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Kit: Eduard (1:48)
From the non-Profipack version. Intended OOB, so only a few bits done to it. The aircraft I chose was B6289 of 10 Squadron, RNAS, France, January 1918, according to Eduard piloted by FSL H L Nelson although the Camel File doesn't attribute it to a specific pilot One of the other two options was a bit boring, the other should have had a Bentley engine. I should have sanded the pump off the rear starboard cabane strut since this machine doesn't have one clearly visible in the one good photo in the Windsock datafile, but found that out too late. I did add the pitot visible in that photo, and made a windscreen from 3 bits of acetate sheet. I also added valves in the wheels from HSP, and cut the axle/spreader bar about a bit to represent the split axle Eduard forgot about, plus 2 bits of black HSP for parts of the T-shaped fairing in the angle of the undercarriage legs. Bungees are from Aeroclub stretchy stuff, rigging is a combination of charcoal EZLine and rolled copper wire, with an acorn fairing nicked from the spare in my remaining Profipack kit. The pushrods were all broken when I got the kit, so they were replaced by bits of wire. Couldn't see the airscrew surface properly in the Datafile photo, but there's also a line-up of 10 Squadron Camels in several publications. This machine (probably) is at the far end (identifiable only by the wheel covers) and not very clear, but the other machines all seem to have the blades either wrapped in cloth or painted, in a light colour either way. So I've done it vaguely Battleship grey.
Eduard 1/48th Sopwith Camel. Non profi-pack with a few additions and ammendments.A few of the duplicated PE bits where nicked from the Profi version. Rigged with Aeroclub stretchy stuff, copper wire, and some shiny stuff I found in a draw.Paint is Humbrol and MrKit (PC10 is dark earth and black), plus a bit of Rub n Buff for the cowl. Decals are from Eagle Strike set 48081, depicting a machine profiled by Ray Rimell on the back of Datafile 26. This machine had a long service career with several squadrons, shooting down several enemy aircraft, and also unfortunately killing a Frenchman and a cow in an accident. It returned eventually to England and presumably picked up this scheme at a tarinung depot
Kit: HiTech (1:48)
This kit took a long time, mainly because of paucity of references, but then I found a quite comprehensive article in Model Aircraft Monthly which outlined the various versions of the experimental camo scheme (MAM January 2007, Sopwith's Trench Fighter, by Paul Lucas. Diego Fernetti sent me a couple of very useful JPEGS of the inside. The kit is very nice but suffers from (a)being based on the Snipe kit and (b) very vague instructions in something not quite approaching the english language. Whenever I need to calm down in future I shall always contemplate the need 'to sand for cleverness'. Nonetheless, a nice kit. Mostly injection plastic, but also PE, and a resin motor and Vickers guns. The main problems, aside from the usual short run effects, are the lovely resin Bentley being far too largefor the cowling (I used one from a Byplanes Snipe, with fusewire induction pipes), the cabane struts being too wide, and the interior bits needing chopping about and suplementing to look more like the armoured cubicle in the Salamander. The tailskid is right for a Snipe, not for a Salamander. Some of the PE bits suffer from misinterpretation of the few available photos. The undercarriage is probably back to front, but long leg forward is the only way I could get the wheels to line up in relation to the lower wing as seen in photos. When all was set I found the interplane struts to be a tad too long, and I'd set the stagger about the same tad too far back. This makes the top wing a wee bit too high. Only a tad, mind......... The model depicts a machine in pattern 3, August 1918. This one has the underside of both wings in black. Dark green is Xtracrylic, and light earth is Humbrol, the light grey-green struck me as close to Sky, so I used Xtracrylic Sky, and the dark purple earth is a mixture of Humbrols. The lower roundels are from a Blue Max sheet, the top, odd sized and asymetric ones are Blue Rider, with the white overpainted with sky and larger red centres from the Blue Max sheet. No Laphroaigh was harmed in the making of this model.
Kit: Roden (1:72)
Flown by Captain H.W.Woollett of 43 Squadron, and made using kit decals. Rigging is mostly smoked invisible thread. Boring details can be found (at least in May 2006) at http://www.internetmodeler.com/2006/may/aviation/roden_camel.php , in which I totally forgot to mention that there are a few mysterious holes left over in the wings and under the fuselage unless, unlike me, you remember to fill them.. Ho hum. And yes, I now know that I got the fabric demarcation wrong under behind the fuselage exhaust cut out. Otherwise, a very nice kit from Roden.
Kit: Toko (1:72)
Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter - A Toko 1 1/2 strutter done up in markings from a Flashback kit.
Kit: Flashback (1:72)
Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter - Flashback kit in Toko markings
Kit: Blue Max (1:48)
Sopwith Camel F1 . Flew with 3 , 8, and 213 squadrons, until it wore out. Markings by Aeromaster, 1/48th kit by Blue Max. Now there's something you don't see every day. Not just a pretty face, it was used by Lt. G C Mackay while with 213 squadron to shot down a Fokker D.VII. There are 2 photos of this machine in the Windsock Datafile. Rigging is monofilament and the stretchy flat section stuff made by Aeroclub (for RAFwires). I should have pulled it tighter to make it more in scale, but since I'd already knocked the lower wings off twice in unplanned test flights I didn't want to push my luck.
