Ares Games
  • Building the Reviresco Sopwith Dolphin

    Having built a Reviresco Dolphin, I thought I'd pass along my thoughts on the kit while they are still fresh in my memory.

    As you can see from the pic below, the kit I received was really quite clean. There was a very small amount of flash on the wheels. All of the struts and landing gear were about as perfect as can be. I think of all the kits I've gotten in the last year (from both Reviresco and Skytrex) this was probably the crispest with respect to those parts. The upper wing, on the other hand, wasn't as nice. It had some pitting, but it was workable. The fuselage, cast as one piece, had some mold lines, but nothing a little green stuff wouldn't hide. A minor quirk on the fuselage is that the little boxes on either side near the wing root (I'm guessing those are radiators) didn't quite align, but it didn't bug me too much.





    I had decals that I purchased from Reviresco, but when I got around to the build I didn't feel like fooling with full-body decals. So after giving it a bath to rinse off oils and whatnot, I went ahead with the gluing. There was a bit of flash in the wing holes, but not much, certainly nothing a tiny file or hobby knife couldn't handle. Also worth noting, the machine-guns are a little out of alignment too. So if you are a stickler for symmetry and perfection, you may want to skip this kit.





    The top wing went on like a charm. But take note! I did not attach the cabane struts at this time. I thought it would get a little dicey, so I saved them for later.





    The gear went on without a hitch. You never know what you are in store for with landing gear, and these were one of the easiest I've done. That being said, I did replace the axle that was provided with .02" wire.





    Now that the gear is on, I added the cabane struts by slipping them down through the hole in the upper wing. It took a little bit of trimming and bending, but not much. And frankly, I think I saved myself some hassle by doing it now instead of when I placed the top wing. Ymmv. After that the pilot was dropped in place. And then the prop went on.





    Suddenly, it is looking like a WoW plane! (The slight irregularities in the casting are highlighted in this pic.)





    A couple coats or primer and paint, followed by some home-made Francis Gillet decals, and another coat of dull, and viola! It's done.




    I've been a huge fan of the Dolphin ever since playing Avalon Hill's board game Richthofen's War back in the late 1970s. When I saw Reviresco had a kit, I figured I'd take the plunge. And I'm pretty happy with the results.

    I hope you find this useful, and if you have any questions feel free to message me.
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Building the Reviresco Sopwith Dolphin started by jbmacek View original post
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