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Copper State Models is to release a brand new 1/48th Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin injected kit - ref. CSM1026. Release is expected in March 2016. This new kit will replace the original resin reference (K.1010 - http://www.copperstatemodels.com/main/productsCS/1/3). Source: https://www.facebook.com/copperstatemodels/posts/1673886212900131 V.P.

This is my first proper post on here and looking at some of the work on show, I can't help but feel a little daunted. More so for the fact that I haven't made a plastic model kit for about 30yrs. I do make Scratch built ships that I set up with RC to sail on the lake, but having two young boys has brought me back to my childhood passion, for their benefit entirely of course I decided that my first foray back would be a cheap and simple kit that I could practice on. I do like WW1 aircraft as they had great character so I picked up a Revell 1:72 Sopwith Camel and intended to do it straight out of the box with no modifications and in the livery as flown by Lt L.S Breadner, No.3 Naval Sqn, Royal Naval Air Service, Walmer, Dec 1917. So here's how its gone. Hope it helps the total beginner's and any tips from more experienced modellers are most welcome indeed. Just need to figure out how to post photos ;-)

Hello, First, excuse me for my mistake english, i am writing from France. I want to build the Cpt Arthur Roy Brown’s plane. Brown who is a possible candidate to have involved in the Manfred Von Richtofen’s death. Here are the photograph of the men and the plane (find on the net) : « Rentrons dans le vif du sujet » !, Here is the work i made on the two alf parts of fuselage: I completed the structure behind the seats with squarred plastic profiles. I used aluminium alclad painds for the metallics parts, the fabrics parts are paint in Gunze H85 and the wood parts in H37 Gunze. For the wethering i used some black oil paint on the metallic parts. For the wooden parts i used differents shade of yellow and brown oil paints. I build some reinforcement cable with streched sprue. I painted them with gunmetal from aeromaster. For the instrument panel after paintjob on the wooden part, i used the decals from the box, some rhodoid cut with a punch and die and instrument dials from Aeroclub. The seat’s structure received the same painjob as the two parts of the fuselage. The seat from the box as been replace with a Barracuda studio one.L That’s all folk for this day. Best regard’s from France.

1/32 Sopwith Triplane. Correcting the Roden Kit With the Wingnut Wings SopwithTriplane kit having long since sold out, the only game in town is the Roden offering. Hannants had them on special offer recently, so I was tempted and purchased one. There is one major problem with the kit however, and that is that the fuselage is too short by about 6 mm. I believe it was Rowan Broadbent of Pheon Decals, John Adams of Aeroclub, and Brian Fawcet who originally brought this to attention, and Brian offers his own resin fuselage correction set. Here If you have a Roden kit and want to fix it, Brians correction set can be heartily recommended. However, I decided to have go at fixing it myself with some old fashioned modelling, using what I had available so as to keep the overall cost down. Firstly I sawed the fuselage in half where the rear decking starts, then cut a strip of 40 thou plasticard 6mm wide. This was cut into lengths for the side and bottom of each fuselage half, and inserted where the cut was made. I set them standing proud of the outside surface to give a little sanding room to bring them down flush. Using 40 thou gave a good strong bond as well. The trick here is to do the fuselage halves with the locating holes first (I think it was left side). Lay it on a flat surface when the inserts are first attached, to get a nice straight fuselage half and let it set solidly over night.The next day do the other half with the locating pegs on, and align it on the by now strong other side, to get a perfectly straight fuselage. This left the cockpit decking too short, but fortunately Roden supply two, one for the single gun and one for the twin gun option. I simply cut a 6mm section off one and joined it to the rear of the other, sanding it flush later. I am not 100% certain that the extra length is in the cockpit decking (rather than the rear fabric decking) but I think so, based on studying photographs and plans. Perhaps Triplane experts can throw some light on this? Annoyingly Roden do not supply any decals for the instrument panel, so I sourced some from the spares box. Having built Wingnut Wings Sopwith Snipe with the 'late' four point Sutton harness, I had a spare etched brass lap type seatbelt which was perfect for the triplane, as again Roden do not supply this. The forward of the two filler caps on the decking need to be filled in and relocated further aft. I simply drilled a hole in the new location and carefully cut one from the spare decking and cemented it in. Before; Having cut the fuselage, there was now a section of fuselge lacing missing on the starboard side. I scraped and sanded off what was there, and replaced it with some Eduard 1/48 etched lacing that I had in stock. Although 1/48, one of the patterns matched perfectly with what was on the kit before I removed it. (Note relocated filler cap) The undercarriage legs do not have much of a contact point where they meet the fuselage, so i decided to fit them while all was still bare plastic for the sake of getting a good strong join all around. Note also that there was a bit of sink marking in the area between the lower wings, as well as other areas where white Milliput has been used to fill in and smooth things up. With Halfords grey primer from a rattle can sprayed on, all was looking encouraging. One real oddity I only spotted after priming was that the underside of the top wing had lots of pinholes in, like resin castings sometimes do. A bit of Milliput sorted that out, but it is a new one on me in injection moulded plastic. Painting is under way, I decided to fit the struts to the middle wings as a bit of filling was needed around them, and paint everything up as a series of sub assemblies. I hope this helps anyone out there contemplating building one of these. They are not to Wingnut Wings Standard, but do build into nice models. The 6 mm extension may not sound like much, but to me it makes a big difference to the look of the model and is well worth doing. Get the wings on and rig it next! Cheers John

