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**On Hold For Now** An Aussie Sopwith Camel F.1


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My next project is an Academy Sopwith Camel F.1 partially inspired by @bigbadbadge and his recently completed Goblin.  I also wanted to expand my knowledge of WW1 aviation and its aircraft and as is my wont, I'll do that through a project for the main site.  The model is well known I think, so not much introduction is required and obviously I'll fill in the detail as we go.  I have built only one biplane before this one, a PT-17 which I enjoyed; I did the rigging with stretched sprue for that one but I'm going to try Chris' method for the Camel.  

 

My subject will be an Australian Flying Corps Camel from No.6 Sqn. AFC in Minchinhampton in 1918.  I choose this one primarily because it's got a kangaroo on it - you can never have too many 'roos on airplanes.  There's a pic at The Australian War Memorial site showing the aircraft;

 

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The first thing that jumped out at me when I opened the box was the excessive ribbing on the wings and tail, so job #1 was to tone it down.  I studied images of the Camel online and while some ribbing effect is visible on the wings, mostly on the undersides, it's quite subdued so I broke out the sandpaper and got to work...

 

What they actually looked like...

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And the before/after on the wings...

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The after pic makes it look like the wing appear flat now, as if all the ribbing has been removed; it's actually nicely dished between the ribs and I've polished them up with some fine sandpaper to finish.  My intention is to add a replication of the reinforcing tape seen in the bottom image in the composite above.  I'll also need to fill those horrific ejection pin parks...

 

That's it for now.

 

Cheers;

Mark.

.

 

 

 

Edited by mark.au
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1 minute ago, Tony Edmundson said:

that looks like the Academy/HobbyCraft kit;  Roden does NOT make a 1/32 Camel

Have to agree. I'd recognize those mold-pin marks on the ailerons anywhere...having done mine up as a Kiwi, rather than a 'Roo!

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11 minutes ago, thorfinn said:

Have to agree. I'd recognize those mold-pin marks on the ailerons anywhere...having done mine up as a Kiwi, rather than a 'Roo!

 

Oops, yes of course - I'll fix that typo right now!  Se, I told you I was a newbie at this biplane stuff...  😄

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BTW, Mark...since you profess to being a 'newbie'...a cautionary note, if it should happen to apply.

The drawings on Academy's instructions for this kit used to show the twin Vickers mg's being installed upside-down. Not sure whether they ever changed or updated that feature...but a quick perusal of photos of the real a/c will set the matter straight.

Good luck on your project! For all its minor shortcomings, it's quite a nice kit.

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Hi Mark

Excellent I  am looking forward to watching you make this into a real beauty.  As others have pointed out there are flaws, but with some work could make a nice replica.

@DMC on here was doing the 1/28 Revell Camel and has been scratchbuilding most of the interior and some exterior parts and would recommend a view of his excellent thread.

I have the Haynes manual on this and so let me know if you need any photos etc you need.

Good luck with tis build Mark 

Chris

 

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On 1/2/2021 at 11:31 AM, thorfinn said:

BTW, Mark...since you profess to being a 'newbie'...a cautionary note, if it should happen to apply.

The drawings on Academy's instructions for this kit used to show the twin Vickers mg's being installed upside-down. Not sure whether they ever changed or updated that feature...but a quick perusal of photos of the real a/c will set the matter straight.

Good luck on your project! For all its minor shortcomings, it's quite a nice kit.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

So today, after recovering from the last hangover of the season, I played around with the engine cowling.  I really wanted to put BMF on it but even after three attempts I just could not get it sufficiently wrinkle-free to be acceptable.  So then I had a play around with paint.

 

I applied a coat of Vellajo Aluminium and before it was fully set - only a matter of minutes - I applied some SNJ powder (which is extremely finely ground aluminium) with a soft brush and left it to set.  An hour later I polished it up a got a nice shiny metal finish.  But I want a dull, oxidised finish on this one (and it’s an extremely fragile finish anyhow) so I put on a flat coat to a very matt finish.  Finally, a brought it back to dull satin finish with a bit of diluted Future.  Here’s the result...

 

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Its not bad, but still needs some texture.  Tomorrow I’m going to be brave and rough it up with some 6000 grit cloth and see if I can get some grain into the finish.

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Noice,

 

A Camel with a Roo, and I used to live just down the road from Minch. What's not to love?

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

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On 1/2/2021 at 9:09 AM, bigbadbadge said:

would recommend a view of his excellent thread

Very kind, Chris,  thanks for that.  I’ll have a look but I believe it was the wing tapes that I needed a break from.  

 

Dennis 

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On 1/3/2021 at 9:37 PM, bigbadbadge said:

I have never used the SNJ powders might have to look at those.  

 

I didn't know they could still be bought...?  The powder I have came with the kit, which I bought 20yrs ago or so.  The paint was similar to the old Testers Metalizer which you then rubbed the powder on.  In my opinion it gave the best NMF finish bar none but its drawback was it remained extremely fragile so handling the model was nigh on impossible.

 

Anyway, to the matter at hand...  New adventures begin with a wooden cockpit...  That's definitely new.  And so, without further comment, and noting that I will flatten the finish a little, here's my first attempt at wood.

 

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I basically smudged in three shades of brown acrylic hobby paint and then sprayed on a coat of Tamiya Clear Orange (I read that somewhere, I wouldn't have thought of that by myself).  More by luck than judgement or planing it came out reasonably well I think.

 

To be honest though, the kit cockpit is so poor I don't really feel it deserves even the effort I did put in, let alone what I would normally attempt - I'll only add some lap belts and then pretty much call it done.  Still, it's good practice for now.

 

I'll be assembling the cockpit in the next session and then thinking about closing up the fuselage.

 

Cheers;

Mark.

Edited by mark.au
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  • mark.au changed the title to **On Hold For Now** An Aussie Sopwith Camel F.1
43 minutes ago, mark.au said:

I think I’m going to put this aside for now, just not feeling the love for it.

Take a breath. The love will return...

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