Academy 1:32 Sopwith Camel

[ETG]

Here's another update. I participated in a yearly scale model show, that's why there weren't any updates, recently. This year my theme was "old model kits". I entered
kits which molds were 40 years old or older.
It was a tribute to my uncle. Like I said in my introduction mail, he was an avid scale modeler who build many hundreds of kits for well over 35 years. He often gave
me a kit. He got me addicted ! ;-) I have many old, original Aurora, Frog and Revell kits, first issue, original first color. I consider it a proud posession, even though
he painted the kits in his own way. 100% accuracy was not his thing. Still, he build them neatly, really good paint jobs and no glue smears !

Okay....the Camel. Nasty animal. Giving me nothing but trouble. I decided to cut up the PE cockpit and sand the inside of the fuselage. Still, it fits tightly.

It doesn't look good, now, but once this PE cockpit has been completed and built into the fuselage, little or nothing of the damage can be seen, once the model is finished.





__________
Erik.

[ETG]

Sorry guys, for not posting more text and pictures..............

The reason is, that I am getting quite frustrated with the fragile PE and styrene parts. Whenever I try to add another
part, another part comes loose or even falls off !! One step forward, two steps back and I'm getting fed up with the
model.
The PE cockpit assembly just won't stay in one piece. Using the original cockpit is out of the question by now, since
I cut and sanded away all protruding parts on the inside and thinned down the fuselage walls.
Yes, I did clean the metals parts, I even clean them just before gluing a new part, but even a quality brand superglue
does not do the job.
I am getting worried about all of the remaining PE parts..... Since for some reason they just don't react well to CA glue
and even worse...the new cockpit is build up out of mostly metal PE parts.


Suggestions, anyone ??


(To top it all off....I got a new job, more hours and better pay, but now I only have the weekends to work on my models.)

_________
Erik.

[uncletony]

Have you tried epoxy? I use it for most detail parts that require any kind of fiddling around to position. If you use minuscule amounts it is not sloppy looking. And it is strong.

[ALBATROS1234]

my suggestion at this point is to use the pe parts as a guide to build an evergreen framing. you can glue the pe parts to the outside of the scratch build frame side walls afterwards if you want to use the pe crisscross rigging. at least it wont keep coming apart. dont give up now theres always a solution.

[GAJouette]

  Erik,
I believe Scott's on to something here my friend.

This is what I did.




 Sorry to have highjacked your thread a bit.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[Des]

This is what I made to fit my Academy Sopwith Camel, as most of the inside is not seen once the fuselage is closed up I didn't make the entire fuselage framework, just what would be seen. Using Evergreen strips I ended up with a very strong assembly, and being made to measure it fitted perfectly.
Like Gregory, I'm sorry to jump in on your topic but it might give you a few ideas.

Des.

[ETG]

Thank you all for the great help !
Making the cockpit from scratch was a sort of last resort, anyway. Guess I'm at that point, now. Still, Part offers a lot of nice PE parts
that I still want - and going - to use.
Those Evergreen strips aren't much stronger than those PE parts but at least I can GLUE them properly with styrene glue !  |-)

Gregory and Des, you guys have too much faith in me.... I am just an ordinary man, born on planet Earth. Your out of this world
skills are a great inspiration, though. I'll try not to let you down.
I also want to apologize in advance to all WW1 airplane fans, for not making a super accurate, historically correct cockpit. Even the
pictures of the real airplanes seam to disagree. Therefor, I decided just to pick one that looks nice and copy it. For me, that's good
enough !  ;-)

____________
Erik.

[mgunns]

Hello Erik:

Don't beat yourself up too bad.  Once you put the kit together, almost all of the cockpit disappears.  I just finished one, with minimal cockpit detailing, and you would be hard pressed to see any of it, save for the instrument panel.  It isn't the greatest kit, but considering what Academy had to work with, it is a good foundation and with a little work turns out pretty good.  I will be posting some build pics and the finished product shortly.

Good Luck

Mark

[Ernie]

I can't get over how you are making a "silk purse from a sow's ear", Eric.
  There is no way I would even attempt what you are doing...and slaying
the dragon, bit by bit.  You have my admiration.  I'm looking forward to
the rest of the build.  Thanks for sharing with us.

Best regards,
Ernie