Scale aviation modeller international

and generally popular with

pilots. The aircraft was fast,

manoeuvrable, and easy to fly

(though a sharp stall was noted).

When functioning properly, the

Hispano– Suiza engine afforded

the Dolphin excellent performance

at high altitude. Accordingly, it

was often sent against German

reconnaissance aircraft such as

the Rumpler C.VII, which routinely

operated at altitudes above

20,000 ft. 87 Squadron explored

the use of supplying pilots with

oxygen at high altitude, but the

experiment was abandoned after

trials showed that the oxygen tanks

exploded when struck by gunfire.

The scarcity and unreliability

of the French-built Hispano-

Suiza 8B engine proved to be

the most serious problem in the

deployment of the Dolphin. The

limited production capacity of

Hispano-Suiza , and the priority of

supply in favour of French designed

aircraft slowed the delivery of

the Dolphin to the front line.

The official armament of

the Dolphin was two fixed and

synchronized Vickers machine

guns, and two Lewis guns mounted

on the forward cabane crossbar.

These guns fired at an upward

angle, over the propeller disc. The

Lewis guns proved unpopular

as they were difficult to aim and

tended to swing into the pilot’s face.

Pilots also feared that the gun butts

would inflict serious head injuries

in the event of a crash, so most

pilots discarded the Lewis guns.

Pilots of 87 Squadron

experimentally fitted some

aircraft with two forward firing,

unsynchronized Lewis guns

mounted on top of the lower

wing, just inboard of the inner

wing struts. These guns could fire

incendiary ammunition, which

could not be used in conjunction

with the synchronized Vickers

guns. The 97-round ammunition

drums could not be changed once

empty, nor could the pilot clear gun

jams, and the field modification

did not become standard. The

model depicted here includes this

option, as Wingnut supply the wing

mounted Lewis guns in the kit.

GETTING STARTED

I started off by removing most parts

from the sprues and cleaning up the

attachment points. These I bagged

up into a painting order – wood

parts, metal parts, and others. I

like this method, though losing

smaller parts is always a possibility.

The wood areas get treated

first, as the grain comes from

dragging artist’s oils across the

surfaces after a light tan undercoat.

This looks very realistic but

does require drying time before

it’s able to handled. I help this

along with by adding a drying

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • OCTOBER 2018 • 67

1/32

066-71-WITW-Dolphin-1018.indd 67 14/09/2018 15:22