Sopwith Triplane. 1/32 Roden. The Sopwith Triplane was developed from the Sopwith Pup, but was built in relatively small numbers. Despite being a highly successful fighter it's front line service life was also comparatively short. It was difficult to service and maintain, and was never adopted by the Royal Flying Corps, with service being restricted to the RNAS ans one French squadron. The Roden kit has been around for a while and was bettered by the Wingnut Wings kit in 2012. Unfortunately the Wingnuts kit sold out very quickly, meaning that if you want a Triplane, you have to get the Roden kit. Hanants had them on sale earlier this year, so I took the plunge and bought one. There are some problems with it, which I corrected in this WIP thread here. Basically they are; - The fuselage is too short - One filler cap is in the wrong place - No seatbelts are supplied - The tiny propeller on the strut mounted Rotherham pump is just a solid bar. - [Edit] Oh, and the prop was replaced with one of the spares from a WNW Sopwith Pup kit, 'cos it had sharper detail [/edit] The fuselage was lengthened with plasticard, and the top decking had a piece taken from one of the 2 optional deckings supplied. The finished model represents the mount of Raymond Collishaw of the famous 'Naval 10' squadron, aka the Black Flight. It is one of the kit supplied options. The little prop for the Rotherham pump was from the spares box, off a generic RFC fittings sprue from a Wingnut Wings kit (Can't remember which!) Thanks for looking John

Merit is to release 1/24th Sopwith Camel kits. - ref.62404 - Sopwith Camel F.1 - ref.62405 - Sopwith Camel 2.F.1 Source: http://www.ipmsdeutschland.de/Ausstellungen/Nuernberg2016/Nuernberg_2016.html V.P.

Hi all, was going through some old photo's earlier and found these, a model I have actually finished! This was a birthday present from my brother a couple of years ago... Enjoy! Al

Hello All, This build has been pottering along in the background for ages, waiting for me to get inspired to do rigging. This weekend I got the EZLine and the swearing jar out and had a go! It's brush painted in acrylics (Revell Nato Olive over Humbrol 71 Oak, with Revell Wood Brown, Humbrol 27 Dark Sea Grey and Citadel Leadbelcher) and for the undersides I masked off the linen colour on the frames and gave it a drybrush stipple with a darker shade in between them. The variation looks quite subtle in real life but gets lost a bit in the photos (my excuse!). Rigging is all EZLine, with which I have a love-hate relationship (it hates me!) and it's my first attempt at double flying wires. I tried out my new 0.2mm drills but after breaking two in the first two holes I reverted back to my trusty 40-year-old 0.5mm bit. I scratched the Scarff mounting, using some cut out coke can, sprue and elastic thread to enhance the "U" frame trimmed out of the kit part. There is also a more detailed cockpit and instrument panel, but you can't photograph it under the front wing! I ran a fine tip (0.1mm) black permanent marker round the groove between the wheel and the tyre, which gave me a nice sharp border for painting the tyre. I thoroughly recommend this kit, which has appeared in boxings from several manufacturers. I did play around with the "W" struts to get a good fit, but apart from that it was plain sailing. Enough already! Pictures: Thanks for looking, Adrian

