Wingnut Wings Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin - Wingnut Wings 1:32

[Viking]

Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin
Wingnut Wings 1:32

 

 

Of the aircraft produced by the Sopwith Aviation Company, the majority such as the Tabloid, Baby, 1 ½ Strutter, Pup, Triplane, Camel, Snipe, and Salamander were all powered by rotary engines. Only the Dolphin and Cuckoo made it into wartime service with an in-line engine. The Dolphin using the same 200Hp Hispano-Suiza V8 fitted to the SE.5a and SPAD XIII, and the Cuckoo (although it was too late to see active service) used the Sunbeam Arab .

The main design aim of the Dolphin was to give the pilot improved all round visibility, seating him close to the top wing, with a completely open centre section. The top wing was also negatively staggered (I.e. further back than the bottom wing) to assist with visibility. There are all sorts of complex aerodynamic features associated with negative stagger, suffice to say that it never became popular. Patchy reliability of the Hispano-Suiza engine notwithstanding, the Dolphin became a very good high altitude fighter and was favored by several aces, many of whom earned all their kills on it.

Initial deliveries were at the end of 1917, with twin Vickers guns over the engine and twin Lewis guns pointing upwards in the centre section cutout, giving the Dolphin is classic aggressive look. In practice the drum fed Lewis guns intruded into an already cramped cockpit, so often only one was fitted and the weight saving also benefited performance.
Comparatively few Squadrons were issued with the Dolphin, only 2 going to the RNAS and the rest to the RFC, although of course both services joined to become the Royal Air Force on April 1st 1918. Within three years of the Great War ending, the Dolphin was completely retired from RAF service, although a small number carried on with the Polish air force. Over many years the RAF museum gathered a large number of parts from several Dolphins, and today a beautiful restoration/replica can be seen at the Hendon museum.

 

The kit.
I bet few of us saw this one coming! It suddenly appeared on Wingnut Wings website in early December, just in time shoot straight to the top of every Great War aficionado’s Christmas List. Packed in one of Wingnut Wings standard silver edged boxes, the artwork features a 23 Sqn. Machine in combat with a Fokker Triplane high above the western front.
Lifting the lid reveals three large sprues, one smaller sprue for the engine, one for the clear parts, an etched fret, a set of decals by Cartograf, and  Wingnut Wings sublime instructions/reference booklet. A bonus is that you also get that buzzing feeling of excitement from opening a new Wingnuts kit!

 

Sprue A.
This holds all the smaller and detailed parts, with some superb moulding.

 

Note how good the Lewis guns are, and the underseat box for storing the ammo drums.

           

 

 

Also the fuel tank is a very impressive single part. Everything is sharply defined, with some very delicate detailing.
The parts cover a lot of the interior fittings, as well as exterior components such as the undercarriage, struts, bombs, choice of propellers etc. There are a couple of wing mounted Lewis guns for option E, the 87 Sqn machine.

Unusually for an aircraft of this period, the guns were mounted on the lower wing outboard of the propeller arc, and fired by cable. I don’t know how successful this was, but it must have limited the rounds that could be fired, as it would not have been possible to change the ammo drums in flight. Note that the centre section Lewis guns would have been omitted, this was an ‘either or’ option.
The instrument panel has the usual compliment of super fine decals for the dials, all of which are readable under a magnifying glass. My references state that the panel itself was gloss black painted American pearwood, confirming the colouring instructions.

 

Sprue B.
Here we have the mainplanes, with separate ailerons. The lower wing is a full span single piece moulding incorporating a section of the lower fuselage. This has the twin advantage of making a strong unit and removing the need for you set the dihedral.

 

The two upper wings are also single mouldings, with beautifully depicted fabric and rib tapes. All the wings have thoughtfully been given their sprue attachment points along the leading edge, thus eliminating any possibility if damaging the fine trailing edges when cutting from the sprue. This is another subtle example of how Wingnut Wings think of things from the modellers point of view, and why they stand ahead of all other manufacturers.

The training edges are remarkably thin, perfectly capturing the look of the real thing.

 

Sprue C.
As well as the windshield, the clear panels for the pulley inspection covers on the wings are provided. Option B is a night fighter fitted with lamps on the wing tips, rudder, and fuselage, all of which are on this sprue.

 

Sprue D.

The Dolphins distinctively shaped fuselage is found on sprue D, along with the tailplanes, fin & rudder, cowling parts, and interior frames.

The fuselage shows some really outstanding detail, with very stitching and fasteners.

 

The interior frames are moulded with a lot of the metal brackets and copper piping on, and will look really spectacular when painted up. There is a fair bit of internal rigging to be applied using your favourite method, but all is illustrated clearly in the very comprehensive instructions.

 

Every stage is clearly explained, and if you are not familiar with Wingnut Wings Instruction books, they are better described as reference manuals. Assembly sequences are clearly explained with CAD drawings, and period photographs showing the details of the real thing.

 

The fin/rudder features really excellent rib tape detail.

The early and late versions of the Dolphin had some subtle variations which are catered for on two sub sprues.

 

The differences are in the tailskids, side radiators, and central cabane frame. The tailskid differences are that the early was wooden, and the late made from steel tube. This being a Wingnut Wings production you get both.

