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Sopwith F.1 Camel "The Duellists" (Part 1) - 1:32 Wingnut Wings


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Sopwith F.1 Camel  'The Duellists'

1:32 Wingnut Wings

cam0.jpg

 

 

The long awaited series of 1:32 Sopwith Camels finally started to arrive towards the end of March 2017, with no less than six different boxings. Five of them are individual kits covering Bentley, le Rhone, and Clerget powered variants, with another for the 2F.1 'Ships Camel', and finally a United States Air Services boxing. The Sixth boxing is 'The Duellists' vesrion shown above, containing a Clerget Camel and  an LVG C.VI, depicting an actual event that took place on 9th October 1918. The LVG was brought down and captured virtually intact by members of 4 Squadron Australian Flying Corps.

 

It is great to see the LVG kit available again, as it has been sold out for several years now, fectching huge prices on auction sites. The full kit is featured in an 'in box' review here

with the individually boxed 'Clerget' version 'in box' reviewed here.

 

This is one of those kits that makes you shove all current projects to one side of your workbench, and get right on with building it. As the Camel is the new release and of most ineterest to modellers, I have started with this one, and will follow up with the LVG at a later date.

 

Construction begins with the cockpit, and the first thing I did was to anneal (heat it and allow it to cool slowly) the etched brass fret containg the seatbelts for both the Camel & LVG. This softens it a little and makes it more bendable for fitting around the seats. A coat of Halfords grey primer was followed by airbrushed Tamiya Khaki, a dark wash, and details picked out in silver and other shades. I did the LVG ones at the same time, the Camel ones are the 2 wide straps on the top left.

cam1.jpg

 

The fuselage halves need painting in Aluminium, wood, and clear doped linen, not forgetting the centre section between the lower wings.

cam2.jpg

 

The 2 cockpit side frames are mostly wood, with various metal details picked out in silver, black, copper, and brass.Note that the cabane struts are moulded integralll with the fuselage frames. This should automatically line up the top wing later on when it is fitted. Also, thay are a darker wood colour than the rest of the cockpit area.

The wood paint is Tamiya 'Deck tan' (a pale sand colour) coated with Johnsons kleer, and then given the grain effect by brush, using tube oil paints. Lots of people complain about the long drying times of these oil paints, but I use 'Griffin Alkyd' which will be stone dry in about 4 hours. This stuff. it is reasonably priced, and a tube will last about 10 years. With a basic set of 3, raw umber, light red, and burnt sienna, you can blend a wide range of wood colours. Increase your range as finances permit.

cam4.jpg

 

Wicker seat with etched belts attached

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Instrument panel, shown here about 2x actual size. All instruments are readable.

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All parts prepared and ready for assembly;

cam3.jpg

 

I then realised that a bit of advance preparation would make it easier to attach the control wires before any assembly takes place .

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cam10.jpg

 

Dry fit test;

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The Clerget engine has aslo been prepared and is ready for asembly. The cylinder section is in 'front' and 'back' halves. I fount that by running Tamiya extra thin cement on the top of each cylinder onny, capillary action took it down each side and gave an almost seamless fit. The join is very hard to see.

cam12.jpg

 

Next up is to fit all those cockpit components together and put in some wire rigging on the side frames.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

John

 

 

 

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My you are a fast worker. Looks very good. I am a little slower. Just dry fitted my cockpit components together last night and you really do need to make sure all the mating surfaces are spotless don't you. The clearances are so tight that even a fine coat of paint will hamper fit.

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That does look like a good kit and you have made an excellent start. I love the photo of the seat.  

I have the BR.1 version but will need to complete four kits I have on the go first.  I might jump the queue with the Camel though.   

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Very nice job so far. Looking forward to the rest of your build.

 

I have a BR1 and 2F1 that have joined the stash. Gotta finish off the Hisso Se5a before getting into them.

 

regards,

Devo

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John how did you attach the control lines to the rudder bar?

 

I thought I would connect them as instructed into the projecting brackets on the bar but it is just too narrow for my drill bit without risking making a pigs ear of it.

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19 hours ago, Beardie said:

John how did you attach the control lines to the rudder bar?

 

I thought I would connect them as instructed into the projecting brackets on the bar but it is just too narrow for my drill bit without risking making a pigs ear of it.

