1/16 Sopwith Camel

[Rizzo]

I've been working on this one for the last couple of months, but it's a loooong term build, so I've still got a long way to go with it! It's the 1/16 kit from Model Airways.

Here's some of the progress I made so far

Putting together the wing ribs (each one needs capping with strips of wood):

These are then pinned into position:

Leading edge and wing tips are added next:

Then the trailing edge, and compression bars are added

So far the only modification I made was to replace the compression bars with wooden parts (including brass mounting points for all the internal rigging), and reshape the wingtip to match the plans properly (shown below- you need to do this to avoid problems with joining it to the leading edge).

Edited September 8, 2012 by Rizzo

[Rizzo]

After I got the majority of the upper wing done, I decided I needed a PE sheet- shaping all those brass bits by hand was just way too tedious. And I needed to do something about the rigging on the fuselage anyway...

So I designed one in photoshop, and had it etched by a company called PPDltd.

You can see it here next to the original design I did:

I also made a new seat; the kit one is... interesting...

Some of the PE sheet was used to replace all the rigging points of the main fuselage frame- much better than the bulky kit parts, and a lot more accurate.

I've just started on the cockpit, so loads to do here still. And again with the photo-etch to replace the kit parts, as well as replacing the panel itself from some scrap wood.

[Rizzo]

The next task I have is to make the aluminium cowling and panels on the front of the aircaft. Unlike the larger Hasegawa kit (which has some very nice pressed metal parts), this one has nothing there at all, and I don't think it looks like a Camel without them.

So, I thought getting them printed out would be the best option... it'll be fun to try it out anyway

First step was to scan in the frame, so I can get a good match, and import this into 3dsmax:

Followed by roughing out the shapes required... getting this all to fit was quite fiddly, as the airfame has everything squeezed into the nose.

This is the selection of parts I'll have printed. The rest will be scratch made from plasicard or wood, using the 3dsmax file as a guide. I left off the side panels too, so they don't cover up too much... this is supposd to be a structural model after all!

Hopefully I'll have time to get the model finished this week, and printed out soon

[dekenba]

Speechless.

Absolutely speechless.

I was feeling rather pleased with myself with my 1/32 Se.5a, then I see this - and you MAKE your own PE Sheet?!

And Printing your own parts?!

Amazing work - looking forward to the next updates.

[John W Reid]

Nice job ! I built one of these a few years back for a storyboard diorama that I was doing back then.If I can be of any help just give me a shout. cheers John.

[rmcclure]

What a fascinating start - can't wait to see how this will unfold. Best of British to you.

[Quentin]

Wow, that's amazing. The pilot's seat alone could be a display piece.

Keep up the good work.

[Ripaman]

The next task I have is to make the aluminium cowling and panels on the front of the aircaft. Unlike the larger Hasegawa kit (which has some very nice pressed metal parts), this one has nothing there at all, and I don't think it looks like a Camel without them.

So, I thought getting them printed out would be the best option... it'll be fun to try it out anyway

First step was to scan in the frame, so I can get a good match, and import this into 3dsmax:

Followed by roughing out the shapes required... getting this all to fit was quite fiddly, as the airfame has everything squeezed into the nose.

This is the selection of parts I'll have printed. The rest will be scratch made from plasicard or wood, using the 3dsmax file as a guide. I left off the side panels too, so they don't cover up too much... this is supposd to be a structural model after all!

Hopefully I'll have time to get the model finished this week, and printed out soon

Hi Rizzo,

Have also started this Model Expo kit, and then I stalled, found lots not to scale so I bought a book (or Journal) Cross & Cockade spring of 1966 which had all the scale drawings of a Sopwith F.1, 2F1 Camel which was a great help.

Would you by chance sell me a set of your PE and also I would be interested in the steel work once you have made it??

Here are a few shots of my Camel, scratch built all the tail and elevators and rudder, rebuilt all the wood to scale

Very nice seat you have made, will be watching.

