Described variously as a ‘Vicious little Beast’ and the ‘King of Combat’ the Sopwith F.1 ‘Camel’ was by all accounts anything but docile. In the hands of a capable pilot she was a force to be reckoned with. Much has been written on this ‘bird of prey’ both pro and con. One source says that ‘Camel Drivers’ accounted for more enemy aircraft destroyed than any other allied machine. Another says it killed more allied pilots than it did enemy aircraft. Here is the Eduard Sop. F.1 Weekend kit

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Thanks!

In the past I have read about the center struts on being marked wrong on the instruction sheet , front ones back , back ones front . Is this the case in this one as well ?
Other then that this one will have to added to the collection as well .

Greetings Ms. Terri
That was true on the first issue. But Eduard did change their instructions in subsequent releases.

Early Camel thread

Thank-you Stephen . Always like the Camel can always use another one .

Guys, also note that the Cabane Struts are a tad too long. If you try to fit them as provided, you will get a noticeable bend in the upper main plane.
I cannot remember how much I shortened mine by (I last built this kit at least 4 years ago) but it was at least 1.5mm.
This is all getting me inspired to build the other Camels in my stash... I have three Eduard Camels and a Blue Max Camel...
One of the Eduard Camels has always been planned as the Taper Winged 4th Prototype.
The Blue Max Camel is looking forward to appearing as the Ruston Proctor built 1000th Camel.

Cheers,

Hugh

Now what can I do with a "plain jane' like this. . .add. . .extra PE from my spares box! Fuselage is closed up and painted. Images to follow.

At one time, I thought these Camels all looked alike. But after building a few, they seemed to take on a life of their own. I am looking forward to your pictures Stephen.

I will be using some of the relevant the Copper State Models PE for their 1/48 Snipe kit ( I bought abought 10 of these PE frets back in 2000). Tonight I will post the images of the build so far. For those of you with an itch to scratch when it comes to PE for this kit plastic see Part of Poland - Sopwith Camel fret. Remember though to be accurate the Sutton Farm Aviation Harness set up was not seen until late in the war.



I have enough left over wings and "bits and bobs" to build the brass up as a strip down.

Click Here

With the various engine installations and the contract variations between RFC & RNAS and finally RAF you are absolutely correct. There are pleanty of variations in the Sop. F.1. Even the 2F.1 had its share. I was one of the fortunate ones that has not only the "Camel File" but the "Titus" line drawings from the 1960's that depict every variation even in the prototypes.

Here is the basic Eduard fuselage with some Aftermarket additions and one or two spares from the Eduard PE box.

Copper State models PE fret for their 1/48 Snipe in the foreground lends lots of interesting bits and bobs.


Below the CSM firewall has been added and clearly needs to be filed down.

Here you see temporary dry fits of the cowling to the fuselage to get it right.

Here is the overall fit with some apparant need for touch ups. . .

While the recently assembled parts and their bonds are drying. Lets talk abot the man credited with flying the old girl. From the Aerodrome biographies we have;



Name Lloyd Samuel Breadner
Nationality : Canadian
Rank: Major
Service: Royal Naval Air Service & Royal Air Force
Units: 3W, 3N (RNAS) 204 (RAF)
Victories: 10
Born: 17 July 1894
Place of Birth: Carleton Place, Ontario
Died: 14 March 1952
Place of Death: Boston, Massachusetts.

In 1915, after paying for flight lessons at the Wright Flying School in Dayton, Ohio, Lloyd Samuel Breadner enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service. In 1917, he was assigned to 3 Naval Squadron which was attached to the Royal Flying Corps. Flying the Sopwith Pup, he scored his fourth victory by shooting down a Gotha G.III on 23 April 1917. It was the first Gotha bomber shot down by a British fighter over the Western Front. Upon the formation of the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1924, Breadner was recommissioned and served as commanding officer of Camp Borden in Ontario. In 1939 he went to England as a technical advisor and was promoted to Air Marshal in 1941. In 1943 he returned to England as air officer commanding the R.C.A.F. overseas. Promoted again, shortly before he retired in 1945, Air Chief Marshal Breadner achieved the highest rank ever awarded in the R.C.A.F. Suffering from ill health, he died in a Boston, Massachusetts hospital in 1952. He was 58 years old.

