As the first shots were fired in World War I, flying was mostly seen as a sport, and the only military role was for reconnaissance. By the war's end ten of thousands of aircraft were taking photographs, dropping bombs and leaflets, guiding artillery fire and machine-gunning enemy forces, and those machines, and the tactics they employed, had developed enormously in those four years. For many years such machines have been available to modellers in 1/72 scale, but until this set was released almost no personnel were available except occasional pilots.
This substantial set includes 24 different poses which are described by the manufacturer as follows:
Row 1
- British - Pilot dropping a 5-pound gas bomb
- British - Pilot firing
- British - Girl visiting the airfield
- British - Mechanic listening to the engine
- British - Armourer with Lewis 7.71 machine gun
Row 2
- British - Pilot after the flight
- Russian - Pilot making a gesture to the enemy
- Russian - Officer in parade dress
- Russian - Pilot after the flight
- Russian - Pilot sitting in the cockpit
Row 3
- Russian - Pilot standing
- Russian - Armourer with a 100-pound bomb
- German - Mechanic lifting the plane's tail
- German - Pilot receiving the flight mission
- German - Pilot sitting in the cockpit
Row 4
- German - Pilot climbing into the plane
- German - Ernst Udet
- German - Mechanic rotating the propeller
- French - Armourer loading plane with bagged steel arrows
- French - Pilot smoking
Row 5
- French - Pilot sitting in the cockpit
- French - Pilot greeting his comrade with victory
- French - Rene Fonck
- French - Pilot explaining the tactics of a fight
The British figures demonstrate that this set covers the whole war, with one pilot wearing the double-breasted 'maternity' jacket in vogue at the start of the war, and another wearing a gas mask from the later years. The several different styles of uniform and flying clothing all match known articles, and have been quite well done. Though many women served in both the British aviation corps, the women in this set wears civilian costume of a full length dress with a jacket and large hat decorated with flowers - all perfectly correct for the period.
The Imperial Russian Air Service struggled with problems of supply, and the nature of the air war on the Eastern front meant confirmed kills were not as high as in the West. The Russian figures are a colourful lot, and the pilot making the gesture is an interesting choice since once pilots ran out of ammunition they only had gestures to throw at the enemy. Though flying gear tended to be similar in all air services, these do have a Russian feel, particularly the distinctive gymnastiorka, and all are authentic.
Two of the German poses are ground crew manhandling a plane and wearing the standard uniform including peakless field cap. The pilots are well protected against the cold and again wear common kit. Ernst Udet was credited with 62 kills during the war, and as such was the fourth most successful pilot of any nation. As an officer attached to the Aviation Service he wears his old regimental uniform.
France was a pioneer of the aeroplane, but was not well prepared when war came. Once again uniformity was not the order of the day in the air service, and these figures wear various items, all of which are reasonable. The 'steel arrows' are fléchettes, pencil-sized steel darts that were released from under the fuselage to produce a deadly rain of steel for anyone caught underneath. The French were particularly enthusiastic about this weapon, but it was to be superseded by far more sophisticated and deadly weapons as the war progressed. Still it is interesting to have included it here. Rene Fonck was the second most successful pilot of the war, having 75 kills to his name, second only to the 80 of Manfred von Richthofen. Here he stands with kepi in hand, wearing some of the many medals awarded to him by both the French and British. His popularity was however lost when he co-operated with the invader in 1940.
In general these figures are nicely detailed and accurately rendered. The style is chunky rather than the elegant slimness of some manufacturers, but they are still perfectly acceptable. There was very little flash and the detail is nice and deep. Some of the poses look rather silly by themselves, but when placed around a plane, as is the intention, they work well. The French and German figures had previously been available from another manufacturer (Doc Military), and this set represents that one rebadged (by legal purchase) and enlarged with the Russians and British. A good collection that will allow many dioramas based around one or other of the aircraft of the Great War.
Royal Flying Corps (full English name: Royal Flying Corps, abbreviated as RFC) is a British Air Force term that was used from May 1912 to April 1918. At that time, the British Air Force was structurally and organizationally part of the Army. At the beginning of World War I, the RFC was created by a squadron of observation balloons and four squadrons. In the first months of the Great War, the RFC was primarily responsible for cooperating with its own artillery and performing photographic reconnaissance. Over time, the RFC pilots were tasked with air combat with enemy machines, carrying out bombing tasks and supporting their own land forces through the implementation of assault tasks. The significant expansion of the RFC's tasks resulted in the fact that in the course of World War I it was equipped with numerous planes such as the Sopwith Camel, Sopwith Pup, RAF RE.8 or Handley Page O / 400 (from the end of 1917). It is worth adding that in the first period of the Great War (1914-1916) the training standards for RFC pilots were not standardized. This only started to change in 1916, when it was assumed that a pilot must have at least 15 hours of flight time on a fighter plane before going into combat. However, the significant losses among the pilots in the RFC in 1916 and early 1917 forced further changes, which resulted in further changes in the spring of 1917. At the end of World War I, the fighter pilot training process was extended to 10-11 months, during which the average student spent at least 50 hours in the air on his own. It is worth adding that at the end of 1918, the RFC had about 4,000 combat aircraft and nearly 115,000 personnel!
French Air Force (current French name: Armee de l'air) is historically the first air force in the world, which began to form as early as 1909, and officially became part of the ground forces in 1912 under the name Aeronautique Militaire. At the time of the outbreak of World War I, the French air force already numbered 148 aircraft, mainly reconnaissance, reconnaissance and liaison machines. In the years 1914-1918, as in Germany and Great Britain, French aviation underwent a very rapid development - both quantitative and qualitative. During this period, "specialized" fighter planes with machine weapons (eg Nieuport 11 or Nieuport 16) and bomber planes (eg Caudron G.4) appeared. The intensive development of French aviation was possible thanks to a solid industrial base and companies such as Nieuport or Caudron, but also Bleriot, Breguet and Hanriot. As a result of this development, in 1918 the French air force had about 3,600 aircraft in the line. Throughout the war, approximately 17,300 pilots and flight crew members were involved in combat operations, of which approximately 5,500 were killed.
The German air force was organized in 1913 under the name of die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches, to change its name to in 1916 Luftstreitkräfte. At the time of the outbreak of World War I, they played a decisively subordinate role to the ground forces and were, moreover, quite strictly subordinated to them. It is worth adding that each German infantry division included a reconnaissance company of 6 aircraft in August 1914. However, very quickly the German air force began to expand and play an increasingly important role over the battlefield. In 1918, they had a total of about 2,700 aircraft and about 240 other aircraft. This significant quantitative development was possible, among others, thanks to a strong industrial base and a well-developed aviation industry with such factories as: Albatros Flugzeugwerke, Fokker, Pfalz Flugzeugwerke or Siemens-Schukert. The German air force also introduced many successful aircraft in the years 1914-1918, including the great Fokker Dr.I or Gotha G.IV or GV fighter, but also such unusual designs as the Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI. The German air force was also able to undergo organizational changes during the Great War, as evidenced by the establishment of specialized fighter units (German: Jagdstaffeln) in 1916. Manfred von Richthofen, known as the red baron, was undoubtedly one of the greatest Luftstreitkräfte aces, but it is also worth remembering about such pilots as: Max Immelmann, Wilhelm Frank, Oswald Boelcke, Ernst Udet or later Luftwaffe commander Herman Göring.
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