1/100 Sopwith Triplane (S&P)

**rockpaperscissor** · #1 02-28-2014, 11:02 AM

I started working on a 1/100 scale Fokker Triplane from S&P last night, and I thought I'd give an update and share a few pics to show my progress. This particular airplane was flown by Canadian ace Raymond Collishaw. I'm using glossy brochure paper for the build because I think it shows graphic detail better than regular card stock. As a plus, it's a lighter weight paper - 48 lb, which is easier to work with in the small scale.

The rear fuselage section was scored along it's full length, and all the tabs were cut off - I butt glued everything. After it was dry, I glued in an internal reinforcing strip to bolster the long (1 1/4 inch) seam up the underside.

The front fuselage section was next. The bottom of the fuselage is flat, so I scored the bottom/side interfaces for the full length. The scores along the top/side interfaces only went about a third of the length of the part since this fuselage section turns from a square cross section at the rear, to a circle in the front. Then I cut out the part, removing the tabs, and again, butt glued it. It too was finished with an internal reinforcing strip along the underside.

I wasn't able to butt glue the two fuselage segments together cleanly, so I inserted 4 internal tabs as gluing surfaces. Needle nosed pliers inserted from the cowl end ensured a good bond.

The little arc piece at the bottom rear of the cowl was cut out leaving extra paper at the top which served as a tab when gluing it to the fuselage.

The first cowl ring was cut out and glue tabs were removed. I joined the ring, and then butt glued it to the front of the fuselage a little at a time, starting at the top. I'm not going to close up the front of the fuselage until the bottom wings are in place - they have tabs on them that slip into slots that will be cut into the fuselage sides, and I want to have an access hole for that operation.

So far, the fuselage is 2 1/16 inches (52mm) long, and just under 7/16 inches wide (11mm) at the cowl opening. The defects you see in the macro photos aren't really visible at 1x.

**Texman** · #2 02-28-2014, 12:22 PM

Really Don, 1/100? Stop teasing and make the jump to 1/144!

**Don Boose** · #3 02-28-2014, 12:22 PM

Collishaw's "Black Maria" is certainly a famous airplane (I first read about Collishaw and his Royal Naval Air Service "Black Flight" when I acquired a precious copy of Thetford and Riding's Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War in teh mid 50s. I read it over and over again, and still keep it close by as a reference and for the pleasure of reading it and looking at the photographic images and three views).

That little Sopwith Triplane is a real challenge in 1/100. Yours looks beautiful so far.

Don

**rockpaperscissor** · #4 02-28-2014, 12:35 PM

Baby steps, Ray, baby steps. 1/100 is pretty small for me. I don't know how you guys build those little 1/144 gems.

**talls6** · #5 02-28-2014, 12:48 PM

Very Nice Don. When you Butt glued....snicker, snicker...did you use another tab to glue too or just straight edge to edge and then added the reinforcment. Any pictures of that? I would love to see an example. I planned on cutting off the tabs to get a true edge to edge but was going to use a tab behind the edges as the gluing surface. Does that make sense? Again this looks awesome. - Darren

**rockpaperscissor** · #6 02-28-2014, 01:16 PM

Quote:

That little Sopwith Triplane is a real challenge in 1/100. Yours looks beautiful so far.

Thanks, Don. I hope the rest of it goes together as easily as the fuselage.

Darren, I butt glued edge to edge first, and then after the seam had dried, I glued in the reinforcing strip. Sorry no pics of that step. I use butt gluing a lot in my construction of smaller scale aircraft - 1/72 and now 1/100, often without any internal reinforcement.

**talls6** · #7 02-28-2014, 01:17 PM

Thanks Don. I will give it a try.

**YOAVHOZMI** · #8 02-28-2014, 02:20 PM

very tiny with wonderful look.

YOAV

**Getter 1** · #9 02-28-2014, 08:20 PM

Looking great so far :D

Someday 1/144

G1

**rockpaperscissor** · #10 03-01-2014, 10:47 AM

Thanks very much YOAV and G1. Work continued last night. The bottom pair of wings is on, as is the empennage. The cowl is done, too. I had to trim the wings a bit at the fuselage joint so that they would be at a right angle. Other than that, everything fit perfectly. Guns and windshield will go on next.

Hmmm, Photobucket seems to be down. I'll have to upload this next set of pics from my desktop.