Hobbycraft 1/32 Sopwith Camel + Part PE

[Kofoed]

Greetings,

Here is my just finished 1/32 Le Rhone powered Camel from Hobbycraft with PE from Part.



Actually I was looking for some PE for my Roden SE5a, and I found it at Part of Poland. I saw that they had also some nice PE for the Hobbycraft Camel. They were designed for the Clerget version, but I thought they would go along for the Le Rhone just as well. And they did. Apart from some major surgery in the bottom front, they fit like a dream. I didn’t use the parts for the Clerget engine, of course, but then I have them for a future use.

I thought I should have some practice with this before I go along with the SE5a.



The inside went smoothly, though quite time-consuming. There’s a very neat dashboard and the instruments are a treat. So is the seat. Sadly, not much of it is visible, but that’s the way it is. Also the control column and the rudder bar are fine pieces of work, with wires running to the back and to the front. The latter are threaded around pullies and then also lead to the back. The air intake tube had to be scratched, and so had the tanks behind the seat.



I’ve had tremendous help fro Datafile 26 “Sopwith Camel” by J. M. Bruce.

The machine is depicted as D9443, a Boulton & Paul built Le Rhone Camel for no. 3 Squadron in May, 1918. Later that summer it flew in “A” flight by Lt. A. T. Partridge, who was forced to land behind enemy lines on August 16, 1918. There’s even a faily good photograph of this machine in the Datafile. Speaking of “A” flight, which had red colours on wheels and spinners, it may be that they also had red engine cowlings, but I can’t find any clear references about that. And since I don’t like too many colours on British planes, I chose to paint the nose grey. Hobbycraft suggest, that this plane was all PC10, including cowling, front panels and wooden panels, but I also wanted to have the wooden panels visible, and as I have seen in Osprey’s “Sopwith Camel Aces of WW1”, that other No. 3 Sq. Camels had the wooden panels, I opted for this.



The wood panels are home made decals. My son and I went to the local timber store with my camera. I asked a young man there, if I was allowed to take some pictures of a plywood plate. He said “sure”, shook his head and disappeared. Well, I guess we were quick enough to do the shooting and get away before the “Blue Wagon” emerged.

... to be continued.

[Kofoed]

I made some pictures to about exact scale and printed these on clear decal film. It worked just fine with some coats of mid-stone underneath. I’m going to give this procedure a shot on my Albatros DIII later, but I’m going to try the white decal sheet for that.



Here is the propeller, the cowling ring, which is PE, and the machine guns. I used the kit’s barrels, they looked fine, an put on some PE details, the crosshairs e.g. which look rather big. If anybody is building this, do put the crosshairs on as the very last thing on the model. I bent mine about a hundred times….

The buckles are Bob’s Buckles, which are just magnificent. It’s unbelievably easy to rig a single wing cell aircraft like this with these buckles. And they look just right.

The square ejection chutes and the carburettor intake tube are scratched. There was merely a square hole and a round, countersunk indication, respectively.




...to be continued.

[Kofoed]

The tailskid is PE, consisting of several parts. I’ve never seen anything like it, and it’s rigged to replicate the Camel’s ability to turn it.……!



The PE control surface horns are also a delight to use. They are beautiful, and there are holes in them to pass the wires through. Also, the inspection windows can be seen here, PE naturally.



The Pitot tubes with cables running up the strut, PE naturally.


An interesting aspect with this model is, that the wings are very thin and flexible. I put on the lower wings, which are moulded in one piece with the center of the bottom fuselage, and thought no more about this until I was mounting the top wing. This, the top wing, bulged seriously up in the middle during the test fit, and I thought about cutting off the cabane struts. However, seeing that they had the right lengths, it occurred to me, that the lower wings had sunk due to the weight, dragging the tips of the upper wing along. So, nothing else to do than adjust it with the rigging. Hence the landing wires are very tight, actually carrying the weight of the wings. This is just like the real thing, I guess. The flying wires are double, of course. They have to carry the entire plane during flight.

Finally, the stiching on the starboard side is included with the PE set from Part. A real pleasure.



A very pleasant combination to build, indeed.

Thanks,
Kofoed

[RAGIII]

That is a fine looking build! I like the wood paneling. Is this the reworked version of the Camel or the original issue?
RAGIII

[Kofoed]

Thank you very much, RagIII.
It is a reworked issue. I have the original also, but I don't think I'll ever build it...

Thanks,
Kofoed

[Kalt]

Excellent model, Kofoed congratulations !!!

Your wood paneling technique looks very realistic I am going to try it on my models.
Don't use the white decal paper, the final result is a thick decal.
I use Expert choice (inkjet) decal paper which paper do you used??

Cheers,

Claudio

[Anders Kofoed Hansen]

Hello Father

Brilliant! Very beautiful Camel, it looks very real and detailed.

It is good to see that our visit to the timber store paid off. I can not wait to see how the decals will look on your Albatros. (and mine)

I am looking very much forward to see the model in person next time I am visiting you, it looks amazing. I think I will bring some propellers, so you can show me how to paint them.

Kind regards

Anders

[lars qvarfordt]

I really like this one. You got a good eye for the details in this build,

I like the idea with the home made decals. really good

Larsa

[MarcLeon]

This is a great model! It also provides great inspiration and explanations of some good techniques!

Well done!

Marc

[Kofoed]

Thank you very much, Kalt.
I also use Experts Choise inkjet paper. I didn't have the impression of the white being thicker that the transparant. The transparant I used for this was quite tough. I'll have to test some more, thank you.

Thank you very much, Anders. Knowing your results, that is very much appreciated.
Actually you taught me about painting propellers yourself. It's really quite easy. Just bring some along.

Thank you very much, Lars. Much appreciated. Yes, I never really found out how to paint wood grains, this is easier, I guess.

Thanks a lot, Marc. Much appreciated. I'm only happy if I can contribute with anything to all the knowledge in this forum.

Thanks,
Kofoed