SE5A | 16" Balsa Kit

VMC - SE5a

I love the WW1 type of Airplanes and the SE5a has a nice history.
Working with balsa wood is so easy , just be patient and careful because it is vulnerable material but once glued together it’s amazing strong.
Probably also because VMC uses 1.6mm balsa.

Every time I finish creating a model airplane gives great satisfaction and the VMC models are great.

One of my recommendations is to add pictures in the booklet. And I was pleasantly surprised that VMC is of the same opinion. The booklet for the radio controlled model of the WW1 SE5a fighter delivers that !

Another request is to add on the website , just by example what to expect, a few pages of the booklet -and- at least a glimpse of the plan.
Last remark is to add supporting characters on the plan ( A, B etc ) as reference for the accompanying text in the booklet.

The scoring of the Fuselage right after strengthener F6 is a critical process also because the two parts should come together right in the middle. To help this I drew a line on the plane to make sure it does that in equal proportion . Surprisingly after finishing it I spotted on the plan such “fuselage alignment gauge line”. No reference in the textbook about this. For me sheet1 is to full with text and drawings. I lost overview .
That’s why I prefer to have images in the booklet .

After finishing the bottom wings I discovered a huge mistake. One of the R4 wing ribs was glued on the Upper Wing position. So seriously corrections where needed. But I managed to make things work. I could not reproduce how this mistake was made since I only cut out those items used for a specific task to glue on the plan.

The Stickers , are not real stickers, but just a coloured piece of Paper. This looks cheap and isn’t as bright and real as a genuine sticker.
But..,
Better have this then none at all.

Really positive of VMC is that they always put in the box the colour of Esaki paper what is advertised on their website and pictured on the box. From experience I can report you that this isn’t always the case by an other manufacturer.

I strugled a lot to put two wing struts on the Lower and Higher winghalf. But was able to glue the lower wing-half in the right position onto the fuselage on my way !
Would recommend In a future version #2 of the plan and booklet to describe: Outer wing strut only is more then enough to fix the lower wing.

I was pleasantly surprised how strong the attached lower wing fits to the higher wing. Compliment how this works in the end.

A top view of the fuselage would be a nice addition to have.
The plan was designed and drawn by A.Darby. He did a great job. Please add as info the short video by Rob Brennan ( a set of still photo’s. ). As always it is useful.

The two fuselage parts must be glued together at the tail by making a score in order to bend the parts. The tail peg ( iso of wheel ) had no good option to glue it (no balsa wood to attach it at that position). So I put at the end between the fuselages extra balsa wood in order to fix it. Also did I glue ( at each side ) additional a small strip of wood to prevent the tail part to bend in a direction. ( Which happened before this fix ). Needless to say that I covered these extra small items also with paper.

Working with balsa wood is a great fun. And it’s gives great satisfaction to see the finished product:
A lovely little model airplane.
I really enjoyed the making of it.

My next VMC model ( Osprey Glider ) is working in progress now and is the first airplane which I will go to fly outside.
After that I am looking forward to build a RC glider with a substantial bigger wingspan.

As an old timer coming back to aeromodelling after a 40 year absence this was just the thing! Laser cut parts that fit perfectly are just the job as my eyesight and dexterity of fingers are not quite as good as they once were!
I now have a beautiful model that flew pretty well first time off. A very enjoyable and satisfying build, and I can't wait to get stuck into my next model, which will be your red hurricane. Thank you and please keep the new designs coming, especially of the early flying machines. Thank you again!

This is a beautifully prepared kit that would delight traditional aeromodellers, although possibly not for beginners. The parts fit together perfectly and the instructions are very helpful. Although meant for rubber power, I converted mine to a tiny brushless leccy motor with a diy timer, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG9xbIG5zEU

This was a gift I had for Christmas 2016 and was the first balsawood build I have completed. I must admit I was a bit daunted when I opened the box and initially thought there was no way I would be able to build this. However once I had read the instructions I thought how similar it was to the plastic model kits I am used to. Once I started the build I found the laser cut parts were a far better fit than the likes of some of the Airfix/Revell kits I have built in the past.
So all in all a great kit with detailed build instructions and was a pleasure to build in the end.
However one very slight addition to the instructions especially for first time builders to stop them from having a slight panic attack would be to inform them that when applying the dope the tissue will relax and wrinkle before going taut again like it did when shrinking it.
Not sure if this is allowed but I have a YouTube video of my build at https://youtu.be/GMXarMCTLEk

I made a few control line planes back in the 70's, but until my wife bought me this recently, I'd never tried a rubber free flight model. It is a truly outstanding model with excellent instructions. I never thought I'd end up with something looking so wonderful at my first attempt. It's got me hooked and when I finish my recently purchased Senator I think the Sopwith Triplane is next on my list! Well done to The Vintage Model Company, for making the old modelling arts accessible to the newcomer!

I'm a new builder and decided to go for the SE5A to give myself a bit of a challenge. The kit is very well presented and has been a pleasure to build from start to finish. The instructions are clear and detailed, the parts are high quality and well cut. Even though this was my first attempt at a biplane, the quality of the kit helped to make this my most drama free build to date.