BRISTOL M.1c BULLET, No.150 Sqdn, RFC, Palestine 1917

by George Grasse

BLUE MAX BM0115 BOX ART

BRISTOL M.1c 3-VIEW DRAWING

This 3-view drawing is credited to J. D. Carrick or F. Yeoman and appeared in Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War compiled by W. M. Lamberton and published by Harleyford Publications Limited.  The Bristol M.1C 'Bullet' was an example of the continuing evolution of single-wing aircraft that was finally achieved in the late 1930s with the introduction of all-aluminum construction and very high horsepower engines.

 

THE MODEL TO BE BUILT - PROFILE

This color profile of Bristol M.1C 'Bullet' No.4907 is taken from Windsock Datafile 52 'Bristol M.1', by J M Bruce (see bibliography).  The profile was prepared by Ray Rimmel of Albatros Productions, UK.  It is a companion piece to this article and to the photo below.

THE MODEL TO BE BUILT - PHOTO

This photo appears in Windsock Datafile 52 by J. M. Bruce (see bibliography below for more details).  At least two pilots of RAF No.150 Squadron in Macedonia flew it with results: Lt K B Moseley and Lt. J P Cavers.  It is suggested in the text that the spinner could be pale blue or white.  If we assume the underside to be sky blue, comparing the spinner to it seems to indicate that the spinner is brighter and probably white.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 1

The cockpit walls are enhanced with additional framing being the larger pieces glued to each fuselage half.  The s, imulated fabric color is Vallejo 847 Dark Sand and the framing is Vallejo 856 Ochre Brown.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 2

Cockpit details are finished ready for the attachment of the wing unit.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 3

The wing unit includes the cockpit fairing and fits quite well.  There is some putty residue along the fuselage sema.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 4

The kit's white metal rotary engine was replaced with an Eduard plastic Clerget engine.  The tail surfaces and cowling and added next.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 5

The kit's white metal landing gear was replaced with brass rod and tube with a brass rod axle.  Wheel discs are painted in Vallejo 887 Brown Violet, tires are a Vallejo mix of greys and pinks.  Except for the nose cone and propeller, assembly is complete.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 6

The nose cone and propeller are painted and temporarily fitted.  The underside is painted in Vallejo 961 Sky Blue .  The topside is painted in my Vallejo mix of 887 Brown Violet and 983 Flat Earth.  The trestle is made from brass rod to which a short piece of brass tube is fixed to the top to allow rigging wires to pass through.  The next step is an over-spray of  satin polyurethane for decal placement.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 7

In this first of several finished photos, is decal placement.  The kit's decal set was not useable, easily falling apart.  The size of the roundels dictated what I could possible use from when decal stash and I chose the British roundels from Pheon's Dolphin/Snipe set.  Next, I hand-painted the rudder stripes.  The only remaining markings were the vertical stabilizer serial numbers.  These I made using  Bahnschrift Semi Light Semi Conde Size 15 in the format C 4907.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 8

With decals placed, I worked on all of the rigging starting with the ailerons.  I used Eduard 'control horns' from set 48406.  The .005 MFT line was first glued to the upper horn of the right aileron.  When dry, the line was passed through the forward access hole and connected to the underside horn and glued.  The same procedure was done for the left aileron.  The tail unit had six howles drilled into the pre-marked locations on the aft fuselage, two for the rudder, and four for the two elevators.  Six Eduard horns were glued to these locations.  In all cases, the .005 MFT was glued into the fuselage holes and allowed to dry.  For each one, the line was pulled through the hole in the horn, glued, and weighted down with clips to dry taut.  The landing gear rigging was the simplest.  Each line is attached to a clip and allowed to dangle until completely dry.  Then, each line is cropped as close to the horn as possible.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 9

With decals and rigging completed,  I reviewed all that was listed on my 'Bullet To Do' list and added a front gun sight (Eduard) to the Vickers, carefully mixed a British roundel blue to touch up scratches from rigging, added a wind-driven pump out of my 'special equipment' savings to the right rear landing gear strut, painted the gas cap red and the oil cap brass, glued the wheels on, and pushed the spinner/propeller into place.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 10

The last thing to do was to shadow paint the separation of the flight control parts from their attachment points (ailerons, rudder, etc).  I used a thinned amount of Vallejo Chocolate Brown and a thin brush.  I added a bit of Vallejo 865 Oily Steel to this thin mix and dabbled a bit of rotary engine castor oil spray to the underside near the front of the fuselage.  I typically don't spend any time on weathering-type effects but I did just a little here.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 11

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 12

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 13

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Bibliography:

British RFC/RAF Squadrons:  https://www.nationalcoldwarexhibition.org/research/squadrons

Bruce, J. M.  Bristol M.1, Windsock Datafile 52.  Berkhamsted, UK: Albatros Productions, 1995.

Lamberton, W. M., Compiler, and E. F. Cheesman, Editor.  Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War.   Los Angeles, CA: Aero Publishers, 1960.

Rogers, Les.  British Aviation Squadron Markings of World War I.  Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History, 2001.

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2  July 2025