Musthave (http://musthavemodels.jimdo.com/) has just released a 1/24th Sopwith camel resin kit - ref. MH124001 Sources: http://musthavemodels.jimdo.com/e-boutique/#cc-m-product-11906188925 https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=368588020014005&id=297895983749876 V.P.

Sopwith Pup, pics thanks to Mark Mills. Sopwith Pup N5182 at The RAF Museum Hendon Sopwith Pup G-EBKY This Pup was converted to a two seater Sopwith Dove in 1918 but then back to a Pup in the 1930's. Here in the markings of 9917 G-EBKY in the markings of N6181 'Happy' of 3 (naval) squadron. The original N6181 shot down five enemy aircraft in France during 1917.

Hi everyone, Looking at doing this one in the next little while. I've seen several sources going for blue as the fuselage colour but keep coming back to CDL myself. There is a good quality print of it in 'King of Air Combat' but no mention of potential colours. If anyone has any ideas I'd be grateful.

Hi folks, this will be my entry into this GB; Sprues look fantastic of course; Doing the option with the red cowl and the 'Sopwith' Motif on the tail. Going to be using Bobs Buckles and fishing line for the rigging, looking forward to getting started.

Ahoy Chaps. I was intending on taking a bit of a hiatus from model makering and focus on playing with trains for a while. But I thought some form of WW1 Centenary tribute build would be in order. So here is my build of the Revell 1.28 Sopwith Camel, No. 10 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service, Teteghem, France, March 1918 All brush painted with Revell acrylics, except for some Humbrol Acrylic Flesh and Tamiya Semi-Gloss clear. This is obviously an example with the rarely seen upsidedown axle modification, because I'm an idiot... A lot of flash, sink marks and holes that hadn't quite made it all the way through. The instructions were a touch vague in parts, in others I would argue just plain wrong... Fit was a bit troublesome with a lot of the parts thicker on one half than the other, so there are a few somewhat impressive joins on it... The worst part is probably the fit of the ribs into the wing, trying to work out where to remove the plastic. Anyhoo, it looks like an aeroplane, sort of..

Hey everyone , This is my 1/72 Airfix Sopwith Pup, finally got it finished after about 2 months of on and off building Please have read and take a look Brief History The Sopwith Pup was a British biplane fighter built by Sopwith Aviation Company in 1916. It entered service with 'A' Squadron of the RNAS (Navy Branch) in May 1916. By October that year, the plane was on the Western Front fighting with 8(N) squadron where it's exceptional performance saw it shoot down 20 German aircraft in 4 months. In December of 1916, the RFC received their first Pup, with it being used in 3,4,8 and 9(N) Squadrons before being replaced by the heavier-armed Sopwith Camel in mid 1917. The Camel was a much more successful aircraft, having credited over 1 200 enemy fighters destroyed; and it's ground-attack role also being effective until the end of the war. The Model I found this build easy enough for a beginner like myself, but the kit did need a bit of filler here and there and some work done, but hey can't complain The fit was alright, and the painting etc. was easy enough. Scheme This is Sopwith Pup N6453. Flown by Squadron Commander Edwin Harris Dunning DSC (1892-1917). Dunning was credited for the first pilot to land an aircraft on a moving ship, when on 02/08/1917 he landed on HMS Furious. Tragically, he was killed the second time he attempted it when the engine stalled on approach. He is buried at St. Lawrence's Church, Bradfield, Essex. Thanks for looking Dylan P.S Yes I didn't attempt rigging

E6655 at The RAF Museum Hendon. This is a replica constructed in the Wellington workshops of The Vintage Aviator Lt, New Zealand. The inclusion of original, non-functioning parts precludes this aircraft from flight status.

