Sopwith Triplane - 1:32 Wingnut Wings

[Viking]

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

[Antoine]

Many thanks for your review.

[heloman1]

Many thanks for the review, another cracker from WNW. I think they should be awardwed kit maker of the decade as they have single handedly done more for the WW1 aircaft modeller than anyone other manufacturer. At $69 including postage plus a decal sheet with five options which would cost at least $20 from an AM suplier. It just shows what you can offer with no middle men! Congratulations WNW.

Colin

[stringbag]

Another great review.

Thanks John.

Chris

[woody37]

Having seen some of Vikings builds of the Wingnut series, these really do build up into beautiful models