 

Interestingly there is a late production front cowl(D8), marked as ‘not used’ on the sprue plan, and pointed out on a photo of the real thing on page 19, so at least we know that a further release of this kit is probably due in the future.

Sprue E.
This one has been seen before, in the SE.5a kit. Having previously made the SE.5a, I know that it builds up into a lovely little representation of the 200hp Hispano Suiza. The only difference is that the Dolphin had a different intake manifold & water tank unit, which is supplied on sprue A as part 22. 

The only thing you might want to add is some ignition wiring from the magnetos to the spark plugs.

 

Etched brass.

Lap type seat belts, gunsights, gun cocking levers, and a footstep surround are all supplied on here. There is also a removable nameplate with ‘Wingnut Wings’ logo and ‘Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin’ etched on it. These present on all of Wingnut Wings etched frets if you wish to display a nameplate with your finished model.

 

Decals.

The sheet is printed by Cartograf, which pretty much guarantees the quality. Printing is sharp and flawless, the colours are excellent, and carrier film is minimal. Best of all is the mass of little stencils and instrument faces that add so much to Wingnut Wings finished kits. Sopwith liked to apply their company logo onto fittings like struts, and you get a full set of miniature ones here.

These little items really catch your eye when looking at a finished kit, like when you notice that around the  fuel filler opening it says ’Main Petrol 22 Gals’ in letters about 0.3mm tall.

These little items really catch your eye when looking at a finished kit, like when you notice that around the  fuel filler opening it says ’Main Petrol 22 Gals’ in letters about 0.3mm tall.

 

Options.

 

Option A. Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin C3785, RNAS Dover, early 1918.

 

Option B.  Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin C3803,”Red Star 6”, SARD, March 1918.

 

Option C. Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin C3824 “U”, JW Pearson (12 victories) & CE Walton (1? Victory), C Flight, 23 Sqn RAF, May to July 1918.

 

Option D. Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin C3879 “Q”, RB Bannerman, C Flight 79 Sqn RAF, August to November 1918 (17 victories).

Option E. Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin C8163 “A”, HJ Larkin, A Flight 87 Sqn RAF, August to November 1918 (11 victories).

Conclusion.
Another absolute beauty from Wingnut Wings, and one that has made many Great War enthusiasts very happy. The quality of the mouldings is absolutely top class with intricate and sharply defined components, fine surface details, and no flash or sink marks. As always, there are parts on the sprues that make me wonder ‘how do they do that?’ such as the Lewis drum ammo box (part A30) and the main petrol tank (part A20).

I now take it for granted that fit will be faultless, as it always is on a Wingnuts kits, provided you keep paint off all mating surfaces. There is a moderate amount of rigging to be done, both internal and external, so I would place this one in the lower middle range for experience required.

The view into the cockpit should be very good, revealing all that woodwork, copper piping, and instruments to advantage, and leaving the top cowl off will expose that lovely engine. With its pugnacious and aggressive look, the Dolphin is bound to find its way into most collections, and it makes the perfect companion for the Sopwith Camels released earlier this year.

With Wingnut Wings producing the Pup, Triplane, Camel, Dolphin, and Snipe, all we need now is the 1 ½ Strutter to complete the line-up. Oh, and I’d quite like a Sopwith Baby too please!
There can only be one verdict - Highly Recommended.  

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

 

 

As an aside, there are few references on the Dolphin. However, there is one book which supplies virtually everything you could need. I got mine from 'Cross and Cockade' a few years back.

 

 

[hsr]

 

2 hours ago, Viking said:

There are all sorts of complex aerodynamic features associated with negative stagger, suffice to say that it never became popular.

 

The Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Model_17_Staggerwing

 

was pretty popular.

[Julien]

One Swallow does not a Summer make.  I think Mr Viking refers to a fact that in General that there were not many aircraft made with a negative stagger. 

 

JUlien

[Beardie]

Really looking forward to getting a copy or two of this kit and waiting with baited breath to find out what they are going to reveal at Nuremberg this coming February.

[Beardie]

Just hopped onto the Pheon Decals site and I see Rowan is planning to re-release a scaled up version of two decal sets they originally produced for the Blue Max 1/48 Dolphin. I have put myself down for one of each

[Epeeman]

Viking -

 

Another excellent review from your good self.  I was really pleased when WNW released the Dolphin so ordered mine straight away.   It certainly looks good in the box and I'm hoping it will go together a bit easier than the Camel - I found this one to one of WNW's more trickier kits to get together (with some very delicate cockpit parts easily broken during assembly) coupled with the decals which were more brittle than expected.

I'm really looking forward to putting this one together soon although will have to wait a bit as my wife treated me to the WNW Jasta 5 triple Albatros Dv/DVa set so will be building one of these first.

 

Regards

 

Dave

[Sosezi]

Lads, a bit DUMB question but what SARD is? 

never heard of such unit so I'm wondering what is this

Thanks

[Viking]

On 07/01/2022 at 06:04, Sosezi said:

Lads, a bit DUMB question but what SARD is? 

never heard of such unit so I'm wondering what is this

Thanks

 

Southern Area Repair Depot at Farnborough airfield. See here.

[Sosezi]

On 08/01/2022 at 22:39, Viking said:

 

Southern Area Repair Depot at Farnborough airfield. See here.

Many thanks!!!