Specifications
Wingspan: 38cm
Length: 29cm
Flying Weight: 46grams
Channels: 3 (Rudder Elevator Throttle)
Suggested Receiver: 4Ch Micro
Motor: 7mm Geared Motor
Airframe Kit
(Included Contents)
* Airframe Covering Parts (balsa)
* Airframe Skeleton (hardwood)
* Carbon pushrods
* Wheels and rubber tyre rings
* Fine sand paper
* Control linkages
* Decals
Needed to Complete
* Thick CA Glue
* Micro Phillips Head Screwdriver
* Long nose fine pliers
* Hobby Knife
* Ruler
* Household Pins
* Hobby Masking or Other Tape
* Tweezers
* Small Screwdriver
* Felt pen
* Patience
* Keen Eyesight
* Steady Hands
* Receiver Transmitter Charger Battery
* Motor and Propeller
(see instructions for suggested RC gear setup)
Battery Options
The Nanotech 300mah 1S battery is
recommended for best balance.
If using the Nanotech 160mah or similar
battery, you will also need to add some
ballast to the nose.
Sopwith Pup (Build Instructions)
Before You Start
This airframe has been designed to fit together easily with all components precision drilled and
CNC cut from high quality balsa and paulownia wood. However, you will be working with very
small components, so you will need patience and keen eyesight. We recommend working in a very
well lit area and taking a break between stages to rest the eyes and hands. Most of all, take your
time, enjoy the building experience and you will be proud of what you have produced in the end.
First, refer to this and the following pages to ensure that you have all the required airframe
components in your kit.
Decal Stickers
Airframe Wooden Parts
Additional Parts
Before starting you may wish to lightly sand
down all the flat surfaces of the parts if you
want to have a smooth finish. It’s easier to
do this initially, especially in areas such as
the wings where ribs will get in the way of
sanding when complete.
When removing parts from the sheets, identify where the cut line is sectioned and cut that part
with a sharp pointed hobby knife. The parts should be able to be removed easily. Never twist or
bend the parts back and forth to remove them as this will damage the parts. Instead cut around
the parts as necessary to easily remove them.
Glue together the control system mount as shown below. Allow this part of the frame to dry
before gluing in place the X shape piece on the front.
Construct the circular mounting frame and screw in the control system mount. This is temporary
Set these 4 parts aside for the next step
Note Orientation – The two cut out for lugs are at the bottom.
Screw in screws temporarily
Screw in from this side
and just holds everything in place while the rest of the frame is being constructed and is drying.
Your frame will look like the image on the left. Now it’s time to glue in place the C shaped part
and make the frame look like the image on the right. Once again note the orientation of the
control system mount when gluing in the C shaped piece.
Slot in without gluing, one of the 4 parts you set aside earlier to hold this C shaped part square
while drying.
Then glue in place the rear most part with the two protrusions each side. Once again use the 4
Longer one to top
Keep the middle hole underneath clear of glue when
gluing on the top supports. The bottom hardwood
formers slot into there.
Ensure that the second hole in from either side is clear of glue as another
part needs to slot in there in the next step.
These lugs are closer to the top at the end
which glues too the balsa.
braces put aside earlier to hold this square while drying. Then go ahead and glue those 4 parts in
place.
We are now ready to start work on the fuselage. Identify and cut out the parts shown. Then glue
them in place as shown in the image. Allow time for each part to dry before gluing the next.
Attach the part you have just made to the hardwood frame. Ensure all parts are glued at 90
Score and bend
Note the orientation of this part when gluing on the rear
fuselage frame to make sure you glue these two pieces
together the correct way.
degrees angles. Set aside to dry.
Score or crease the side panels as shown here (do not cut). Then gently bend them to about 10
degrees. You can also cut out the elongated pushrod slots at this point.
Do not glue the sides together at
the back. The tail skid will be
inserted in here later.
Glue the sides of the fuselage on
but be sure to leave these parts
open to be glued onto the frame
later when attaching the top and
bottom plates.
Use a sharp hobby knife to cut out these panels. Then bend the bottom plate where shown.
