[MOC] G. S. Sapozhnikov's Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe

[Max_Lego]

I don't know why, but this crazy idea struck me: "Why not build Sapozhnikov's Sopwith Snipe"? I googled images of the aircraft and decided - indeed, why not? I later realised that I've chosen the right moment - Red Army day was close. So here it is!

This particular Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe was captured by the Red Army from British invaders during the Civil War and flown by ace pilot Grigory Stepanovich Sapozhnikov.

This is my first serious biplane model. I never intended to build WWI-era aircraft before that. The build was assembled quickly due to its small size (approximately 1/32 scale). The main problem when building was to find the right parts - my Lego collection is a complete mess.  Cockpit has an instrument panel, joystick and pilot seat and fits one minifigure The decals are hand-made. Sadly, I didn't succeed in recreating the 'Nelly' inscription bechind the cockpit.

The model is quite rough and not very accurate. I am mostly disappointed with the wing mounting angle. Nevertheless, I am quite satisfied with the result. Hope you like it.

[Feuer Zug]

Good work. Even getting the wings at an angle is a good job. I wasn't aware of any biplanes from the Great War with such a dihedral. I also like how you kept the bottom of the engine cowling off like the real rotary engines were.

[Max_Lego]

46 minutes ago, Feuer Zug said:

Good work. Even getting the wings at an angle is a good job. I wasn't aware of any biplanes from the Great War with such a dihedral. I also like how you kept the bottom of the engine cowling off like the real rotary engines were.

Thank you very much! To be honest, the wing dihedral on my model is excessive. I mounted the wings on an angle for better accuracy, yet they point upwards a little too much. This is actually one of the reasons why the wingspan resulted being less than it was supposed to be at 1/32. 

Here is a technical drawing of the actual airplane:

[Max_Lego]

I recently made some improvements of my model (as always):

- Solved the excessive dihedral problem;

- Corrected the fuselage and rudder shapes (I think so);

- Applied new, better stickers;

- Added the missing 'Nelly' inscription behind the cockpit (not an outstanding result, but I can't do better now)

Here are pictures of the improved version:

 

[Feuer Zug]

The revised wings look better.