1/32 Hobbycraft Sopwith Camel F.1, Belgian ace Jan Olislagers

[mgunns]

Hello Bob:

This is looking really good.  I like the tail feathers, and like has been said, the wood grain is nice and pulled off the thistle emblem without a hitch.  If you look in your old Roden Nieuport spares that you used for "Old Doc Yak", you may find some useable control horns, at least something to start with.

I am looking forward to seeing your progress on this.  It is really going to be neat.

Best

Mark

[bobs_buckles]

Looking good, Bob 

I spy with my little eye something beginning with B! 

Cheers,
Bob

[Ernie]

You are doing a beautiful job on this, Bob. The colours are very eye catching, the wood panels and "PC" a great contrast, and the emblem gives it that final appearance of "something completely different". Nice work, I really like what you've done here!
Cheers,
Lance

What he said!!! Super job, Bob.

Cheers,
Ernie

[RAGIII]

Bob,
She looks great with the lower wing mounted! Beautiful work!
RAGIII

[LindsayT]

I gotta admit that I was firmly neutral on that scheme when I first saw the pictures. After having seen your work in the last few pictures, though, I'm totally on board. Looks great!

LT

[Pete Nottingham]

Lovely looking Camel Bob, great colour scheme, will you be putting the teardrop shaped piece between the front struts just above the Vickers guns?

Cheers

Pete.

[rhallinger]

Thanks everyone. 

Pete: Yes, I will be putting that piece in, per Des's build log, with a nod to Bud's Comic build thread.  I have shaped it from a piece of styrene rod and drilled a hole through the middle just as Bud did on his Comic.  It is awaiting paint, and will be incorporated in the rigging when I get there (hopefully within a few days!). 

I will report later with some pix on my effort to solve the aileron horn issue (the molded-on kit posts were not very good, and I knocked them off sanding down the wing ribs anyway).  I have two of them done (for the bottom wing ailerons), and I hope they will work out.  Looks promising so far.  More later this evening, as I'm at work now!    Mark, your suggestion regarding the Roden Nieuport extra parts was appreciated, but didn't pan out, as I checked and could not find any extras.  I must have used them all up on Old Doc Yak, and probably donated a few to the carpet monster. 

Cheers,

Bob

[rhallinger]

To make the aileron control horns, I decided to try flat brass bar from Detail Associates, which I had on hand from model railroading days.  This is stiff and strong.  I decided to graft a piece of Bob's Buckles brass tube on the top of each horn to accommodate the control wire.  Here are the tools and materials:



The bar was measured and cut to shape with cutters and cleaned up with a jeweler's file.  I placed a 1.5 mm length tube over a No. 80 drill bit and cut it in half with an x-acto blade.  The short tube was then attached to the top of the horn with CA. 



I have drilled holes at the kit-molded slots for the horns, and will CA the horns to the ailerons.  I will probably use EZ-Thread to keep tension on the horns to a minimum.  I hope these work!

Cheers,

Bob 

[coyotemagic]

OMG, Bob!  How the hell did I miss so much of this build?!  Man, you've done some phenomenal work.  The roundels are fantastic and the shading is brilliant.  Jan looks great.  Just truly outstanding work all around.
Cheers,
Bud
(PS-I never say OMG normally.  Don't judge me.)

[Ernie]

That's a super job on the control horns, Bob.  Nicely done!  The Camel and all
the assorted parts are coming along beautifully.  Looking forward to more piccys.

Cheers,
Ernie

[IFF1418]

Hi Bob,

Your build shows that no mather what the kit's origin is, you make an amazing build out of it. This log has been a real pleasure to follow up to now. It is really going to be amazing and probably the first one with this scheme and I thank you to have chosen it. Keep on the great work!

Kind regards
Patrick

[rhallinger]

Thank you Bud, Ernie and Patrick for your kind words.  I am glad you are enjoying the build log as much as I am enjoying the build.    Things continue to progress well.  The rigging points (BvB eyelets--thanks Bob!) are all installed, the final detail painting done, the bottom wing installed along with the tail feathers, and Jan has gathered himself up and is fully occupying his proper place, the cockpit.    Here is a mini photo update of where things stand:




I still have to do a little rigging on the tail, but I like the way this looks.




I just set her in the jig for a tease shot of the overall appearance--love those Belgian cockades! 




My workbench on this build is now down to the painted and ready cabane struts (4), interplane struts (4) and landing gear (plus the little teardrop vibration dampener that goes in the cabane rigging)--that's it!  The basic aeroplane should be finished by this evening if I can get up the nerve to install the cabanes.  As Des has noted, their attachment points are not very positive or strong.  I think I will skip the jig and try the method Des used in his build log.  Fingers crossed!    I'll report back soon.

I still have to do the vignette base and paint the mechanic swinging the prop.     Almost there! 

Regards,

Bob

[IFF1418]

Hi Bob, looking great! And the color of the cockades is spot on. Good luck on the struts!

Kind regards
Patrick

[rhallinger]

I have hit a minor speed bump in attaching the top wing. 

As Des notes in his build log, the attachment points in the fuselage for the cabane struts are not very positive or secure.  Unfortunately, I found that the molded tabs which are supposed to fit into slots in the wing did not fit into the slots well, and required some reworking.  I eventually got them secured in the jig:



The bigger problem is the wing struts.  They are molded with odd "feet" as you can see here:



I trimmed these to fit better in the wing slots, as follows:



Unfortunately, the interplane struts are too short now.   I have checked the relative wing spacing in the jig as shown in the first photo above against my scale drawings, and the wing spacing appears to be correct.  The struts are just too short with the modified feet.  Oh well, I will just have to make new struts from styrene strip.  I do not have the .060 x .100 stock that I need on hand, so it will have to wait until I can get to the LHS. 

Here's some more shots of this bird in the jig:





We're almost there!

Cheers,

Bob
   

[RAGIII]

Looking really great! Too bad about the struts but I am sure you will sort those out quickly with your skills!
RAGIII