 

Hi Beardie, I brushed accelerator on the rudder bar then dipped the tip of the fishing line in cyano and attached it. It grabs pretty quickly so you have to be accurate.

Trouble is, 3 of them pinged off when I pulled them tight and trying to re-attach them in amongst all the birdcage of framework isn't easy and I made a bit of a botch job of it. At least is is pretty much invisible down there. On my next one I might try stretched sprue.

The idea was to do the attchments while the ruddr bar was easily accesible. Oh well!

The whole cockpit unit is now together, I just need to do the internal bracing on the side frames. I think I'll take the stretched sprue route for that.

 

Cheers

 

John

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Hi John,

That is the very thing I was concerned might happen. I tend to find that they just don't have the 'grip' if they are not into drilled holes. After a bit of thought about the process I decided to drill in with a 0.3mm bit at an angle at the top and bottom of the projecting brackets and glued them in. Not ideal but seems to be fairly strong although I haven't assembled the cockpit yet so there is still a chance they will come undone at that point. The control column cables are scaring me though :o Did you find rigging up into the guides in the cockpit easy enough or is it tricky?

 

I agree with you that it is probably wise to attach the lines to the rudder bar prior to putting the cockpit together. I reckon it would be near impossible once the cockpit is assembled unless, perhaps, you drilled fine holes right through the rudder bar allowing you to thread lines in from the front after everything is in place but it would definitely weaken the rudder bar considerably.

 

Marty

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Hello John, a really impressive start to your build. The detail looks excellent. I think the seat looks superb. 

I've just purchased my first Wingnut Wings model. It's the Ship's Camel, and very pleased I am with it. 

looking forward to more progress on your Camel. Regards, Joe. 

 

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22 hours ago, Beardie said:

Hi John,

That is the very thing I was concerned might happen. I tend to find that they just don't have the 'grip' if they are not into drilled holes. After a bit of thought about the process I decided to drill in with a 0.3mm bit at an angle at the top and bottom of the projecting brackets and glued them in. Not ideal but seems to be fairly strong although I haven't assembled the cockpit yet so there is still a chance they will come undone at that point. The control column cables are scaring me though :o Did you find rigging up into the guides in the cockpit easy enough or is it tricky?

 

I agree with you that it is probably wise to attach the lines to the rudder bar prior to putting the cockpit together. I reckon it would be near impossible once the cockpit is assembled unless, perhaps, you drilled fine holes right through the rudder bar allowing you to thread lines in from the front after everything is in place but it would definitely weaken the rudder bar considerably.

 

Marty

 

Hi Marty, sounds like you have a more workmanlike method of securing the ruddr bar lines. I did start by trying to do that but found the hole I was drilling wandered off. I didn't want to weaken the part so stopped drilling and just glued the lines on top & bottom. Threading them through the guides was no probem (under a magnifying glass).

 

Here is how the assembled unit looks now. I scraped every bit of primer/paint off mating surfaces. It is tight, but does go together without problems. Bracing is done with stretched sprue.

 

cam13.jpg

 

cam14.jpg

 

cam15.jpg

 

cam16.jpg

 

The gun barrels are not yet fixed, they push in from outside once the fuselage and coamings are all fixed on. Very clever.

cam17.jpg

 

Clerget 9f engine assembled. Front view.

cam18.jpg

 

Rear view with ignition wiring in place.

cam19.jpg

 

I've started on the wings. I always reinfoce the ailerons wit short brass wire 'pins'. Not strictly neccesary, but I've knocked them off on finished models in the past, so prefer to do this for extra strength. The brass wire is in the wings, with matching holes drilled into the ailerons. The stick out bits on the ailerons are moulded details.

cam20.jpg

Thanks for looking,

 

John

 

 

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Absolutely stunning.  Fantastic work.  I couldn't do justice to this kit like you can..

 

little observation though and it is probably because the photos are scaled up and the part is a bright finish (and it's me being picky), in the first photo, the cartridge ejection chute, should that not have a slot in the top for the ejected cartridges from the Vickers?  Can a slot be painted in rather that actually cut?

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Hi John, any progress reports on your Camel?

