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1/48 Sopwith Camel


Calum

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Realistically, Eduard is the only current game in town. Before that there was the Blue Max kit, which you can still find sometimes. That's a very nice kit, but only if you're used to limited run. The Eduard kit is fine except the wing ribtape detail is hysterically overdone, but easily fixable with ye olde sandpaper. Eduard do both F1 and 2F1 Camels as separate boxings. HTH.

The old Aurora kit was slightly retooled and re-released by Monogram but I'd only reccommend that as an exercise in improving your scratchbuilding skills. It's day is long past.

Paul.

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Just a heads up mate - I too have the Eduard Camel, but have yet to build it (I have a bit of a project in mind for it, so I'm stalling). In my background research on the kit, I read on a number of sources that the interplane struts are reversed on the instructions - the solution being to swap around the forward and rear facing struts. This would then get the upper wing spaced correctly.

As I have yet to play with mine, this is just hearsay (and maybe Eduard revised the instructions at some point), but it's worth bearing in mind. And easy enough to check.

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  • 3 weeks later...

What are the options for a Camel in 1/48?

I see Eduard does one, are there any others? if so which is "best".

I know it is too late, but the Revell, which is a re-pop of an older kit, is not too bad. There is some sanding needed on the struts, but shape-wise it matches the Eduard kit well. I built one just to get some practice on lining up wings, practice rigging, etc.

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  • 3 weeks later...

This was another Camel which defeated me. I read somewhere that the interplanes are labelled the wrong way round, I may be wrong. If this is so then it probably led to my downfall and mental flagellation. I will build a Camel (RNAS) one day.

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This was another Camel which defeated me. I read somewhere that the interplanes are labelled the wrong way round, I may be wrong. If this is so then it probably led to my downfall and mental flagellation. I will build a Camel (RNAS) one day.

Yep mate - as I wrote above, that seems to be the case.

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Eduard is a great little model, just be aware of the two caveats mentioned above. Also the struts are near scale thickness and as such, can be a little fragile and delicate, (especially if you have not worked out that the interplane struts are back-to-front..... ask me how I know...).

Enjoy!

Christian the Married and exiled to africa with too few Camels in the stash!

Edited by wyverns4
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I've built the Eduard kit, which is very good, but as has been mentioned, watch those cabane struts or you'll end up with an upper wing with anhedral...like mine. This was built ages ago...that's my excuse.

ed-cam-2_zps755560c5.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

I've built three of Eduard's camels and have three waiting on their turn in the sun.They are very good kits, all the versions I have "The profipack dual kit, Black Mike limited edition, RNAS and Roy Brown boxings have the interplane struts labelled the wrong way around. Great care should be taken with getting the internals exactly in place as well, The Control panel area can easily give problems with fit. The Dual profipack is a good option as you get two chances to sort it and the PE for the engine is handy as it can be very tricky getting the plastic equivalent off the sprue in one piece. The Dual kit is out of production but Modelhobbies have it listed on their website and their is one on UK-models listings on ebay.

I would recommend a jig when fitting the top wing as, with the camel having all single struts rather than V or N type struts, it is a tricky job assembling without having eight arms (and very steady ones at that).

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What is this jig that you speak of? I've done a couple of test biplane kits and the main problem with them to me at any rate is aligning the top wing to the struts. I tried white tack on the last one to give some sort of alignment without gluing, and thanks for the heads up on the struts being the wrong way around. When I get round to buildng it I'll be opting for the Roy Brown.

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What is this jig that you speak of? I've done a couple of test biplane kits and the main problem with them to me at any rate is aligning the top wing to the struts. I tried white tack on the last one to give some sort of alignment without gluing, and thanks for the heads up on the struts being the wrong way around. When I get round to buildng it I'll be opting for the Roy Brown.

Aeroclub makes an etched brass jig for aligning biplanes. I believe he is working on an improved version of it.

Additionally, it is possible to use cardboard to make alignment jigs. Here is a simple jig I made with index card stock. Simple, yet very effective. I used it to align the interplane struts first, then mounted the top wing, then carefully installed the cabane struts. That way I was able to trim the cabanes to get a good fit without the dread top wing anhedral effect.

Camel_Jig-1.jpg

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Can someone tell me which are the interplane and which the are cabane struts

I'm guessing the interplane struts are the ones on the wings and the cabane are the ones on the Fuselage?

And when yo guys say "interplane struts labelled the wrong way around" do you mean the left hand ones are actually the right hand ones. Or are front ones labeled as the rear ones and vice versa.

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What is this jig that you speak of? I've done a couple of test biplane kits and the main problem with them to me at any rate is aligning the top wing to the struts. I tried white tack on the last one to give some sort of alignment without gluing, and thanks for the heads up on the struts being the wrong way around. When I get round to buildng it I'll be opting for the Roy Brown.

I made a simple jig from heavy card stock and mocked up a dummy upper wing from clear sheet styrene so I could set all of the struts to the proper angles:

IMG_2758.jpg

The locating pins for the struts are very vague, so I strongly suggest drilling and pinning the struts (I used brass rod) for added strength.

IMG_0027.jpg

Cheers,

Tony

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