Sopwith Bat Boat, 1/72nd modified Joystick vacuum-formed - 1913 British Amphibian contest winer

 

Old kits and esoteric subjects are an attractive combination, and a great opportunity to exercise those modeling skills.

As mentioned in the step-by-step building post, I got this model via fellow modeler L. Santos, who saw it in a shop and called me from there to see if was interested, thanks L!

Thanks also to John Aero, Ed Russell and Adrian MF for providing useful info.

The kit is mildly fair, but doesn't excel in any way. The white metal accessories were not good, and the alloy was too soft. The strut material was flimsy and the provided framing rods uneven. The kit had an inaccurate central section on the lower wing, which required  solving, and did not account for the very visible radiators on each side of the engine.

All these points and their solutions can be visited in the construction post:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2020/03/sopwith-bat-boat-1913-mortimer-singer.html

The kit offers an attractive and historically significant type in a reasonable package, that will require nonetheless some care and skills to be brought to fruition.

Starting from this:

To arrive to this:

As mentioned in the construction post, the plane was the first successful amphibian designed and built in the UK, and also the winner of the Mortimer Singer amphibian contest of 1913, merits enough to grant it a place in a model collection.