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1/48 Monogram Sopwith Camel F.1 WIP


Stikpusher

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Well today ended up being a case of going ahead three stages instead of the planned two. 

First up I added the metal tubing for the fuel tanks

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Then I had intended to add only the struts into place on the lower wing and fuselage, and I sure proper positioning using the top wing. But that wasn’t working as intended, so I ended up gluing the top wing in position as well. So the wings are in place, just a bit sooner than intended

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Next up, adding the landing gear, tail skid, and prop...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Today’s update:

Paint touched up on the wings where I filled the seams and marred the paint work. I still need to touch up the struts. I also assembled the landing gear struts, painted them, and test fitted them to insure proper alignment while the glue dried.

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I still also need to add the fuel filler cap.... and a few other things before I can get to applying decals

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Thanks Gil! It is indeed starting to look the part finally!

I assembled, painted, and test fitted the landing gear. In case you’re wondering about the tan tires, apparently during WWI, carbon had not started to be added to rubber, so the natural color was tan, like a gum easer.

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Now it’s all ready for decals

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Excellent point about the tires...you see all sorts of tans, light grays, and browns for WWI a/c. And, you cannot go entirely by the WWI pics because the Ortho type film used then could make light colors look darker (and vice-versa) depending on the conditions.

 

Gil

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Thanks Gil. I know what you mean about films. I vaguely recall from photography classes how some types of film made reds dark and blues light, while another type of film did just the opposite. But it is nice to have something a bit different for the tire color.

And the decals are now on! 

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Next challenge is the one that I do not look forward to... rigging... yikes!

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  • 3 weeks later...

First rigging session did not go well. So back off regroup, get some advice, and do it again.

Well, attempt 2 went far better than attempt 1. It did not turn out perfect, but I am not gonna put everything else on hold until I do get it perfect. My order of effort was: attach the EZ line to the upper front cabane strut/upper wing junction, cut a slice of tubing and thread the EZ line thru the hole in the slice, attach the EZ line to the front cabane strut/fuselage junction after achieving proper tension, adjust the position of the metal tube slice and position it. Unfortunately, due to the tension on the lines, it would not position properly, so this was the best that I could do. A better way would be to attach top ends of the line, position the tube slice and fix it in in proper place, then tension and attach the bottom ends of the lines. Live and learn. Anyways...

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Now I can start working my way out from that area...

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Next update on my Camel with a bit more progress. I rigged up the cross wire braces on the cabane and wing struts using some .008” steel wire. This took about and hour and 45 minutes or so over a couple of sessions.

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I’m not sure how many more sessions that it will take to fully rig this Camel...

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Very good progress! That's the way to tackle such finicky and stressful chores....do a bit at a time and use several sessions to do it so you get the best result.  It's like the old saying: how do you eat an entire water buffalo? One bite at a time!

 

Gil :smiley16:

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Thanks Gil. And yes, you are quite correct. Break it down into more easily approached stages. There are still several bites left to go on this water Buffalo 😉 

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One step at a time here. In today’s session I finished up the wing rigging. Except for one wire on each wing that I can’t add until I have the landing gear strut assembly glued in place. Which I have left off for ease of handling up to this point. Next stage will be the tail area. Once I have that completed, I’ll add the landing gear and the final wires up there.

In the meantime...

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More progress to show hopefully tomorrow...

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Today I added the bracing wires on the stabilizers

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next up, the flying surfaces control lines on the tail. That is gonna take some finesse... 


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So yesterday I did a couple of small additions that I needed to do before final bits of rigging. First I added some control line horns to the ailerons that were not molded in place, but needed in order to properly add those lines. I made them up from small pieces of aluminum rod then flattened and filed them them to a more airfoil shape once glued in place.

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I also attached the control line thru the rudder using EZ Line and CA.

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No rigging today as my fine motor skills are toast after a long bike ride this morning... tomorrow I’ll resume the rigging, and possibly finish it. Then final touch up painting is next on the agenda.

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Today was a knuckle down session. The finish line edges ever closer. Two plus hours of gluing snipping, etc. and the rigging was done! EZ Line for the flying surfaces control cables, .008” music wire for bracing wires on the landing gear, and .010 music wire for the wings to landing gear “flying wire”.

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Next up, touch up painting, flat coat, add the prop and finito! 

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Final bits of touch up and detail painting done, propellor added...

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Flat coat is all that is left, and I’ll call this one done.

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I airbrushed on the topcoat a little while ago, and I’m calling this one done. It’s not perfect, it’s not contest material, but it is finally finished.

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I’ll get a thread up later on of proper all around view photos in the finished build section.

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  • 1 month later...

Thank you Bob! I presume those two names are the names of the gentlemen involved in molding the original kit? The ghosts of hobby shops past are my inspiration for building such old kits. Remembering seeing these kits built up so well, long ago as a boy, and wanting to be able to build to such a finish. 

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Carlos

Abe Shikes and Joseph Giammarino  ran AURORA when the kit was originally designed and produced.

I built a lot of their model kits as a child and have a few un-built Monogram re-issues purchased at Chicago area IPMS contests waiting for me to finish home remodeling.

 

 

Edited by cheveuxroux
Aurora history hyperlink insert
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Thank you for that information Bob. I’m with you on having built many of these Aurora biplane kits as a kid. About the time that I started buying on eBay when that was a more bargain friendly place, I picked up several of these kits, along with some Monogram and Glencoe issues of those kits to try my hand on. Now that I’m finally retired and have a proper hobby display room, I do plan to build them in a proper “grown ups” style.

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