1/32 Sopwith Tabloid, RNAS No. 168, Lt. Marix, Oct. 1914

[rhallinger]

In light of the unanimous opinion of my fellows here (and because it's really what I want to do ), I have decided to undertake a project to scratchbuild this Sopwith Tabloid in 1/32 scale.  This is the aircraft used by Lt. Marix in the Dusseldorf raid which bombed and destroyed Zeppelin Z-IX.  I have the Windsock Mini Datafile, along with some other references and drawings, some of which are shown below:



The Osprey Publications "The Zeppelin Base Raids" also has helpful information on this aircraft.  Here is a photo of the full-size  reproduction of No. 168, which I believe is displayed at RAF Hendon (feel free to correct me if I am mistaken):



I will be following the techniques Des used in his Caudron build log on the main site.  I may need to vacuform the engine cowling top and bottom.  Everything else should be fairly straightforward.

If anyone has photos, drawings or plans they are willing to share, feel free to post or PM me.  Thanks!  I will be doing some planning for the next couple of weeks, so construction will not begin for a bit.

Regards,

Bob 

[rhallinger]

. . . or should this be over in "Under Construction"?  My dear Mr. Moderator please assist and adjust as you deem appropriate.  Many thanks!

Cheers,

Bob

[lcarroll]

Great choice Bob, and thus the journey begins. Looking forward to following you through on this, something I'd like to do before they take my trusty #11 Hobby Knife away from me for fear of me hurting myself!
Cheers,
Lance

[Des]

Great to see you take the plunge and decided to actually go ahead and build this model. You have started in the right place, scratch built, this is exactly what you will be doing, and when it is completed you can post the photos of the finished model in the completed models board.

The wings of this aeroplane look very straight forward and should not pose any problems, the only major issue that I can see is like you said, the top and bottom engine cowls, but I'm sure that you will work through that without any problems.

Looking forward to seeing you make a start on this model, I will be following along intently.

Des.

[uncletony]

Great project Bob. I didn't voice an opinion but was definitely pulling for you to throw down with the tabloid. Looking forward to watching this one unfold.

[coyotemagic]

Delighted to see that you settled on this one, Bob!  Such a sweet little kite.  This will be a blast to follow.
Cheers,
Bud

[LindsayT]

Yep, looking forward to watching this one, Bob.

[IFF1418]

Hi Bob,

Looking forward to see your start on this one. I will follow your log (which will be outstanding as usual) with great interest. Admire those scratch builders.

Kind regards and good luck
Patrick

[rhallinger]

Thanks everyone.  As I'm puzzling out the various aspects of this build and thinking things through, I have a question I need help with.  It will likely be the first of several. 

My drawings, and photos as well, show an interesting horizontal wing front profile.  The center section (6 ribs) of the wings are flat, with no dihedral, but there is a small bit of dihedral on each side of this section out to the wingtips.  If I use Des's sheet styrene lamination method to get the correct airfoil cross section for the wing, adding this dihedral might be difficult.  I am thinking that I may need to cut the wing into three sections, with the center six rib section remaining flat, i.e., without dihedral.  The face of the inner rib of the wingtip sections could then be sanded to an angle for the dihedral, and the wings could then be reassembled with pins and glue in a simple jig to impart the correct dihedral to the outer portions of the wing.

For reference, in 1/32 scale the wingspan of this model with be 9.5 inches, with the center 2 inches flat.

Does anyone have any other ideas for imparting dihedral to the wings without deforming the airfoil cross section?  As far as I can see, the only way to do it is as I have described above, but I am open to other suggtions.

Thanks for any assistance and thoughts.     

Regards,

Bob

[lone modeller]

Great to see that you are going to have a go at a scratch build and of a machine that is under-represented in my opinion. But then the early machines have always interested me more. I admire you having a go in the giant scale (1/32) as I have this some way down my list for God's Own Scale. Best of luck with it - I too will be following it with great interest. The cowling should not present you with too many problems and as you say the rest looks prettily straightforward.

As for the wing problem I think that you have come to the best solution - in 1/72 it could be bent in hot water, but in the scale that you are working in I think that separate pieces is the best option.

[Des]

Bob.  Looking at the photos of the Tabloid there doesn't appear to be a great deal of dihedral so this should not pose a problem. What I would do is to make the wing in one piece with the wing airfoil shape across the entire span. Once the glue has dried and the wing is rigid mark the centre section which is to remain level, then using a razor saw score the wing (the bottom of the wing) only cut about half way through, then bend the wing slightly to achieve the correct dihedral. A gap will appear on the bottom of the wing, fill this with glue and allow to dry, then it is a simple matter of applying a small amount of filler to finish off the job, you will end up with a wing with a flat centre section and dihedral on both outer portions of the wing.

Des.

[bobs_buckles]

Glad you plumbed for the Tabloid, Bob - Good choice! 
I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.
Cheers,
BvB

[RAGIII]

Looking forward to this one!
RAGIII

[rhallinger]

Thanks Des!  Great idea.    Just like your dihedral correction for the bottom wing of the Academy Camel.    That certainly sounds easier than what I was thinking of.  The dihedral is so minimal that this technique should work without deforming the airfoil shape of the wing chord.   

Cheers,

Bob

[rhallinger]

Okay.  Now I'm puzzled again.  Have a look at these photos of the RAF Museum reproduction of No. 168 which I just came across:







I note two relevant things from these photos: first, I can see little, if any, dihedral in the wings; second, There appears to be a slight separation between the center top wing section and the wing ends.  I can see through that gap.  Does anyone know what that is?  Any thoughts based on these photos?  Thanks.

Regards,

Bob