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Sopwith tri-plane 1/32 is Wingnut Wings kit much better than Roden's?


Beardie

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Hi all,

Looking for some input. Does the Roden kit come close to the WnW kit or is there no comparison. I am trying to decide whether it is worth hunting for a copy of the sold out WNW kit or if the Roden kit will do just as well.

I have seen reviews stating that the Roden kit is too short but I have also seen a build review where the reviewer apologised to Roden and says they were actually correct and that the longer fuselage only applied to two prototypes which were meant to use a more powerful engine and due to this engine being unavailable the aircraft was lightened which included shortening the fuselage.

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I've built the Roden kit and thought it was fine. Okay, it is much more limited run than WNW and needs some refinement, and doesn't hold your hand along the way, but whatever you think of the fuselage length the rest is fine. OTOH the decals are typical Roden fare, which means you have a 1 in 5 chance of them working okay. And on the 3rd hand, Pheon do a wonderul decal sheet you can use instead.

Shorter answer, I'd buy whatever came up first, but if you want a cash value on it (if availability was equal) I'd pay 2/3rds of the WNW price for the Roden. What you save goes on the Pheon sheet and some plastic card and rod for details.

Paul.

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Well the Roden kit is much cheaper (Model Hobbies have it for £30 plus post) and I haven't seen a WnW Triplane at all recently on t'bay and would guess that anyone selling will be expecting to make a profit over what it sold for new, probably over the £100 mark anyway. I guess I will be grabbing a Roden kit.

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I've also built both kits.

Nothing wrong with the Roden version but some of the detail is a bit simple, e.g the wind driven fuel pump. Can't comment on the fuselage issue as I am no expert on this aspect. Would you really notice it anyway?

WnW version is by far the better quality with much better detailing. The lower wing is a very tight fit with filing needed to get it to sit right.

Probably easier and cheaper to get hold of the Roden version as WNW no longer make their one and ones on eBay have silly price tags.

Regards

Dave

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I think I will pick up a copy of the Roden kit first anyway as it isn't exactly a bank breaker. Maybe a WnW one later on. I have decided to put a bit more effort into my builds anyway rather than building OOB so it will be a challenge to my modelling skills.

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I think I will pick up a copy of the Roden kit first anyway as it isn't exactly a bank breaker. Maybe a WnW one later on. I have decided to put a bit more effort into my builds anyway rather than building OOB so it will be a challenge to my modelling skills.

It shouldn't really be too hard in 1/32nd. Most of the cockpit components you may want to refine or add to are easy enough to make out of scraps, and if you want a bit of help there's a detail set by HGW, meant for the WNW kit (although I think the most useful bits are the seatbelts, which they also do separately.) Don't waste money on the very nice aftermarket wicker seats that are available. The Triplane had a metal one. Might want to thin down the sides of the kit seat though. There was a resin fuselage available via Pheon but I think that's now out of production.

Plenty of reference online at various sites, and also the instructions and photos on the WNW site. The Windsock Datafile is also very useful, although I don't know if it's currently in print.

Paul.

Edited by Paul Thompson
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Thanks for that information Paul. The first victim for some more intense modelling is the 1/32 Academy Sopwith Camel (Following the build on WW1aircraftmodels for tips and 'how-to's'.) I figure that, if I manage to come close to the quality of that build I will have done reasonably well. Never detailed a cockpit, reduced wingr ribs etc. before so should be fun.

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Baerdie,

Just caught up with this. I faced the same problem earlier this year when I picked up a Roden Triplane for £30. I belive that the fuselage is too short, and the the problem you state was the other way around. The protypes had the short fuselage which was lengthened on the production machines. I'd go with Rowan Broadbents (he first picked this issue up) assesment any day of the week. He is meticulous in his reserach and a far better man than I to pronounce on these things.

The resin fuselage is apparently still available but adds to the cost of the finished model

I modifield mine using plasticard in Work in Progress on this site and also in Ready for Inspection

The difference isn't huge and you could leave well alone. It builds up into a nice model either way even though it is not WNW standard.

Hope this helps,

John

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Thanks for the information John it is much appreciated. Is the WnW kits the 'accepted correct length'?

As is typical I can't find the online review now. In the In-box review the reviewer states that the kit is too short according to all his references and then in the build review he issues an apology to Roden stating that he had now discovered that their length is correct. He says that two were were build with the longer fuselage and designed to use a more powerful engine but that, due to this engine being in short supply and unreliable they opted for the more easily available and reliable engine but had to shorten and lighten the aircraft in order to give the same performance with the lower power available.

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A very good question and one I would like to know the answer to myself. I wish I could find the two reviews where the chap first criticised and then approved the fuselage length so that I could maybe follow up on the reference material he referred to. I have now ordered the Roden Triplane from Model Hobbies and looking forward to my friendly neighbourhood postie bringing it to me.

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In the initial review in Windsock Worldwide Ray Rimell, states that the first two prototypes were slightly shorter than the production examples, (IIRC somewhere around Windsock Worldwide Vol. 26, No. 6, November/December 2010). I am not sure what has been said since, but an email to him via the Windsockdatafile website might garner some elucidation.

HTH!

Christian, exiled to africa with his stash and library packed

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Hmmm so far I can't find any definitive answer on this here internet as to which length is correct although the consensus seems to be that the longer fuselage is the correct length. Is the Wingnut Wings kits longer in the body?

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