Sopwith F.1 Camel Build Log

[popeye the sailor]

the Sopwith is coming along great John!   amazing bit of rigging....and yes......it does look tedious      very well done!

 

sorry to hear about your dad...my condolences to you and your family.

[ScottRC]

Hi John,

 

Sorry about your father, I lost mine a few years back and he was like yours in that he support me both through my hobby and my career. 

I have been following your detailed build log  because I have love of bi planes and am planning on building possibly a 1/4 or 1/6 scale Sopwith in a few years.  I see you share your workshop with a set of Ludwigs. I also share mine with a Ludwig Standard and just purchased a complete set of Pearl Sessions.

To your build, I am amazed how strait everything came out without the use of jigs.  Since all the rigging is so detailed, maybe I missed it, but do the ailerons operate?

Edited October 5, 2017 by ScottRC

[jablackwell]

All,

 

Thank you so much for such kind words and thoughts.  You make this the wonderful community that it is. 

 

Specifics to the build: Yes, the gun barrels, are definitely on the list of things to complete. They need boring and they need blackening. Concerning the ailerons: In theory they will work as they should. The cables are rigged in such a way so that they should work when the stick is moved side to side. The rudder works with the motion of the pedals, and the elevator works with the stick. I have yet to permanently connect the aileron cables. Getting there ;-)

 

~john

 

[jablackwell]

Scott,

The Ludwigs with the Black Beauty make a fine set.... combined with the Zidjians of old, and it just hums right along.  A lot of good music happens in the basement ;-)  

Jigs: I used jigs for the fuselage final assembly. That was the only way to keep things straight and normal. The wings were build right onto the plans using pins to hold the wood onto the plans at precise locations until the glue set. The plans are mounted onto a flat building board, this one from planed balsa. 

The ailerons to actually work as of late last night!  I am somewhat surprised actually.  A larger scale, like the 1/6 or 1/4 that you are planning would be optimal for all the details.  This would be something in the right ballpark:  

  

 

 

[ScottRC]

 Good to hear that the ailerons actuate for its really looks great.  Balsa USA will probably the kit I go with, they have a great reputation and support.  In building for RC, I cheat go go with servos for I do not trust my rigging skills. At present I am building a 1/32 scale plastic SE5, my first one, and find that rigging a bipe is much more complicated than I thought as compared to a square rigged ship.  

[jablackwell]

Agreed Scott. Rigging is a little tricky in a biplane: all of the cables have to be taught. No slack allowed anywhere. Nothing "moves" as yardarms on ships... so, the angles all matter, and the tensions all matter. I struggled a bit with the Camel's tension settings a lot. The toughest part were the ailerons. They now move and correctly, but the thread is stretchy, so the motions are not realistic in the end. Still, I am content. How often are these going to be moved back and forth anyway while on display? Not much, I bet.

 

Right now I am looking for a scale pilot: WWI British 1:16 scale. Anyone know where I will find one of these?  I have found a lot of other scales...  I'd like to get this into a case in diorama format, grass, pilot, etc.  

 

~john

 

[Landrotten Highlander]

I know of German pilots and a British army offier in this scale.

Did you search for 1:16 scale, or did you also try for 120mm figures (this is the same scale)

L.H.

[jablackwell]

L.H.,

 

That was very helpful to note the 120mm scale.... I hadn't searched for that specific term, but was looking more for "1:16" or 1/16.  A lot of figures have popped up, so I should be all set.   

 

Something about scales does seem a little odd.... a 120mm tall individual (if that is what this means) would be some 6'4" tall.... a pretty tall pilot. Perhaps the 120mm is referring to something else? 

 

Build status: wheels on. Engine on. I am working on the cockpit coaming. Eventually this will be on a diorama for display.

 

~john

 

 

 

[jablackwell]

All,

 

Here is the completed build, sans diorama for now. I'm now in the middle of cleaning out the workspace, ordering new drill bits (and other tools) and getting ready to sink my teeth into building the Syren. I think I am ready for a ship, haven gotten the plane out of my system.  