Regards

Richard

[Rizzo]

Thanks for the comments

Richard, I only had the one sheet of PE etched, and I'm not sure it would be of use to you at the stage you're at anyway? The main rigging attachment points on the fuselage frame are designed so that they wrap around, and then have two other attachment points pinned between them. This means that you need to add these parts before the two fuselage sides are glued together. You can maybe see what I mean on this photo of the real thing:

http://forum.keypubl...13&d=1075323046

If it's still going to be useful to you though, I could maybe email you the images I used to have it etched? PM me your email address if that's going to be of use anyway

The other parts on the PE sheet were inspection windows, pulleys, bits for the compression bars, throttle quadrant and cockpit instruments.

The cowling panels will be easier to help you with. Again, I'll only have one set printed. But once I've tested the parts, it would be easy to either give you the details of the company I use, or maybe a company like shapeways instead.

Two things to be aware of though- they will be made from plastic, not metal (I'm planning to cover mine with bare metal foil), and I've custom made them to fit the frame I have, rather than the plans themselves... simply because it's impossible to make the frame that accurately from those plans. So there's likely to be a mm here and there of difference between our models. I've also left out some detail such as the reinforcing ring at the front, so I can sand the plastic smooth (3d printing produces a slightly rough surface), and add this detail on later.

You're right about the problems with the design of this kit in some areas, but after importing several plans into that 3d scene, the Hasegawa one seems to be just as bad or even worse in some parts (intereting to see the common problem at the lower wing/fuselage join)! The plans from the windsock data file were better but not perfect- but there are some original sopwith plans out there if you look, and these were a massive help for things like the cowl. There's also an in progress build by Northern Aeroplane Workshops being made for the Shuttleworth collection (http://svasweb.org/news.php?id=84). Not easy to find photos of it, but it's a very accurate reproduction, so very useful! I won't be trying to make this kit completely accurate though, just trying to enjoy it for what it is, with improvements only when I'll have fun making them.

The work you've done on the tail for your Camel looks fantastic, a huge improvement over the kit!

Edited September 9, 2012 by Rizzo

[Viking]

Wow! Flippin' brilliant!

Cheers

John

[Broady]

I am amazed at the detail, thoroughness and the two things I very short of..... skill and patience.

[Sean1968]

This is real modeling, very impressive stuff.

[Rizzo]

I received the printed parts today I only started the 3d model design last week, and put in the order on Tuesday, so really impressive service from 3dprintuk!

When I got the parts, they still had the support material on them- because the thickness of the material was under their recommended 1mm I had to remove this myself. Probably safer to have it in the parcel like this anyway.

You can see the parts on the right here still have the material on them... it's a kind of soft wax and scrapes off easily

And here it with all the parts cleaned up:

To finish the parts I need to smooth the surface, add some detailing (like rivets) and add some metal foil... or maybe alclad...

But first I'll need the lower wing in place, so I can adjust the fit of the side panels. So that'll have to wait until later.

[theclay]

wow, simply wow.

[mobydog]

Outstanding modelling

[Quentin]

That's astonishing. 3D printing technology certainly opens up some very interesting possibilities for scratch-building.

[Rizzo]

I spent some time at the weekend getting the prop made... I'm not really keeping focus on any one part of this build, but it doesn't hurt to have some of these parts ready, to check how it's all going to fit together.

The kit does provide pre cut parts to shape, which would have been ok once you throw away one of the three laminations they provide (it makes the prop way too thick otherwise), but I wanted to get the look of this camel replica:

I don't think the two tone wood is typical of the original aircraft, but to hell with that, it looks much nicer.

The first step was to create the shapes each layer has... I did this in photoshop by combining the front and rear view of a propeller

I used cherry and lime 1mm sheet, which makes the thickness just about right for 1/16 scale

These are then stacked into the rough shape:

And finally sanded to shape:

And a test fit on the engine (which as you can see, still needs a lot of work!)