This is the Blue Max 1/48 Sopwith Dolphin. The markings are from the kit, but now it's done I believe the PC10 (Modelmasters) is too green for a late war machine. But I'm not about to repaint it. Struts are from bamboo skewers (kindly supplied by Larry Marshall). The interior is done according to the Windsock datafile, and spruced up with a few of the PE bits from CSM.
I made 2 compromises here in order to clear modeller's block. I used stainless steel wire instead of simulating RAFwire, and I did absolutely no turnbuckles or strut fixing points. Next time....
Oh, and I set the ailerons the wrong way in relation to the control column, I know. So it goes.
Kit: Airfix (1:72)
Airfix pup begun 25 years ago following a Scale Models (R.I.P.) article, scheme modified according to the Datafile. Colours are all wrong. Ho hum. I think it's pretty anyway and may redo it in 1/48.
Airfix Sopwith Pup. 1/72nd. Yes I know. There are 2 sets of cockades on the thing and you can still see the checks showing through. Another time, another coat of white paint... This is from the Blue Rider Colorful Pups set. This is one of my favourite aircraft, especially in trainer schemes. Not really sure why. Rigging is again monofilament. There's a full cockpit in there somewhere but you'd be hard put to tell. This is a very nice kit, especially for it's time, but with a few bizarre errors, such as control horns on both sides of each aileron. All easily fixed though. For anybody wanting an easy source of reference for this paticular kit of the Pup I recommend the old Scale Models (before it was International) review and conversion article (although they decided the Kiwi trainer had a white circle on top. According to the Datafile it's a diamond shape).
These are photos of 2 Airfix 1/72nd Sopwith Pups, using Blue Rider decal sheets. I've applied the usual corrections, changed the cowl inspection panels from square to oval, and removed the shield over the exhaust channel. The wings I've sanded as thin as I could to reduce the ribs, but they were too thin to allow complete toning down.
Toko 1/72nd Sopwith Snipe with a few bits from Part (most of which are inside and invisible).
Kit: Copper State Models (1:48)
Sopwith Snipe. 1/48th Copper State Models
My example was damaged goods from a show, so cheap. However this made for a difficult build which I'm sure wouldn't have happened with a fresh example. I replaced the CSM national markings as the blue seemed too light.Replaced 2 struts that where miscast. There's loads of invisible stuff inside too. Apart from reshaping the ends of the wings for the alternative ailerons the rest is out of the box. PC10 is the same stuff I used on the Dolphin, and also too green in retrospect for a late war machine. Still, it's not coming off now.
Kit: Roden (1:48)
Roden Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter (1.A2) in 1/48th scale. Escadrille Sop.226, 1917. This is the transparent plastic boxing, which made clean-up of the flash more interesting than desirable, but once done I was suprised to encounter no fit problems at all. A Part detail set was used for some of the interior, control horns and the gun ring (thickened with white glue). I scratched a fuel tank and split-axle plus fairing, drilled out the wheel covers valve access and put in some spokes and a valve (too big with hindsight, and replaced the tailplane control guides with steel tubes. I cut a slot for the pilot's rocker bar on the underside, and used some brass stock for it's fairing. Other than posing the tailplane and rudder, I left well enough alone (I didn't fancy adjusting the ailerons with the brittle nature of the plastic). Oh, and I put some pulleys into the contol cable inspection panels, but they're a bit wasted under the filling of Microscale Klear. Another time I'll try either acetate sheet or CA glue. Rigging is mostly Aeroclub small gauge flat elastic thread, with monofilament for the control runs, and rolled copper wire where I didn't feel up to attatching the thread. Colour scheme is called out as CDL by the instructions and the Datafile cover-painting, but I decided to go with the aluminium paint idea for once. Now I suppose everyone will tell me this one really was CDL. Ho hum. The decals where all from the kit, layed on Johnson's Klear (Future). They settled down with no trouble. Thanks to Pedro Soares for the tip.
Kit: CMR (1:72)
Nice kit, excellent decals, strange absence of an instrument panel. Spent some time fettling new centre section struts and replaced the tubular top wing support structure with pins. PE control horns (too large) from Extratech and a harness from Eduard, also source of the seat. Lost one exhaust pipe so had to make a new one. Replaced the kit Vickers (which looked more like Spandaus) with some Roden spares. Lots of alignment problems in the end, which the photo angles are carefully chosen to minimize.
Kit: Eduard (1:72)
13 th November 2005. Recent talk on the WWI list prompts me to submit photos of one of my less successful builds from a couple years back - Eduards PE brass and plastic Sopwith Camel. This is it, folks. Very hard to do.