Sopwith Camel 1/72

[logical]

I have an urge to build a Sopwith Camel. Who makes the best kit in a 1/72 scale without breaking the bank? About £15 would be about the most I could spend.

[Martin BH]

I have built 3 Roden kits and I think they go together really well, with a little bit of work to make sure the office area fits when fuselage halves are joined, so thats my vote. Also built the Revell one, old kit now, and therefore IMHO it is not as good as the newer Roden.

[thomastmcc]

either the roden ,revell or airfix take your pick.. the academy one is supposed to be good ..

thomas

[Old Man]

Roden's Camel offerings have much superior wing surface representations than any of the the others. The rest all show old-style 'ridge and valley' ribs.

Roden's Camel is no exception, however, to the general rule of Roden kits, that they seem to be less than the sum of their parts, taken as wholes. They look wonderful on the sprue, but there are always some difficulties with fit. Nothing which cannot be over-come, but you have to do a lot of test-fitting, and think ahead, keeping on the look-out for possible ambushes. Several types are offered, with specialized parts included with the basic sprues, and this accounts for some of the fit difficulties, as it requires the fuselage halves to be open-topped, for various deckings and cockpit openings to be swapped on, and so things tend to get a bit narrower at the top than at the bottom, which they ought not do.

The Academy kit I know from stepping my grandsons through a couple of them, and the fit seemed reasonable, though the decals were useless, and required white glue to attach them at all. I believe the Academy is a copy of the ESCI/ERTL kit, which I have seen built up nicely with a minimum of fuss. On the Revell Camel, look out for the length of the cabane struts; they are a bit over-length. The Airfix is a 2F1, a 'Ships Camel', somewhat different from the usual Western Front type (fuselage is shorter and the armament is an over-wing Lewis and a single Vickers).

[PLC1966]

Must be said, I always though that Airfix made the Pup rather than the Camel.

[Old Man]

They did, Sir.

They made a Pup kit, and they made a Ships Camel kit. The latter is very old, of the same generation as their R.E. 8.

[logical]

It's more because my collection doesn't have a bi-plane or WW1 plane in it at the moment. I have bought the Airfix Sparks of liberation set. So I will now have a Bi-Plane with the Swordfish. But I want to get a Camel as thats what Biggles always used to fly from memory of my childhood. I'm not a rivet counter so as long as it looks right I'll be happy enough

[Dave Fleming]

If you can get an early issue (1970s or earlier) of the Revell kit, it's pretty good but the mould got worn after that. For ease and not too fussed about accuarcy, the Academy one is OK

[PLC1966]

They did, Sir.

They made a Pup kit, and they made a Ships Camel kit. The latter is very old, of the same generation as their R.E. 8.

I thank you for the info.

Can't remember Airfix doing this at all. I can feel a Google moment coming on...

[Dave Fleming]

http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/1957_Sopwith_2_F1_Camel_1_72_about142.html

They basically did 3 out of the 4 subjects in the IWM at the time - Camel, RE8 and Bristol Fighter if I recall. Presumably the BE2c was too like the RE8

[Brandy]

I'd go for Roden. Yes, there are some fit issues, but nothing major on this one. I built the basic, bagged version (Encore) and had no real issues.

Ian

Edited January 26, 2015 by limeypilot

[danjcoleman]

1/72 Sopwith Camel kits: From Worst to Best:

Airfix: 2F1. No dihedral to the lower wing (must be cut and angled near fuselage). Useless prop, Nose is too squared off, too wide a hole for gun as it goes all the way across the top of the fuselage rather than just open where the gun should be. Undernourished struts everywhere. Engine molded into nose (as 150BRI Bentley?). Wheels are the best part--in my opinion. 

 

Academy: Maybe too much dihedral of lower wing. Useless prop, wheels are too small, guns are thin, tail skid is BIG. Curve of the fuselage goes a little too far and makes the flat area on the side a bit underscale. Tail and fin are a bit underscale. Engine molded into nose as Clerget.

 

Esci/Ertl: Similar to Academy but better. Better dihedral. Prop is better, wheels still too small, guns are thin, tail skid is better, Curve of turtle deck has same issues as Academy. Tail and fin are a little better. Engine molded into nose as Clerget.

 

Revell: Fuselage scales out bigger than the Academy/Esci/Ertl kits and closer to Roden. Tail fin seems a little too large, struts are a little thin and long. Guns sit a little high. Engine molded into nose as Clerget.

 

Roden/Encore: Seems all to scale (awaiting books to verify--Windsock datafile). Struts are not integrated in wings like all the others which seems great but provides no stability or angle when installing. It would be great if it came with jig pieces like the Sopwith Pup by Airfix. Cockpit is wide so needs to be cut down a little. Engine options as the kits come with options and separate from the nose. Also, struts are attached to sprue in funky spots so cut carefully. More details on struts and body than others. 

