K'nex Sopwith Pup

The famous Sopwith Pup was a favorite among the World War One British Air Force. Although underpowered, and armed with just a single machine gun, the Pup was known for its safety standards and excellent handling. And now it's available for you to build.

Despite the model's size (47/480 scale), this plane requires a large number of pieces.

Rods:

• Green: 350
• White: 254
• Blue: 36
• Yellow: 11
• Red: 1
• Black (or gray): 1
• Orange flexible: 1

Connectors:

• Purple (or gray): 31
• Gray 2-way: 8
• Orange: 18
• Red: 40
• Green: 20
• Yellow: 82
• White: 53
• Blue slider: 70
• Gray slider: 49

Misc.

• Y-clip: 15
• Blue Spacer: 34
• Silver Spacer: 35
• Ball joint: 2
• Black Cap: 3
• Silver Clip: 15
• Wheel w/ tire (shown in photo): 2

You will need at least 2 silver clips, or two more purple connectors.

If you want, you can add a k'nex figure to the pilot's seat. Just make sure he has a good grip on the stick.

This shouldn't be too difficult. Just follow the images closely. Make sure everything is well-connected and sturdy. Also, connect the blue rod and red connectors to the opposite side of the body than the green connectors. See the final image.

Again, just follow the images closely. The seat has only two connection points to the rest of the plane, both of which are at the top. The rest is simple.

The first part you add to the back of the body goes on the bottom, the second on top, and the third to the sides.

This is probably the hardest part. The tail can be a little resistant to attach to the body. But when it is attached, make sure the white rod on the front of the two foremost green connectors on the tail goes through the holes on both the red connectors. Also, the green rods on the sides of the top white connector should go through the holes on the yellow connectors.

Slide the blue rod through the bottom two purple or gray connectors, and cap off both ends with either a black cap or a silver clip.

Follow along closely with the images, and you should have little trouble. Just be careful that the orange connectors go toward the back and the yellow toward the front. They should not cross.

If you have better tires that you prefer, feel free to add them. They should fit.

I recommend a black rod for the main axle. Even with that, it bends a lot. So a gray rod probably will sag quite a bit without center reinforcement.

The mounts on the bottom hold the purple or gray connector toward the front. Make sure that for the top mount, the blue connector is toward the back, and the rod with two connectors is toward the back of the top mount.

Simply build the templates. But MAKE SURE that the green connector on each wing is toward the front, and the strut mounts are on the top of the bottom wing and the bottom of the top. Also, take note of how the one purple or gray connector is toward the front of the wing relative to the gray spacer.

Yes, the wings sag a lot. But we'll fix that when we add the struts in the next step.

Yellow rods connect the outer edges of the top and bottom wings. The blue and orange ones connect across. You'll have to lift the wing a little to get the corner to connect, but that's just to relieve the sag. Once all the struts are added, the wings should have no sag, and should be pretty sturdy.

This is definitely one of my favorite models. I love biplanes. I spent probably only 3 hours or so building the original, and an additional hour or so modifying it.

The original model didn't even have cross struts. I tried holding the wings with my other method, but that didn't work.

I added the cross struts though, and I was satisfied with what I had made. I hope you are too.