 

~john

[Landrotten Highlander]

3 hours ago, jablackwell said:

L.H.,

 

That was very helpful to note the 120mm scale.... I hadn't searched for that specific term, but was looking more for "1:16" or 1/16.  A lot of figures have popped up, so I should be all set.   

 

Something about scales does seem a little odd.... a 120mm tall individual (if that is what this means) would be some 6'4" tall.... a pretty tall pilot. Perhaps the 120mm is referring to something else? 

 

Build status: wheels on. Engine on. I am working on the cockpit coaming. Eventually this will be on a diorama for display.

 

~john

 

 

 

Figure painting is another of my hobbies.

The following most common sizes generally correspond with these scales:

54mm  ==> 1/32

75mm ==> 1/24

90mm ==> 1/18

120mm ==> 1/16

 

but this is by no means always exactly the case:  I have some in my collection that were advertised as 54mm but are measured to be closer to 60mm.

 

A 120mm figure would represent a person of 1m92, and I agree this is tall for your general pilot.

If you think 120mm is too large then consider 90mm - I believe there are more options available in that scale.

Slainte

L.H.

 

 

Edited: P.S.  you can also consider putting a bust next to it, although I think most in that format are WWII era - and Manfred von Richthofen, but he would be better with the Fokker DR.I

Edited October 8, 2017 by Landrotten Highlander

[jablackwell]

That is most helpful, L.H.  Thank you!

~john

[Landlubber Mike]

Beautiful John!

[thibaultron]

Great looking model!

[Mike Dowling]

What a wonderful mode John and  beautiful build. I have the kit and it is indeed going to be my next build. My plan is to cover half and leave half exposed so that should be interesting. I shall start a build log soon but I fear I may be asking you a lot of questions along the way of that's OK.

[jablackwell]

Mike,

Thanks for the kind words.

I think you are in for a nice treat: the Sopwith is a nice build.  Feel free to reach out if you need anything. I am still thinking about a half covering for it... I have a pile of SilkSpan, so it is calling me.... 

[Mike Dowling]

Thanks John, I hope I can do as good a job as you have. I was planning in using what is probably an ancient method of covering but one I used in my youth when I last made model planes - good old tissue and dope!! I have also managed to aquire (!!!) some bits of the Hasegawa 1/16 kit as I wanted to be able to half the bit that goes round the engine, the cowl I guess to cover that and some of the fuselage pieces, same idea. Could be interesting?

[jablackwell]

Yep - exactly!  SilkSpan and dope are what I was thinking. Then layers of dope with added paint until the desired level of darkness is reached. Some things I was thinking about:  What to cover? Top of the wings, but not the bottoms? One whole half of a wing, top and bottom? Half the fuselage, like just the left side?  So many options. I have lost it now, but someone had done this kit with top covered and bottom uncovered.... then had it displayed on a mirrored base.

 

~john

[ScottRC]

Maybe only cover a small section of each wing, fuse, and tail?  It would be a challenge, especially masking and painting the markings and adding the pinking so everything lines up and then the transition from the covered section to the exposed section looks balanced.  

[Mike Dowling]

Sorry John, I don't want to pinch your log but what is Pinking ? I thought it was a problem of not having lead in your petrol!

[jablackwell]

3 hours ago, Mike Dowling said:

Sorry John, I don't want to pinch your log but what is Pinking ? I thought it was a problem of not having lead in your petrol!

Mike, I think you are replying to Scott, not me ;-)  I was also interested in "pinking"..... Maybe "planking?  Not sure. Maybe he meant this:  https://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/05/seam-series-serger-and-pinking-seam-finishing/  

 

Scott?

