WnW Sopwith Snipe 1:32 scale

[Des]

Chuck - Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. The little rigging connectors I fitted to the Snipe are made from 0.4mm brass tube cut to 2.5mm long. The small brass nuts are from  http://www.rbmotion.com/  and the nuts I used are P/N 1280B  (0.026" hex). The nuts have a 0.4mm hole so the brass tube slips over them nicely, a small srop of CA holds them in place. I then inserted a length of 0.12mm monofilament into the brass tube, again CA will hold it very well.



The photo of the fittings in the wing are not very good photos, my camera is not good at taking close-ups. To fit the connectors I drilled a 0.4mm hole into the wing in the same position as the pre-marked rigging holes, I drilled these holes on the same angle as what the rigging line will be when connected to both wings. I drilled about 0.75mm into the wing, this allows the connector to sit nice and snug and at the correct angle, a small drop of CA will give an excellent bond.



Dave - The under fuselage seam is an excellent join, no misalignment at all and no gaps, all I did on mine when the glue was set was to run a very fine bead of correction fluid along the seam then gave it a very light sanding. If you are concerned about the seams pushing down while sanding you could reinforce the seam before the fuselage side go together. On one fuselage half glue a length of plastic card on the bottom of the fuselage and allow it to overhang the seam by about 5mm, use reasonably thick card for this. Once the glue has fully set you can assemble the two fuselage sides as normal but this time there is a good solid fixing poit on the bottom of the fuselage. I have used this method on a lot of my models and it gives a very good seamless join.

Des.

[Chuckt5]

Ah, fantastic! 

Thanks as always for sharing, Chuck.

[Des]

All the rigging is done including the undercarriage and tail, I'm still waiting for fresh supplies of Mr Metal Color Stainless so I can finish off painting the rigging. The prop is painted grey on the front surface and black at the back, a small section of laminated wood is still visible near the hub. I also managed to fit the Aldis sight, a bit tricky getting it into position as it passes through a hole in the windscreen, not a lot of room to work between the top wing and the top of the fuselage. She's nearly done.

Des.

[bobs_buckles]

She looks fantastic, Des.
Well done.

Cheers,
BvB 

[AndrewS]

Fantastic!

And nice rigging technique 

[rhallinger]

A real beauty Des!   Thanks for choosing this interesting scheme and sharing your exemplary work with us.

Regards,

Bob

[uncletony]

Very nice.

[Mac]

Beautiful work!





Pam

[pepperman42]

Very sharp

Steve

[coyotemagic]

Absolutely stunning, Des.  Congratulations on another masterpiece.
Cheers,
Bud

[kinnies]

Hi Des,
I am curious why you chose to rig using this method as opposed to rigging with eyelets. Was rigging different on the Snipe or are you using a new technique?
Looks absolutely fabulous, regardless.
Cheers,
John

[Des]

Thank you gentlemen for the kind comments.

John - The Snipe used the RAF aerodynamic wires for their rigging (flat rigging) but I don't use the products available and stick with monofilament. The connection of the flat wires to the wings is a different method tp the usual rigging wires so I tried to simulate what the connections looked like, it is only an experiment so I only did it on the bottom wing. It turned out not bad but the nuts I used are a tad too large, but they are the smallest I could find. Under the top wing I used my normal method of eyelets, which are hard to see anyway. Looking at the model from a viewing distance the bottom wing connections are hardly noticeable, so it was probably not worth the effort to make them, eyelets would have looked just as good with the small brass sleeve pushed down onto the eyelet, we live and learn.

Des.

This model is now completed and photos are in the Completed Model section.

[Siskin]

Nice work, model turned on lovely sight!
Surprisingly and pleased that you have chosen the option of Sapozhnikov, I thought that the West is more popular machine Barker.
Now itself in anticipation of this great model will do, of course, the plane Sapozhnikov)))

[mike in calif]

Des, I'm late to the party again, but I have to say you've made a fine job of this one. I disagree about one point though: from your pics, I see just a hint of bulk to the lower wing wires, and that makes me want to look closer to try to SEE what is going on. I think that that subtle detail is what makes a model worth adding those details to. Non-modellers look; the wee details draw them in for the "how do you do that?" which is a nice question.
 Perhaps I'm not so eloquent as I'm trying to be.
     Nice build!