Excellent Toko Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe 1/72 Scale

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Excellent Toko Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe WWI and 1920s RAF Fighter 1/72 Scale Plastic Aircraft Model Kit: Catalogue No: 128 The early re-releases of old Frog kits under the Novo label gave the impression that Soviet plastic moulding capabilities were notably inferior to other East European producers such as KP, but in more recent years the Ukrainian manufacturer Toko (and its successor Roden) has redressed the balance with some fine kits which have also tended to fill gaps left in other manufacturers' ranges. One of Toko's focuses, continued by Roden, was on World War One aircraft. Although the major manufacturers had in the 1970s and 1980s improved on some of their poor early efforts, there were still (before Toko) many gaps in the ranges, with many significant aircraft available only from short-run, low-pressure mould manufacturers such as Pegasus and Merlin. Although these kits could in most cases be assembled into fine models, they required a lot of hard work and some skill and experience to do justice to them. Toko's range of WWI aircraft changed all that, setting new standards of accuracy and quality – apart, in some cases, its decals – see below! The Snipe was the last of the long range of Sopwith WWI fighters, successor to the Pup, Triplane and Camel, with orders for 1700 being placed in March 1918. In the event, the end of the war meant that the order was cut back to just 500, but the same cutbacks meant that the Snipe was not replaced until 1926, making it the longest-serving Sopwith design. All the parts are present, appear to be well-moulded, and are still attached to their runners, which are packed inside the original plastic bag, which has been opened for inspection. Surface detail is finely done and quite realistic, and there is a good attempt (given the size) at internal detail. As with most WWI models, the provision of rigging wires and the tiny windshield is left to the modeller's own resources. The decal sheet is well-printed but odd. It includes markings for two aircraft, an unusual Russian aircraft (with black stars and ace-of-spades markings); and the fairly well-known Snipe, E8102, which was flown by Barker when he won his Victoria Cross. The former markings are fine, but there are three issues with the latter. Firstly, the kit represents a late-production Snipe (with a larger tail and horn-balanced ailerons), which came into service right at the end of the war and served on until 1926, whereas E8102 was an early-production aircraft. Secondly, the blue of the roundels is far too dark; and thirdly the proportions of the roundels are completely wrong, with the blue ring far too wide and the red spots far too small. Even more oddly, the roundels are shown reasonably accurately on the box-top! Fortunately, it is fairly easy to source more accurate roundels for those who want to model an RAF aircraft – and not too difficult to modify the ailerons and tail to represent the version of the Snipe flown during the war. The box is in reasonable condition for its age, although a bit squashed from long term storage.. The kit builds quickly and easily into a good replica of this interesting aircraft. Paypal preferred, but postal orders or personal cheques (goods not dispatched until cleared) acceptable. Contact us before bidding for postage rates to non-UK destinations. We are happy to combine orders from the same batch of items into one parcel, or to hold kits for a week or two, and to pass on any savings in postage costs. If you do buy more than one item (and want to combine them in one parcel), please DO NOT pay the full invoice generated automatically by eBay, but CONTACT US FIRST for a revised invoice incorporating the reduced P&P charge. Please let us know if you have any other questions - we'll do our best to answer them fairly and quickly. Good luck with your bids! POSTAGE AND PACKING: Royal Mail increased its prices substantially in April 2013, and more modest increases (20p on a standard signed-for parcel within th... read more

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