For his DSC (Distinguished Service Cross) Flt.-Lieut. Lloyd Samuel Breadner, R.N.A.S.
For conspicuous gallantry and skill in leading his patrol against hostile formations. He has himself brought down three hostile machines and forced several others to land. On the 6th April. 1917, he drove down a hostile machine which was wrecked while attempting to land in a ploughed field. On the morning of the 11th April, 1917, he destroyed a hostile machine, which fell in flames, brought down another in a spinning nose dive with one wing folded up, and forced a third to land. Supplement to the London Gazette, 23 May 1917 (30088/5053)

--------Date ---Time- Unit------Aircraft --------------Opponent ---------Location
1 06 Apr 1917 1020 3N Sopwith Pup (N5199) Halberstadt D.II (DES) Bourlon Wood
2 11 Apr 1917 0845 3N Sopwith Pup (N6181) Albatros C (DESF) Cambrai
3 11 Apr 1917 0855 3N Sopwith Pup (N6181) Albatros D.III (DES) Cambrai
4 23 Apr 1917 1030 3N Sopwith Pup (N6181) Gotha G.II (CAP) Vron
5 23 Apr 1917 1730 3N Sopwith Pup (N6181) Albatros D.III (OOC) Bourlon Wood
6 29 Apr 1917 1115 3N Sopwith Pup (N6181) Albatros D.III (OOC) SE of Cambrai
7 23 May 1917 1345 3N Sopwith Pup (N6197) Albatros D.III (OOC) Awoignt-Bourlon
8 03 Sep 1917 0725 3N Sopwith Camel (B3782) Albatros D.V (DES) Belhutte
9 03 Sep 1917 0730 3N Sopwith Camel (B3782) Albatros D.V (OOC) Belhutte
10 11 Sep 1917 1150 3N Sopwith Camel (B3782) Albatros D.V (OOC) Thorout

Flt. Lt. Breadner was later given command of Naval N3 in late 1917 and throught early 1918.

The machine depicted in Eduard's profile is of course B 3782 and was used by him through Sept. 1917. Not the date given by Eduard. In late 1917 - early 1918 he flew B6401 in a rather decorative motif. More on this machine later.

Several pilots wound up flying B 3782 and it had a long illustrious career. FSLt G Harrower, Lloyd Samuel Breadner , James Alpheus Glen, all of N3. Then John De Camborne Paynter (of Naval N13 and actually flew her in Feb. 1918.)

Now a bit about the airframe. She left the factory with a Bentley Br.1 150hp rotary and was much later given and up grade to an Clerget 170hp(?) This may have actually been an Admiralty rotary.) To do her with any reasonble accuaracy i will have to build another Bentley. Those RNAS birds usually had them.

Here is one I did from the Sopwith 2F.1 thread.

Pheon decals version containing Breadner's Pup N 6181 from N3 was purchased by me to be used in a later thread on the Sopwith Pup. Due to personal issues this sheet will not be reviewed by me at anytime.

Here is Breadner's B6401 (Blue Max kit & Copper State Models resin pilot figure & Aeromaster Camel decals.) He flew this machine in late 1917 & early 1918.

I have added some wire in the cockpit to represent rigging and control cables. Now I start on simulating the Bentley Br.1 and will close up the cockpit in the next day or so.

The wood effect is a typical method for me. Base coat is a blonde or light cream colour like a yellowed or aged white. Then a clear barrier and when dry, I load a stiff bristled or older ragged brush with a orange brown (like the veins you see in ash or birchwoods). The trick is add pigment first then dip the brush into a wash of the same colour. The wipe excess on the edge of the paint jar lightly and then drag the brush across the surface. practice on white paper until you get the desired effect.

Some very interesting tricks here, Stephen!

Especially that wood grain trick. I was certain it's a decal.

By the way, what paint do you use for that green colour on the fuselage?

In this case I used Testors Model Master Field Drab. Add a touch of green and its a "new" PC10 leave it as is Viola and older PC10.

With the Part PE set add and the CSM PE parts , every thing you need to detail , makes one out standing model . Not that Eduard's kit really needs it , but it's all about the detail

On hyperscale there was a heated topic on pc 10 . I do like your ratio on this colour , Hugh's is also one that I admire as well . Maybe one day there will be the correct refs to this colour which will be more accurate , but I guess for now we can only have our own interruption of the shade .

Thanks for sharing Stephen .

yes, thanks for the tips - the wood effect looks first class.

another pic of Part's PE (instructions):



any update, Jack?

Greetings Roxter;

Busy drilling holes in the wings. Trying to set up to used the "Part turnbuckles." Beau Coup other kits requiring attention as well.

I see.
I just got Profipack and thought of starting it. Anything I should be aware of?