Cut panels out
Score and bend
Glue on the bottom plate. Glue down the sides to meet flush and tape with modelling tape if
needed. The perforated section of this plate will later be cut out to form the hatch cover.
Note that the plate should NOT be glued at the front or back here.
Before gluing in place the top plate, wet it with some water and slightly bend it as shown. Allow to
dry before gluing in place.
Score and bend the tail piece up to match the body line.
Attach the tail skid. Look from the back and make any adjustments to the body alignment while
gluing.
Also cut out the bottom hatch plate. Some scrap wood can be used to glue across the hatch on
the inside surface to strengthen it.
Glue in two magnets into the holes as shown here. Ensure that you test the magnets to make
sure they will attract correctly to close the hatch. Also glue on the front hatch lugs. These may
need to be sanded or the holes in the hardwood frame cleaned out and scraped to allow the lugs
to insert easily. Also sand the edges a little.
Next remove the parts below to make the cowl. Be careful to remove the parts with the stepped
Magnets
edges in one piece as shown here. These pieces are used as a template to position the other cowl
pieces before being cut away later. Start by gluing in the magnets as shown.
Glue the parts in place as shown below. Note that the first ring you put on will be lower than the
second one. This is to allow for the balsa sheet to wrap around and sit flush.
When gluing on the balsa sheets look for the positioning lugs on the hardwood frame which are
used as a starting and finishing point to wrap the balsa from.
Finally, cut away the positioning pieces and sand the cowl to smooth the edges.
The other three magnets need to be inserted in the holes in the fuselage. However you must take
care to align them the right way. First attach the magnets to the ones in the cowl and with a black
felt pen mark the side facing you and ensure that side of the magnet is orientated the same when
it is glued into the fuselage hardwood frame. Lay the cowl down in front of the fuselage and
transfer one magnet at a time to the fuselage frame and glue it in so the black dot is facing the
rear of the fuselage.
Finally, take this opportunity to give the whole fuselage a light sand down. It’s easier to sand it
down now than with wings and tail-plane attached.
Before sanding After sanding
Take the wheel pieces and glue in the plastic hub pieces as shown in the image on the right below.
Then glue on the center piece with the holes in it. Be sure to glue the center piece with the grain
at 90 degrees to the two outer pieces to give additional strength.
Important: The o-rings need to be stretched a slight bit to
fit them on. Allow the wheel hubs to fully dry before
attaching the o-rings, otherwise the o-rings will separate the
discs of the wheel hubs.
Carefully put the o-rings on and glue them in place.
Next we will attach the ribs to the upper wings.
Leading Edge
The upper wings are the ones which do not have the
long cut out pieces near the wing root.
Note that as in the image to the left, we only need 3
ribs per wing. The second set of slots in from the wing
tips are used for the wing braces which attach to the
upper and lower wigs.
Also ensure that you do not use these ribs with the cut-outs on top. These two ribs are for the
wing root of the lower wings.
Glue in place the wing ribs as shown here. However, do not glue the wings together. There is
another section which needs to be glued in between the two wing pieces.
Now prepare the lower wings.
Note that if you intend to attach the decals to the wings, it
is common to have the decals on the bottom surface of the
lower wings. You may wish to attach your decals before you
glue the last rib on. If so, then glue in the ribs either side of
where the decal goes to curve the wing surface. Then attach
the decal. Cut out slots for the rib with a hobby knife if
needed and then glue the last rib over the decal.
Glue in the ribs taking note that the two ribs with the cut outs go closest to the wing root.
Keep these holes clear of glue
Leading Edge
Screw in here
Also, note that the holes used to glue on the wing braces are directly in line with a rib. After
gluing in that rib, turn the wing over and clear out any glue from the wing brace slots.
The wings will look like this when completed. Don’t glue them together!
Screw on the top wing supports. The support goes on the outer side of the lug which is attached
to the fuselage.
Now glue on the central wing section and the wings. Ensure that the wings match smoothly with
At his stage you may also want to check your
wings are level and don’t have any slight twists.
