Sopwith Pup, Eduard 1:48

[Iancshippee]

That is a gorgeous pup! I did an Eduard pup recently and I would consider it my most difficult kit to date. I also used a small stuff motor, how did you manage to make yours spin? I had to solid mount mine, probably due to my skills not being the same league as yours!

[Bughunter]

Thank you! This is an old kit, but with my additional scratch work I really like the outcome.
This is my idea to have a real rotary engine:

A srue (down to 2mm) with a hole for a 1.2mm brass tube


A shaft of 1mm brass (and the front a bit thinner due to missing space):


The sprue can glued into the model, and on the back of the engine you will need a 1mm hole for the shaft:


mounted to the engine:


Mounted on the Nieuport (have used the same solution for Pup and Nieuport)


I hope you get the idea .... That is a easy and cheap solution, but it works.

Cheers,
Frank

[lcarroll]

   That's very nicely done, Frank. I somehow missed this one, beautiful Pup! Like all of the models you've shared here your detailing and the clean results make it appear to be of a larger scale. Excellent and very impressive.
Cheers,
Lance

[Bughunter]

Lance, thank you very much for your kind words.

your detailing and the clean results make it appear to be of a larger scale.

Due to size I can't do WNW models, so I have to built such details in a smaller scale
Such small biplanes in 1/48 is a good compromise in size - large enough to show some details and the final models are small enough for my cabinet.

Cheers,
Frank

[Iancshippee]

Very nice, a simple and clever solution. The two birds I've used a Small Stuff engine with (my Avro and my Pup) I was going to attempt getting the engine to rotate, but tolerances were so tight inside the cowl despite lots of shaping and sanding, I decided to keep the engines stationary to preserve the tiny pieces. I'm going to try getting my next engine swap (a Copper State 160hp Gnome 9n in a Dragon Fokker D.VIII) to spin, and this technique might be what I need to make it possible. Thanks for sharing your excellent skills with the rest of us!

[Bughunter]

I was going to attempt getting the engine to rotate, but tolerances were so tight inside the cowl

That has a simple reason:
- the Small Stuff engine is in scale
- the outside of the cowling is in scale
=> but in real there is only a thin metal sheet instead of thick plastic -> the inside of the cowling is not in scale
See the top right warning in the Small Stuff manual sheet "Some modifications to the model cowling may be required to fit the engine"

So I had to thin the resin cowling of the Pup too:


Cheers,
Frank

[Iancshippee]

Yes, mine was very thick white metal, so I did lots and lots of sanding and filing!

[KiwiZac]

Absolutely beautiful work, Frank! I love your work!

[RLWP]

. That is a easy and cheap solution, but AND it works.

Nice work!

Richard

[Halus]

Excellent build, the quality is inspiring and definitely something to strive for - all the best!

regards,
Jack

[gbrivio]

I've been missing this wonderful build of yours, what a beauty. Congratulations on your metal working skills.
Ciao
Giuseppe

[Bughunter]

I like to thank you all for your kind words!
This was one of my first models with that amount of scratch work and the build was fun. It would be nice to add more Sopwith machines to my collection in future.

Cheers,
Frank

[GazzaS]

Wow!  Love all of the extra work you've put into this!

Great job!!

Gaz

[Brad Cancian]

Beautiful work!

[Doug Mace]

Exquisite, Frank...truly.