Long 1,988 Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 I'll be building Eastern Express's repop of the Toko Sopwith Snipe: Mmmm, plastic: I like how they've added their own branding but have no way of removing the Toko label. The instructions are a bit odd, what looks like pencil writing at the top left is actually printed, and they made the effort to number all the parts but the physical parts have no numbers It also doesn't tell you what colours G, H, I, or J are: To start off I drilled out the foot cutouts: And then filled and shaped them to look a bit more like the real things: I might need to widen or shorten them a little: 8 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Steve 23,561 Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 Nice one Long, I love WW1 planes 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hutch6390 2,941 Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 I like biplanes, too, but the rigging puts me off 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Long 1,988 Posted July 4 Author Report Share Posted July 4 I built a Sopwith Camel about 20 years ago, but I don't think I knew about rigging then 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Long 1,988 Posted July 4 Author Report Share Posted July 4 Did some chopping, sanding, and scratch building: No point in going too crazy since this is all you can see when it's closed up: I think an instrument panel, stick, and seat will be next. Maybe some levers. I chopped off the machine gun end bits since they were just lumps. Hopefully I can make something a little better. 9 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hutch6390 2,941 Posted July 4 Report Share Posted July 4 You're off to a great start, Long - good work 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Steve 23,561 Posted July 5 Report Share Posted July 5 Nice one Long What paint did you use for the wood effect? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Long 1,988 Posted July 5 Author Report Share Posted July 5 Revell aqua 85 matt brown for the struts, and 89 matt beige for the lighter bits. Then a bit of a wash with Starship Filth oilbrusher and lots of thinner, but I could have used any dark oil paint. Technically it should switch from (ply?)wood to doped linen at the third strut, but I don't think it'll be visible. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gorby 20,040 Posted July 5 Report Share Posted July 5 Looks like you're doing well so far. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dixieflyer 5,091 Posted July 5 Report Share Posted July 5 You're off to a great start. Good luck with those decals if they're anything like the Roden ones from the same time period. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Long 1,988 Posted July 5 Author Report Share Posted July 5 29 minutes ago, dixieflyer said: Good luck with those decals if they're anything like the Roden ones from the same time period. They look very poor so I don't think I'll be using them; apparently the blue is the wrong shade for the RAF too. Mine's going to be an RAF one from 1925, but I'm still pondering over which decals to buy. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dixieflyer 5,091 Posted July 5 Report Share Posted July 5 3 minutes ago, Long said: They look very poor so I don't think I'll be using them; apparently the blue is the wrong shade for the RAF too. Mine's going to be an RAF one from 1925, but I'm still pondering over which decals to buy. I wonder if there's something in the Blue Rider catalog that will help you in this? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Long 1,988 Posted July 5 Author Report Share Posted July 5 Thanks! They have two nice sheets for the Russian civil war that include Snipes, but nothing RAF. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Long 1,988 Posted July 13 Author Report Share Posted July 13 The pilots seat is on top of the fuel tank, but the kit doesn't include it and instead the seat is on a pole. I'm unsure if the pole would be visible or not, but I decided to make a vague approximation of a fuel tank just in case: Added the seat. The stick is supposed to just glue into a hole in the floor, but I attached it to a bar instead. It's a crude approximation of the real thing. Also added the included pedal bar. Instrument panel, cowling, guns, and headboard next! 8 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gorby 20,040 Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 Looking very good Mat. 13 hours ago, Long said: The pilots seat is on top of the fuel tank They really din't stand much chance did they? If the Germans didn't get them the designers will. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Long 1,988 Posted July 14 Author Report Share Posted July 14 And the Snipe was a very late war design, so you'd think experience would have taught them sitting on a fuel tank was a bad idea. But maybe there just wasn't an alternative. I wonder if that was a common fuel tank location, I should probably go and read about it No self sealing fuel tanks back then either. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Steve 23,561 Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 I stand corrected but i think they were in a fashion. I think they had a layer inside them...uuuuuurm I might be thinking about Liebherr fuel tanks I should probably go and read about it 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dixieflyer 5,091 Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 To be honest, there's just no good location is there? You either sit on it, or it sits right in front of you so it'll blow up in your face. @Long, great work so far, they don't give you a whole lot to work with, but you've done great with it in my very humble opinion. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dixieflyer 5,091 Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 I'm away from home and my books, but in Exploding Fuel Tanks by Richard Dunn, the US and Japanese armed forces both went into WWII without self-sealing fuel tanks (and pilot armor) for the most part. At that time it was thought that adding that added too much weight, which affected performance, etc. 2 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Long 1,988 Posted July 14 Author Report Share Posted July 14 6 minutes ago, dixieflyer said: At that time it was thought that adding that added too much weight, which affected performance, etc. I reckon they were right; until they weren't. Such an interesting topic! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dixieflyer 5,091 Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 4 minutes ago, Long said: I reckon they were right; until they weren't. Such an interesting topic! I posted a link to the book I mentioned over on its own thread, didn't want to derail your build thread. You're right, it is a fascinating topic, and Dunn's work is great IMHO. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Steve 23,561 Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 An intetesting link to a wiki page. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-sealing_fuel_tank I wonder if it was a serious problem on both sides? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gorby 20,040 Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 I should imagine it was under the pilot because it was near the centre of gravity. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dixieflyer 5,091 Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 37 minutes ago, Gorby said: I should imagine it was under the pilot because it was near the centre of gravity. And that right there is the most logical explanation I can think of. Fuel weight on loadouts can have a serious impact on a/c handling to the best of my limited knowledge*. *I'm not a real pilot, but experience in flight sims has taught me about this factor, and yes, I've learned the hard way. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Miggers 8,320 Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 (edited) Most WW1 machines didn't have trim tabs,so yes the fuel tank would be at or as close to the CofG as possible. As to self sealing or armored fuel tanks WW1 machines didn't have them,pilots (certainly British)carried a (Webley)revolver for obvious reasons if the fuel tank caught light,they didn't wear parachutes,they were officially discouraged. Edited July 14 by Miggers 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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