Look from the front and identify any twists in
the wings. These can be corrected by rubbing a
“very small amount” of water on the wing
surface and twisting it gently till it dries.
the top surface of the inner wing section. You can use some thin model masking tape to tape the
two surfaces together to keep them level with each other. Also smear some glue on the joint line
under the wing where the two wing parts join.
Glue in place the lower wings. Then glue in the wing struts between the upper and lower wings.
Screw the wheel struts together as shown here.
Attach two small pieces
of heat shrink here to
stop the wheel struts
from moving in.
Attach here to keep the
wheels on
Then screw the wheel struts in place to the airframe. The bent section is toward the front of the
airframe and the screw head near the wheel is on the inner side, while the screw heads near the
fuselage are on the outer side.
Feed through the axel and put the wheel on. It is a good idea to cut two additional pieces of heat
shrink to go on the inside between the wheel struts. Heat and fix them in place to stop the wheel
struts from moving.
Cut some pieces from the larger heat shrink tube. Apply some heat (such as from a soldering iron)
to shrink them to the carbon.
You may wish to add a piece between the wheel and the
Hinge strips
Longer support leg
Hinge strips
undercarriage frame as well (which is not shrunk) to act as
a spacer. Cut the carbon axel to size with a hobby knife. A
small amount of glue on the end only will also help hold it in
place.
Use the hinge strips provided and glue them in place as shown. The balsa attaching the control
surfaces will be cut away later. It is there to hold the surfaces straight. Also glue in the piece
which joins the tail surfaces. At this point you also need to check if the control horns need to go
on the left or right. Set out your control system and check this. If you have a programmable
transmitter then servo channels can easily be swapped in the case that you are using a brick style
receiver with onboard servos.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
We recommend that you use crossed pushrods in this setup. This means for example that the
servo on the right side of the fuselage connects to the control surface horn on the left of the
fuselage. This allows for a clear line of travel from the servo to the control horn.
Do the same with the vertical stabilizer
Glue the tail-plane horizontal stabilizer in place and then glue the vertical stabilizer in place on top.
Hinge
Congratulations.
Your airframe should now look like this.
Check to make sure they are level and square.
The bottom hinge also needs to be glued in place.
Next build the motor mount. There are two options for powering this model – a brushed motor
or a brushless motor. See below for how to build the motor mount for each option.
MicronWings suggests using a brushed motor setup, and in this manual we will detail the
suggested setup for a brushed motor.
Brushed Motor Mount
If using a brushed motor, MicronWings suggests using a Gearbox 7mm Twin Drive Horizontally
Opposed Base Mount. This motor’s mounting holes align with the mounting holes in the motor
mount supplied with the kit.
Gearbox 7mm Twin Drive Horizontally Opposed Base Mount
Website Product Link
Website Product Link
Brushless Motor Mount
A brushless motor mount is also supplied for builders who wish to mount a brushless motor
instead. MicronWing doesn’t supply motor / ESC and receiver setups for brushless options. We
reccomned using a brushed motor setup on this model.
Radio Gear
Bundle and tie wires here
Leave this area free for mounting the battery.
It’s now time to install your radio gear and servos. Note that this kit does not include receiver,
servos, battery, motor, propeller, charger or connectors. The information below is simply a
guideline for setting up the system.
The airframe is designed to accomoadate 1.7 gram 5320 SH servos. These servos will screw in
neatly to the frame. The receiver board being used in this example is a 4Ch DSM2 / DSMX
receiver with an onboard 2A brushed ESC. Note that for this receiver you need to use the 5320 SH
servos which have 1mm pitch connetors, not the standard 5320 servos which have Molex
connectors.
The receiver can be attached using hook and loop tape or by using a micro tie-clip. Here, other
tie-clips have been used to bundle the servo and motor wires underneath the radio gear mounting
board.
The list of products below is suggested to complete the setup shown here.
4Ch DSM2 / DSMX Receiver with 2A ESC
(The recommended receiver option for this model)
Receiver 24R6CLV11 DSM2
(A good option if you prefer a brick type Rx instead)
Servo 5320 Black SH
(Most 5320 servos come with Molex 1.27mm connectors.
