Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe***FINISHED***

[PeterB]

When I first came across the Sopwith Snipe many years ago I assumed it was an improved Camel, and that in fact seems to be what Sopwith's had in mind when they started on the design in Summer 1917, but by the time it finally entered service in August/September 1918, it had undergone a rather lengthy development programme involving a fair few changes. When I saw that Eastern Express had released a kit about 20 years ago I picked one up and at some point made a start on it.

 

 

In the foreground are the lower wing with the rudder bar, control column and seat previously painted and glued on. I have also painted the fuselage interior and glued it together adding the fairing at the front which partially covered the gun breeches, and the IP. Now seems a good time to re-start the build.

 

The initial version looked very much like a Camel with single bay wings of slightly less span and a slab sided fuselage mounting a B.R.I rotary engine at the front and a Camel like tail at the rear - the only clear difference perhaps was that the "hump" which perhaps gave the Camel its name was missing as the twin Vickers were not faired in according to one source though others don't mention this.. Unfortunately, when it was test flown it proved rather disappointing being little faster than the Camel and handling badly, being tail heavy with pilots complaining of poor rudder response. It was sent back to Sopwith's with a request to fix the faults which they eventually did, but took a lot of time - perhaps in fairness they were fully tied up with the production of the Camel though they did manage to get the somewhat unorthodox Dolphin into service almost a year earlier, which was at least as fast as the Snipe though probably less manoeuvrable.

 

I will outline the development story briefly during the build, but essentially the Snipe was faster but less manoeuvrable than the Camel and more manoeuvrable but slower than the SE5a as I understand it, but whereas the SE and Dolphin were withdrawn from service almost as soon as WWI ended, the Snipe continued in numbers as the front line RAF fighter until finally withdrawn in 1926 which is perhaps a little puzzling.

 

Pete

Edited December 19, 2024 by PeterB

[PeterB]

A bit more progress.

 

 

As mentioned previously the 150 hp B.R.1 powered prototype was not much faster than the Camel, but pretty soon the 230 hp B.R.2 engine was fitted and the speed went up to a quoted 119mph which was rather better though still behind the supposed 135 mph of the SE5A. Also stringers were added to round out the top and sided of the fuselage and if not already in place a fairing was added to the gun breeches. At around the same time the wing dihedral was slightly increased but it still was not right so the wing was extended to give a 30/31ft span (lower/upper wing) which resulted in it being converted to have 2 bays each side. The handling was still not good and pilots asked for a larger rudder and an adjustable horizontal tail to allow for variances in loading but Sopwith seem to have been very slow to deal with that, which is surprising given how quickly new designs were normally produced back then. Various experiments such as fitting a massive open fronted spinner were tried, and eventually Sopwith fitted an adjustable tailplane and increased the size of the rudder somewhat, together with a long but shallow fixed vertical surface which resulted in a rather ugly "stepped" tail arrangement. Also at some point they fitted horn balanced ailerons and in this form the Snipe was accepted for production with 1700 being ordered.  The first few had the stepped tail, but almost immediately an even larger rudder with a matching curved fixed surface was introduced as in the pic above, and this remained standard on all subsequent Snipes. Entering service in late August/early September 1918 only 2 units had fully re-equipped with Snipes by the time the war ended but in spite of its apparent mediocrity it was selected as the standard RAF fighter and many more were built - perhaps just under 500 in total. One source suggests that this was due to the fact that it was available and cheap compared with the much faster Matinsyde Buzzard for example, but also says that it remained in service longer than intended due to problems with the development of the ABC Dragonfly engine which was supposed to power its replacement (whatever that was supposed to be).