Sopwith Camel and SPAD XIII Revel 1/28 The Models Both of these kits date back to the late fifties, the SPAD from 1957 and the Camel from 1959, and boy does it show on opening the flaps of the end opening boxes. The open sprues give the game away straight away and the rather crude moulding. That said though, the details are quite well done although the wing ribs are a little prominent on both kits and could do with sanding down a bit. There is quite a lot of flash present, but not as much as the age of the moulds might suggest, they have obviously been stored well. SPAD There aren’t too many parts and both follow a similar order of build. The engines are quite nicely detailed with the cooling fins looking really rather good. Add to that the push rods etc and they will make nice representations. The scale of these kits will make them a nice size to work with and with a fair amount of patience, care and probably some filler they will look good in a display case. They also give the modeller a chance to scratch build a lot of detail should they wish to really go to town on them. The figures provided are very basic and could do with some resculpting, but they will add a bit of interest to the final display. The kits come with either black or white thread, or in the case of the Camel, both, for the rigging, which even in this scale looks a little too large, and quite fluffy, so you may wish to replace them with suitable modelling rigging line or fishing line. Camel Decals Each kit comes with a nicely printed decal sheet, being in register, nicely opaque and with very little carrier film. The roundels on the Camel sheet have some sort of texturing on them, making them look a little rough. Both sheets have been printed in the Czech Republic and are quite matt so will probably need a good setting and soaking solution to get them to bed down properly. The kits come with the option of two colour schemes:- Sopwith Camel of No.10 squadron, RNAS, based at Teteghem, France, March 1918 Sopwith Camel of No.45 squadron, RFC, based at Istrana, Italy, early 1918 SPAD XIII Ser.No. S.7714, flown by Capt R. Soubrian, of the 103rd Aero Squadron, 3rd Pursuit Group, USAS, based at Lisle-en-Barrois, France November 1918 SPAD XIII, Ser.No.7799, flown by 1/Lt Long, 93rd Aero Squadron, 3rd Pursuit Group, USAS, France, October 1918. Conclusion If you take into account the age of these kits before you buy them you won’t be shocked at what you find in the box. I’m sure they can and will provide many hours of enjoyment for those that have to have a larger scale model of these aircraft in their collection. They are not as basic as some models from that era, and they do have potential for more detail to be added, so if you fancy a challenge, or trip back down memory lane then they could be just for you. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Completed this just in time to hand it over to the Kingston Aviation Heritage Project last time at the West MIddlesex club. It is one of six Sopwith models we built for them to be used in their desire to keep the Kingston's heritage in the public limelight. After handing them over we were given an excellent presentation on the history of Sopwith which became Hawker and finally BAe and the aircraft they built in Kingston, Dunsfold and Langley. Although this was my first ever build of a biplane/triplane in this scale i enjoyed it for the most part and learnt a lot, which hopefully I'll be able to be put into good use in future projects. Build thread HERE

Sopwith Triplane, pic thanks to Mark Mills. This is a replica built by Northern Aeroplane Workshops with an original 130hp Clerget engine installed. Sir Tom Sopwith, the founder of the original aircraft company, who supported the project throughout his later life, honoured the society when he decreed that Northern Aeroplane Workshops triplane should be considered as a late production example. This is reflected in manufacturers plate in the cockpit being No 153.

Eduard 1/48 Sopwith Camel F1 3 Sqn RNAS, Bray Dunes 1918. This is the first stringbag I have attempted since I started modeling again and I have to say it was a battle all the way, but I am well chuffed with it even if the rigging is not 100% accurate. I didn’t have much interest in WW1 subjects until my son became a bit obsessed with War Horse so I thought it would make a change from the usual cold war jets I usually do. Taken me a bout 4 months to finish, had to leave it half rigged and come back to it as it was doing my head in. The rigging is not completely finished but I think I am going to quit while I’m ahead, now looking for another WW1 biplane to do. Anyway here she is, built entirely OOB! PS: I used the new Humbrol clear on the prop and cowling, its great!

