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Joined: 2/13/2004 From: Zentsuji, JAPAN Status: offline
I've been waiting all summer to start this thread!!! And now the time has come.
I'll be documenting here my build of a proto-type of the Sopwith Snipe kit designed and manufactured by CD ScaleDesigns in Germany. You may have run across Chris's site (http://www.cdscaledesigns.com./) or seen the photos that Chris posted here on RCU of his outstanding Sopwith Pup design. This kit really is hot off the presses and this is (I believe) the first online build of his Snipe (Chris tells me this is the second of five kits sold thus far).
The Sopwith Snipe is one of the great "what if" stories of WWI aviation. What if, it had come into production earlier? What if, the war had lasted longer? Opinions vary (ofter widely) as to how the Snipe compared to the more famous Camel (from which it was obviously derived). The Camel was a "pilot's pilot" sort of aircraft capable of great maneuverability -- but often a deathtrap for the novice pilot. It is a fact that more Camel pilots were lost in accidents than from combat with the enemy. The Snipe was a technical improvement in many ways and much more friendly to novice pilots. It could climb higher and faster than the Camel -- up to where the newest and fastest German aircraft were patrolling.
And then there is the tale of one of the most heroic air battles of the war with Major William Barker fighting a desperate single-handed battle with an "entire circus" of Fokker DVIIs.
Posts: 4890
Joined: 2/13/2004 From: Zentsuji, JAPAN Status: offline
Here are some basic facts about the kit. This is a 1:6 scale design of the Snipe with a wingspan of 63" and total fuselage length (from front of cowl to end of rudder) of 37 inches. The plans show an OS 60-class FS but it should fly in a scale manner with something like a Saito 56 -- or you could move up to a 70-class FS.
Chris calls his series of WWI designs "sports scale" but it's a far cry from what we usually get in a sport scale kit. For starters the outlines are (as near as I can tell) 100% accurate when compared with the drawings in the Snipe datafile. That makes it a competition worthy design. Second, there are many ways in which the design has the feel of the original construction. For example, the way the wings are mounted (no underslung one-piece wing as on many "sport scale" kits). All in all, I think this kit has the potential to build into one really nice model. I only hope I can do it justice. BTW, I'm doing the prototype not because I'm the hottest model builder around but because I probably represent the prospective "target audience" of this kit: people who love to build and love to build scale but would just as soon start with a kit, if possible. People who might be a bit frustrated at always having to "kit bash" sports scale kits to get something reasonably scale.
At this point, the Snipe is available only in "short kit" form. Chris provides virtually all of the "shaped" wooden bits (including pre-cut firewall, tank and battery boxes, slotted hardwood rails, etc.) but doesn't include the stock "lumber" in order to reduce shipping costs. He may, if there is interest, eventually provide a full kit (along the lines of the nearly all-inclusive Flair kits). Some of the parts (for example, a polycarbonate cowl and decking) are still in the works. A metal cowl might even eventually become available. And this is a proto-type build so we might discover a few kinks. But the design looks well thought out and should build with reasonable ease.
Here's what came in my box:
< Message edited by abufletcher -- 10/11/2006 4:55:43 PM >
Posts: 4890
Joined: 2/13/2004 From: Zentsuji, JAPAN Status: offline
I couldn't help getting ahead of myself a bit with some scale detailing while I waited for the kit to arrive here in Japan. So I set to modifying a set of WB 5" wheels to look more like the Palmer Cord Aero Tyres used on the Snipe (and other British aircraft). You can see the details on the "tricking out WB wheels" thread:
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Joined: 2/13/2004 From: Zentsuji, JAPAN Status: offline
Oh, and one more thing: As of this time (October 2006) there are no instructions for this kit. So I'm going to be relying a lot on Chris' construction photos of his Pup and on his advice. You can find his construction photos (for his Pup) on the German side of his site (which thanks to years of German classes I can read):
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Joined: 2/13/2004 From: Zentsuji, JAPAN Status: offline
Following Chris' lead, I'll begin with the fuselage. The first step to to create the two forward side panels by aligning the balsa parts with the 1.5mm ply doubler. The parts align flawlessly, BTW. And of course one needs a right and left version.
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Joined: 2/13/2004 From: Zentsuji, JAPAN Status: offline
Next, positioning the left forward panel over the plans (ply side down) build the rear of the fuse frame. No wood is provided for this and the plans call for 6mm longerons and vertical formers. I used 1/4 square stock and that seems to work fine -- though I'll have to do a wee bit of sanding to get it all flush. I used the hardest balsa I could find for the longerons and vertical pieces.
The diagonal pieces are supposed to be 3mm square but I didn't have any of this -- so in an effort to economize I cut 3mm x 1/4 (I know, I know, mixed systems!) pieces out of the left over part of the 3mm parts sheet. This contained enough extra wood to do both sides easily with more left over.
In total I used three 36" pieces of 1/4 square stock to do both sides. I'm trying to keep a record of the wood used.
One minor note to Chris here: The line on the plan where the end of the longeron makes contact with the tail piece (this is why the end is built open for now) is exactly vertical. But I suspect that this really needs to be perpendicular to the longeron to fit flush with the 90 degrees of the tail piece.
< Message edited by abufletcher -- 10/12/2006 6:10:08 PM >
Posts: 4890
Joined: 2/13/2004 From: Zentsuji, JAPAN Status: offline
Next, following the old modeling tradition to ensure equal sides -- and thereby a straight fuse, the right side is built on top of the left side. I used wax paper to separate the two sides but I guess saran-type wrap works just as well. This time the ply side ends up being on top.
You'll note that I haven't yet shaped the upper and lower longerons where they join the forward panels. I thought it would be easier to shape these together rather than trying to cut them ahead of time to the curved shape on the plans.
Well, that's it for now. Today is my 50th birthday!
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CD ScaleDesigns Sopwith Snipe build - 
