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Sopwith 2F1 “Ship’s Camel”


abat

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For my next build I’m trying something a little different, a WW1 biplane, but still keeping with my Australian Fleet Air Arm theme. I’ll be building the Rodin 1/72 Sopwith 2F1 “Ship’s Camel” and the subject will be N-6823 from HMAS Sydney, 1918. I find the use of these aircraft quite intriguing as by all accounts they were single use, taking off from a short runway on top of a gun turret and then ditching beside the ship for recovery.

 

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The first step is to make the end-opening box into top-opening! Then here’s the contents. 

 

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And the current state of play, all items for the first 3 assembly stages snipped off the sprues and tidied up. 

 

25EA4E27-1C60-4E8C-9C6C-13EE828CE966-L.j

 

I’ve separated the elevators from the tailplane, firstly as I’d like to pose them slightly dropped, and also as I’ve read somewhere that the tailplane is a little undersize and so I’ll make it around 2mm longer. 

 

Here’s the kit parts alongside a diagram from the Wingnut Wings kit and you can indeed see some size and shape differences in the tailplane and upper wing.

 

A20EE4B4-BCFB-4AC7-BF98-183DC97B20AD-L.j

 

That’s enough for now. Some new challenges for me in this build. I’ll need to learn painting wood effects and brush up on rigging in order to build this one. 

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5 hours ago, Courageous said:

I have one of these so i'll tag along, might learn something.

 

Stuart

Hi Stuart, so might I. Any advice or encouragement is most welcome.

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Have you built Roden before? They are slightly... challenging. In particular, the decals look lovely and just don't work, and the cockpit looks lovely but saying it doesn't fit doesn't do it justice. Its clearly intended for a different aircraft or separate display, you have to hack it to bits to get it in. Some sort of jig is essential for the wings and struts. But the result is very good if you put the effort in.

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1 minute ago, TallBlondJohn said:

 the decals look lovely and just don't work

 

This statement is a lot of balls.

 

Whilst it is true that the decals on the early offerings are iffy at best, the shattering, dodgy decal problems were rectified a long time ago now, as in well over 10 years ago. I've been building Roden models for years and the last one to give any problems with decals was a SE5a back in 2004.

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4 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

This statement is a lot of balls.

 

Whilst it is true that the decals on the early offerings are iffy at best, the shattering, dodgy decal problems were rectified a long time ago now, as in well over 10 years ago. I've been building Roden models for years and the last one to give any problems with decals was a SE5a back in 2004.

 

Bit strong. I built my Camels last year and I don't mean the decals shatter - I mean they won't come off the sheet, then won't stick, and then won't settle down with any solution I threw at them. Frankly they looked great on the sheet but were very difficult to work with.

Edited by TallBlondJohn
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12 minutes ago, TallBlondJohn said:

 

Bit strong. I built my Camels last year and I don't mean the decals shatter - I mean they won't come off the sheet, then won't stick, and then won't settle down with any solution I threw at them. Frankly they were very difficult to work with.

 

Sorry if I was a tad spiky there but it's amazing how many people peddle the old "Roden decals are rubbish" routine based on the dodgy offerings from 15 or so years ago. But the fact of the matter is that it's still wrong and misleading to say that their decals "just don't work" as you sweepingly stated above.

 

Their decals are on the thin side - which I happen to think is a very good thing but those used to the likes of Tamiya stickers will no doubt baulk and be terrified of them. I find about 10 seconds in a saucer of hottish water, probably around 50 to 60 degrees with a drop or two of dishwashing liquid and they behave beautifully. Due to their thinness it helps to have a drop of water on where the decal is going to help it slide into place. They respond wonderfully to a lick of Micro Sol afterwards as well.

Edited by Smithy
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2 minutes ago, abat said:

Thanks @Smithyand @TallBlondJohn. I’ll certainly take care with fitting and construction. I’m ok with fettling and fiddling. I’ll also take particular care with the decals. 

 

I should say I love Roden's kits despite, or maybe because of their idiosyncrasies. They aren't for beginners but then no WW1 kit is (except Airfix's lovely Roland CII Walfische). And the box art is so good!

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I think that most Roden kits aren't the shake'n'bake kits that some people are now used to like the Tamigawa stuff so they require just a little more care and attention than those "throw some glue in the box and it'll look perfect" kits.

 

Dimensionally and shape-wise, especially with their WWI stuff they are very, very good. I find with them if you take your time, and do a little bit of planning and dry fitting they go together beautifully.

 

Just take your time, don't rush it and just enjoy the build. With Roden kits it really seems to be slow and steady wins the race. They build into supremely pretty models if you don't rush the process. 

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I'm building a Roden DH4a at the moment its a pretty nice kit but it does have some issues with fit and the thinness of some of the parts means I have to reinforce a lot of the joints with card as I go. But tbh its not a big deal and its building into a nice model, it just requires a little but of modelling skill and I think I like that.

Edited by Marklo
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