Scale Aviation Modeller International — February 2018

Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin

First look at Wingnut Wings 1/32 Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin by Tim Upson-Smith

O

h, Wingnut Wings, you

know how to make a chaps

Christmas! I have got a bit

of a ‘thing’ for Sopwith aircraft and

with this latest release Wingnut

Wings are very much fueling my

addiction! With the release of the

Dolphin, Wingnut Wings have now

given us all of the major Sopwith

types from the Pup onwards. The

Dolphin may not be the most well-

known Sopwith design as it was

very much overshadowed by the

Camel and the Snipe. Also, apart

from some extremely limited post

war service in Poland, the end of

the First World War saw the end

of the Dolphins service with the

RAF. Unfortunately, no original

complete Dolphin survived, we

do however now have the superb

recreation of a Dolphin at the

RAF Museum Hendon. This

particular example contains

several original components from

at least 3 different airframes,

it takes its identity from the

largest single component the

rear fuselage framework from a

Sopwith built example C3988. The

rest of the airframe was created

by the Craftsman at the RAF

Museum over many years and in

several locations, the work being

completed at the Michael Beetham

Conservation Centre RAF Cosford.

Since the Dolphin was unveiled at

Hendon I have only briefly seen

her, so the new year will now

see a lengthier trip to Hendon

to photograph her properly!

So what do we find inside the now

familiar top opening box? There are

4 sprues of injection moulded grey

plastic, the only sprue we have seen

before is sprue E for the Hispano

Suisse geared engine. This sprue

is dated 2007 and first appeared in

the SE5a, it really does not seem like

10 years ago that Wingnut Wings

mania swept the modelling forums!

There is one sprue of clear

parts, a small fret of photo-etched

brass parts, the most wonderful

decal sheetCartograph and last

but by no means least the 22 page

instruction book. The instruction

booklet is illustrated with

numerous contemporary black

and white photos of the Dolphin

during the war, highlighting

details and differences between

the different manufacturers and

the early and late versions.

The moulding quality is as

normal for this manufacturer

very good, with the smallest

plastic details rivaling the resin

aftermarket. On building this

kit you will need to choose quite

carefully which option you are going

to build to ensure you open up the

right holes or remove and add details

for the option you are building. You

also get a number of options for

the guns carried, option A having

the twin mounted Lewis guns on

the cabane, options B to E have the

single cabane mounted Lewis gun.

And finally, option E, gives you have

the choice to add wing mounted

Lewis guns carried by some 87

Squadron Sopwith Dolphins.

Like the Camels released in 2017,

the Dolphin has separate ailerons,

the tailplane and elevators are

moulded as a single piece as are the

fin and rudder. Moulding them this

way enables them to retain scale

thickness, If they were moulded

separately they would be extremely

difficult to join securely! The top

wing too cabane struts join will

be a tricky one but the one piece

bottom wing will carry the weight

of the join after construction.

Everything about these kits has

been done to ease assembly and to

make for an excellent result, being

a British aircraft there are double

rigging wires to deal with and these

certainly put this kit into the slightly

more experienced modeller bracket.

DECALS

British aircraft may not be

as colourful as their German

counterparts, Wingnut Wings have

provided five quite interesting

54 • FEBRUARY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

FIRST LOOK!

052-57-FirstLooks-0218.indd 54 12/01/2018 12:03