Major Donald R. MacLaren, the highest scoring Camel Ace, shot down 54 enemy aircraft in just 7 months on the Western Front with 46 Squadron. MacLaren was a temperate young man, neither drank nor smoked, and was an accomplished marksman. He is reputed to have never carried any more then half the bullet capacity of his aircraft to reduce weight and sought to get as close to his prey as possible and use only a few bullets to finish them. A broken leg suffered in "horseplay" with a squadron mate ended his war in October of 1918. He is rated as the third highest scoring Canadian Ace of the Great War behind Billy Bishop and Raymond Collishaw.
MacLaren left the budding Canadian Air Force in 1920 and was prominent in the development of civil aviation in Canada until advanced age forced him to retire. I met this man and conversed with him in 1982 at a Military function, a great honor I shall never forget. A very modest man, he commented to me that he and his fellow pilots in the Great War were "just doing their duty" as were we young fellows of today. It was a great moment!
This is the Wingnut Wings LeRhone Camel release done as the aircraft MacLaren scored his final 9 kills in, F2137 which, in all the available reference photos, had an extremely weathered and oil damaged finish which I've attempted to replicate. F2137 is scheme D in the Wingnut Wings Kit. I've started the following photos with a comparison of the Canadian War Museum's photo of MacLaren in the aircraft to a similar view of the model to illustrate the finish.
....... and following in no particular order are a number of views of the completed Build:
And that's it complete with the exception of the red streamers he carried on the interplane struts at times. I may add those later if I can find some suitable material. I enjoyed this Build and, with a few exceptions, it's a great Kit. My next Camel will see those tiny molded on rigging anchor points on the struts replaced with the old reliable Bob's buckles metal eyelets and I'd like to locate some metal alternatives to the flight control horns as well.
You may have noted that the Rotherham Fuel Pump on the starboard rear Cabane does not match the museum photo however it is apparent in other views of the aircraft. The fabric "wrap" on the Cabane Struts also is not consistent between photos. I write both contradictions off to a difference in time when the photos were taken.
Thanks for checking her out and your comments are most welcome!
Cheers,
Lance