Sopwith Snipe 1/32 Wingnut Wings It only takes one look at the pugnacious little Snipe to see that it is a product of the Sopwith Company, that obvious 'hump' on the fuselage serving to raise the pilots seating position higher and improve his all round visibility.The direct lineage from the more famous Camel is clear to see, and not altogether surprising as it was designed to be the Camels replacement. Design objectives were to increase performance by fitting a more powerful engine, strengthen the airframe, and eliminate some of the Camels trickier handling problems. All of these parameters were met, but the aircraft only just made it to the front line in the last few weeks before the First World War ended. 43 Squadron received its first Snipes at the end of August 1918, and after a period of training used them operationally for the first time on 24Th September. Further deliveries were made to 4 Squadron Australian Flying Corps who perhaps saw the most combat use with them, and to 208 Squadron RAF who received them too late to see any combat at all. It was generally thought easier to fly than the Camel, but conversely because some of its more skittish characteristics had been ironed out, it was thought by some experienced fliers to be less nimble in combat. Changes were made to improve its agility by increasing the size of the fin and rudder, and adding larger, balanced ailerons to the upper wing. After the war the Snipe was selected as the main fighter to be retained by the RAF as it wound down to a peace time footing, remaining in service until 1926 and incidentally was the last RAF fighter to use a rotary engine. Other operators of the Snipe were the Brazilian Navy, Canada, and the Soviet Union. The kit. Yet again Wingnut Wings present their product in exemplary style. The silver gilt edged box top features a gorgeous Steve Anderson painting of a 56 Squadron Snipe in formation with a Bristol Fighter over a shimmering sea, heading for the white cliffs of Dover. Along the side are little pictorials of the five finishing options that will be found inside, raising the anticipation levels even higher. Inside everything is sealed in its own clear plastic bag, including the instruction booklet. As is the norm now, Wingnuts instructions are very comprehensive with a full parts map, CAD drawings to show the assembly stages, all backed up with detail photographs of the full size aeroplane. Particularly helpful are the full colour drawings showing completed sub assemblies. The assembly sequence is finished off with a full rigging diagram, showing a front three-quarter view and a rear three quarter view from the other side. The final section covers the five colour scheme options, but more of this later. The instructions are worth filing away as references in their own right once the model has been finished. Sprue A covers the cockpit interior and a lot of the smaller items. There are some very fine mouldings on here, all very crisp and flash free. The Instrument panel is very nice and I was particularly impressed with the bomb rack and the fuselage side frames. They are complex pieces of work that only a few years ago would surely have been impossible to produce as single components. Sprue B holds the upper and lower wings which are both single, full span mouldings. This is very good news for those nervous of building biplanes as the dihedral is all set up for you and there are no alignment problems associated with attaching outer panels to centre sections. The fabric effect is beautifully done with nicely defined rib tapes and stitching and the trailing edges are thin and sharp. Studying this sprue, turning it over and looking at it from all angles, I would say that there is nothing that could be done to improve it. Its perfectly designed and perfectly executed, no flash, no sink marks, it turns the most complex part of biplane building into simplicity. I have no doubt that all eight interplane struts will fit perfectly and lock the two wings together in accurate alignment, I'll start building this soon so will be able to confirm that prediction. Sprue C holds the clear parts which are the windscreen and the two covers for the aileron pulley inspection hatches in the lower wing. There are two copies of sprue D as they very sensibly hold all the parts of which two or more are required. Struts, wheels, Vickers guns, Cooper bombs, and Holt flare brackets are all here. If you look very closely you'll see in very fine raised letters 'Palmer Cord Aero Tyre' around the side of each tyre. Sprue E is for the Bentley BR.2 engine, which is comparatively simple. The