Hello, fellow
modelers and readers!
This is the fifth of
my series of articles related to old Airfix series 1 kits. The Sopwith Camel
needs no introduction, however, the naval 2F.1 version represented in this kit
seems to be less known than the F.1 version of the Royal Flying Corps.
The kit's quality is
typical of Airfix series 1 kits, fortunately by the second half of the 90's when
I bought this kit Airfix had improved its decals a lot. The main weak points of
this kit are:
-
Incorrect
dihedral of the lower wing
-
The engine is
molded as one piece with its cowling
-
The front end of
the cowling is almost square, it should be rounded
-
The
under-fuselage slot for the clear stand was already opened, although the
stand was no longer included after the introduction of the cardboard boxing
-
The assembly of
the upper wing and of the inter-wing struts is difficult and tricky
-
The center of
the propeller is too thick
The good points of
this kit are that the thickness of the wings, stabilators and the rudder seems
to be appropriate, and that the fabric texture seems to be very good, at least
in my appreciation.
Click on
images below to see larger images
I assembled this kit
straight from the box, as almost always. Before starting assembly I drilled
holes for the rigging. Assembly was almost straightforward except for the
assembly of the upper wing and the undercarriage. Anyway, I didn't assemble
these until the model was painted, decaled and recoated. Even though I made a
cardboard jig to assemble the upper wing, I couldn't get the leading edges of
both wings completely parallel when viewed from above.
The kit's
instructions suggested using HU122 Pale blue for the undersurfaces. From the
beginning it seemed strange to me, some time later I bought Roden's Camel and
followed its color recommendations (Humbrol 74 Linen for the under surfaces, Hu
108 WWI Green for the upper surfaces and Hu 145 Medium grey for the cowling,)
but I used MM Wood instead of Hu 110 for the wooden cockpit area, the tail skid
and the wing and fuselage struts, and a mixture of browns to represent a
mahogany propeller, similar to that I've seen in photographs of full-size Camel
replicas. The engine was painted Humbrol Metal cote Polished Steel, while the
fuselage plate behind the cowling was painted Hu 56 Aluminum.
After the model was
painted, I airbrushed two coats of gloss acrylic clear and later the decals were
applied, it was the first time that Airfix decals went without any trouble!
After decaling I airbrushed a coat of satin acrlylic clear on the airframe and
later the upper wing and the undercarriage were glued. When the model was
completely assembled I started rigging it with monofilament. Together with the
upper wing assembly, it was the most difficult stage of this project, because
monofilament is difficult to handle, so I'll try using human hair for rigging
the next time. When the rigging was done I painted it with Revell Steel and I
finished the model by cementing the upper- wing gun with its support. I didn't
weather this model, I'll save the time and the effort for better biplane kits I
plan to build later.
Airfix's 1/72 scale
Camel isn't a kit for beginners due to the fiddly assembly of the upper wing and
the somewhat complex rigging. Although the kit is far in detail and accuracy
from the 21st century-tooled Roden's 1/72 scale Camel, it's still a kit that
captures the essential shapes of the Camel, so I'm quite glad with my finished
model.
I dedicate my Camel
to my daughter Estefanía, who likes tiny biplanes very much.
Thanks for watching
and reading. Greetings from Caracas, Venezuela.
Orlando Sucre Rosales
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