N500, Sopwith Triplane prototype from the Roden 1:32 kit

[RLWP]

I bought this cheap off Ebay as a started kit. I have dismantled it as far as I dare.

Reading the reviews, it seems the kit fuselage is too short for the production machines, being the correct length for the prototypes. There is a lovely resin fuselage by Brian Fawcett which I did consider. Instead I'm going to model the prototype that became N500. There are some lovely picture on the WNW website:





Here's the state of play:



I have done this with a Roden kit before when building Josef Jacob's DR.I. On the left are parts to be modified, on the right are parts that are ready to use. At the bottom are parts that are rejected. The process is to move everything from the left to the right, or the bottom, modifying as I go according to whatever reliable information I can find.

These early Tripes seem to use parts from the Pup, including the tailplane, rudder and fin. I have a fin for an adjustable tailplane from a WNW Pup, I'm not going to rob the tailplane and rudder from the WNW kit, so I am making those

The engine was damaged, not well constructed and the cam box is rather too small for the 110hp Clerget, so I've ordered a WNW one.

The top wing had a transparent panel, so the kit wing is cut and the spars and ribs are being modelled

So far, so good

Richard

[Juan]

Looking good Richard, wonderful start to this interesting kite.

[RAGIII]

A terrific start Richard. I am looking forward to your progress!
RAGIII

[dr 1 ace]

Will be a worthy addition to any collection !

d

[GAJouette]

 Richard,
Sounds like an awesome project in the making my friend. Excellent progress to date and I'm looking forward to following along with this thread.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[RLWP]

Tail feathers!



A pleasing mix of Roden, WNW and scratchbuilt

Richard

[GAJouette]

 Richard,
Pleasing mix indeed! Well done my friend.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[pepperman42]

Nice work!!

Steve

[rhwinter]

LIKE!

[RAGIII]

Richard,
Pleasing mix indeed! Well done my friend.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

I agree completely with Gregory!
RAGIII

[RLWP]

A tale of three engines. This is how I got the kit, with the engine already built up:



There are a few things going on here. Clearly, three pushrods have gone missing. Also, the builder has left lumps of feed sprue on the end, which meant the engine didn't fit inside the cowl

I chopped the pushrods off, I didn't like the result much:



The cambox isn't really much like a Clerget 9Z. So I ordered a WNW Clerget, which arived today (I got mugged by Royal Mail this time)



A much finer engine. Only....



It won't fit inside the Roden cowl. Checking the dimensions, the outside diameter of the cowl is fine, the walls are much too thick

I didn't want to chop the WNW engine about, I did consider using the WNW 9Z cambox on the Roden engine, leaving me with a WNW Clerget 9B for future projects. I also considered vacuum forming a new cowl from thin styrene that would clear the rockers on the WNW engine

Then I remembered I had a HobbyCraft Clerget from a stalled project:



And it fits the Roden cowl!:



So, I'll use that. That leaves a WNW Clerget for future projects and a Roden cylinder set for the parts bin

Richard

[lone modeller]

Just caught up with this - a really good start to this project. The engine looks very good, and worth the effort of trying three times.

Stephen.

[RAGIII]

Your final choice for the engine looks superb!
RAGIII

[GAJouette]

 Richard,
Your engine looks fantastic my friend. Keep up the excellence!
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[xmald]

A very good progress and an extremely interesting subject ( I simply love the Triplane).
Keep it up!