main nine cylinder section is in two halves with separate cylinder heads, push rods, and induction pipes. Again the mouldings are very crisp with fine detail. Sprue F has the fuselage halves and cockpit coaming, tailplane and propeller. The fabric effect on the fuselage looks very good indeed. It is restrained and looks exactly like tight doped linen over wooden stringers. There is no sign of that sometimes overdone 'sagging fabric' fantasy that sometimes appears on other manufacturers kits. Sprue H is attached to F, and contains the parts that make this Snipe a 'late' version,the fin/rudder and upper ailerons. They have the same fabric and ribtape finish as the wings, as you would expect. The final parts on the photo etch fret and consist of sights and cocking handles for the Vickers guns, and two types of seat belts. There is the earlier, wide, lap belt and the later post war four point Sutton Harness to fit as appropriate to your chosen version. Colour schemes. I always have a lot of trouble, in the nicest possible way, in choosing one of the options supplied in the box. This one is going to even more difficult than usual as I really like them all very much. They are; A) E6351 GS Sapozhnikov, 1st Soviet Fighter Aviaotryad, 1920. This machine was captured by the Soviets in Poland, re-covered and repainted, and used by Grigoriy Sapozhnikov, a five victory ace. He named it 'Nelly' and painted the ace of spades on the sides. The Russian stars are black rather than red, which adds to its appeal as a finishing option. I love the way that Wingnut Wings always manage to find an off beat subject like this, and include it in their kits. B ) E6544, 17 Squadron, Hawkinge, 1924. Overall silver with blue wheel discs and 17 Squadrons zig zag design down the fuselage. A lovely, tidy scheme that is very attractive and an iconic representative of the 'Silver Wings' period that developed through the 1920's and 30's. C) E6964, 56 Squadron, Hawkinge 1923. Overall silver with red and white checker bars, red wheel discs and fin. Another 'Silver Wings' era machine, that unmistakably belongs to 56 Squadron. Very nice. D) E8198, C Flight 4 Squadron, Bickendorf, January - February 1919. PC 12 with Battleship grey cowling areas and clear doped linen undersides. Engaged in post war occupation duties in Germany. This is a classic late war Snipe, and may be the one I choose as I like 'front line' machines. E) F2367, B Flight, 70 Squadron, Bickendorf, March - April 1919. PC 12 with Battleship grey cowling areas and clear doped linen undersides. Also on occupation duties in Germany, this Snipe is in a standard wartime finish with extra white bars on the cowling and around the fuselage. Decals. The decals by Cartograf are on a large single sheet that only just fits within the dimensions of the box. They have minimal carrier film, sharp printing, good colour, and a gloss finish. Stencils, data plates, instrument faces, even the Sopwith logos for the struts are provided, along with all the items necessary for each individual aircraft. White bordered and unbordered roundels are provided for the upper wings of the RAF options, with plain black stars for the Russian on.The two 'Silver Wing' machines are provided with upper wing 'Zig Zag' and 'Checker' markings for each squadron, as there is a small chance that they may have been carried. The instructions note that there is no photographic evidence however, so it is up to the modeller to decide whether or not to use them. Conclusion. Every time a new Wingnut Wings Kit comes out, there are high expectations. We know what to expect now, from the beautiful presentation to the superbly moulded parts, along with the great finishing options, and the superb instructions. All of this is here, although there is a new element emerging ever so quietly. The mouldings on Sprue A have some very complex shapes on them, and have left me wondering how on earth they do it. The wings too are lovely pieces, I might have expected sink marks on what are fairly sizeable mouldings, but there is not a trace of a problem on them anywhere. Its almost certain that it will build with accuracy and precision, albeit that you have to take care and follow the instructions closely. The two bay wings will require more rigging than a single bay type, but none of it has double wires, so helping to keep it comparatively simple. So, another lovely kit from Wingnut Wings that has nudged that bar just a little higher, so much so that it is going straight to the top of my build pile just as soon as I have finished the Fokker. Very highly recommended. Review samples courtesy of

