Scale Plastic & Rail

Wingnut Wings Sopwith Pup RNAS

 

WINGNUT WINGS SOPWITH PUP RNAS VERSION

 

Having received this kit from my friend and www.scaleplasticandrail.com webmeister Jim Hatch, I just couldn't wait to get on with the build of this magnificent kit. I had pre-ordered some additional help: scale flying wires and bracing from Radu Brinzan (www.radub.com), 0.2 nickel wire with turnbuckles from Albion Alloys (www.albionalloys.co.uk). Using the colour call out chart, I had obtained all the necessary Tamiya acrylics to do the job. I have a colourblind problem and I rely on colour reference numbers only, therefore the chart in the instruction manual was very relevant in my case. I don't normally use acrylics (my preference being White Ensign Enamels, but they had no WWI RNAS colour equivalents) but I appreciate their quick drying times.

I had decided to do this build virtually by the 'book' - the 'book' being literally just that, a 24 page glossy A4 manual which contains numerous reference photographs, CAD building instructions and 5 options to choose from. This kit just oozes quality from the superb plastic moulding which are beautifully detailed to the A4 page of decals which have been produced by Cartograph of Italy. (Please see my review of the kit on this site)

I didn't realise just how small these WWI fighters were until I compared the 1/32 size of the Pup fuselage to the 1/72 fuselage of a Fairey Gannet waiting to be built. The Gannet's fuselage was larger!

After washing all the sprues with warm water and household detergent to remove any residual mould release agent, I followed the instruction manual and started with the cockpit module. There was not a trace of 'flash' on any of the parts and therefore cleaning them up took very little time. I assembled the module parts into their colour sections and during the course of one evening, I painted all the parts using my Iwata TR1 airbrush and Tamiya Acrylic thinners.

I was a trifle concerned about the vulnerability of cabane struts moulded in situ with the fusleage cockpit framework. Having built the Trumpeter Swordfish, I know (believe me!) how vulnerable they can be. However, the cockpit assembly came together very quickly building from the 'floor' upwards and as these parts were fully painted, I used superglue sparingly to fix each into it's location. It is important to realise, even at this very early stage, that the cockpit does vary from marque to marque. I had chosen the RNAS version, N6453, which had been built by Beardmore in Scotland and which served on HMS Furious and HMS Repulse. This was a type 9901(a) having a Lewis gun which fired through an opening in the top wing. The 9901 versions had a Vickers gun firing through the propeller arc from the cockpit. The Lewis gun version had round ammunition magazines stored in the cockpit framework and therefore (be aware!) no Vickers gun magazine (a large piece) positioned just forward of the instrument panel.

 

The pilot's seat has very nice detail on the seat cushion which I enhanced by coating the Tamiya XF52 'leather' colour with Tamiya Clear Red (X27). The instrument panel was treated in a similar manner and the instrument decals were attached. I used a tad of Micro Sol to help the decals settle into their dial surrounds and the result was very pleasing. Although no wire cross bracing for the fusleage/cockpit framework is supplied in the kit, the manual shows photographs of the bracing from a full sized replica. Out came my 0.2 nickel wire from Albion Alloys and this was quickly superglued into position to add a touch of more detail. While I had the wire out, I also ran two control wires from the pedals towards the rear fuselage. The finishing touch of this module is the fitting of the very broad seat belts which are on the PE fret and which I had painted the relevant colours prior to their release. They were carefully folded and placed onto the pilot's seat using Gator glue as an adhesive.

I was intending to build this 'by the book', but decided to break the Wingnuts schedule and build the Le Rhone 9s 80hp engine next. I love building engines, especially when there are at least more than one shade of aluminium to play around with. The engine build started with the cylinders and crankcase. Like the previous assembly, virtually no clean up was necessary. I used some Tamiya Extra Thin cement to glue the two halves of the cylinders and crankcase together. This was then set to one side while I prepared the push rods which are attached to the front crankcase housing and the copper intake tubes. I used Alclad paints with 'Magnesium' for the cylinders,'Steel' for the crancases and cylinder heads, 'White Aluminium' for the push rods and 'Copper' for the intake tubes. Like the cockpit module, I was very pleased with the result.

 

While the Alclad 'White Aluminium' was in the airbrush, I managed to remember some forward planning and sprayed the engine cowling, the forward cockpit deck, the two engine cover side panels and underside engine fairing, making sure I chose the correct one for my option.

