Roden 1/32 Sopwith Strutter end March/early April

[acewwi]

I'm in my car just now so no access to refs, but from memory, is the wing chord not the same size on the Strutter as the Pup? ie any leftovers from WNW Pup would fit the LCT - maybe I'm talking nonsense as usual?
Sandy

The Pup chord is narrower, but the roundels are the same. (see the photo in the post at the beginning of the page).
Spyros

[rhwinter]

Can anyone here recommend USAS decals? Rondels and numbers? I'd like to try to make mine (not yet ordered..) into a training-bird of the 90th Aero Squadron.

[SimonCornes]

I'm in my car just now so no access to refs, but from memory, is the wing chord not the same size on the Strutter as the Pup? ie any leftovers from WNW Pup would fit the LCT - maybe I'm talking nonsense as usual?
Sandy

The Pup chord is narrower, but the roundels are the same. (see the photo in the post at the beginning of the page).
Spyros

Just measured the roundels :-
Upper wing outlined - 49mm
Lower or upper without outline - 48mm
Fuselage - outlined - 20mm
fuselage - no outline - 24mm

I compared them with a set of wing roundels for a Camel and they are either 41mm or 43mm outlined or 40mm without an outline so the Strutter ones are significantly larger and I’d say around 64” diameter at 1:1 scale
Not sure if the AIMs sheet includes anything that large?

[KiwiZac]

The more I see of this kit, the more I want one!

[macsporran]

I'm in my car just now so no access to refs, but from memory, is the wing chord not the same size on the Strutter as the Pup? ie any leftovers from WNW Pup would fit the LCT - maybe I'm talking nonsense as usual?
Sandy

The Pup chord is narrower, but the roundels are the same. (see the photo in the post at the beginning of the page).
Spyros

Jut checked the 'Official Tech & Rigging Notes' collected and published by RAF Museum and Chord dimensions given as follows:
Strutter 5 foot 6 inches and Pup 5 foot 1&1/2 inches. A difference of four and a half inches - in 1/32 scale one sixteenth (plus a ballhair) of an inch at Leading Edge and again at Trailing Edge of wing if you use the WNW Pup roundels.
I can easily live with that, but of course if you spray a 5'6" white circle it will be perfect to provide an outline for the non-outlined Pup roundels

I have spare WNW Pup decals and will almost certainly use them on my first Roden LCT - providing they don't crumble like the Camel decals of course!!!
YMMV
Sandy

PS Camel is 4'6" so obviously not much use - but the Brisfit, FE2b, DH4 & RE8 are exactly the same chord at 5'6" if you have any of them left over!

[macsporran]

Whoa! Hold the horses!

I've just received my Roden Strutter kit this afternoon - a few minutes after posting above about using WNW decals.

However, on first inspection, the decals in the Roden kit look pretty good to me. All right they are not Cartograph quality but colour density is good, no pixellations, register is pretty well spot-on (maybe a tiny, tiny eccentricity in smallest roundel's outer white ring but really probably not noticeable in situ), sharp and well defined. There is the slightest run-off on the rudder red - but that will be sanded off after application anyway.

The late SPAD roundels were unusable, but these Strutter ones look perfectly good to me. I have no idea if they might crack or break-up on wetting, but so far, I am a very happy chappy.

The mouldings are crisp and well formed (yes, with a tiny amount of flash, but very little) - and a choice of upper wings. Also much improved strut anchors.

Wow, for the 40.85GBP shipped that I paid, this is phenomenal value for a good, big kit. I'm torn now whether to buy another two or wait for the inevitable singe-seat, comic and French release options that hopefully will come next.

Go Roden. Please make the 504K to this quality next, then lots, lots more subjects - please.
Sandy

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi Sandy,
I agree.
I received my kit from Jadlam today.
The only observation I'd make over and above yours are about the flight surfaces.
The top surface of the wings have raised ribs, but they are flat and softly moulded.
The undersides of the wings have essentially no rib detail, other than very faint impressions of ribs.
The wing leading edge inter-ribs are probably too raised and obvious.
Also, there are no visible rib tapes on either the top or underside of the wings.
The same applies to the tail unit.

Apart from that it looks to be a reasonably good kit and should make a nice model of the Strutter,

Mike

[macsporran]

Yes, I agree with Mike's points - ie it is not a WNW kit - but it is a great starting point for a nice model. For those of us that fought the original short-run Eduard 1/48 SS.D.III, StartStrutter and Albatros C-type kits back in the early 90s, this is a beautiful model and at an unbeatable price.

I'm so excited that I've had to start detaching parts and cleaning-up right away to see what it will look like - thought you might too - see below!
The cockpit upper decking is a little rough and some of the fine details are a little soft - but, so what, we have a 1/32 LCT!

.. and I've got a suitable aircraft to pose my Hi-Tech 'Back from Patrol' figures with!
Sandy

[KiwiZac]

Hi all,
To prevent thread creep (which I admittedly contributed to!) I've split off the rib tape/stitching discussion into its own dedicated topic here so we may focus on the Sopwith One and a Half Strutter kit.

[RAGIII]

Hi all,
To prevent thread creep (which I admittedly contributed to!) I've split off the rib tape/stitching discussion into its own dedicated topic here so we may focus on the Sopwith One and a Half Strutter kit.

Thanks Zac, you have Most Likely made the right decision  That being said if lack of rib tapes and stitching are things being stated that this kit lacks I feel it is kind of relevant. So hopefully all will go to the link you created and continue to contribute! Again thanks for your work as a Moderator, a task that is certainly difficult to make decisions at times 
RAGIII

[KiwiZac]

As long as we all stick to discussion focused on the kit - rather than more generalised talk - we should be fine!

That said when I trimmed things we lost comments relevant to the kit, which I've placed below:

This is excellent to hear re: the decals.

Looks nice, I have mine on order from my LHS -thanks also for the comparison on the roundels, although I can't confirm it (can anyone....) I felt the early WNW kits roundels looked rather light?

[macsporran]

Bomber Bits!

For some reason this kit has got me really excited and I've had to clear the bench and get started right away.
While cutting bits from the sprues it suddenly struck me that the square box structures are of course the interlocking pieces for the internal fuselage, bomb holding cell, along with the individual bombs - obviously for a future release of the Bomber version.

It was on the cards, but nice to see confirmation. The provision of 2 x lewis with jackets and 2 x lewis w/o jackets surely points to a Comic version too.

Yeehah!
Sandy

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi all,
'Fantasy Printshop' set 32001.
Sizes from 26 to 36 mm diameter, but no white outer rings.
Faded blue but might be worth a look,

Mike

Hi all,
I ordered these decals and have compared them to the size of the kit decals.
The 'Fantasy' decals look good and are just a bit lighter than the kit decals.
However, the largest is still too small for the 'Strutter'.
I guess if you want to replace them it'll be a case of:

   Mask and paint them
   Find suitable replacements from another kit or the 'spares' box,
   Have them custom made,

Mike

[KiwiZac]

Bomber Bits!

For some reason this kit has got me really excited and I've had to clear the bench and get started right away.

Great news, and your enthusiasm is infectious - I’m excited to follow your build!

I’m meant to be saving for my big move for study but I really want one of these…

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi all,
Posted on FB by Ray Rimmel is the Strutter's rigging diagram,

Mike