The Little World

As a straight-out-of-the-bag build I could not have asked more of the Revell Sopwith triplane. It cost me nothing, it delivered a lot of pleasure.

The plastic parts fitted as well as any baggie would…but yielded well to the cut and sand that you normally expect to do. The interior is a seat and a dodgy-looking pilot, but is effective nonetheless. I have seen a forum post showing a complete interior put into this kit and I admire the person for doing it but would not wish to sit next to him on the bus…

Once the seams were sewn up and the lower wing mounted, the question of strutting ( not with some barbecue…) arose. Surprisingly easy, if you attached some struts to the fuselage and some to the upper wing – and let the middle wing ride along un-cemented until later.

The rotary engine could, indeed, rotate on this model if you followed the instruction sequence.

But best of all – the finishing procedures gave no problem at all. The Tamiya acrylics went down flat but eventually I glossed them with a Gunze spray for the decals. You don’t have to spray out to a mirror finish, but you do need to take the rough surface off the acrylic paint.

The decal sequence went perfectly – the only Mr. Mark Solver needed was on the two rudder flashes to allow excess decal at the aft part to collapse and melt into itself – sealing the rudder. Remember, Folks, these are 1970’s decals…

The final melding of all elements with the Micro Satin spray went a treat. I elected to thin the solution with a few drops of water and spray it lightly. Drying it off was speeded with a warm setting on an old hair dryer. The result is all I could wish for.

I must record my complete satisfaction with Micro products. The addition of a satin and a matt finishing varnish means I can use up the last of the varied pots of Gunze lacquer product and continue with these in the future. These varnishes are as cheap as chips!

Note that Lt. Collishaw has had a new flying helmet fitted. You just carve down the bone dome a little.