Sopwith Triplane

by Graham Hunter

Eduard 1/48 Scale Sopwith Triplane

Aircraft represents Naval 10 Black Flight N5487 "Black Prince" flown by Flight Lieutenant William "Mel" Alexander.

References: Windsock Datafile; www.theaerodrome.com; Photos of Calgary Aerospace Museums reproduction Sopwith Triplane – courtesy of Tom Morgan

Detailing:

• Scratch built tailplane adjusting screw, tail section and tailskid.
• Converted tailplane to later smaller version.
• Added scratch built detail to landing carriage; Bungee cord mounting posts and stops; silk thread bungee cord; axle brace rigging.
• Added front air intake on cowling.
• Added aluminum tubing (drilled out to thin walls) for exhausts.

Painting/Weathering:

• All paints and clear coats used were Aeromaster acrylics with exception to Testors aluminum and steel.
• Weathering done using conte pastels, graphite and oil paints.

Procedures:

The Eduard kit is quite good with clear instructions, good assortment of photo etch parts and well detailed plastic. The only problem I had was with the decals, which had dried out and tore very easily. Fortunately a friend had the Black Flight kit so I was able to replace the decals that fell apart. The kit goes together nicely with very little filler needed. I used a combination of invisible thread (pre stretched by hanging a hammer with about 16 feet of thread) and .005 steal wire for the rigging and control wires. When using the thread micro holes were drilled and thread was drawn through, weighted (fishing weights) then super glued. This process worked well.