My attention then turned to the wood finish on the cockpit fusleage rear top and the 'ply' propeller. Not having done anything like this before, this was given much thought over numerous cups of tea. I mentioned my concerns to Jim. He had just received a sample of Lifecolor 'Weathered Wood' acrylics from the importers, The Airbrush Company. This was set of six acrylic wood colours specifically for diorama floors, decks and railway sleepers. He sent them down to me and I decided to try out the paints on something round and plastic. I found a 1/32 sized drop tank from a Hasegawa Mustang kit and set to work to try and replicate a scale sized 'plywood' pattern on a curved surface similar to a cockpit surround. Using the Tamiya colour call out for 'light wood' (XF59) as the wooden cockpit surround base colour, I used three colours from the Weathered Wood range, UA714, 715 and 716 diluting them with a little water. Then, using a picture of some grained wood, I tried to replicate some of the patterns using a very fine brush. When the wood weathering paints had dried, I coated my sample with Tamiya Clear Orange. It looked OK. I think the trick is to provide an 'impression' of grain which much be roughly to scale and not overdone in 'weight' and size.

 

It was bite the bullet time to do 'the business' on the cockpit surround woodwork using the technique above and I am fairly happy with the result. When the Clear Orange had dried, I painted the leather 'cushion' surrounding the cockpit opening with Tamiya 'leather' (XF52) and later used Tamiya Clear Red (X27) to give it some depth of colour. My attention then turned to the propeller. I again gave it a coat of Tamiya 'light wood' (XF59) and when dry, using a very fine pencil, I faintly pencilled in my impression of laminations and then painted the darkest of the Weathered Wood shades (UA713) within the pencil lines with my finest brush. The propeller was later rubbed down with Micromesh 12000 and very soapy water followed by a sprayed mixture of Clear Orange and Clear Red. It was far too shiny and would need to be toned down later. While the airbrsuh was in use for the base coat of the propeller, I sprayed the same colour on all of the wing and cabane struts.

 

I had to start thinking about bringing the fuselage sides together to enclose the cockpit module. In a dry fitting exercise, I noticed that the cockpit module fitted snugly into it's slots in the fuselage internal sides so I decided not to glue it into position, but leave it loose and therefore enable me some 'wriggle room' (if needed) when it came to fitting the front of the fuselage together. This, of course, is contrary to the Wingnut instructions! I used Tamiya Extra Thin cement and went along the seams about an inch at a time to get the ooze of plastic appearing which eventually sands off to leave no join marks. I failed on a 1/4inch section and had to resort to Tamiya Putty as a filler. The fuselage was then taped tightly for security and to allow time for the glue to cure.

While the fuselage was settling down, it was time to prepare the wings, tailplane, fin and rudder. Hardly any cleaning up was required after removal from the sprues and when the fuselage was fully cured, I gave all the pieces a light coat of Alclad Grey Primer. Good job I did because it revealed another very short length of seam on the fuselage base which I had initially missed. Everything was then given a thorough rub down with Micromesh 12000 and soapy water and put to one side to dry prior to a major masking exercise.

Photographic evidence has revealed that where the doped fabric is stretched over ribs and fusleage framework, these are shown as lighter marks. Although this can be done after a the initial painting, I decided to do it before by cutting very thin (approx. 2mm) strips of Tamiya tape to cover the ribs, riblets and fuselage framework. Patience is the name of the game.

 

Once this was done, I mixed darker shades of both base airframe colours ( Lower: XF55 = Clear Doped Linen and Upper: XF62 = Proprietary Khaki) and sprayed the darker tones on the centres of sections and panels. Bearing in mind that this was my first build of a WWI aircraft, this was indeed a worrying time!

Left overnight to cure, I mixed up very diluted amounts of the base colour (XF55) and then sprayed the fuselage bottom, sides and undersides of the wings and tailplane trying to judge the depth of colour until I felt it was about right. Difficult when the paint is still damp though. The fuselage bottom half was then masked and the upper surfaces of this and the wings were sprayed with the Tamiya equivalent of Proprietary Khaki (XF62). I decided to leave both well alone for 24 hours and then make a decision as to whether the colour depth was sufficient once fully dried out.

