New year, New project - Sopwith F.1 Camel (1/16)

[chowhound]

Hi friends of this wonderfull aircrafts,
Since I'm a lover of World War I planes, it was really only a matter of time before I bought the so-called museum model of the Sopwith F.1 Camel from Hasegawa on a remarkable scale of 1/16. The kit is designed as a so-called strip down model. I have already presented the kit at IPMS Germany.
It starts with the engine. It is a Clerget 9B rotary engine with 130 HP. The detailing of the kit is actually quite good, but there will still be a few additions to the size. When it came to the colors, I didn't stick to the suggestions, but to the colors of the engines that still exist. The cylinders were painted from a mixture of aluminum and black, while the housing is made of matt aluminum. Rocker arm and push rod guides have got some brass paint. The plunger rods themselves were painted with duralumin, because this color is quite light and more towards polished steel. The lines to the spark plugs were made with 0.2mm copper wire. The exhaust pipes were painted bronze.

Cheers Juergen

[bobs_buckles]

You're off to an excellent start Juergen.
Good luck with your build.

vB 

[Dave Brewer]

Spectacular engine Juergen,terrific work.

Dave.

[Alexis]

Don't see many of these ones built up so I'm really looking forward to future progress , so far the engine is most excellent , love the different metal tones 


Terri

[chowhound]

Hello Terri,
no wonder you don't see this kit so often. With 170 euros in Europe it is not exactly cheap. Then there is the size of the model. With a wingspan of 53 cm you need a little bit more space.

Juergen

[Alexis]

Yes , it is not a cheap kit . The one hobby shop where I live have one , but at 900.00 CDN I will pass on that and continue watching your build . 


Terri

[Robin]

Nice!

I'm thinking about buying the 1/16 Artesania Latina Camel or Dr.I, so I'll follow this build for sure.

Robin

[Borsos]

An I thought Wingnut models were huge... However, nice start on the engine. Thumbs up!
Andreas

[RAGIII]

Excellent start. Your engine looks Fantastic!
RAGIII

[chowhound]

I thank you for your praise. 
I have a question for you. Maybe someone knows something, or even has a photo of it. These old planes were mainly built from many individual wooden parts. Have they been numbered for assembly? I know such numbering on the Horten 229 from World War II. There is a photo of a wing (which was made of wood) on which such numbers can be seen. The background to the question is that I would do something, provided that there was, that I would also like to do it for the Camel. I would be happy if you could help me there.

best regards
Juergen

[Alexis]

That is a great question , could the numbers have been stamp in ? Which wouldn't make them over all visible unless up close , so are they there ?

I would think they would have had to had a number systems for the parts as the structure moved down the assembly line . Or tag with a part identifier of some shorts .


Terri

[chowhound]

So if I take the Horten 229 as an example, the numbers were hand-written in pencil. I therefore assume that this was no different with the components of "our" aircraft. I also suspect that the wooden parts were already painted. And then the number can only be added later, otherwise it would be hidden by the color. Abbreviations that were identical to the blueprint were probably also used. For example LUW / 1 for left upper wing part 1 and so on.
But that's just guesswork. Let's see if we can answer this question.

Have a good weekend
Juergen

[chowhound]

After the engine was ready so far, I pulled in the struts for the wings and fuselage. Each wing segment was fitted with nine spars, which fit very precisely. Due to the manufacturing process, there are of course a few ejector brands, but they are very flat and therefore easy to remove. The built-in spars were not filled, because in this case I see a slight gap at the glue points rather than natural. After all, it is a wooden structure. And since wood is known to work, gaps are quite legitimate. Hasegawa has included yarn for the tensioning ropes, which is only suitable for the control ropes. There are also only simple eyelets for the attachment points. I didn't like that at all. That's why I ordered Gaspatch Turnbuckles in 1/32. Although only 1/32 are exactly right for the tension wires inside the wings and fuselage struts. I'm still not sure about the tension ropes, whether they were rods or braided ropes. In the pictures of John S Shaw ( http://www.johnsshawaviation.co.uk/wordpress/sopwith-camel-f1-2/sopwith-camel-introduction ), which I took as a template, this is unfortunately not exactly clear. Sometimes it looks like ropes, sometimes like poles. What do you all mean? Depending on the version, I would then use brass wire or self-twisted ropes. Once all the turnbuckles are in place, I will apply the primer.

Fuselage





Lower main wings


Wing with turnbuckles


Hasegawa eyelet


Eyelet "closed" with turnbuckle

That's for this day.

Juergen

[lone modeller]

Just seen this - that will truly be a monster of a model when finished. Superb detailing there and I am very impressed indeed with the engine. This is truly going to be a super model when it is finished.

Sorry that I cannot help with your questions - that is well beyond my pay grade!

Stephen.

[RAGIII]

Beutiful work to date! I also do not have your answer but I am certain someone will come through!
RAGIII