the pilot and the observer, woe be to the observer caught in a nose-forward crash.

The plane in Aerodrome is not all that exciting, but is a nice, unique candidate for early war missions. While horribly slow, fragile, and unwieldy, it at least has the merit of being, uh ... yellow.

The Martinsyde Buzzard may have been the single best Allied fighter of the Great War, if only it had been given the chance to fly. Its original design engine, the Rolls Royce "Falcon", was earmarked for use in other fighters at the time and the lack of availability kept it from seeing a production run. By the time the F4 model had been reworked to use the 300 HP Hispano-Suiza engine, the Armistice preceded its entry into the war.

The kit is another limited-edition run from Pegasus, just released this year, and is on par with the other Pegasus kits I've built. There is a lot of flash, and the parts don't always fit together quite right, but in general once they're built they're very attractive. The white metal parts in this kit were particularly well done.

In Aerodrome, it is without doubt the most superior Allied aircraft. Its deadly combination of speed, maneuverability, and durability outclasses every other plane in the sky. Though inappropriate for historical missions, it's an ideal choice for use in late war "anything goes" dogfight scenarios.

In 1917, the famed Italian aircraft designer Ottorino Pomilio began work on a fighter which would later be dubbed the "Gamma." Designed to be both fast and maneuverable, it was outfitted with a 250 HP Isotta-Fraschini V6 engine. Though it never saw a production run, approximately seven were built and flown during 1918.

The "Gamma" was the only Pomilio produced fighter both designed and built in Italy. The Pomilio aircraft corporation would later be absorbed by Ansaldo after Ottorino and his brother Ernesto moved to the United States.

There are no stats for this plane in the current Aerodrome rules, and since so few were built, tracking down its flight specifications may prove to be exceptionally difficult. Regardless, it's a triumph of Italian design and definitely a worthy kit.

The second (and last) of the Double Pinochle line is a customized, prototype Sopwith Dolphin for use as my own personal aircraft in Rick's campaign. The plane has a notable modification from the standard production Dolphins delivered to the front, including a roll cage above the cockpit (a common addition to planes in the field.)

The color scheme is based on an experimental camouflage pattern designed for the Sopwith Salamander TF.2 Trench Fighter. A color detail of it appears in Squadron/Signal Publications "Aircraft Number 110 - Sopwith Fighters In Action". The Salamanders were outfitted with a number of variations on the colors, a more bright and colorful interpretation can be found at The Internet Modeler, and was really my first inspiration for this particular plane. The Toko/Eastern Express Salamander kit shows the same scheme with yet a different set of colors.

The kit itself was half of a VeeDay "dual kit" (the original has the Dolphin and a Pfalz DXII). I have to say it was about as much fun to put together as the Pegasus kits, with tons of flash and nothing wanting to fit together. It is unfortunately seriously lacking in detail as well.) Even though the kit is the only injection kit available, I don't recommend it unless you're really prepared for a workout of your modeling skills.

In Aerodrome game standards, the Dolphin is an exceptional allied fighter aircraft. It has moderate maneuverability, but is very fast, with the same durability as the Sopwith Camel. Though the SE5a is a moderately better choice, the Dolphin can definitely hold its own.

What started out as a simple exploration of the Nieupoprt 28 quickly turned into a nightmare. Disaster upon disaster were visited upon this poor plane before it ended up in the state you see here. The mistakes were too numerous to count, and many of them were just unfixable.

In Aerodrome, the plane has fantastic performance characteristics, with its primary disadvantage being that it's not very durable. Historically, the plane was an excellent entry into the war for American pilots, but was quickly abandoned when the SPAD XIII became readily available ... primarily because of its tendency to lose upper wing fabric in a dive.

So, while not the most shining example of scale model building, the first of the "Double Pinochle" line, the Nieuport 28, is at least servicable.

The Ansaldo SVA5 is the only WWI production line aircraft both made and flown by Italy during the war. Though it was generally considered to be less maneuverable than the SPAD XIII, it was an extremely fast aircraft. During the war it was used primarily in a reconnaissance role, but achived some fame as a light bomber used by the Allies.

The Ansaldo's stats in Aerodrome are more than a bit disappointing. It performs significantly worse than its SPAD XIII counterpart, without having the merit of the SPAD's durability to compensate. However, given the distinctive upper wing and captivating all-metal strut configuration, I simply had to make it mine.

The SPAD XIII was a popular replacement for the SPAD VII's in the Italian arsenal. The Italian Ace-of-Aces, Francesco Baracca, took the first SPAD XIII out before it could even be painted with his trademark galloping horse logo (which would later become the symbol for Ferrari Motors.)

In Aerodrome, the SPAD XIII is a tank, able to sustain more damage than almost any other Allied aircraft. What it lacks in maneuverability it makes up for in speed and durability.

Probably the most often reproduced WWI Allied aircraft, this distinctive Sopwith Camel was flown by Captain Roy Brown, the Allied pilot credited with successfully downing the Red Baron.

There's no question why so many kits have markings for this aircraft. The chevrons on the top wing and the turtledeck make a nice complement to the RAF's classic olive green. This particular kit went together quite nicely, though most of my decal sheets for the roundels were off-register.

As far as performance is concerned, the Sopwith Camel is a stout contender for the timeframe it was introduced. It is remarkably fast for being one of the most maneuverable aircraft in the game, with acceptable climb, dive, and damage characteristics.

At a recent Aerodrome gathering in Kokomo, Rick pointed out to me this Toko kit (and the fact that it was out of print) and I immediately fell in love with it. The kit was an absolute beauty to build, no surprises and very precise molding of all the parts.

Though I typically only fly the Italian colors in Rick's games, I figured it would be nice to have a good Central Powers aircraft to fly in cases where the sides were uneven, or for events that weren't part of Rick's official campaign. The Siemens-Schuckert D-III fit the bill on all fronts.

It's not the most common aircraft seen in Aerodrome, and it's an excellent high-performance machine to boot. Beyond its good looks, it has supreme climb and dive characteristics, excellent turning capability, and even moderate speed to back it up. Like the Nieuport 28, its only major flaw is its low damage capacity, but it makes up for this to a degree by being one of the very few aircraft able to go to Very High altitude.

The "Blue Eagle" colors are all my own fabrication, though not quite as anachronistic as some of my other paint schemes. Though the lozenge decals were a serious pain to apply, they really do work well, so I'll definitely use them on future Central aircraft.

When I was looking through the German aircraft to build, I couldn't help but fall in love with the Albatros DV. Highly unpopular (in particular with von Richtoven), it was nontheless a common sight due to Albatros's extensive production capabilities.

For the time period in which it flies it has truly sub-par performance characteristics. Compared to other planes of that year, it's slow and unwieldy with little to make up for its faults. But there's a grace and beauty to its design that can't be denied.

Goering scored a number of his 22 confirmed kills in this plane which he flew when he was stationed with Jasta 27.