I have always liked the Fokker DR1, Red Baron, and I have also liked the Sopwith Camel. I like the over all design of the Camel. I think its a classic looking air frame. I also like the Fokker tri plane design it is very much like the Sopwith in terms of balance and design.

I built the balsa version of the Guillian's Fokker Dr1 years ago and it was a lot of fun to build. I wanted to buil the Sopwith Camel to have both planes as a pair but for some odd reason that I can't figure out Guillians DR1 and the Camel are different scales. Go figure?? So side by side they would not feel true to scale in relation to each other.

So now I am building the Sopwith Camel and I am very pleased with the results so far. I am at about the 40% completed mark and will post pics in the next few days.

Hope all enjoy the build.

Laying out the template..

All the pretty pieces in a row.



Upper wing of the biplane completed and ready for sanding, so, technically, not completed.

All parts assembled.

Even though this kit is not "authentic" to the real construction, it gives you a sense of building the plane as close to the same way the original was built.

I was going to convert this kit to R/C with an electric motor but I was advised on an R/C forum that these specific kits to do convert well to motorized flight and that the plane was destined to crash pretty soon after attempting flight. Not wanting to end up wasting a long build time in 1 minute of attempted glory I decided to finish the model as a static build instead (thats R/C speak. )

But I did spend a good amount of time preparing the control surfaces and control linkage to actually give the plane movable ailerons, elevator and rudder. I'll pics of that later today.

Linkage horns are made from pop-cycle sticks, lol

It's beautiful!! Are you going to cover it and paint it?

Hi Julio, nice project
In the past I also builded a lot of RC balsa planes, great hobby but indeed, some last a long time, others chrash into a million pieces during the very first flight .
So for sure it's not a bad idea to make it static.

Have fun and goodluck with the project!
Steven

Thank you Vaclav.

In the process of painting right now should be done by this weekend

Thank you Steve

Hi Julio

Nice one! It's great to see some flying scale modelling. I built the Guillow's Rumpler C5 many moons ago (OK, call it 30 years!). It flew well, although I never risked it outdoors because it had an air of fragility that I just didn't think would survive anything more than the lightest breeze.

For a trip down memory lane, I treated myself to a Brankit Models replica of the old classic Keil Kraft Invader a little while ago as a back-burner project. That'll be one to let rip over on the beach - the original that I built as a teenager flew for "miles" when it caught the wind just right.

All the best

Rowan

Hi Merlin. Great story. I think that's what attracts me to modeling, a sense of going back to when as young boys we dreamed of flying. I had the pleasure of taking lessons years ago and it was fascinating. I actually have about 6 hours flying time in an Italian TB9 Socata.
Modeling a plane that could actually fly, I think, is as close to that feeling you can get. Although I like the plastic models as I can sit back and admire not only the plane but the history behind it.

Following your build Julio!
Nice to see some Balsa on this site.

Thanks Richard.

I hope not to disappoint.