The next day, I decided to leave the colour depth exactly 'as is' and then set to with another bowl of soapy water and my very well used 12000 Micromesh gently rubbing all the newly painted surfaces before applying some Klear with a wide soft brush to protect the surfaces during the assembly stage. It was then just a case of removing all the masking from the cockpit area, spot gluing the cockpit 'tub' into it's correct position and then gluing the front of the fuselage and the cockpit 'decking' to the fuselage sides. This assembly was then lightly taped up with Tamiya tape for security while prepared and sprayed the final bits and pieces such as the wing struts, undercarriage struts and all of the flying surface control horns of which there are nine with some in a different colour - it is important to check and re-check the manual.

It is a complement to the manufacturers that the control horns are so cleanly moulded - they almost look like etched material. I had, however, previously used the tiniest of drills to slightly open the holes in the horns so that my control wires would be an easy fit later on. Could this be more forward thinking? Whatever next!

It was now time to turn my attention to the wheels, tyres and undercarriage framework. The call out for the strut assembly is Tamiya NATO black while the cross member carrying the axle is in the colour of the upper fuselage and wings - Proprietary Khaki, or Tamiya XF62 with the axle in 'steel'. I was very impressed with the 'tyres' which are moulded onto the rear sections of the wheels. The tyres are embossed with name of 'Palmer Cord Tyres' and even has the size as well. As per the instructions these were sprayed NATO Black with the central covers in Clear Doped Linen. Once the black had dried, I dry brushed Tamiya Flat White over the tyre lettering to make it stand out and after touching up any stray white, the wheels were given a brushed coat of Klear which made the lettering really pop out. Before gluing the outer wheel centres, the wheels were placed onto the axles and two plastic clips clicked into position leaving the wheels to be free running. The outer casings were then glued into position ensuring that the inpsection hole allowed a view of the tyre valve and a couple of 'spokes' that had been dry brushed black. You can hardly see these things but they are there!

It was superglue time again placing the control horns into their respective locations and they all fitted into their holes beautifully - making sure that the right ones went to the correct locations of course, but easily mistaken. Small amounts of CA were 'wicked' around the horn locations having been applied with a piece of very thin wire. One other small job that required action was the masking and spraying of the small clear windshield as fitted to the type using the Lewis gun. Again thin strips of Tamiya tape around the framework filled in a with larger pieces and then a quick spray of Alclad White Aluminium did the job.

I was now running out of jobs to do. All the modules had now been built and I had brushed a couple of coats of Klear onto the surfaces that were going to receive the decals. When I was putting the decals onto their locations, I did find that caution was needed when fitting the cut out segment part of the roundels onto the top wing ailerons. These are actually marked by dotted lines 'off' to indicate the place where the decal is folded into the leading inside edge of the aileron. If you are fitting the decals onto a yet to be fitted aileron, just make sure that the segment marries up with the wing roundel by offering the aileron up to the wing. Once completed, the Pup was looking good. The dry fitting of the wing struts and the top wing proved that alignment was not a problem and everything appeared to be 'square'.

It was fast becoming the time to start the rigging but I was still undecided upon which route to take. I was not too happy with the Radu Brinzan 'turnbuckles' as none of his examples on the fret did not appear to be those as fitted to the Pup. From photographs, it would appear that the attachment of the flying wires were same size adjusters that disappeared into the wings and the fuselage frame. I also disregarded the Eduard 'Stretcher' PE fret for the same reason as the Radu Brinzan set. They are both probably good for other aircraft, but in my view, not this one.

I was toying with an idea of using Albion Alloys 0.2 nickel rod and 'turnbuckles' (actually 3mm length of 0.4 rod with an ID of 0.2 and therefore a slide fit for the rod). I used the 0.2 rod for the cockpit bracing wires albeit without the turnbuckles. Using the 'spare' top wing from the Pup kit, I played around with various options.

Bearing in mind that once the top wing has been glued to the struts, ease of attachment for the rigging wires is paramount as there will be very little room for manoevre. Plan 'A' at the moment is supergluing small lengths ( length not yet defined) of 0.2 rod into all of the rigging reception holes on both wings at roughly the correct angle of the rigging wires. This is not too critical as the wires can be easily adjusted to angle by gently bending. Next, using a set of dividers, measure the full distance between the reception point holes. Reduce that distance by 3mm and cut a length of 0.2 rod to this length. Then, superglue a turnbuckle (which is 3mm in length) 1.5mm along each end of the rod thereby leaving a 1.5mm free length inside each turnbuckle to fit onto the reception wires. This completed flying wire assembly can then (hopefully) be slid onto each reception wire with enough 'play' for adjustment. There are dangers with this system such as mis-handling the wire by bending or kinking it, but it is adaptable for length by trimming the fixed reception wires for tension. Trying to find the hole in the turnbuckle tube will not be easy but certainly achievable in very good light.

