Print Scale French Sopwith 1½ Strutter Decals
By Matt Bittner
Officially known as the Land Clerget Tractor (LCT), the Sopwith 1½ Strutter - as it was later called, due to the design of the center struts - was also license-produced by the French, making between 4000 and 4700 aircraft. There were three subtypes of French Strutters: 1A2 (two-seater reconnaissance); 1B1 (single-seat bomber) and 1B2 (two-seat bomber). Plus, there were at least eight manufacturers that license-built the Strutter (e.g. Hanriot, Darracq, REP, etc.).
Print Scale has released these sets of decals - in two scales - covering French Strutters. The 1/48th sheet is broken into two parts, while the 1/72 version is a single sheet. The following aircraft are catered for (and note I correct the listed subtype from the instructions):
- Sopwith 1B1, number 185 of Escadrille Sop 107, which operated as part of Groupe d'Bombardmet 3 (Gb3). By accident it landed behind enemy lines and there are plenty of photos of the intact aircraft.
- Sopwith 1A2, 4189 of Escadrille Sop 5
- Sopwith 1A2, 308 of Escadrille Sop 111, which operated as part of Groupe d'Bombardment 1(GB1)
- Sopwith 1A2, number unknown of Escadrille Sop 24. This aircraft has a top wing Lewis gun and a To4 gun ring which was a French adaption of the British scarff ring
- Sopwith 1A2, number unknown of Escadrille 504
- Sopwith 1A2 served in early March 1918 with Escadrille Sop. 24 in Toul
- Sopwith 1A2, number unknown of Escadrille Sop 36
- Sopwith 1B1, number unknown of Escadrille Sop 66 which was part of Groupe d'Bombardment 1 (Gb1)
- Sopwith 1A2, number 2510 of Escadrille Sop222. This aircraft was fitted with a Lewis on the top wing
- Sopwith 1B2, according to the insignia on the fuselage belonging to Escadrille Sop 29. Unfortunately without any other data
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Note that the instructions for the 1/72 set of Strutters is wrong, showing all Sopwiths finished in Clear Doped Linen. While that was a case for a few Strutters - especially those being sent directly from Britain - the majority of French Strutters early in their career were finished overall in aluminum dope, with the metal panels on the nose left natural. The 1/48th instructions - being printed later - have the corrected information. From what I can tell from photos, the two-seaters (1A2 and 1B2) had the area around the pilot and observer left in natural wood, but the 1B1 was aluminum in that area.
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Not only did I use all the print references I have for the French Sopwith Strutter, but I also consulted renowned WWI historian Gregory VanWyngarden and thank him immensely for his help. Note that an article published in Cross & Cockade International, Vol. 54 No. 2 -THE SOPWITH 11/2 STRUTTER: A French Story by David Méchin - is so far the best reference on French Sopwith Strutters. With over 4000 produced you would think a larger tome would be published, but having what we have is better than nothing at all.
As far as accuracy goes other than what I mentioned about overall color, for the SOP 111 machine, Print Scale gives you the serial "308" but in the instructions states it's "309". From what I can gleem from this page on the Albin Denis site, SOP 111 didn't fly 1A2s instead flying the bomber versions, 1B1 and 1B2. If Print Scale did mean No. 309 (and it's probably a four-number serial; unfortunately the last digit can not be discerned on the dark rudder stripe) then the aircraft is a 1B2 and the chevron on the side is multi-colored, probably blue and red. However, on the Albin Denis page on Escadrille 111, there is a line-up of Sopwith 1B2s and the first rudder in the picture has the serial "308x" but I have found no other images of that aircraft.
Note that you receive only one set of roundels on each decal sheet, along with only one set of rudder stripes (although the 1/72 set contains two sets of rudder stripes). You'll need to source your own roundels and and rudder stripes, or paint everything yourself, if planning on making more than one model from these sheets.
For 1/48 kits there is only one kit manufacturer that has Strutter kits, Roden. In 1/72 you have the option of finding either the Toko/Eastern Express kit, or if lucky, Flashback. Both manufacterrs have double- and single-seaters. In my opinion the Flashback kits are the best and they released both a single-seat and double-seat version. Unfortunately they don't include parts, nor show the differences in the kit to make a 1B2 from the 1A2 kit. There was a "door" between the pilot and rear gunner on the fuselage sides, along with the underside differences. The French put the bombs inside the fuselage instead of hanging them between the landing gear legs. In addition, for the 1B1 I'm trying to figure out how the side bomb doors were as opposed to how the kit has them on the photoetch frame. I'm not 100% certain of the kit's accuracy; I'm still figuring it out.
Even with these quibbles, overall this is a really nice set of decals for the French Sopwith Strutters. I definitely will be finishing a couple of my models using these markings. What's really nice is that Print Scale has separated any serials/numbers that go on the rudder, so if you want to paint your rudder you can apply those serial/numbers anyway. Same if you apply the rudder-stripe decals first.
I definitely would like to thank Print Scale for allowing me to review this sheet.