I forgot to say that, in regard of the drill wandering off my personal solution is to start by using a steel point which I reground to a long, fine point which I use to create a pilot hole for the drill. I find this makes a huge difference in keeping the drill bit from straying., Can't recall where I got the steel point I use, I have a feeling that it might have come out of a hobby knife set I bought from maplins many moons ago but I reckon the same kind of thing could easily be done with something like a compass point. The thickness of the steel gives loads of control and the long taper I ground onto it creates a micro pilot hole for drilling.

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On 4/24/2017 at 7:48 AM, Grey Beema said:

Absolutely stunning.  Fantastic work.  I couldn't do justice to this kit like you can..

 

little observation though and it is probably because the photos are scaled up and the part is a bright finish (and it's me being picky), in the first photo, the cartridge ejection chute, should that not have a slot in the top for the ejected cartridges from the Vickers?  Can a slot be painted in rather that actually cut?

 

Good point about the ejection chute, I think you are right, the slot needs painting in so i'll get round to doing that.

 

Progress has been steady with the fuselage now glued up. All mating surfaces were scraped free of paint as it is surprising how even the thinnest layer can interfere with fit. It goes together very well and closes up nicely, perhaps one of the easiest of all the Wingnut Wings fuselages I have done. You have to take care and you have to fettle a little bit (ensure interior components are lining up etc) , but it does go together very precisely. The seam is filler free. I had to use a tiny but where I hadn't cleanly removed the runner 'stub' when I cut one fuselage half from the sprue, but this was my fault and nothing to do with the quality of the fuselage join.

 

cam21.jpg

 

cam24.jpg

 

cam22.jpg

 

Next to fit is the cockpit coaming and  'Camel hump' over the guns.

cam23.jpg

 

I just love Wingnut Wings Cockpit detail,  it is so realistic!

cam25.jpg

 

cam28.jpg

 

cam26.jpg

 

cam27.jpg

 

Caomings all fit beautifully;

cam29.jpg

 

cam30.jpg

 

I've prepared and primed the flying surfaces;

cam31.jpg

 

And the struts, undercarraige, Bombs & rack;

cam32.jpg

 

I'm trying to decide whether to glue the lower wing on, and then start painting, or to do it & the fuselage separately, and join them after. The fit is very good, but again I scraped and trimmed to ease it in.It is a very tight fit so you musr remove all paint, seam lines etc.

cam33.jpg

 

cam34.jpg

 

The tailplane is a superb fit. and needs virtually no fettling. (Neither it or the lower wing are glued in yet)

cam35.jpg

 

cam36.jpg

 

I'll be thinking about whether to glue that lower wing in now, or after painting. It'll make painting the silver cowlings easier if I do it later, but risks mucking up the paintwork with me slathering glue all over the place. Hmmm.

 

Thanks for looking

 

John

 

HI Beardie,

This popped up just as I was writing the above!

17 minutes ago, Beardie said:

Hi John, any progress reports on your Camel?

I forgot to say that, in regard of the drill wandering off my personal solution is to start by using a steel point which I reground to a long, fine point which I use to create a pilot hole for the drill. I find this makes a huge difference in keeping the drill bit from straying., Can't recall where I got the steel point I use, I have a feeling that it might have come out of a hobby knife set I bought from maplins many moons ago but I reckon the same kind of thing could easily be done with something like a compass point. The thickness of the steel gives loads of control and the long taper I ground onto it creates a micro pilot hole for drilling.

 

I usually do the same, with a pair of dividers. On really small fine parts It doesn't take much to go in at the wrong angle or otherwise make a botch job of it. Guess how I know what clumsy hands can do !

 

 

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Hi John, I thought you might do the same thing. It occured to me after writing that actually an old airbrush needles would make a handy tool for making pilot holes as well :hmmm:

 

Your Camel looks like it is coming together very well. I have been contemplating the fuselage and wing painting myself. I am thinking I might paint the fuselage, cockpit decking, wings etc. prior to assembly. With the Hinchliffe Br.1 I am thinking it might be best to paint it up first (I use enamels and, hopefully with giving it plenty of time to dry the glue won't affect it too badly) meaning I will just need to do some touch up on seams and mating edges once it is all together.

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Superb. I would have to say that for me, WNW kits are unique in that the joy to be had by watching others such as yourself turn them into stunning models, is more than matched by the utter despondency at the simple fact that I'd never be able to do justice to such a kit.

 

I am now following with great interest! :)

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