What I hadn't realised was that even with the top wing firmly glued onto the cabane and wing struts, there is, in scale terms, an enormous amount of flexing even in very gentle handling of the model, such as just lifting it from the bench.

Because of that, my system that should have been perfect, wasn't. I'm glad that I wasn't alone in this. I mentioned a couple of Columns ago about that wonderful book, 'The Master Scratch Builders' by John Alcorn, in which he describes the problems he had rigging his 1/24 scale DH9A. His first effort was thought to be OK and after a gentle ride in the car with the model suitably 'comforted', when he arrived at his destination, the rigging was a mess mainly due to the flexing. John's model, of course, was 'as near as dammit' a very true to scale model. It took him three complete rigging attempts to get the problems sorted.

I realise that my model is not in that league and, as such, is just a fair representation of the original viewed from a respectable distance. The rigging didn't look too bad, but it didn't have the required 'tautness' in the wires at all times. Port wing correct, starboard wing not.................Starboard wing correct, port wing not!! After a considerable amount of thought, there was nothing for it but to carefully snip the rigging off just above the turnbuckles, and replace this with Lycra EZ Line I had purchased at the Southern Expo from the Little Cars stand. This thread stretches 700%, is black, and was attached with superglue to the small pieces of 0.2 wire I had left protruding from the turnbuckles. This was the only way I could see of overcoming the flexing problem. There will be modellers out there reading this probably 'tut-tutting' at my antics, but this is my part of the bi-plane rigging learning curve. I will know how to improve on this when I build the Wingnut Wings SE5A.

Once this was done, it was then a case of fitting the ailerons with their respective controls, the tailplane rigging, the Lewis gun mounting and the rudder. What I did with the rudder is what I wish I had done to the four ailerons. Because of just three very small gluing points, I decided, for security to drill the rudder and the rudder post very carefully with my smallest micro drill and I superglued three small lengths of Albion Alloys 0.2 nickel rod to the rudder allow a much stronger attachment. All of these finishing operations went relatively smoothly. One other thing I have learned from this build is that it fast forwards handling a model such as the Pup into the Premiership of handling leagues. One has to literally think, and then think again, before moving the model from one position to another. I brought into play various polystyrene packing jigs with strategically placed cocktail sticks during the course of this project more so than on any other build so far.

Unfortunately, what was turning out to be my most satisfying finish on a model to date, had now had the 'icing' removed from the cake, so to speak. In the end, the rigging of the Pup turned into one big compromise - Lycra thread for the main rigging (with Albion Alloys turnbuckles and a smidge of 0.2 nickel rod), Lycra tailplane and rudder control wires, Radu Brinzan 2BA scale PE rigging for the tail plane, inter-wing aileron joiners and wing/cabane/undercarriage strut cross bracing with Albion Alloys 0.2 rod for the aileron controls. It looks OK, but it is not as neat a finish as I would have hoped. I have learnt a great deal from this build and I guess that this is really what it is all about. Bring on the SE5A! or perhaps the Fokker D7! later this year! There is an old saying that there are many ways to skin a rabbit and with model rigging of bi-planes, this appears to be the case. Whatever floats your boat.

I gave the whole airframe my usual sprayed matting coat of Gunze Matt Klear diluted 50/50 with water - works for me! The only things that need to be done now are toning down the shine on the propeller and applying a small amount of wash weathering on the cowl and the aileron joints.

The Wingnut Wings Sopwith Pup is a superb kit and worth every penny of your modelling pocket money. The fit of everything is absolutely first class and it is down to proficiency of the modeller as to what standard one finds at the end of the build. It will not be for want of a better kit. On the plus side for me was that the kit had inspired me to, in my view, my best painted finish on a model to date. There was also a positive on the rigging side of things - I will certainly know which way to go with my SE5A.

Thank you kind sirs at Wingnut Wings in New Zealand for your sample kit.