Sopwith Triplane 1:32 Wingnut Wings One of the things that I find interesting about First World war aviation is the variety of aircraft types that appeared as each side struggled for aerial supremacy. If you put yourself in the position of a designer back in 1914 a lot of what we take for granted today was unknown and had to be worked out, resulting in some quite unusual looking aircraft. Low powered engines require a generous amount of lift and therefore wing area in order make flight viable, thus the proliferation of biplanes and scarcity of monoplane designs. I remember reading somewhere that in aerodynamic terms most lift comes from the first 30% of a wing back from the leading edge, so that for a given wing area a long span, thin chord wing is much more efficient than a short span, wide chord one. Which leads us nicely in to the design philosophy of the Triplane, where the very similar Sopwith Pup had much the same wing area spread over two wings, the Triplane had three thin chord wings of the same span as the Pup . It was able to easily out climb, outrun, and outmanoeuvre its two winged brother, all whilst utilising the same type of engine, and had the improved all round visibility that is so vital in a fighting aircraft. Appearing over the Western Front in June 1916, it served almost exclusively with Royal Navy Air Service (RNAS) units. It served for just over a year before being replaced by the twin gun Sopwith Camel from late 1917. The most famous users of the 'Tripehound' were Naval 10 squadron, and particularly 'B' flight leader Raymond Collishaw and his all Canadian 'Black Flight' who claimed 87 kills in just three months. That it didn't see more widespread service is probably attributable to the fact that it was a fragile aircraft and difficult to maintain. Tasks that could be completed relatively simply on other aircraft would require major dis-assembly of the Triplanes wings and fuselage in order to gain access to components. The French were the only other operators of the Triplane, and unlike the Sopwith 1 1/2 strutter which they licence built in their thousands, they didn't really take to it. As noted in the Wingnuts instruction booklet where there is a decal option for a French machine, the French did not seem 'particularly inclined to repair them, with half a dozen being written off following often quite minor accidents'. As noted earlier, the arrival of the Sopwith Camel which was stronger and carried twice the firepower, saw the withdrawal of the Triplanes from front line service. The survivors remained in use as trainers until the end of the war, when it quickly disappeared. Although it was produced in relatively small numbers (153 in total, Vs 5,490 Camels) it gained a reputation greater than it's limited use would have suggested. Certainly the German Jastas had great respect for it and it started a 'Triplane craze' on their side, of which only the Fokker DR.1 gained any notable success. The kit. Another lovely surprise from Wingnut Wings was the release of this kit just before Christmas 2012. Packaged in the usual very smart box with Steve Andersons superb artwork showing a low level tailchase with another Tripehound and an Albatros, you know you are in for a treat as you lift the lid on this one. Packed to the top with individual sprues sealed in their own polythene bags, I usually head for the instruction booklet at the bottom of the box, and remove its wrapper. Printed in heavy gauge gloss paper, the twenty two page booklet is beautifully laid out and starts with a parts map. CAD drawings are then used for the assembly sequences, including completed sub assemblies in full colour showing how it should all look as you progress through the build. Colour photographs of the Shuttleworth collections N6920 are used to highlight and clarify various close up details, whilst contemporary black and white photos are used to explain other details. Towards the end of the booklet are the usual five colour scheme options featuring Ronny Bar's beautiful full colour profiles, and more black and white photographs of the actual aircraft being modelled. Nobody comes close to the completeness and quality of Wingnut Wings instructions, and as always you will want to file these away as reference material at the end of the build. Six sprues of various sizes are in the box, the two major ones being for the wings and fuselage. Crisp and clean mouldings are Wingnut Wings hallmark, and these are no exception. I particularly like the Sopwith 'quilted' effect on the sides of the fuselage behind the cowling. It really captures the look of fabric stretched over the wooden framework beneath, which incidentally is nicely moulded on the inside of the fuselage. The 'quilted' effect; The three wings are all together on one sprue. The top and bottom wings are single piece mouldings, thus making the process of setting the dihedral foolproof. The moulded detail is again first class. I've never seen better represented rib tapes on any kit, you can see how these were done. They stitched the wing fabric on to the ribs, sealed it with a strip of fabric and then doped it all to pull it taut. Even the little riblets on the leading edge between the main ribs show up with just