For the receiver above you need the 5320 SH version)
Micro Connectors 2mm Round 2 Pin
(for connecting motor wires to receiver board)
28 AWG Silicone Coated Wire
(Used for connecting the motor connectors to the Rx)
Heat Shrink
Gearbox 7mm Twin Drive Horizontally Opposed
140mm Prop
Nano-Tech 300Mah Battery
(This size battery will also assist in balancing the plane)
Mole Battery Connectors
(Used to make an adapter lead for the 300mah battery)
JST mCP-X Connectors DIY Connectors
(Used to make an adapter lead for the 300mah battery)
Feed the control rods through the fuselage and connect them to the servos. Remember the
control horn on the right should be controlled by the servo on the left and so on. Be sure to turn
on your transmitter and receiver and center the servo arms and trims on the transmitter before
you do this. Use the provided clips and attach them with heat shrink to the pushrods and clip
them onto the servos.
You will need to shorten the servo arms so they clear the airframe
inside. Cut off the end hole to leave just two holes and attach the
pushrod to the second hole from the centre.
Attach only this control linkage to the ends of the two control rods.
Use a dab of glue to tack them in place and cut a short length of
heat shrink from the tube to cover them with. The glue is important
because when the heat shrink is heated the glue heats up and binds
the pushrod and heat shrink together. Heat the heat shrink with a
soldering iron or something else hot. Then insert these and connect
them to the servo arms.
Then insert the gear mount into the fusealge and secure it by
screwing it in place with the 4 screws at the front and two at the
rear.
Leave the control surface parts as they are for now. The next thing
you need to do is set up your transmitter. Turn it on and connect
the battery to the receiver and check it is all working correctly. Look
at which way the pushrods are moving and reverse the servo
direction on the transmitter settings if needed. Make sure all the
trims are centred.
Tack glue the linkages with the hoop in them to the pushrods at the
correct position and apply heat shrink. The hoop can be contracted or exapnded to make manual
adjustments to the control surface. Further adjustment can be made using the trims on the
transmitter.
Note that once this part is done you will no longer be able to remove the bracket which holds the
RC gear and servos without first undoing the control
This video explains the best
method to press the propeller
onto the shaft of the geardrive
without bending the geardrive
shaft.
Balance Point: 10mm from leading edge of the bottom wing
linkages near the control surfaces.
You can now cut away the balsa parts which are
holding the control surfaces in place.
Then test your system to make sure it is all
functioning correctly.
Next we need to set the correct balance point for the plane. Use the positioning of the battery to
adjust the balance point.
Recommended balance point: 10mm back from the leading edge of the lower wings.
The cowl also needs to be attached before the propeller is
pressed onto the shaft. To do this you will need a pair of long
nose pliers as there is limited gap to access the shaft. Follow
the procedure shown in the video below.
The longer screw is attached as shown in the image below and the supplied lead weight wrapped
around it to add more weight to the nose. Note that even with the suggested 300mah battery you
will still need this additional ballast weight. This is because this is a true scale model and the nose
is relatively short.
Control Surface Deflection
The images below, although not of this particular model, show the correct amount of control
surface deflection needed. Use these images as a guide to how much maximum deflection you will
need on the control surfaces. Do not exceed this amount of throw on the rudder as it will cause
plane to roll to an excessive amount. You will most likely need to dial down your throws on your
transmitter to around 50 to 60 percent. We also suggest that you set the differential to about
35% if your transmitter supports this function.
You’re now ready for test flying.
Perform a test glide a few times in an area
with soft long grass. On the first flight start
off with low power and do a short straight
flight to land straight ahead. From there, try
more power and gentle turns till you learn
how much rudder deflection is required for
a gentle turn.
A sample flight video.
Copyright © MicronWings 2017: All rights reserved.
This manual is for personal use only. No unauthorized copying or digital distributing permitted
without permission from MicronWings.
Take-off and Landing Video 01
Take-off and Landing Video 02
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