The Sopwith 9901 was the precursor of the widely used Sopwith F.I Camel, The 9901 was first proper British fighting scout, the first "Pups' (as they were nicknamed) assigned to the Royal Naval Air Service arrived on the Western Front in 1916. Although regarded as a ‘nice’ aeroplane to fly, pilots who used it in combat gained impressive successes during the first half of 1917. This single gun platform was serving at the front and knocking down enemy aircraft long after her debut on the Western Front. The Royal Flying Corps also used the Pup from January 1917 onwards, with the final combats with the machine occurring in December of that year.
the men,
This book describes the combat careers of the successful Pup aces RNAS & RFC, how they flew and how they fought. Many of the pilots later moved on to increase their scores in the twin gunned Sopwith F.I Camel.
the colours,
This particular monograph has fewer colour profiles and the description of the general paint useage is not covered as well as one might expect.
SUMMARY
Highs: The colour profiles are most impressive with Mr. Franks' usual fact grounded approach to research.Lows: I would like to see these and more profiles and stories in an anthology by unit. The camouflage treatment on the relavent aircraft were not discussed. And the pertinent camouflage paints should be discussed.Verdict: Highly recommended for the new research and information on the individual pilot profiles.
About Stephen T. Lawson (JackFlash) FROM: COLORADO, UNITED STATES
I was building Off topic jet age kits at the age of 7. I remember building my first WWI kit way back in 1964-5 at the age of 8-9. Hundreds of 1/72 scale Revell and Airfix kits later my eyes started to change and I wanted to do more detail. With the advent of DML / Dragon and Eduard I sold off my ...
Hello Stephen,
The Pup Aces book is a great resource and as you have said, Norman Franks' research is meticulous.
Having spent a lot of time researching the Pup recently released 48th and 72nd decal sheets, I can tell you that it would have been almost impossible to gather enough information for Harry Dempsey to do more side views.
I think I have seen just about every photo of the Pup that has been published and I'm sure that messers Franks and Dempsey have had access to plenty more unpublished ones. As it is (remember that the book's title is Pup ACES) there are a number of sideviews included which don't strictly qualify under the 'Ace' criteria. Now if one branches out into Pups used as trainers there are plenty more, very colourful, schemes available, but this book was concerned with operational machines only.
As far as more detail of colours is concerned, that's very much a modellers point of view and the Osprey Aircraft of the Aces series is not intended as a modelling publication, in particular. As you'll see when your copy of the decal sheet gets to you, there is plenty of info on colouring in there!
The treatment of the Pup in service here is very much a chronological one, rather than by unit - I think it works very well at that level and is probably better than taking a unit by unit approach.
Overall, though, I think your assesment at 90% is not unfair - although I'd have put it a tad higher.
Just bringing this up for a fellow modeler who had a question on the Sopwith Pup instrument panel.
Also here is a detailed build review of the WNW #32013 Sopwith Pup RFC
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