enough effect. A nice touch is the inspection panels for the control runs. In reality these are clear panels that the fitters can look through to check that the control cables are correctly on their pulleys. These are moulded in, and separate clear parts are provided to fit over them. These also feature on Wingnuts Sopwith Pup and Se5a kits, and I can vouch that they look extremely good. Interestingly sprue 'B' is labelled 'Sopwith Pup' showing that real life is being mirrored in model form, as these components shared between the Pup and the Triplane. It contains the wheels, tailplane, cockpit seat and various other small ancillary items. This wide span tailplane is the one initially fitted to triplanes, (options A and C use it) but later on a shorter span one was developed. This can be found on sprue A, so you have the choice. Various different cowling panels and a choice of prop are on sprue 'F', and I notice that the large square inspection panels are greyed out on the parts map, possibly meaning that we can expect another Triplane release (purely guesswork, but the 'Black Flight' Triplanes featured these panels so maybe we will see a boxing for them?). The Clerget engine is a nice little model in it's own right, and comes with very delicately moulded cooling fins, induction pipes, and push-rods. An optional crankcase front enables you to build either a 110 or 130 hp version, depending upon which finishing option you choose. Clear parts are provided for the very minimal windscreens, and the aforementioned inspection panels in the wings. Rigging on the Triplane is rather like a biplane, in that the bracing runs from the top wing to the bottom wing, and line lines actually cross in the middle wing. There is further bracing fore and aft on the lower and middle wing, to the fuselage. Patches were appently placed over these crossover points, and these are provided on the etched brass sheet, along with a set of seatbelts. Marking Options. Wingnut Wings always provide at least five interesting marking options with their kits. These ones are especially nice as well as three RNAS machines, they also feature a French variant, and a captured German one. The 'obvious' option of a Naval 10 'black flight' machine is not present so I would guess that this might come out separately or feature on one of Wingnuts own aftermarket decal sheets. Personally I tend to like the less obvious choices as they often have an interest of their own, and spur you on to do a little extra reading and research. The decals are printed by Cartograf on an almost A4 sized sheet and have excellent register, colour density and sharpness. The wing roundels have a little cutout in them where they fit around the clear inspection panels, and are also designed to fit down into the slot formed by the aileron gap. Finally, the little dials for the instruments are particularly impressive, you can actually read them through a magnifying glass. Tthe profiles are in full colour by Ronny Bar, some just as side profiles sharing anothers upper and lower drawings, but most as full three-views. It can often take several days of thinking around the subject to actually decide which one to do, as the choices are so interesting. I'm strongly tempted by the French and German options, but also have a nagging feeling that I would like one of the RNAS machines in my collection, as it was really one of 'their' aircraft. It' all good fun mulling it over though, and part of the enjoyment. Option A. Triplane F4 Centre d'Aviation Maritime, Dec 1916 to Jan 1917. Option B. N534 1 (N) Squadron August 1917. A very interesting option, N534 was flown by no fewer than three aces who all obtained kills in it. 'Sammy' Maynard (6 kills) was a New Zealander, whilst Richard Minifie (21 Kills) and Roderick Dallas (32 kills) were both Australians. Option C. N5427 1(N) Squadron April 1917. Another machine flown by 'Sammy' Maynard to obtain a kill. Option D. N5429, Jasta 4 September 1917. Serving with 1(N) Squadron in September 1917, JR Wilford was shot down by 27 victory ace Kurt Wusthoff on the 13th of the month. With it's pointy spinner and eisernkreuz markings, this certainly is an unusual triplane. Option E. N6301, Roderick McDonald, 8(N) Squadron May 1917. Named 'Dusty II' . Conclusion. In previous builds of my own Wingnuts Wings kits (LVG, Pfalz D.IIIa, Roland D.VIa, SE5.a, Sopwith Pup, Bristol F2.b, and FE.2b), the fit has been extraordinarily good, so it is safe to assume that this one will go together with the same precision that all the others have. It also has the same meticulous attention to detail that characterise these kits. Alternative parts are provided for cockpit coamings, windscreens, struts with/without pitot heads, propellers, etc for all the different making options provided in the kit. The one piece wings and simple interplane struts should make it an ideal first or second build for the WW.1 novice, and the rest of us 'Great War' addicts will certainly want a 'Tripehound' in our collections. Buy with confidence, this is another beautifully designed and presented offering from Wingnut Wings which will provide you with many hours of pure modelling enjoyment. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of