 

It was praised for having a good view from the cockpit and being reasonably manoeuvrable but for that stage in the war the performance was not brilliant.  I think the following quote sums the Snipe up pretty well-

 

Major Oliver Stewart, writing of the Snipe in the 1920s, remembered: “It was more powerful and it had a better all-round performance, but it had none of the lightning manoeuvre of the Camel. To turn from a Camel to a Snipe was like turning from an eight horse-power sports car to an eight ton lorry…”

 

Pete

Edited December 19, 2024 by PeterB

[JOCKNEY]

Wow Pete, you are really on a mission with all these WW1 builds, and i for one am loving every minute of it 

 

Cheers Pat 

[Andwil]

1 hour ago, JOCKNEY said:

Wow Pete, you are really on a mission with all these WW1 builds, and i for one am loving every minute of it 

 

Cheers Pat 

Me too.

 

AW

[John Masters]

One of my favourite!

[PeterB]

Over in my Sopwith Strutter thread I have explained my take on the subject of PC.10 which, depending on your source and personal viewpoint could be anything from a true dark brown, through a greenish brown to a brownish green it seems. My sources suggest that both the pigments and dopes used and the method of application changed between 1916 when PC.10 first entered use and the end of the war and that as a result the colour became a bit browner so I have tried to imitate that.

 

 

The wing at the bottom is from the Strutter which I painted in Humbrol Hu 108 - RFC Green. The photo does not quite give a true representation of how the colours actually look in real life and no doubt they will change once varnished, probably like the real thing. Whilst a definite green it does have hints of brown depending on the lighting. For the Snipe I went back and tried again the 50 or so year old Humbrol Authentic HB 15 RFC Green - when I first looked at this I thought it had "gone off" but now I suspect it has not. When first I opened the tin the paint on top was green, but once I mixed in the pigment at the bottom it looked definitely brown and nothing like the dried old paint round the rim so I initially discarded it. However, later I painted some test swatches of the old Precision PC 10 versions which are brown and photographed them for my Strutter thread, and as an afterthought I then painted some HB 15 alongside for comparison. It went on clearly a dark brown, but as it dried it began to rake on a hint of green which was enhanced by a coat of varnish - if I had to pick a name for it I think "Olive Brown" is appropriate and in terms of my own personal "mental picture" it is actually the best attempt at PC.10 paint I have ever used though others may disagree.

 

So, I will add the engine, cowling and guns and touch it up and then start on adding the upper wing. To allow a bit of "wiggle room" to ensure the correct alignment I widened the locating holes in the lower wing though I may have overdone it a bit!. I can always fill them if needed.

 

Pete

[PeterB]

Fuselage finished and varnished.

 

 

It looks decidedly brown above but can look green in some lighting. I suppose that to most people the Snipe is best known for the epic struggle between the Canadian Ace William Barker and a gaggle of Fokker D.VII. In September 1918 Barker was appointed to take charge of a training school at Hendon, but claiming the need to familiarise himself with the current situation at the Front, managed to get an attachment. to  201 Squadron for 10, days. They flew Camels but he picked up a brand new Snipe on his way to their base, and was flying this when he left to return to the UK on October 27th. On the way he surprised a German Rumpler recce plane and shot it down, only to be jumped himself by a gaggle of "at least 15" Fokker D.VII from Jastas 24 and 44, part of Jagdgruppe 12. Against the odds, and in spite of being seriously wounded in one arm and both legs, he managed to make a forced landing next to an RAF Kite Balloon unit who probably saved his life. It was not until the following March that he was well enough to be able to attend Buckingham Palace to receive a VC from the King for his action that day. Reports as to exactly what happened vary, and I have read that the initial after action report was based on witnesses on the ground due to his medical condition, but some sources suggest he shot down 4 Fokkers, whilst others say 3 plus the Rumpler. German reports for the day in question acknowledge one Rumpler, together with one D.VII from Jasta 44, and perhaps one from Jasta 24 though it is unclear who shot them down. In those days it was difficult to be certain what happened at times, and planes that dropped down smoking or apparently out of control were often claimed as kills even though they actually managed to get home, but whatever the truth it does not detract from Barker's achievement.

 

Toko and EE have provided a set of markings for Barker's plane and one used by the Russians after the withdrawal of the Allied intervention force in 1919. Unfortunately there is a bit of a problem. Barker's plane suffered some damage when it nosed over on landing but was basically intact when photographed shortly afterwards.