~john

 

[xodar461]

Nice work on the Sopwith.  I built this model a few years back as a break from ships and like you, wanted to put a scale figure in the display.  I can't really carve, so when looking on line all I came up with at anything close to the correct scale was a WW1 US soldier.  If you search for this "verlinden 120mm WW1 soldier" you will find some available on eBay.  Here's a few pics to show what I did with it.  I think it is an acceptable alternative to a pilot and gives a good sense of the airplane's size.

 

Jeff

 

[Mike Dowling]

Hey John,

 

I have started a build log of my own if you are interested but I have a question for you already !!

 

Starting on the engine, did you manage to glue most of the parts with CA or did you have to use epoxy ? I can't think that you managed to do the small bits with epoxy ?

[jablackwell]

Mike,

 

Yep - I had to resort to using epoxy for the engine parts. CA didn't work well on the large cylinder heads nor attaching them to the hub. The rest of the small parts, I used CA.  Looking forward to hearing how your build goes!

 

~john

 

[jablackwell]

16 hours ago, xodar461 said:

Nice work on the Sopwith.  I built this model a few years back as a break from ships and like you, wanted to put a scale figure in the display.  I can't really carve, so when looking on line all I came up with at anything close to the correct scale was a WW1 US soldier.  If you search for this "verlinden 120mm WW1 soldier" you will find some available on eBay.  Here's a few pics to show what I did with it.  I think it is an acceptable alternative to a pilot and gives a good sense of the airplane's size.

 

Jeff

 

 

Hi Jeff,

 

Thanks! I enjoyed the build a lot. It got me away from ships for a while and I am now refreshed enough to want to take on the Syren ;-)  Thanks also for the search tip for figures. I did some serious hunting for 120mm scale WWI figures and came up with a lot of soldiers and some German aces.... I kept hunting around and found three resin editions of WWI pilots from the Michigan Toy Soldier Company michtoy.com :  Eddie Rickenbacker, Billy Bishop, and Frank Luke.  They haven't arrived yet, but I'll post some images once I get them in and painted a little.....

 

~john

 

[Mike Dowling]

Thanks John about the glue, I would send you a link to my log but I don't know how to do it.

[Mike Dowling]

John,

Any tips on how to get the propeller propeller shaped ? The view from above I can do but how on earth did you do the sides ? Did you have another one to work from ?

[jablackwell]

1 hour ago, Mike Dowling said:

John,

Any tips on how to get the propeller propeller shaped ? The view from above I can do but how on earth did you do the sides ? Did you have another one to work from ?

Hi Mike,

 

I started by gluing the layers altogether being careful to get glue on every square millimeter of the surface before bonding. A couple of days later, I unclamped the layers and then shaped the side view first, tapering evenly to the tips.  I started that using a sharp pocket knife, then ended up with rough sand paper. I then worked on the front/back views of the prop. It might help to take a pencil and sketch in the shape near the central hub. Go slowly with this part. I used an XActo blade (11) and then medium sand paper until I was close.  The whole thing was then finely sanded and stained/varnished. 

 

If you've not made one before I suggest getting a block of balsa or other carve-able wood and giving it a whirl.... mistakes are easy with the prop. Look at lots of pics online for the Sopwith prop.

 

~john 

[jablackwell]

Mike, PS - with the sides, note that the side facing the aircraft is flat. The curve starts at the hub and tapers to the tips. Ignore the angle of the prop blade when working on the side view.

 

[Mike Dowling]

That's great John - thank you. I will see what I can manage.

 

One other thought -when you did your rib caps - did you use PVA or CA ? I realise it is a real labour doing all those, I'll bet you were glad to finish them !!!

[jablackwell]

17 minutes ago, Mike Dowling said:

That's great John - thank you. I will see what I can manage.

 

One other thought -when you did your rib caps - did you use PVA or CA ? I realise it is a real labour doing all those, I'll bet you were glad to finish them !!!

I started with wood glue PVA and then tired of that rapidly and got some 15 second CA. It was just enough time to get the pieces in place properly before setting ;-)  DO make a jig: it helps a lot.