I'll give this a spray with clear orange to adjust the tone a bit, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out. Much easier to make than I was expecting it to be, thanks mainly to getting those shapes all pre cut I think.

[richdlc]

really fantastic mate! I'm intrigued by the 3D printing and the homemade etched parts - I wish I knew how to do all this CAD malarky. There's a guy over on the Large Scale Planes forums & he's doing the same sort of thing, converting an F-16 to an Israeli Sufa with numerous 3D printed parts. There's also a fella who's made a 1/32 V1 rocket using the same method - I'd love to be able to a) have easy access to the industrial standard machines b ) the knowledge to use CAD software c) the funds to buy my own 3D printer :-(

anyway keep it up, should look superb when done

Edited September 17, 2012 by richdlc

[HammerUK9]

Looking really beautiful Rizzo - ingenious method of doing the prop!

And I don't even want to think about how you made the seat...

Tim

[dekenba]

What a fantastic way of making your own props! Wonder if that will work in 1/32?

How much does a kit like that set you back?

[nick]

That's looking really good. I have a half built albatross from model airways myself. Love the detail work you're doing.

Have you considered spinning the cowl? It's an old, near magical technique, where you bolt a disk of Ali onto a mandrel and spin it up in a lathe, believe it or not, you can then form it with a piece of wood, a stick effectively. It's better around a form, but can be done freehand. It would really look the part at this scale.

Then of course you need some wire wheels, might be able to help you there (-:

Great build anyway, keep up the good work.

Nick

[nick]

In fact having just described spinning, I want to have a go myself, send me you CAD drawing and I'll give it a whirl. Literally as it happens.

Nick

Edited September 21, 2012 by nick

[Rizzo]

What a fantastic way of making your own props! Wonder if that will work in 1/32?

How much does a kit like that set you back?

I'm sure it would work in 1/32- proabably just a question of which wood to use to allow for a finer finish

This kit goes from anything between £150 (new on ebay) to £250 (direct from the model expo site).

That's looking really good. I have a half built albatross from model airways myself. Love the detail work you're doing.

Have you considered spinning the cowl? It's an old, near magical technique, where you bolt a disk of Ali onto a mandrel and spin it up in a lathe, believe it or not, you can then form it with a piece of wood, a stick effectively. It's better around a form, but can be done freehand. It would really look the part at this scale.

Then of course you need some wire wheels, might be able to help you there (-:

Great build anyway, keep up the good work.

Nick

Is there a work-in-progress thread for the Albatros? That's another one I'd like to make someday- looks like a lot of work though, so maybe after a long break making some smaller scale kits...

I didn't consider spinning the cowl- I don't have access to a lathe so it wouldn't be an option. I did consider hammering the shape out of aluminium over a form though (as well as the possibility of vacforming one). In the end I went for the 3d printed option partly because it was fast, partly because I just wanted to try it out, but mainly because I didn't think I could make the other parts (such as the 'hump' over the vickers) very well by hand, no matter what method I chose.

I'm interested in the wire wheels- did you make your own for the Albatros? To be honest it's not something I'd thought about because the model will weigh so much! It'd look much nicer if it's possible though.

Let me know what you want in the way of CAD images- I used this plan to build mine from:

[Rizzo]

I've added the engine mount to the fuselage frame now... doesn't look like much, but it took quite a while to clean all these parts up.

Two changes made from the kit parts- the engine mount frame has the lower quarter removed (to match the real thing- and the lower panel won't fit without this change), and the carburetter intake has been replaced with an L shaped part- this puts it in place properly below the instrument panel. The kit one doesn't look like one from any Camel I've found picture for... except the hasegawa version.

[Quentin]

Wow, that's a very nice propeller. This must be propeller-making week or something, because I've just been working on one in 1/72nd scale for my Sopwith Dolphin. As you can well believe, I didn't even attempt your true-to-life technique of the precut laminations, but just carved it from solid. Post to come in the next few minutes.