 

 

Although the vertical tail was a bit squashed, it is clearly one of the early batch of Snipes with what I have called the "stepped" tail, whereas the kit is of a later one with the revised tail so the decals cannot be used! I will have to find alternatives in my decal spares.

 

Pete

[PeterB]

My wife bought me a new calendar for my workroom and whilst browsing through it I found this!

 

 

I can't decide if it is a careless error or deliberate given the month. Almost certainly the former I think!

 

Anyway, I have had a bit of fun with the Snipe today.

 

Using one of my crude Meccano jigs to hold the top wing in roughly the correct place, I glued the interplane struts to the top wing and once they had set a bit I put the assembly on. After a while I carefully adjusted the alignment then left it to set before adding some CA.

 

 

 

 

 

Once it was dry I added the cabane struts.

 

 

Not perfect but as close as I am likely to get a two bay biplane. I will leave it to set overnight before touching up, then I will make a start on the rigging.

 

Pete

Edited December 30, 2024 by PeterB

[PeterB]

As usual I have limited myself to fairly basic rigging - single wires where there were sometimes two, no control runs and no rigging on the cabane struts.

 

 

I have deliberately left off one wire on each side for the moment as it runs down to the top of the front u/c leg and would be safer left until later. So next up the u/c itself, but first I will put the fuselage decs on whilst it is easier to handle.

 

Pete

[PeterB]

With the exception of the underwing roundels the decs are now on including the WWI equivalent of "stencils".

 

 

Due to the late entry into service of the Snipe most of the ones that actually reached Squadrons before the Armistice seem to have been from the initial batch with the "stepped tail" As explained earlier the kit represents the later version and I have modelled it as E 8176 which was accepted by the RAF on October 9th 1918. When it actually moved to a Squadron I have no idea but it seems it was recorded as being with 208 Squadron when it was part of the "Occupation Forces" in August 1919. This unit, which was formerly  8 Squadron RNAS aka "Naval Eight" started to switch from Camels to Snipes in November 1918 and kept them until being disbanded in November 1919. In common with several other units it used a combination of one or more white bands in a variety of alignments as a Squadron identifier, and probably carried them not only on the fuselage but on top of the upper wing but I have not been able to confirm the location and alignment for the latter so left them off. The font I used for the DIY serial is not quite right but will do. It had 3 "Lift Here" stencils on each side - I was rather expecting at least one to be "Trestle Here" but that does not seem to have been the case. It is possible that the metal panels on the cowling and sides were in fact left in natural metal with only the decking in grey but I am not going to bother repainting it now.

 

As was normal in the late war period the fuselage and upper wing roundels were given a white outline to make them stand out better against the dark PC.10 camo. From about 1920 onwards Snipes were painted in overall aluminium/silver dope.

 

Pete

Edited January 6 by PeterB

[PeterB]

Almost done.

 

 

Just a little touching up needed and a finishing coat of varnish.

 

Pete

[JOCKNEY]

Wow Pete

Another WW1 subject for the collection,  congratulations mate 

Cheers Pat 

[Toryu]

On 08/01/2025 at 13:45, PeterB said:

Almost done.

 

but looking great already!

[PeterB]

Thanks guys.

 

For many years I wanted a Snipe and a Dolphin to round off my collection of WWI RFC/RAF planes. I eventually built the CMR Dolphin a few years back-

 

 

and now I have built the Snipe. Neither plane were well known when I started building kits, and it seems that in reality the Snipe was far less significant than the Dolphin perhaps due to it entering service much later and not having time to establish a reputation. With hindsight I would maybe have been better using the old Humbrol Authentic "green" on the Dolphin as well, instead of the Colourcoats paint, but anyway they are now both built.

 

Pete

[Toryu]

That's a beautiful Dolphin!

[PeterB]

I finally got round to spraying it so it is finished.

 

 

 

Pete

 

[81-er]

Very nice, Pete

 

James

[AdrianMF]

Very nice. It must be satisfying to complete the set!

 

Regards,

Adrian