 

Mashup options and Conculsions: If you have them, Roden has a number of kits outside Sopwith Camel that use Sopwith Camel sprues (I think the later Nieuports 24+) so you can replace tail fin, wheels, prop of the Academy or Esci/Ertl for example. You could use the Academy or Esci/Ertl struts on the Revell kit to adjust the extra length and they're a little thicker so seems a little more accurate. Will modify this if I'm incorrect in any areas. I'll add when I get scale drawings. If you want something out of the box, Roden is ready to go, If you're good with a Clerget engine, Revell with adjustments (like guns need lowering, Esci/Ertl with new wheels. I'd pass on the Academy and Airfix unless you have replacement parts or take on a project. 

Edited October 31, 2023 by danjcoleman
Added Conclusions and Mashup options

[Torbjorn]

There is a Camel-shaped hole in the 1/72-market of modern moulds. That said, the Roden Camels are nice kits that also gives you plenty to the spares box. Among other goodies, they usually contain one Bentley, one Clerget and one Le Rhone each, all fine and I’ve used them to replace inferior versions in several kits. 

 

The biggest con with the Roden kits is not the not-quite-so-easy assembly, it’s the decals, which range from bad to atrocious. I strongly suggest aftermarket decals. I‘d still go for Roden without doubt.

 

I think I have all their sets, although I’ve only built one, OOB save the decals:

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by Torbjorn

[modelldoc]

Here the Academy:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21603181@N08/15542919145/in/dateposted/

 

and here one of the Roden collection:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21603181@N08/49278557322/in/dateposted/

 

modelldoc

[Paul Thompson]

I built one Roden Camel where I thought I'd try the decals, for a laugh, and they worked perfectly. Sadly, an isolated abberation. I did like the kit though, and it was a lot easier to make a decent Camel from it than any of the other options. As suggested above I used the leftovers and some of the Camel sprues included in the Nieuport kits to cheer up a Revell kit, with Blue Rider decals, and that was well worth the effort.

 

Paul.

[e8n2]

16 hours ago, Paul Thompson said:

I built one Roden Camel where I thought I'd try the decals, for a laugh, and they worked perfectly. Sadly, an isolated abberation. I did like the kit though, and it was a lot easier to make a decent Camel from it than any of the other options. As suggested above I used the leftovers and some of the Camel sprues included in the Nieuport kits to cheer up a Revell kit, with Blue Rider decals, and that was well worth the effort.

 

Paul.

I did the same thing but used them in the AZ/KP Sopwith Swallow.  They worked out pretty good.

Later,

Dave

[Flamingo]

Does the Roden kit include the Bentley cowling which has a larger diameter at the front?

[Paul Thompson]

27 minutes ago, Flamingo said:

Does the Roden kit include the Bentley cowling which has a larger diameter at the front?

There's a Bentley in the 2F1 boxing, on a small additional sprue. I don't have the other boxings easily accessible to check if it's in those as well.

 

Paul.

[Flamingo]

Paul,

 

thank you for your answer! So this kit includes the cowling on the right?

 

 

Greetings Joachim

[Paul Thompson]

Joachim,,,

 

    Yes. It's on sprue K, between the Bentley and single Vickers top decking. It has two cooling slots and the usual cutaway.

 

Paul.

[Flamingo]

 

That's good news, thank you.

 

On photographs of the sprues one cannot see this clearly.

 

Joachim

 

 

[Paul Thompson]

 

It is hard to see in real life too due to the thickness of the sprues. In the standard ship's Camel kit there's also the standard cowling, Le Rhone and Clerget, on one of the main sprues, as said above.  How 8 years flies by.....................

 

Paul.

[Torbjorn]

The Bentley boxing has it too, maybe selfexplanatory, but there it is. On Sprue E, differs it from the ship’s camel. 

 

The Clerget/ Le Rhone boxings do NOT have the Bentley spares.

Edited November 4, 2023 by Torbjorn

[e8n2]

On 11/3/2023 at 11:53 AM, Flamingo said:

 

That's good news, thank you.

 

On photographs of the sprues one cannot see this clearly.

 

Joachim

 

 

To echo the others, I checked both kits.  The rear diameter for the Bentley cowling was 14mm, the front 15mm.

Later,

Dave

[RC Boater Bill]

I finished an old Revell Camel in the 2022 KUTA.   It is not a great kit, but “…it looks more like a Sopwith Camel than it does anything else!”

 

Here’s a link to my build:

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by RC Boater Bill
fixed typos, added new ones?